🚀LinkedIn Headline Generator: Expert Tips and Examples to Help You Get Started – Expandi

11 mins

A LinkedIn headline is the section at the top of your LinkedIn user profile where you can describe what you do in 120 characters or less.

Your LinkedIn headline is also one of the best ways to boost your visibility on the platform.

This brief description comes up next to your name in your search results and entices your leads to click on your profile to learn more about what you do.

So, you must get this right.

It’s also an important part of your LinkedIn SEO, as we’ll cover below.

LinkedIn Headline

In short, you need to get it right if you want to get more people to visit your profile. An optimized LinkedIn profile will make it easy for those looking for your product or service to find you.

But don’t worry, if you’re not sure how to write your headline, we’ll give you proven formulas as well as a LinkedIn headline generator that can write your headline for you.

Here’s what we’ll cover:

  • LinkedIn Headline: Explained How to Write and 7 Best Practices
  • LinkedIn Headline Generator to Inspire You
  • Top 10 LinkedIn Headline Examples That Follow Different Headline Structures

Ready?

Let’s get started.

LinkedIn Headline Tips

LinkedIn Headline: Explained How to Write and 7 Best Practices

When a prospect is scrolling through your LinkedIn profile, usually, they’ll want to know 3 main things:

  1. What you do.
  2. Why they should connect with you.
  3. How your product or service helps them.

Your LinkedIn profile is like your personal landing page.

And the goal of your headline is to get your prospect on your profile. From there, you’ll want to hold their attention so that they continue scrolling.

So, if you’re wondering how to optimize the rest of your LinkedIn profile, be sure to check out our full guide to improving your LinkedIn profile to learn what you should write in all the other 10+ sections.

Below, we’ll focus only on your headline.

How to write your LinkedIn headline

The main aim of your headline is to give your prospects a reason to visit your profile.

You might be tempted to simply write your job role and position and call it a day.

But that’s where most people make a common mistake!

If you want to have more people visiting your LinkedIn profile, you should focus on your benefit or solution that helps your target market.

This way, they have a bigger incentive to learn more about what you do or even reach out directly.

In other words – think about what’s in it for them.

With that said, one common formula for writing your LinkedIn headline goes something like this:

  • (Title) at (Company) – Helping (USP)
  • (Title) | (Company) | (USP)
  • Title + Company + benefits of working with you | keywords related to your niche | personal touch |

If your headline is that you help marketing agencies increase their lead generation through hyper-personalized LinkedIn outreach, more marketing managers and CEOs might be interested to connect with you.

LinkedIn headline example

We’ll look at some examples that follow this structure below.

But for now, let’s take a look at some of the best practices for writing your LinkedIn headline.

LinkedIn headline: 7 best practices

But for now, let’s take a look at some of the best practices for headline LinkedIn writing.

Creative LinkedIn headlines: 7 best practices

Wondering what your LinkedIn headline should look like?

Here are a couple of best practices to keep in mind when writing:

  1. Tailor your headline to your audience.
  2. Include your USP.
  3. Be approachable.
  4. Include a CTA.
  5. Don’t stuff keywords.
  6. Get creative.
  7. Include results.

Let’s take a look at each.

1. Tailor your headline to your audience

When prospecting on LinkedIn, you’ll always want to optimize your profile for your target audience.

For your headline, you should always use language and words that your ideal customer persona will recognize.

For example, which LinkedIn headline sounds better?

  • Marketing Ninja at Company X | Helping Companies Boost Their Lead Generation and Traffic
  • SEO Marketing Manager at Company X | Helping SMB Businesses Optimize Their Websites For Lead Generation

The second one is more specific. And for SMB businesses, it makes more sense to explore further.

While you can have a personality-driven approach to your LinkedIn headline as you’ll see below, it’s always better to be specific and highlight the benefits of working with you.

2. Include your USP

Have a unique selling proposition that differentiates you from your competitors?

Include it in your headline!

If it’s an important proposition that your prospect should see before anything else, you can even include it at the beginning of your headline, like so:

  • Finally! A Smart Way For You To Do Xing Automation | Zingler is actually pretty Awesome | Join Our Amazing Xing Outreach Family on Facebook

For context, Xing is something like a German version of LinkedIn. Mentioning Xing automation through Zingler implies many similar tools don’t exist, make it an obvious USP.

3. Be approachable

After all, one of the main points of your headline is to get your prospect to approach you and feel comfortable when connecting.

So, don’t be afraid to include personal qualities and achievements that are important to you in your LinkedIn headline.

As a bonus point, many prospects might appreciate this and will allow you to build rapport earlier.

Such as:

  • Be a good human | Sales enablement | Sales Operations | Marketing | Healthcare | | Coaching women to get unstuck in life and career |

4. Include a CTA

Ideally, your LinkedIn profile should follow a funnel-like structure.

