How to write a LinkedIn headline

Your LinkedIn headline is the most-read line on your entire profile. It follows you into every feed, search result, comment and connection request. Most people waste it on their job title. A good headline does two jobs instead: it tells the right person who you help and what they get, and it includes the words those people actually search for. Get it right and it works for you around the clock.

Here’s the formula, the keyword bit most people miss, and a few before-and-afters you can copy the shape of.

Why your headline matters more than your job title

Your headline appears everywhere your name does, and it’s often the only thing someone reads before deciding to click, connect or scroll past. Your job title lives further down the profile and says nothing about the value you offer. The headline is the one line of positioning that travels with you, so it should earn its place, not repeat information LinkedIn already shows.

It’s also a ranking factor. When someone searches LinkedIn for “fractional CFO” or “B2B copywriter,” the headline is one of the strongest signals for who shows up. Treat it as both a pitch and a search listing.

The formula for a strong LinkedIn headline

Say who you help, the outcome you deliver, and how, in plain language. A reliable shape:

[Who you help] + [the outcome] + [how / your speciality]

For example: “I help early-stage SaaS founders turn LinkedIn into a sales pipeline: content strategy + ghostwriting.” It’s instantly clear who it’s for, what they get, and what you do. No jargon, no “visionary,” no list of emoji-separated buzzwords.

If you’re a jobseeker, flip it slightly to [your role] + [your speciality] + [the value you bring], so recruiters searching your role find you and understand your edge in one line.

Use keywords: LinkedIn search reads your headline

Include the exact terms people would type to find someone like you. If clients search “employment lawyer” but your headline says “Partner | Trusted Advisor,” you won’t appear. Put your role, your niche and your industry in there in the words your audience uses, not the internal titles your company uses.

Keep it human, though. The goal is a headline that reads naturally to a person and contains the phrases a search engine matches. One or two well-placed keywords beat a comma-salad of ten.

Headline examples: before and after

A few makeovers to show the shift from label to value:

• Before: “Marketing Manager at Acme.” After: “I help SaaS teams turn blog traffic into demos: content + SEO for B2B.”
• Before: “Freelance Designer | Creative | Coffee addict.” After: “Brand & web designer for wellness startups: sites that actually convert.”
• Before: “Recruitment Consultant.” After: “I place senior engineers at UK scale-ups: 3-week average time-to-hire.”

Notice the pattern: a real person, a specific audience, and a concrete outcome. Specific always beats generic, the same rule that governs what to post on LinkedIn.

Mind the 220-character limit

You get 220 characters, but only the first 40–50 reliably show in search and on mobile, so front-load your point. Lead with who you help and the outcome; put secondary detail or keywords after. If you want to check exactly where your headline gets cut off before the truncation, our free LinkedIn character counter has a dedicated Headline mode set to the 220-character limit.

Your headline is step one of showing up as a recognisable professional, not just an employee. The next step is turning up in the feed with a consistent point of view, which is really about personal branding on LinkedIn, and it’s where WordPush helps: it keeps you posting in your own voice so the promise in your headline is backed by a feed that proves it.