2025 is just around the corner and apart from the festivities – and the required end-of-the-year paperwork – it’s probably the best time to go over your current LinkedIn profile and see where you can improve before the start of the new year.
Even if you feel like your profile is already perfect, if you haven’t made any changes or new optimizations for the past year, you’re probably due to revisit what you currently have.
(Plus, we’re also adding links to the guides we have on optimizing these sections using AI and LLMs!)
So prepare to take some notes, and let’s see what tactics we can use to optimize your LinkedIn profile for the coming new year!
Profile Photo
Let’s start with the basics!
Your profile photo.
Now, if you ask me, you can use the same profile photo for a couple of years without any issue, but if you’re really looking at making yourself more active on the platform, a quick change every 6-8 months or so is always welcome.
A new profile photo shows people you are active on the platform and it also gives them a reason to reach out.
(Proof that you don’t need to wear a suit 👆)
Here’s how you optimize your LinkedIn profile photo:
- Use a photo of what you would like going to a meeting – you don’t need to be in a suit.
- You don’t have to smile if you don’t want to – but don’t frown at your potential customers either. I would settle for an expression that looks inviting.
- If you don’t have a good background, you can use a tool like removebg to remove the background and replace it with a solid color or gradient.
- Show your photo some love by enhancing it, if you’re not design savvy there are tools such as AI Photo Enhancer where you can drop a photo of yourself and AI will enhance it for you.
- Make sure you follow the rule of thirds!
Cover Photo
Once you’re done with the profile photo, let’s jump to the largest piece of visual real estate on your LinkedIn profile, your cover photo.
Now your cover photo is a chance for you to market yourself and your services. It gives you a lot of space to showcase your products, the clients of your logos to build trust signals, and the range of services you offer.
If your LinkedIn profile page is your landing page, then your cover photo is your hero image.
Now there are a couple of ways to optimize your LinkedIn profile’s cover photo this coming year:
- Do a standard refresh to your LinkedIn cover photo by:
- Rearranging elements
- Updating the companies you’ve worked with
- Using a new photo of yourself or refreshing image elements
- Testing out new CTAs
- Adding new products or projects
- Switching out color schemes
- Using a BTS composite image that shows you and your team hard at work.
- Showcasing your corporate imagery with something plain with a quick tagline from the organization
Even if the change is minor, refreshing your cover photo is an opportunity for you to get out of a rut.
Headline
Your LinkedIn headline is your chance to tell people what you can do for them.
Yes, you can just add in your position and company – especially in more technical professions.
However, you want to show people that you are a multidimensional individual.
So our rule is simple.
Tell your profile viewers EXACTLY what you can do for them…
THEN tell them about WHY you can do that.
(You can then end it on a fun or heartwarming note!)
To make the process more simple for you, we created this guide: AI-Powered LinkedIn Optimization: ChatGPT for LinkedIn Headlines!
About Me Summary
Okay, there are plenty of ways to optimize your LinkedIn about summary, and if you’re one of our long-term readers we’ve created numerous guides on this.
The one thing you have to keep in mind is that if someone on your profile has somehow ended up on your about summary, this just means that they’re really interested in you so this is your chance to convert.
Do you want to know why we can say that with confidence?
When’s the last time you scrolled all the way to someone’s about summary if you didn’t really want to connect with them?
For starters, if you’re truly stuck, why not take a look at this guide: How to Write a LinkedIn About Section with ChatGPT Like a Growth Hacker. This uses our custom prompt that you can use with any LLM/AI tool of your choice, and it will generate a pretty sick about summary for you.
If you want to be more specific with how you structure your summary, you can use the prompt to help you generate ideas and pegs.
The general rules for you about summary to optimize your LinkedIn profile for the coming year are as follows:
- This is not a resume – if you are in the academe you could get away with having things listed down like a resume, but this is your chance to tell a story.
- Prioritize your narrative, people want to know “what” you do, but they’re more interested in “why” you’re doing the things that you are doing.
- People check LinkedIn on their phones, too, you know. So please, make it easy on the eyes. What you could do is to test the perceived length of your summary via your phone and then adjust accordingly.
- Three lines per paragraph works
- Two sentences per paragraph also works
- Make sure you add a method for people to contact you directly, such as a business email.
- You also want to make sure you hook people in with the first line, so work on your copy!
Featured Posts
Look, at this point, you probably already have featured posts right?
(I really hope you do.)
And, since they showcase the best things about your professional career, maybe it’s time for you to start switching things out to show folks that you’ve managed to brew a couple of exciting projects in 2024.
At the very least, you can add value to them by adding a piece of media such as an infographic, whitepaper, or case study that you were able to create this year and are proud of.
We’re not telling you to remove your prior achievements from your featured posts.
What we are saying is that this is a good opportunity to split the featured posts between:
- Media and links that define you – the forever stuff
- New media and links that add value to other people – the cool stuff you do that’s added to your portfolio and can serve as a resource to the casual profile viewer
We all know that the featured posts serve to highlight your depth as an individual, but don’t miss out on showcasing cool projects or tools that they can use.
As a growth hacker, you know that the person who provides the most value first usually wins the deal.
Skills & Endorsements
Did you learn something new this year?
I’m sure we all did.
And it’s probably fine time for you to revisit your skills and endorsements sections.
We know this is not the biggest thing you can do for your profile, but this is a minor optimization that can tip the scales in your favor.
At the same time, even if both “Skills” and “Endorsements” have their own sections way below your profile. They also come with a condensed featured placement just below the About summary which means their visible to people who are interested in your About section.
This also means it’s probably time for you to ask for new endorsements (we have guides on this!) So that you can beef this section up.
Check out this guide on Writing Meaningful LinkedIn Endorsements with ChatGPT
Why do we like this section so much?
It’s not one section you can build overnight, and it also contains trust signals from other members showing your profile viewer that people are endorsing you for the skills you’ve chosen to showcase.
Final Notes on How to Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for 2025
These six sections are designed to provide you with the most value for 2025.
However, you can’t stop there.
There are a couple more things you can do before the year ends.
You can do a “wrap-up” of all your projects this year and turn it into some engaging content that you can showcase in your featured section or post about.
You can take some time to thank people who have left their mark on your life this year in tagged posts.
And you can also take this time, to read up on LinkedIn algorithm updates that will matter in 2025!
Now that the year is ending, take the opportunity to engage with your network, be grateful and prep for the coming year ahead.
Here’s to more growth in the coming year!
