LinkedIn Tips For Executives (With Examples)

February 9, 2023
Individual Reputation Management, SEO

Last Updated on March 7, 2023

As an executive in the modern world, it is essential to have a compelling LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn is an amazing tool for networking, job searching, keeping up-to-date in your industry, and crafting your personal brand. Not only is it a social media platform, but LinkedIn also acts as a search engine, meaning you can optimize your profile to help you leverage your reputation. Read on to learn all about LinkedIn profiles for executives along with executive LinkedIn profile examples.

11 LinkedIn Best Practices For Executive Profiles In 2023

Here are 11 key LinkedIn Tips for Executives:

Use a high-quality headshot
Add a customized headline
Customize your URL
Write a captivating summary
Add keywords
Optimize the experience section
Post thought leadership articles frequently
Make connections through personalized invites
Update contact info
Stay engaged on LinkedIn
Ask for recommendations

Use a High-Quality Headshot

Most people are going to look at your profile picture before they see anything else, and first impressions are important. Start on the right foot with industry professionals and potential employers. A personable and professional headshot will open doors for you in terms of networking. As an executive, opt to hire a professional photographer because they will ensure the photograph puts you in the best light.

Arianna Huffington’s profile is a great example of a high-quality, professional headshot paired with a simple yet bold header image.

Add a Customized Headline

This is where you want to put your most relevant accomplishments and job titles. You only have 120 characters for your here, so make sure it packs a punch and summarizes who you are as an executive.

Simon Sinek’s profile headline provides a quick glimpse into who he is as a professional.

Customize Your URL

LinkedIn often puts some numbers at the end of URLs by default, but it is simple to clean this up. The last thing you want is a cluttered-looking URL detracting from your professional brand image. Having a clean URL is an easy way to polish your LinkedIn profile. Go for a simple URL by just using your name.

Navigate to your profile page and click “Edit public profile & URL in the top right corner.

Click the small blue pencil under the current URL in the top right. Now you can change the URL to whatever you want it to be.

Write a Captivating Summary

Your LinkedIn summary, aka the “About” section, is your space to tell the world about your skills and experiences and who you are. You have 2,000 characters here to tell your story and showcase your personality. Follow this guideline when writing your summary:

A captivating “hook” sentence. Users will have to click “see more” to read your entire summary, so this first part should be really enticing.
A couple of lines saying what you are passionate about in terms of your profession.
Discuss your skills, expertise, experience, and knowledge.
Talk about your major accomplishments.
Give readers a call to action

Aliza Licht’s profile goes in depth about her professional career, passions, and major accomplishments with a call to action at the end. You can choose to write in the first or third person.

Add Keywords

Because LinkedIn is a search engine, keywords and search results are vital in order to drive traffic to your profile. Identify a few keywords that target audiences are likely to search for in your industry. Just make sure to use them in your profile only when they can fit in smoothly. Avoid “keyword stuffing”, or inserting too many keywords just for the sake of it, because this can actually prevent traffic.

Sarena Tseng has woven target keywords throughout her profile and summary. As a university recruiter, she wants to target young professionals and students, and she has added keywords related to this, including some hashtags under the headline.

Optimize the Experience Section

Your LinkedIn profile is essentially your public, online resume. Especially if you have a long work history, you don’t need to list every role you have ever had. Include experience that is relevant, and highlight your achievements.

As a co-founder, Timothy Armoo has detailed his relevant work experience in this section.

Post Thought Leadership Articles Frequently

Similar to Medium, LinkedIn allows you to publish articles. For executives, LinkedIn blog posts are a great opportunity to increase your online visibility and authority. Take this chance to establish yourself as an industry thought leader. Publish longer-form articles that educate people about a subject that you have personal experience and expertise in.

Satya Nadella posts regular articles that showcase his unique industry insights as the Chairman and CEO of Microsoft.

Make Connections Through Personalized Invites

Sending invitations is the way that users on LinkedIn connect. To make a good impression, you should always send personalized invitations. These days, with salespeople and recruiters spamming your inbox, people may immediately reject the request unless they can tell it is personal.

Go to the profile of the person you want to connect with. Click “more” under their profile, then click “connect” and write your custom, personalized message to them.

Update Contact Info

As with other social media platforms, you should always list your contact information so people can find out more about you. Insert a link to your website in this section. LinkedIn will add your email address by default, and you can also add your phone number and other ways people can get in touch.

Go to your profile and click the edit button underneath the header image.

Scroll to the bottom of the pop-up window and click “edit contact info”

Make sure all of the contact information you wish to share is current. If you scroll to the bottom of this window, you can add a link to your website.

Stay Engaged on LinkedIn

Your posts, comments, and messages help your profile appear more in the algorithm. It isn’t enough to just post on LinkedIn, you should also engage thoughtfully with others on the platform. This will further help to establish you as a thought leader, as well as give your profile a boost in the algorithm.

Brendan Dell, the founder of GTMAccelerator, frequently interacts with commenters on his posts.

Ask For Recommendations

Not only does LinkedIn allow people to endorse you, but there is also an option for people to write testimonials to help boost your credibility. Make sure your request for a recommendation is personal, and you request them from people who you know will provide valuable testimonials.

Caroline Smith has received a number of high-quality recommendations from previous clients.

In Closing: How Executives Can Leverage Their LinkedIn Profiles

With these tips, you can create a winning executive LinkedIn profile. This will help your brand, offer networking opportunities, and boost your online presence.

If you need support managing your online presence, the team at Reputation911 is here to help. We offer executive reputation management to help you prevent and repair crises. Contact us today to learn more about our range of services.

About The Author

William DiAntonio

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William DiAntonio is the Founder & CEO of Reputation911, a reputation management firm he founded in 2010 that has earned the trust of its clients for over a decade by helping individuals, businesses and brands control their online search results.