Starting from your headline, continuing to your banner image, summary, and more.

Or, you can use your headline in conjunction with your banner image, like so.

LinkedIn headline with CTA

 

A potential LinkedIn headline with a CTA might look like this:

  • Ready to boost your website CRO by at least 1.3%? DM “CRO” for more info! 👉

5. Don’t stuff keywords

Another common mistake you might come across with headline on LinkedIn is that people sometimes stuff keywords related to their niche or industry, with the hopes that they’ll show up first in a related LinkedIn search.

However, this is usually not the case, and it can harm your profile clickthrough rate.

If there is some space left in your headline though, you can include some extra keywords at the end.

DO:

  • Sales Outreach Expert at Company X | Helping SaaS companies book more 21+ demos in a week | lead generation | email marketing | outreach

DON’T:

  • Sales Outreach Expert at Company X | Sales | Outreach sales | Email marketing sales | Lead Generation | Outbound cold sales

Stuffing keywords can also harm how people see you.

Remember, you should be looking at your LinkedIn headline from your lead’s perspective.

6. Get creative

Though we cover several different LinkedIn headline formulas in this guide, you can always come up with something on your own and stand out!

Many people follow the same structure for headlines.

So, if you want to stand out, all you have to do is research your competitors, see what other people are doing, and do the opposite of that!

Not sure what to include in your headline to stand out? 

Consider:

  • Personal values and achievements.
  • Emojis (as long as they’re not overused).
  • Company values.
  • Your overarching goals.
  • What makes you different.
  • And so on.

7. Include results

Last but not least, if you’re doing LinkedIn outreach and lead generation, you can measure engagement with a reporting tool and even include your past results and accomplishments in your headline.

The purpose of this is to show your authority and show your leads what kind of results you can deliver for them too.

When leads are visiting your profile on LinkedIn, most of them are going to think “What’s in it for me?”

By showing tangible results in your headline, you’re showing them an idea of what you can also accomplish for them. For example:

  • Growth Marketer @ lemlist (joined at $250k ARR, now $7M ARR) || ex-Head of Growth @ lempod (acquired) from $3k to $40k MRR in 7 months

Now, you can follow the above best LinkedIn headline practices and create a headline from scratch, or you can try something else…

LinkedIn Headline Generator to Inspire You

Not sure where to start with your headline?

Consider using a LinkedIn headline generator to help you optimize your profile.

You can then use these AI-generated headlines as inspiration or edit them according to your brand.

There are plenty of LinkedIn tools out there you can use to boost your LinkedIn marketing.

But for now, let’s take a look at 2 LinkedIn headline generators that can automate this task for you.

BAMF LinkedIn headline generator

LinkedIn headline generator

The BAMF LinkedIn headline generator helps create your headline working alongside you following their “combined power formula”.

The formula is as follows:

  • What you do | Noteworthy personal achievements | Personal touch.

So, if you’re not sure how to structure your headline, you can use this tool and have it generate your title for you.

Though, once you get an idea of the headline structure it uses, you can start creating them on your own.

So, let’s take a look at another tool for some headline inspiration.

ResumeWorded LinkedIn headline generator

ResumeWorded LinkedIn headline generator

ResumeWorded LinkedIn headline generator comes up with unlimited examples of effective LinkedIn headlines instantly.

As long as you keep clicking the ‘generate’ button, the tool will come up with a different headline each time.

Then, you can use the sample headlines as inspiration or edit for your brand accordingly.

They also have a preview tool for your headline, which can be handy.

But for the most part, when writing LinkedIn headlines, you’re better off coming up with one on your own so that it’s more unique and appropriate for your brand.

If you are looking for some more headline inspiration, however, let’s take a look at 10 different LinkedIn headlines from different LinkedIn influencers.

Top 10 LinkedIn Headline Examples That Follow Different Headline Structures

For the most part, there are 2 different types of LinkedIn headlines:

  • Headlines that are more SEO-optimized with relevant keywords. (e.g. job seekers and passive users).
  • Sales headlines that communicate your value, offer, services, and more. This is better for outreach, obviously.

Of course, everything depends on what you want to achieve with your Linkedin headline.

Do you want more visibility?

Do you want to position yourself as a thought leader in your field?

Or you want an eye-catching headline that will make people stop scrolling?

First, define the goal of your headline and only then you can find the right one for you.

Let’s take a look at some examples.

Job role at company headline

Job role at company headline

Work in a prestigious organization or a company that everyone knows of?

You can use a simple “job role at company” formula.

This also works if you’re an influencer or an authority figure in your niche who people look up to or have already heard of you.

Bonus tip: If you’re currently unemployed and looking for a new opportunity, you can leverage your previous work experiences to increase your chances of getting noticed. It’s not uncommon to see people with headlines like: Ex-Google UX designer or Ex-Nike Marketing Manager. Especially if you had a chance to work for a renowned brand, you can use your previous experience as social proof.

