How to Write a Good LinkedIn Profile: 12 Expert Tips for 2026

A good LinkedIn profile can open doors; however, many professionals struggle with low profile views, missed recruiter messages, or connections that go nowhere, simply because their profile blends into the crowd. With over 900 million users on the platform, filling in the basics isn’t enough anymore. Your profile needs to clearly communicate your value, credibility, and career direction.

In this guide, you’ll learn how to write a good LinkedIn profile with our 12 expert tips for 2026. These proven strategies will help you attract recruiters, strengthen your professional brand, and turn your profile into a powerful career-growth tool.

What Makes a Good LinkedIn Profile?

A good LinkedIn profile combines completeness, authenticity, and strategic optimization to attract the right opportunities. The key elements include:

• Professional photo
• Compelling headline that goes beyond your job title
• Well-written LinkedIn summary that tells your professional story

Your profile should demonstrate your skills and qualifications through detailed work experience descriptions, endorsements, and recommendations. Additionally, a good LinkedIn profile is keyword-optimized for search visibility, regularly updated with current information, and includes multimedia elements like projects, publications, or presentations.

Unlike a traditional resume, it allows you to show more personality, connect context between roles, and demonstrate thought leadership through your activity and content. This distinction matters because while your resume gets you through the door, your LinkedIn profile keeps opportunities flowing even when you're not actively searching.

12 Expert Tips on How to Write a Good LinkedIn Profile

These 12 strategies will help you optimize each section of your LinkedIn profile to maximize visibility, credibility, and opportunities. Let's explore each expert tip in more detail.

#1. Choose a Professional Profile Photo

Profiles with photos receive 21 times more profile views. To choose the best photo for your LinkedIn profile, follow these practices:

• Use a professional headshot with good lighting and a neutral background
• Smile naturally to appear approachable and confident
• Ensure your face takes up 60% of the frame
• Dress as you would for an important meeting in your field
• Avoid group photos, selfies, or overly casual images
• Use a square crop (400x400 pixels minimum) for optimal display

For creative industries, you might have slightly more flexibility, but professionalism should still be the priority. Your photo should make viewers want to learn more about you and feel confident connecting.

#2. Craft a Compelling Headline

Your LinkedIn headline appears everywhere your name does—in search results, comments, and messages. However, many professionals waste this prime real estate by simply listing their current job title. Instead, use the following formula to communicate your value proposition:

Here’s how that might look like in practice:

Your headline should make someone want to click on your profile to learn more. Essentially, it's your elevator pitch distilled into one powerful sentence that appears in every interaction you have on the platform.

#3. Write a Captivating Summary (About Section)

Your LinkedIn summary allows you to go beyond bullet points and connect the dots of your career journey while highlighting what makes you unique. Here’s how you can achieve this:

• Start with a strong opening hook that grabs attention (e.g., a compelling statement about your passion, a surprising statistic, or a brief story that illustrates your expertise.
• Explain what you do, who you help, and how you create value.
• Include your key accomplishments with specific metrics when possible.
• Write in first person to create a connection and show personality.
• Use short paragraphs for readability and incorporate relevant keywords naturally for search optimization.
• End with a clear call to action (e.g., invitation to connect or learn more).

Here’s a good example:

#4. Optimize Your Experience Section

The work experience section should demonstrate impact and showcase your career progression. Each position deserves a compelling description that highlights achievements rather than just duties.

For each role, include:

• A brief overview of the company and your role's scope
• 3-5 bullet points focused on accomplishments with metrics
• Keywords relevant to the position and industry
• Skills you developed or utilized
• Any awards, recognition, or special projects

Interestingly, the experience section on your LinkedIn profile can be more comprehensive than work experience on your resume, allowing you to provide context and tell fuller stories about your contributions. While your resume might need to be tailored and concise for ATS systems, LinkedIn gives you space to showcase your complete professional journey.

Let’s see how this might look in practice:

#5. Select and Prioritize Your Skills

LinkedIn allows you to list up to 50 skills, but the top 3-5 are most visible and receive endorsements. Here are a few skills section best practices:

• List your most important and relevant skills first (you can reorder them)
• Include both hard skills (technical abilities) and soft skills (interpersonal traits)
• Use industry-standard terminology that recruiters search for
• Add emerging skills you're developing to stay current
• Request endorsements from colleagues who can vouch for your abilities
• Remove outdated skills that no longer align with your career direction

Research the company and job descriptions in your field and ensure you include commonly requested skills. LinkedIn's algorithm gives more weight to skills with more endorsements, so it's worth asking trusted connections to endorse your key competencies.

#6. Request and Showcase Recommendations

Recommendations are powerful social proof that validate your skills and work ethic. These written testimonials from colleagues, managers, or clients provide credibility that self-written descriptions cannot.

Aim for 3-5 quality recommendations from different types of professional relationships—supervisors who can speak to your performance, colleagues who collaborated with you, and clients or customers who benefited from your work. Variety demonstrates you work well across different contexts.

