Make Your LinkedIn Banner Shine: Pro Tips & Free Templates
Inside: A LinkedIn Banner can help your profile stand out in the crowd. Here’s how to get it right with pro tips from a career coach and personal branding expert.
If you had free access to a billboard outside your target employer’s window that advertised all your awesome, would you jump on the opportunity?
I mean it. No strings attached! And it could reach 1 billion people!
You’re in? Excellent. Because this is not just a hypothetical situation. You can have access to that free billboard. It’s called your LinkedIn Banner.
What is a LinkedIn Banner?
LinkedIn is a professional social media platform that is SO much more than a place to scroll mindlessly. With opportunities for networking, company search, job boards, and sharing thought leadership, LinkedIn brings a lot to the table.
To make the most out of LinkedIn, it’s important that you have a complete profile, which is measured by completed sections.
A complete profile helps recruiters and employers find you and allows you to put your best first forward when someone Googles your name. A complete profile includes your Experience, Education, Skills, About Section, Headline, and Profile Photo. You can learn more about optimizing each of these sections here.
The LinkedIn Banner is another section that makes your profile more complete, but it’s often overlooked when users fill out their profiles. You’ll find the cover photo right behind your profile photo; it’s default setting is a plain gray box like this.
Great news about that gray box, though! You can edit it and turn this prime real estate into your personal billboard! Plus, with templates, it can be a super simple, quick win to help you reach your goals.
What to Include on a LinkedIn Banner
Before we turn your LinkedIn Banner into a personal billboard that someone will see immediately upon clicking on your profile, let’s clarify a few things.
What is your goal for LinkedIn?
Consider why you have a LinkedIn profile and what you want LinkedIn to help you achieve.
For example, are you…
- Job seeking and you want to be noticed by recruiters
- Making a career change and want to be known for skills or thought leadership beyond what is obvious on your resume.
- Seeking to grow within your company and using LinkedIn to network internally and build your brand
- In sales and using LinkedIn to find new leads
- An entrepreneur using LinkedIn to connect with potential clients
When you know your goals, it’s much easier to plan how to achieve them!
Who is your target audience?
Next, let’s think about your target audience. And if this sounds like a marketing exercise, it is! You are marketing a pretty incredible product/service – YOU – and before we create a LinkedIn banner to advertise, we need to understand your audience’s needs.
Is your target audience…
- Recruiters working in Finance looking to fill roles
- Small business owners who need marketing help
- HealthTech professionals open to informational conversations
- Hiring Managers in Consumer Packaged Goods companies in Boston
With your target audience in mind, ask yourself this question. Why is this person spending any amount of time on LinkedIn? (Hint: it’s probably not just for fun! It’s to solve a problem. What problem are they trying to solve for themselves or their company?)
What is key to your personal brand?
Lastly, think about what you want your target audience to remember about you when they leave your LinkedIn profile. Our brains can only retain so much information, so keep it simple!
Do you want to be seen as someone who…
- Brings deep industry knowledge
- Is credible in their field
- Has specialized skills
- Is a fun addition to any team
- Oozes passion for a mission
- Knows design in and out
Think about it now and write down a few keywords!
How to Create a LinkedIn Banner
Now that you know what message you want to get across with your LinkedIn banner, you can start getting creative!
Head over to Canva and create a free account if you don’t already have one. It’s a super easy graphic design tool for non-graphic designers, and they have templates you can use to ensure you have the correct size image for your LinkedIn Banner.
For reference, the preferred size is 1584 X 396 pixels, with an aspect ratio of 4:1, but if you type “LinkedIn Banner” into the search bar on Canva, you’ll get the right size. Start with a blank template or one of the templates designed by Canva users.
LinkedIn Banner Styles
You’ll notice that LinkedIn Banners can be just images or images and graphics plus text. The right answer for you depends on your goals, audience, and brand.
Let’s check out some examples to see what could work for you.
LinkedIn Banner With Text
For my LinkedIn banner, I used a tagline for my business, brought in colors that aligned with my brand, and showcased publications where my work has been featured. It’s designed to tell my target audience that I know their goals and can help them get there!
Some of my job-seeking clients who want to be recognized as leaders in their functional area will use a style like the one below. Their name is prominent, and the text also includes keywords for their industry or function and contact details.
I’ve also worked with clients who choose a quote to display on their LinkedIn Banner because it speaks to their commitment to a mission, cause, or purpose.
LinkedIn Banner Without Text
If you choose to go without text, you could use your own photo or a stock photo that represents your target industry or how you serve clients.
Other ideas include skyline photos of the city you live in, bookshelves that showcase your personal brand, or an event photo where you were a speaker.
Another option is a graphical design that color coordinates with your profile photo and aligns with how you want to be seen – creative, analytical, detail-oriented, or bold!
Complete Your LinkedIn Profile
With a great new LinkedIn Banner in hand, you can upload the photo and your profile is that much closer to being complete!
I know what you’re wondering – is it worth it? You have a lot going on as a parent and professional, so will spending precious time on creating or adding a LinkedIn Banner photo truly be helpful?
Short answer – yes!
There are over 1 billion users on LinkedIn. Over 61 million companies have a presence on LinkedIn. 97% of recruiters use LinkedIn! That’s a lot of eyeballs on your billboard and I know you have goals for yourself and your family. Take the time to make that billboard shine and you’ll create the kind of first impression that draws opportunities to you.
Leave your LinkedIn profile in the comments and let’s check out your new Banner!
