Research shows that your LinkedIn profile is 14 times more likely to be viewed if you take the time to create a well thought-out and professional looking LinkedIn profile picture. There are a number of factors to take into consideration when selecting your profile picture, including ensuring you stay within LinkedIn’s photo guidelines and conditions. The saying goes ‘never judge a book by its cover’ but in this situation that’s exactly what’s going to happen so here’s a list of helpful tips that should help you achieve a worthy LinkedIn picture that you’re proud to show off.
Let the pros do the hard work for you
In an ideal world we’d all have our photos taken by a professional. They know all the tricks of the trade to make you look your best but, unfortunately, they also don’t come cheap. Any well-reputed photographer will charge an hourly rate of around £100 upwards which won’t be within everyone’s budget, however a plus side to using a professional is that you can use the same quality image for your ‘meet the team’ page on your work website, for your author’s image at the bottom of your blog posts or on any of your social media platforms.
Keep it natural – LinkedIn wants to see the real you
Rule number one to remember when it comes to creating a natural looking photo is to smile. This may sound simple enough but it can be trickier than you’d think to get the balance right. Smile too much and it looks forced and you have the ability to look a little over-enthusiastic, too little and you look like you don’t want to be there. Remember we want to get a good look at you so don’t hide behind sunglasses or hats and don’t use the LinkedIn profile picture that you took on your last holiday of you sipping cocktails in the local bar (no matter how cool you think it makes you look). Take a simple headshot, crop it from the shoulders upwards, make eye contact with the camera and remember, no pouting!
No group shots or distracting backgrounds
It’s your LinkedIn profile therefore you want the focus to be on you and no one else. Remember that many of the people viewing your profile will have never met you before so looking at a picture of you and your three best friends from last year’s music festival is not going to help them at all. You also don’t want them to be distracted by anything going on in the background of your photo. Use a plain, nondescript background to keep the focus on you but avoid dreary colours like browns and greys.
Dress to impress
You’re hoping to make a good impression with your profile photo so make sure you wear your Sunday best. Most people suggest wearing your smartest work outfit. Keep it smart, keep it conservative; and girls – don’t overdo it on the makeup. You want it to be a true representation of what you look like on a daily basis so resist the temptation to ‘doll yourself up’ too much. There’s nothing worse than having an image of the person you’re meeting in your head and then meeting someone completely different. It’s confusing for everyone involved.
Keep your LinkedIn profile picture up-to-date
Lastly keep your photo up to date. Studies suggest updating it yearly in order to give a true representation of what you currently look like. Don’t be tempted to hold onto that favourite picture of you from five years ago, we want to see what you look like now, not then.
In this day and age your LinkedIn profile can have as much influence on an employer as your CV so get yourself ahead of the game by making sure you have the most professional looking, high quality profile picture of them all.
LinkedIn is a great B2B tool. If you want to generate more leads for your business, sign up for our upcoming LinkedIn Strategy Webinar where we will be sharing actionable strategies for lead generation.