Value offer proposition headline

Value offer proposition headline

Another common LinkedIn headline formula is “we help X achieve Y” where Y is the result they want the most, like you can see in the example above.

This headline can work well in every niche, but make sure that the result you’re offering is something very specific and tangible.

Things like emojis and personal values can help differentiate your brand from others.

Free value headline

Free value headline

This is something we’ve been working on and had success with for outreach.

And as you can see, the headline works together with the banner image to provide more context.

Done right, this kind of headline can have leads connecting with you and starting a conversation on their own.

So, if you have some kind of a lead magnet consider this LinkedIn headline.

CTA outreach headline

CTA outreach headline

This is another headline that’s great for outreach.

The key to having a CTA in your headline is to ask for something small.

Getting users to sign up for your SaaS tool might be difficult through your headline.

But getting your leads to visit your homepage? That’s easy!

Don’t forget to always go one step at a time. You should never ask for multiple things at the same time because you could confuse your audience and they may end up not doing anything.

Helping target market headline

Helping target market headline

One common headline structure follows the “we help X through Y” structure. Where X is your target audience and Y is what you do.

Just fill in the blanks and you’ll come up with a catchy headline with no issues!

You might see this in every niche. So, try to have your take on it if you want to stand out.

Make sure to be very precise about who you can help the most and your ideal clients will recognize themselves in your Linkedin headline formula.

Let’s compare two options:

“I help small business owners with content creation.”

and

“I help busy life coaches and therapists by creating content that will make them stand out.”

The second headline will probably have a higher conversion rate because it’s very specific and well-targeted.

Results and data headline

Results and data headline

Want to show your expertise at a glance?

Simply include the results of your accomplishments in your headline through numbers and data.

Think about it this way.

You’re giving your prospects a reason to care.

If you include results of how you helped similar companies, your ideal customer persona might be intrigued to learn what you can do for them.

Best LinkedIn headlines include some kind of social proof, and there’s no better proof than the number of people you’ve helped.

Results-focused headline

Results-focused headline

Another way to highlight your achievements in your headline is to focus on your total spending or the amount of revenue you’ve generated for your clients.

This works well too if you’re focusing on the type of results you can generate for potential leads you’re connecting with.

Question headline

Question headline

A quick way to get people to contact you is to ask a question.

A question that reminds your potential customers of a pain point they face in their business, in combination with a CTA for a solution.

These kinds of headlines are ideal for getting your prospects to visit your full profile.

Thought-provoking questions are among the best LinkedIn headline ideas for people that want to position themselves as thought leaders in their industry.

Humor headline

Humor headline

Adding some humor and personality into your headline is a great way to stand out.

It’s simple, memorable, and can also build rapport when connecting with your leads!

Bonus tip: Adding an emoji to your headline on LinkedIn makes you stand out from others in search results.

Bigger picture headline

Bigger picture headline

Lots of headlines focus on a specific type of customer persona.

Nashla’s headline here expands her focus to the whole team.

If you have an overarching, long-term vision or goal, you can mention it in your headline to inspire candidates and get them to focus on the bigger picture.

Conclusion

To recap, a LinkedIn headline is the small section of text at the top of your LinkedIn profile in which you can describe what you do in 120 characters or less.

One of the most common LinkedIn headline formulas follows the “Title | Company – Helping (Target Audience) Through USP” structure.

But as you can see from the headline in LinkedIn examples above, there are many different ways you can structure it.

To wrap up, let’s answer some of the most common LinkedIn headline questions.

  • What is a good LinkedIn headline?

A good LinkedIn headline entices your ideal customer persona to click on your profile to learn more about what you do. To write an effective LinkedIn headline, be sure to keep in mind the best practices and examples mentioned in this article.

  • What is a professional headline?

A professional LinkedIn headline should take into consideration your target audience and how you help them. Then, you should use language and words your target audience will understand to show in 120 characters or less how you can solve their problems.

  • What should a student LinkedIn headline include?

As a student, you’ll most likely want to use a job-seeker headline, optimized with relevant keywords for your industry. At the same time, you should try to keep it short and straightforward. In your headline, you should include what makes you qualified for your dream position and how you can help.

  • How do I make my LinkedIn headline stand out?

There are many different ways you can use your LinkedIn headline to stand out. While it largely depends on your brand and what you do, you should use this checklist when writing your LinkedIn headline:

  1. Is it tailored to your target audience?
  2. Does it include your USP?
  3. Does it make you seem approachable?
  4. Does it include a CTA?
  5. Is it creative?

For more headline examples, see the section above.

Finally, once you’ve written down your headline and optimized your profile, you can start doing outreach and generating leads on LinkedIn.

Get started with Expandi’s 7-day free trial to learn how to best utilize LinkedIn automation on autopilot.

Originally published on February 9, 2022, updated on December 5, 2022. 

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