To request effective recommendations, make sure to:

• Personalize your request with context about your working relationship
• Suggest specific projects or skills you'd like them to highlight
• Offer to write a recommendation for them in return
• Make it easy by providing bullet points of what you'd appreciate them mentioning

When you receive recommendations, thank the person and display them prominently in relevant experience sections.

#7. Build a Substantial Network of Connections

The platform's algorithm favors users with larger, engaged networks, and this directly impacts your profile's visibility and opportunities. Here’s how to approach LinkedIn networking strategically:

• Connect with colleagues, classmates, and industry professionals you've met
• Personalize connection requests with a brief reminder of how you know each other
• Join relevant LinkedIn Groups in your industry to expand your reach
• Engage with your connections' content through thoughtful comments
• Reach out to second-degree connections with a compelling introduction

#8. Add Multimedia and Supporting Materials

Adding visual elements makes your profile more engaging and provides concrete examples of your work. Consider the following multimedia elements:

• Presentations or slide decks from conferences or meetings
• Work samples, portfolio pieces, or design mockups
• Videos of presentations or project overviews
• Articles you've written or been featured in
• Case studies demonstrating your impact
• Certifications and course completion badges

For instance, if you're creating a resume portfolio, many of the same work samples and projects that strengthen your resume also enhance your LinkedIn profile.

#9. Complete All Profile Sections

LinkedIn's algorithm rewards profile completeness by showing complete profiles more frequently in search results. Each completed section increases your profile strength indicator and improves searchability.

These sections also provide conversation starters and demonstrate well-roundedness beyond your primary work experience. They signal to viewers that you're invested in professional development and actively engaged in your field.

#10. Optimize for LinkedIn Search

LinkedIn functions as a search engine for professionals. Optimizing your profile with relevant keywords ensures recruiters and potential connections can find you when they search for expertise in your field.

Therefore, make sure to:

• Research job descriptions in your target roles and identify common terms
• Include industry-specific terminology and technical skills throughout your profile
• Use keywords naturally in your headline, summary, and experience descriptions
• Add location-based keywords if you're targeting opportunities in specific areas
• Include variations of important terms (e.g., "digital marketing," "online marketing," "digital advertising")

Your profile's keyword density is particularly important in your headline, summary, and current job description, as LinkedIn's algorithm weights these sections more heavily in search results.

#11. Customize Your LinkedIn URL

LinkedIn automatically generates a URL with random numbers, but you can customize it to include your name. A customized URL looks more professional, is easier to share, and improves your search engine visibility.

Navigate to your profile settings and change your public profile URL to something like:

#12. Stay Active and Engaged

Regular engagement signals to LinkedIn's algorithm and to your network that you're an involved professional, increasing your visibility.

To stay active on LinkedIn, follow these strategies:

• Share relevant industry articles with your perspective
• Post original content about your expertise or career insights
• Comment thoughtfully on connections' posts
• Congratulate connections on work anniversaries and new positions
• Update your profile when you complete projects or earn new credentials
• Participate in relevant LinkedIn Group discussions
• Write and publish LinkedIn articles on topics in your field

Aim to engage on LinkedIn at least 2-3 times per week. Your activity shows up in your connections' feeds, providing organic visibility without being overly promotional.

Common LinkedIn Profile Mistakes to Avoid

The table below outlines common LinkedIn mistakes that might undermine your presence on the platform:

Tools and Resources to Enhance Your LinkedIn Profile

Leveraging the right tools can help you create and maintain an outstanding LinkedIn profile. Here are the resources that can strengthen your professional presence:

• AI-powered resume builder. This helps you craft accomplishment-focused content that translates perfectly to your LinkedIn experience section. Create a strong resume first, then adapt the polished, results-oriented language for your profile. ResumeBuilder.so ensures your achievements are quantified and impactful, providing content you can repurpose across your professional materials.
• Grammarly or Hemingway editor. Ensure your profile content is error-free and reads at an accessible level. Professional writing matters for credibility. Typos and grammatical errors undermine even the most impressive qualifications, while clear, concise writing makes your accomplishments shine.
• LinkedIn Learning. Take courses to add certifications to your profile while developing new skills. Completed courses appear automatically on your profile, demonstrating your commitment to continuous learning and professional development.
• Analytics tools. LinkedIn's native analytics show you who's viewing your profile and which content performs best, helping you refine your strategy. Use these insights to understand what resonates with your audience and adjust your approach accordingly.

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to write a good LinkedIn profile is an investment in your professional future. Your profile works 24/7 to attract opportunities, build your network, and establish your expertise.

Start by implementing the 12 strategies outlined in this guide, focusing first on your photo, headline, and summary—the elements most visible to viewers. Then progressively optimize other sections, add multimedia elements, and develop the habit of regular engagement.

As you gain new experiences, develop skills, and achieve accomplishments, update your profile to reflect your growth. Combined with a strong resume and cover letter, you'll have the professional toolkit needed to advance your career and seize opportunities as they arise.