15 ways to spruce up your LinkedIn profile in 2025

Tips for LinkedIn newbies and seasoned professionals alike

Photo by Souvik Banerjee on Unsplash

LinkedIn is a valuable tool for networking, job seeking and researching people and their career paths. It is also useful for journalists looking to build their professional profile by sharing their work, networking with peers, learning new skills, and finding fresh sources and prospects.

With over one billion members, 67 million listed companies, and 139,000 listed schools, LinkedIn bills itself as the world’s largest professional network. But are you making the most of it?

This step-by-step guide to optimising your LinkedIn profile is something I teach in multiple classes, but it is not just college journalists who can benefit from a LinkedIn tune up. Be sure to check back and update these elements regularly, as an outdated profile is not a good look.

15 core ingredients for a successful LinkedIn profile

1. Professional headshot: use a professional headshot, looking directly at the camera. The thumbnails on the site and app are small, so zoom in tight. Do not be too far away. And avoid casual photos. No pictures of you at the beach, or a poorly cropped image from a wedding cutting out the person standing next to you. They just…