things to do on linkedin now

Customise your LinkedIn URL

Making LinkedIn your own is easy

When you first set up your LinkedIn account, you are allocated a randomly selected URL consisting of your name followed by a bunch of numbers. This not only makes your URL long, it is difficult to share with others and looks unprofessional.

Since most employers will review your LinkedIn profile as part of the hiring process, it’s vital you do everything you can to ensure your profile shines. Customising your LinkedIn profile URL is a simple and quick way to shows:
You’re a professional
Have good attention to detail
You care about making a good impression

Another reason why you should customise your LinkedIn profile is that it makes you easier to find which is particularly important if you have a common name. Customising your LinkedIn URL can make the difference between coming up in the first page of search results for your name rather than being delegated to the bottom of the search results. All because you couldn’t be bothered to spend the few moments it takes to stand out from the crowd.

Ready to customise your LinkedIn URL? Follow these steps to make this powerful change now:

Step 1: At the top of your LinkedIn profile, click on the ‘Me’ icon. Click on the drop-down menu and select ‘View profile’.

Step 2: At the top-right side of the page, select ‘Edit public profile & URL’.

Step 3: Under the ‘Edit URL’ tab, click the edit icon to the right of your current URL. Type in your customised URL which, if not already taken by someone else, will be accepted. You can only have a combination of five to 20 numbers and letters, no spaces or special characters.

Step 4: Save your changes.

If someone else with the same name has already taken your desired URL you could consider adding your middle name initial or, you could add a role title or specialism. For example, if your name is John Jones and that name has already been taken you might like to make your URL JohnJonesJournalist which gives the added benefit of you being found easier if someone is searching for you on LinkedIn.

One thing to point out is that LinkedIn limits the number of times you can change your URL. Here’s the guidance from LinkedIn’s own help pages:

1. You can change your URL up to five times within six months. Once you have changed your URL for the fifth time, you won’t be able to change it for another six months. Changing your URL several times may make it hard for people to find you.

2. If a member uses a URL and then changes it, that URL will be unavailable for use by yourself and other members for six months.

Once you’ve created your ideal LinkedIn URL, be sure to update it wherever you’ve shared it previously (e.g. on your CV, in your email signature etc) as anyone landing at your old URL will get a message of ‘profile not found’.

Lisa LaRue, MCareerDev,  RCDP, MAC

Lisa LaRue, MCareerDev, RCDP, MAC

Career Coach, EMCC-Accredited Master Practitioner Coach and CDI-Registered Career Development Professional with more than 20 years’ experience helping achieve successful and fulfilling careers.

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