8 Tips To Build An Attractive Summary On LinkedIn

Among all the existing social media, LinkedIn has undoubtedly become the landmark for professionals. To stand out from the other executives on LinkedIn, and attract the attention of a maximum of Internet users, it's essential to optimize your profile by not neglecting any of the sections. With the headline, your LinkedIn summary is one of the most critical sections on your LinkedIn profile since it is the first thing people read. That's why it's imperative to optimize your summary on your LinkedIn profile.

This article will show you how to build an engaging summary on LinkedIn.

WHAT IS A LINKEDIN SUMMARY?

A LinkedIn summary is a short paragraph (limited to 2,500 characters) that you can create to describe yourself, introduce yourself, share your successes, your ambitions, and what you offer (soft & hard skills). This short paragraph is one of the most critical sections of your LinkedIn profile, if not THE most important.

As an executive leader, the LinkedIn summary is the equivalent of your electronic business card. Advantages of this summary compared to the classic business card? On LinkedIn, your profile can be as detailed and illustrated as you like.

The main mistake made by executives on LinkedIn is to neglect or not fill in the summary section in favor of other elements of the profile like work experience, degrees, languages, etc.

The LinkedIn resume is the tagline of your profile. It should be written with care and it should represent who you are in a few sentences. This paragraph gives an overview of your skills and personality. It allows Internet users, recruiters, and collaborators to read the rest of your profile.

8 TIPS TO WRITE YOUR LINKEDIN SUMMARY

1. Writing less than 2,000 characters

The summary/info section allows you to write up to 2,500 characters. However, you shouldn't take advantage of the total number of characters. A summary is similar to a resume. Why? The recruiter will only spend a few seconds reading your summary. It is necessary to present your added value, as well as your area of expertise, by being CONCISE.

For your LinkedIn summary to be eye-catching, the objective is to write no more than 1,500 characters. However, if you want to add 1-2 pieces of information that you consider essential, the thing to remember is not to exceed 2,000 characters.

2. Write percussive first lines

Take into consideration that only the first few lines of your summary will appear on your profile. To see your entire info section, users must click on the "read more" button to see the rest of your summary. As you can see, it's essential to carefully write the first 300 characters to encourage users to continue reading your profile.

3. Pay attention to the configuration

Avoid overwhelming potential visitors with long text because your summary is not an essay. It is better to divide your information into 2-3 paragraphs.

To make your profile more dynamic and catch the eye of your readers, you can (and should) use symbols and/or smileys. However, be careful not to overuse them. Smileys can illustrate a skill, a hobby, a trait of your personality, etc. They give a more visual dimension to your profile.

Your summary should be AERIAL and EASY to read. You should prefer short and impactful sentences rather than long ones that don't make sense and will lose your visitors.

4. Add keywords to optimize your SEO

As a Junior you are expected to apply for jobs while as senior manager or C-level executive you are expected to be approached and selected by companies. However, for this to happen, no matter your current position, as a candidate you need to be found on LinkedIn. Keywords are not meant to be read, but to help reference your profile. Like websites, LinkedIn profiles are referenced by search engines. Keywords used in LinkedIn summaries and posts will help your profile stand out in searches on and off the platform. Including keywords will maximize your chances of being found on Google (i.e. senior director in the cosmetics industry).

You can add hashtags to increase your visibility, but make sure you use a balance between 3 and 10 hashtags. Adding less than 3 words would be useless for SEO. Putting more than 10 would be considered spam by the algorithm. Only use hashtags that are relevant to your field/industry.

The +: Use synonyms, and expressions containing your keywords. Your natural referencing on LinkedIn will be even better.

5. Write in the first person

Writing in the third person is like thinking you are writing about yourself when you are someone else. Writing a LinkedIn summary in the first person creates a personal link between you and your readers/visitors, which builds credibility that can lead to real potential connections.

Avoid the ready-made formulas that can be read on various articles and websites. By looking at these templates, you are certain to find phrases that appear frequently. Like the greeting at the bottom of an email, they are generic. Your text must be personal to you. It is essential to rework it. The ideal is not to use the different sentence models at all.

Try to have a personal tone. It's not about writing while speaking, but being yourself while writing. This is your time to shine and show your personality in your writing. There is no magic formula for this, just follow your instincts. If, upon rereading a sentence, you find that it doesn't sound like you, change it!

6. Take care of the spelling

It may seem obvious, but many LinkedIn summaries are written with mistakes. Making errors in your summary discredits you totally and can make your summary go from excellent to mediocre, especially when you are in a managerial position.

The solution? Take the time to write your summary well and run it through an automatic spell checker such as Grammarly or Hemingway. Don't hesitate to proofread your text, but also to have your friends, family, and colleagues read it if you have any doubts or if you want some feedback.

7. Add multimedia content

What's great about LinkedIn is that the platform allows you to add several media elements to complete your summary. The average time a user spends on a LinkedIn profile is 5 seconds! With links and multimedia files, you can increase this average time from 30 to 60 seconds. As an executive, you have many years of work experience, don’t hesitate to show your work! You can complete your summary by adding infographics, videos, your blog, links to articles you wrote, or your website, which will make your summary way more attractive.

The +: the media tend to appear even if the visitor does not click on the "Read more" button of your summary.

8. End with a call to action

At the end of your LinkedIn summary, call your visitors to do something: contact you (phone, email, social networks), visit your website/blog, etc.

Your call to action should be DIRECT and EFFECTIVE. It should show that you are open to conversation. Your call to action should tell people what to do with the information and ideas you have provided about your profession/career. Don't confuse your readers about the next step to reach you, or they will look for someone else (perhaps your competitor).

Don’t neglect this ultimate part of your summary since it could be read by one of your collaborators, a recruiter, a friend, your future boss, etc.

CONCLUSION

A persuasive LinkedIn summary sparks curiosity to learn more about you and yet connect with you. Therefore, you need to make sure that the overview you present about yourself on LinkedIn is authentic.

Taking into account the different points mentioned in this article can boost your profile leading to potential connections, expanding your network, and finding new opportunities. Don’t forget that as an executive, LinkedIn is the best tool to promote yourself and your company.

You now have the keys to knowing how to make your LinkedIn resume your first point of contact.

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