LinkedIn Headline: 15 Examples + Templates

Last Updated on February 22, 2023 by Alex Birkett

Writing a LinkedIn headline isn’t rocket science.

But this subtle display of our experience and expertise goes a long way in helping you stand out for opportunities.

Whether you’re searching for a new job, hoping to get speaking or gig opportunities, or using LinkedIn to sell and promote your product, your LinkedIn headline is the place to start.

It’s like the subject line of the email; if a prospect doesn’t open it, they won’t ever see all the great content inside.

What is a LinkedIn Headline?

A LinkedIn headline is the section of text underneath your name and profile picture on your LinkedIn profile.

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Your LinkedIn headline is like the book cover your career story comes in.

It needs to be readable and captivating enough for recruiters or hiring managers so they can get a taste of what you have to offer and decide if it’s worth their time sinking into the details, even going as far as inviting you over for coffee – no pressure!

Crafting an eye-catching header that shows off your professional legacy is how you stand out from other candidates on various searches–let those creative juices flow.

15 LinkedIn Headlines Examples

Wouldn’t hurt to see some LinkedIn headline examples to get the creative juices flowing, would it?

First up, Jaleh Rezaei is the CEO at Mutiny (an awesome personalization software).

Format: [title] at [company] (we’re hiring!)

This is a simple format and has a call-to-action (“we’re hiring”), so you can infer her main intention is to craft a catchy headline that stands out to a potential job seeker.

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Rich Page is a CRO consultant and also has a call-to-action for his services in his LinkedIn headline. You can tell his main goal is to attract more clients (with the added social proof of his 15 years of experience to attract his target audience)

Format: [role] | [years experience] | [call-to-action]

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Marianne Stjernvall is also a CRO consultant. She has a killer LinkedIn headline that states she’s a freelancer but also the “queen of CRO,” something that stands out from the crowd.

Format: [role] | [catchphrase] | [job title]

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Now we turn to a more action-based LinkedIn headline. Mina Mesbahi is a content strategy consultant and her LinkedIn headline explains what she actually helps brands do.

This effective LinkedIn headline instantly tells her target audience what she can help them accomplish.

Format: [benefit] | [how to achieve benefit]

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Anna Holopainen is a good example of someone with multiple roles, establishing all three key roles in one professional headline. She works on growth, does consulting, and runs a newsletter.

Format: [role one] | [project] | [role 2]

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My esteemed co-founder David Ly Khim has a great, simple LinkedIn headline. This is actually one of the best LinkedIn headline examples on the list (I’m biased) because of its simplicity.

He first states the benefit of what he does, and then his specific job title.

Format: [benefit] | [job title]

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Dave Gerhardt is another multifaceted professional with a few irons in the fire. Despite an illustrious background of great job titles (VP at Drift, Privy, etc.), he focuses instead on what he’s working on currently.

Unlike many people, Dave is already an influencer so it’s unlikely he cares much about appearing in search results or doing LinkedIn SEO (different story for job seekers). Rather, he wants to point you towards his work.

Format: [role one] | [role two] | [link]

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Peep Laja, my former boss and current friend, is the founder of Wynter (but also CXL and Speero).

What I like here is a) he focuses on what his current priority is (Wynter) and b) he gives a bit of actionable advice in his LinkedIn headline (you should test your messaging).

Format: [title] | [social proof] | [actionable advice] | [link]

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Manuel Da Costa is the founder of Effective Experiments. His LinkedIn headline is rather lengthy, but I think it works, especially in the industry he’s operating within.

Format: [title] | [unique framework]

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Next up, Nick Jordan. I LOVE his LinkedIn headline.

Nick’s headline on LinkedIn stands out because it includes concrete numbers. If you’re not in content marketing, you have no idea what these numbers mean.

If you are, they’re impressive and you’re suddenly curious.

Turns out, he runs two companies that help brands generate traffic from search results. A good LinkedIn headline is both clear and provokes curiosity, and this does both well.

Format: [concrete claim] | [link]

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My co-founder Allie Decker’s professional LinkedIn headline is rather simple, offering only her current job title.

This headline example is probably one of the most commonly used, but it’s very effective.

Especially if you work for a strong brand and have a great current job title, this will stand out to recruiters or potential clients.

Format: [current job title] at [company name]

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Emma Stratton is a messaging consultant as well as a few other roles. Her LinkedIn headline calls attention mainly to her consulting role at Punchy, but also mentions that she speaks, advises, and invests.

Also, it uses an emoji (which stands out from the default LinkedIn headline)

Format: [main role] at [company name] | [secondary roles]

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What better place to find good LinkedIn headline examples than from copywriters?

Lianna Patch focuses on funny copy, and, well, you can easily tell that from her LinkedIn headline.

It’s a concise headline that makes you want to click on her LinkedIn profile. And as a copywriter, it shows that she’s able to generate clicks using humor.

Format: [brief description of what you do]

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Joanna Wiebe is another copywriter (the O.G. conversion copywriter) that has a very simple format.

She’s well known, so she can lean on the claim of being the original conversion copywriter (also, a great way to use LinkedIn keywords for someone searching for that specific function).

Format: [value proposition] | [current role]

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Joel Klettke is also a copywriter by trade, but his current focus is on building his company, Case Study Buddy.

His headline for LinkedIn states this upfront, and then gives more context and a brief description on what Case Study Buddy does and who he works with.

