Five practical steps that fix most LinkedIn profiles

Former LinkedIn employee Alicia Teltz now helps professionals use the platform more effectively. After analyzing hundreds of profiles, she identified frequently recurring mistakes and compiled five practical steps to fix them.

The advice was published in an article for the American magazine Inc.. In it, Teltz shows how to make a profile clearer and more aligned with the type of content the person publishes.

According to her, when a profile and its posts tell different stories, readers can get confused and the opportunity is lost. Therefore, it is necessary to pay close attention to the platform's various sections.

The five steps to fix your LinkedIn profile:

1. Find out what your profile currently says about you

Read your headline, "About" section, experience, and skills as if you had never met yourself. Ask yourself: what five topics would this person likely post about? Then, compare the answer with your last ten posts. The goal isn't to grade yourself, but to find the gap. If your content talks about consulting and your profile still presents you only as a former sales director, something needs adjusting.

2. Decide what you want to be known for

Complete the sentence: "As someone with [relevant experience], I help [specific people] achieve [result] through [method], without [common obstacle]." This sentence makes it clear who you serve, what changes for the client, and why they should trust you. It also acts as a filter for your upcoming posts: would the people described in this sentence care about this content?

Example: "As a former director of operations, I help growing retailers reduce delivery delays by improving warehouse processes, without buying another expensive software."

3. Make your profile reinforce this position

Your banner, headline, "About" section, and experience should tell the same story without repeating the exact same words. Put your clearest job description in your headline. Use the "About" section to explain the problem your clients face, how you help, and the next clear step. In your experience section, show concrete evidence: completed work, types of clients, and verifiable results. Choose skills that reflect what you actually do on a day-to-day basis.

4. Spend time with the people you want to reach

Follow professionals in your field, observe potential clients' questions, and join conversations when you have something useful to add. Use feed controls to see less irrelevant content. This practice reveals what your audience genuinely cares about and how they describe their problems. LinkedIn uses your profile information and ongoing engagement to personalize what each member sees, so it pays to be intentional with your feed.

5. Give people a reason to read the post

A well-aligned profile won't save an empty post. Share lessons from real work: explain a decision, tell about a mistake, question a common assumption, or show how to solve a problem. Be specific enough so that the reader can apply the idea after closing the app.

LinkedIn has been reducing generic posts and engagement bait while prioritizing useful professional insights. The goal is not to turn every post into a sales page, but to create a coherent path from the attention-grabbing insight to the person and business behind it.

The final test

Teltz summarizes the final test in a simple question: if someone found your best post today and clicked on your profile, would they understand why you were the one who wrote it?