The short version: go through your profile section by section and ask two questions of each part. Is it current and complete? And does it point at the work you want next, in a form someone can scan on a phone? Twenty checks cover the whole profile, and the headline is the one to fix first.
The scorecard below is the reference. Open your profile in another tab, give yourself a point for every check you pass, and note the ones you miss. The sections after the table explain each check and show what a passing version looks like. Since the headline shows up everywhere you do, the free LinkedIn Headline Generator is a good place to start if that row fails.
Step zero: write your goal sentence
Every check is easier to judge when you know who the profile is for. Before you score anything, fill in this sentence:
I want [audience] to see me as [role or expertise] and to [action: hire me, book a call, refer me].
For example: “I want hiring managers at health tech companies to see me as a data analyst and to invite me to interview.” Whenever a check below asks whether something is relevant, this sentence is the test.
The scorecard
| # | Section | Pass if |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | Photo | It is recent and looks like you today |
| 2 | Photo | Your face is clear even at thumbnail size |
| 3 | Banner | It is not the default image |
| 4 | Banner | It adds one fact the headline does not, readable on a phone |
| 5 | Headline | It opens with the title or expertise your audience searches for |
| 6 | Headline | It includes a proof point or focus area, within the character limit |
| 7 | About | The first two lines say what you do and for whom |
| 8 | About | It includes specific results and ends with a next step |
| 9 | Experience | Current title, company and dates are correct |
| 10 | Experience | Recent roles show outcomes you could explain in an interview |
| 11 | Skills | Top skills match the work you want next |
| 12 | Skills | The same skills appear in context in your About or experience |
| 13 | Recommendations | You have a few, from people who saw your work directly |
| 14 | Recommendations | At least one is from your current or most recent role |
| 15 | Featured | Two to four items, the best one first |
| 16 | URL | You use a custom profile URL |
| 17 | Contact | It shows the way you want people to reach you, and every link works |
| 18 | Settings | Location and industry are set correctly |
| 19 | Settings | Your public profile shows what you want signed-out visitors to see |
| 20 | Activity | Your recent posts and comments fit the goal sentence |
How to read your score: there is no official scale, so treat this as your own baseline. Fix the misses from the top of the profile down, because the top is what everyone sees, and score again after each session.
Photo (checks 1 and 2)
People see your photo before anything else, often at the size of a thumbnail next to a comment. A passing photo looks like you today, with your face filling most of the circle, even light, a plain background and nobody else in the frame. The quick test is to shrink it on your screen before you upload it. If you cannot tell who it is at that size, crop tighter.
Banner (checks 3 and 4)
Most profiles still have the default banner, which tells a visitor nothing. A passing banner says one short thing about your work, or shows something relevant, without putting text where your photo covers it on mobile. The free Banner Maker exports a 1584 × 396 image with the text kept clear of the photo, so it does not come out blurry or cropped.
What good looks like: someone who sees only the top of your profile learns one new fact about you that the headline does not already say.
Headline (checks 5 and 6)
The headline appears in search results, comments, invitations and messages. It is the most-read line you have. It should start with the title or expertise your audience actually searches for, add one proof point or focus area, and say who you help if there is room. The first few words should make sense alone, since small screens may cut the rest. The headline limit is 220 characters.
Weak: “Analytics professional seeking new opportunities.”
Strong:
Data Analyst · SQL, Python, Tableau · Turning hospital data into staffing decisions
The weak version gives a recruiter nothing to search for and nothing to remember. Words like “passionate,” “guru” and “ninja” fail for the same reason. The Headline Generator drafts options from your role, a result and your audience, so you can compare a few before you pick.
About (checks 7 and 8)
Only the first lines show before “see more,” so they carry the section. “Welcome to my profile” wastes them. Open with what you do and for whom, in the first person. Follow with a short paragraph of proof: results you could explain in an interview. Use the terms people in your field search for, keep paragraphs short for mobile, and end with a next step, like what to message you about. The About section limit is 2,600 characters, but most good ones use far less.
What good looks like: a reader who stops after the first paragraph still knows your role, your audience and one reason to trust you. The About Generator builds this structure from your own facts and checks the length.
Experience (checks 9 and 10)
Start with the basics: the current role has the right title, company and dates, and they match your resume. Then look at the recent roles. Each should have a line or two on scope, such as team, product or customers, and a few bullets about what changed because you were there.
Senior Customer Success Manager, Northwind Own a portfolio of mid-market accounts across North America.
- Rebuilt the onboarding playbook with product and support
- Ran quarterly business reviews for every account in the portfolio
- Trained four new team members on renewal planning
Each bullet starts with a verb and names an outcome or a piece of ownership. If your title is unusual, add the common version in brackets so search finds it. Older roles can be shorter. A gap or a career change gets one plain line if it needs one.
Skills (checks 11 and 12)
The skills list is not a record of every tool you have touched. It is a signal of what you want to be hired for. Pin the most important ones near the top, remove the outdated ones, and make sure your top skills also show up in your About or experience, so they read as real rather than claimed. A recruiter who reads only your top skills should be able to guess your job title. Our guide on how to add skills on LinkedIn covers choosing and ordering them.
Recommendations (checks 13 and 14)
A few specific recommendations beat a long list of “great to work with.” Aim for a mix of relationships, such as a manager, a peer and a client, with at least one from your current or latest role. Write some for others too; it is part of how the section stays healthy. If you have none, how to ask for a LinkedIn recommendation has messages for five common situations.
Featured, URL and contact (checks 15 to 17)
The Featured section is the closest thing your profile has to a portfolio. Two to four items is plenty, with the one you most want opened in first place. For ideas, see LinkedIn featured section ideas.
Replace the default profile URL, which ends in a string of characters, with a custom one; how to customize your LinkedIn URL shows where the setting is. Then open your contact info and click every link. Old portfolio links and dead websites are more common than you would think.
Settings and activity (checks 18 to 20)
Location and industry are easy to forget and often used as filters by people searching. Your public profile settings decide what people who are not signed in can see, so check that view. If you are job hunting, decide on purpose whether and how to signal that you are open to work.
Finally, scroll your recent activity. Posts and comments show on your profile, so they are part of it. They do not need to be about work only, but they should not contradict your goal sentence. And look at the whole profile on a phone as well as a laptop.
A three-session plan
Trying to fix everything at once usually means fixing nothing well. A realistic order:
- Session one: goal sentence, photo, banner and headline (checks 1 to 6).
- Session two: About and your two most recent roles (checks 7 to 10).
- Session three: skills, featured, URL, contact and settings (checks 11, 12 and 15 to 20).
- Ongoing: ask for one recommendation (checks 13 and 14), and rescore every few months or after a big change.
The ten-second test
When you are done, ask a friend in your field to look at your profile for ten seconds and tell you what you do and who you do it for. If their answer matches your goal sentence, the profile is working. If it does not, the gap usually sits in the headline or the first two lines of About.
Start with check 5
Your headline shapes how every other section is read. Draft a few versions in the free LinkedIn Headline Generator, pick the one that passes checks 5 and 6, then work down the scorecard. For more on each section, browse our profile guides.