Format: [title] at [company] | [what I do for whom]

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I’ll note that I gave quite a few examples of founders and thought leaders, but the more common use for LinkedIn is a job seeker hoping to land more job interviews. So here are a few examples for job seekers:

  • Digital Marketing Specialist | Helping Businesses Generate Leads & Increase Revenue
  • Graphic Designer | Creative Professional with an Eye for Detail
  • Software Engineer | 10+ Years’ Experience with Award-Winning Projects
  • Content Writer | Skilled Storyteller with Proven Results
  • UX Designer | Helping Brands Create Engaging User Experiences
  • Social Media Manager | Connecting Companies & Their Customers Through Digital Channels
  • Sales associate | Over $10M in revenue generated for B2C brands
  • Data scientist | 13 years of data science experience at B2B unicorns

How to Write a Great LinkedIn Headline: 10 Tips

The key to writing a good LinkedIn headline comes from a popular copywriting principle: clarity trumps persuasion.

Whether you’re trying to appear in more LinkedIn searches, appeal to a specific job posting or potential employers, or just cement your positioning for your dream job, it’s important that viewers understand your tagline.

With that in mind, here are a few tips you can follow:

  1. Be accurate: your headline should accurately reflect what you do and who you are.
  2. Stand out: it should be creative and eye-catching. Emojis and strange phrasing helps you differentiate.
  3. Keep it concise: if it’s too long, people won’t be able to grok it as well.
  4. Use keywords: include targeted keywords that describe your industry, skills, and experience. The right keywords will depend on what you’re hoping to accomplish (for example, “sales representative” would be a good keyword for someone looking for a sales gig)
  5. Be specific: instead of listing a general job title, describe what you do in specific terms.
  6. Use action verbs: use action-oriented verbs to convey a sense of accomplishment and drive (“I build automation systems for scaling startups”)
  7. Add calls to action: encourage people to connect with you, visit your website, or read your content by including a call to action in your headline.
  8. Use numbers, statistics, and data: use numbers and statistics to quantify your achievements and make them more impactful.
  9. Make it interesting: your headline should be interesting, unique and catchy, and make people want to read more about you.
  10. Prioritize: if you do many things, prioritize your most important focus and role (“growth marketer at [company] | advisor, investor, speaker”)

If you have strong experience, your default headline can rest on the brands you’ve worked with and the job titles you’ve held.

If you’re a consultant or someone running a business, it helps to get creative with your potential LinkedIn headline.

5 LinkedIn Headline Templates

Not sure where to start when it comes to writing your own headline? Don’t worry—you don’t have to start from scratch.

There are plenty of templates available online that can help guide your composition process. Here are a few popular ones:

1. Current job + keywords

Format: “Job Title at Company Name | Keyword 1, Keyword 2, Keyword 3”

Example: “Technical Recruiter at Google | HR, Technical Recruiting, Sales”

Who it’s best for: most people. If you’re happy at a job but want to keep an updated resume that may correspond to a job description in your field, this is a safe bet.

2. Skills-based LinkedIn headline

Format: “Top performer in Industry/Field | Strong in Skill 1, Skill 2, Skill 3”

Example: “Top sales professional in B2B SaaS | outbound sales, sales development, business development”

Who it’s best for: job seekers who want to emphasis career expertise in the pursuit of specific job descriptions (the keywords here will help you get found)

3. Experience-based LinkedIn headline

Format: “Results-driven professional with X years of experience in Industry/Field | Specializing in Skill 1, Skill 2, Skill 3”

Example: “10 years of conversion rate optimization experience in ecommerce | Specializing in landing page optimization, analytics, qualitative research”

Who it’s best for: consultants, freelancers, and agencies

4. Benefits-based LinkedIn headline

Format: “I help you [X] at [company name]”

Example: “I help you 2X your agency pipeline at Sales Acceleratoes”

Who it’s best for: services business owners and consultants

5. Call-to-action LinkedIn headline

Format: “Title or role | link to project”

Example: “Co-founder at Omniscient Digital | Listen to my podcast beomniscient.com/podcast”

Who it’s best for: typically, founders and those with personal projects. Also, hiring managers.

3 LinkedIn Headline Generation Tools

A headline example can give you inspiration, but why not use a LinkedIn headline generator to give you multiple options and ideas.

3 LinkedIn headline generator options for you to consider

  • Jasper
  • ChatGPT
  • Copy AI

1. Jasper

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Jasper is my favorite LinkedIn headline generator and my favorite AI text generator overall.

You can use Jasper in a few different ways:

  • They have a Chrome extension you can use to write directly on LinkedIn.
  • They have an AI chatbot that you can communicate with interactively
  • They have templates designed specifically for LinkedIn.
  • They have free form prompts and commands.

I like to use their command feature (available in their Boss Mode plan). This allows me to give the tool the specific context and format I’d like to use.

You can even give it a LinkedIn headline example as inspiration or tell it your desired goal (such as job searching or to find keywords tailored to your niche).

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This one will cost some money, but it’s affordable starting at $24 per month. You’ll find that over time this thing saves you TONS of time on content creation.

2. ChatGPT

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ChatGPT is OpenAI’s most recent release.

It’s a text model that allows you to use a chat interface to generate AI copy.

The use cases are unlimited. If you’re creative with your prompts, you can get this thing to help you with nearly anything.

As a LinkedIn headline generator, I find that you need to be quite specific with your formulas and how you ask it to template your LinkedIn headlines.

But it’s free (for now at least) and incredibly powerful.

3. Copy AI

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Copy AI is another great AI copywriting tool and LinkedIn headline generator.

Unlike Jasper and ChatGPT, Copy AI is based on use case templates. They have templates to help you:

And their LinkedIn bio generator is the perfect template to help you craft effective LinkedIn headlines instantly.

You can use this tool for free up to 2,000 words, and then it’s $49/mo for unlimited words.

Conclusion

If you’re looking for ways to make your profile stand out from the competition on LinkedIn, then crafting an effective headline is a great place to start.

Whether you use one of the examples above or craft your own unique tagline using one of the provided templates as inspiration, creating an attention-grabbing headline is sure to give your profile (and career!) a major boost on this powerful platform.