Adding your custom domain email to your LinkedIn profile can be beneficial for establishing your professional brand and credibility on the platform. LinkedIn is often used by recruiters and hiring managers to evaluate candidates, so having an email associated with your own domain rather than a generic @gmail.com or @yahoo.com email can give you a more polished and professional appearance.
Overview
Here is a quick overview of how to add your custom domain email to your LinkedIn profile:
- Verify ownership of your domain
- Add your custom email as a secondary email in your LinkedIn account settings
- Set your custom email as your primary email address
- Update your public profile URL with your custom email address
In the following sections, we’ll go through each of these steps in more detail.
Verify Domain Ownership
The first step is to verify that you own the domain for your custom email. This is necessary for LinkedIn to confirm that you have the right to use that email professionally. Here’s how to verify domain ownership:
- Go to your LinkedIn account settings
- Under the “Email Addresses” section, click “Add Email”
- Enter your custom email domain (e.g. [email protected])
- LinkedIn will send a verification email to that address
- Click the verification link in the email from LinkedIn
Once you complete email verification, your custom domain will show as “Verified” in your LinkedIn account settings.
Add Custom Email as Secondary Address
Next, you need to add your verified custom email as a secondary email address in your LinkedIn settings:
- Go to your LinkedIn account settings
- Under the “Email Addresses” section, click “Add Email”
- Enter your custom email domain again
- Make sure the email shows as “Verified”
- Click “Make Primary” to set this as your secondary email
You should now see your custom domain email listed as your secondary address.
Set Custom Email as Primary
The secondary email we just added will be used for notifications and verification purposes. To actually display your custom email on your LinkedIn profile, you need to set it as your primary address:
- Go to your account settings in LinkedIn
- Under “Email Addresses”, click the dropdown menu next to your current primary email
- Select “Make Secondary” to deactivate your old primary email
- Click the dropdown menu next to your custom email
- Select “Make Primary” to activate your new custom email as the primary address
Your profile should now display your custom domain email as your primary contact email.
Update Public Profile URL
The last step is to update your public profile URL on LinkedIn to be customized with your new email address:
- Go to your LinkedIn public profile settings
- Click “Edit public profile & URL”
- Enter your custom email in the “Public profile URL” field
- Click “Save”
Your LinkedIn profile URL will now use your custom domain email as the name. For example: www.linkedin.com/in/[email protected]
Verification of Ownership
Let’s recap the key reason LinkedIn requires email verification – to confirm you actually own the domain you are adding. This prevents people from adding arbitrary email addresses they don’t control to their profiles.
Some key notes on verification:
- You must click the verification link emailed by LinkedIn to prove ownership
- Verification is tied to the root domain name (e.g. yourdomain.com) rather than individual email accounts
- You can add other emails from the same domain without re-verifying
- Verification may take up to 48 hours to reflect in your account
Domain verification is an important trust and security measure for the LinkedIn platform. While it may seem tedious, it ensures authenticity and prevents misrepresentation.
Displaying Your Domain on Your Profile
Once you’ve gone through the steps to add and verify your custom domain email, there are a few places it will display prominently on your LinkedIn profile:
- The contact email on your profile overview
- Your customized public profile URL
- The sender address when you send messages to connections
In addition, some benefits of displaying your professional domain include:
- Credibility and authority for your personal brand
- Consistent domain matching across platforms like a website or resume
- Added professionalism and legitimacy
- Elevates you above free email accounts
So in summary, your custom domain email will now represent you publicly as part of your LinkedIn identity. You want it to align closely with your professional personal brand.
User Interface Walkthrough
For visual learners, here is an illustrated walkthrough of the LinkedIn user interface for adding your domain email:
Verify Email Ownership
- Go to account settings
- Click “Add Email”
- Enter custom email and send verification
- Check email inbox for verification link
- Click verification link to confirm ownership
Add as Secondary Email
- Go to account settings
- Click “Add Email”
- Enter custom email again
- Make sure it is verified
- Click “Make Primary” to add as secondary
Set as Primary Email
- Go to account settings
- Click dropdown next to current primary email
- Select “Make Secondary”
- Click dropdown next to custom email
- Select “Make Primary”
Customize Profile URL
- Go to profile settings
- Click “Edit public profile & URL”
- Enter custom email in URL field
- Click “Save” to customize URL
Troubleshooting Issues
In some cases, you may encounter issues when trying to add and verify your custom domain email on LinkedIn. Here are some common problems and solutions:
Email verification link expired
LinkedIn’s verification links expire after a short period. If it’s expired, go back to your account settings and re-add your custom email to trigger a new verification email.
Verification email not received
If you don’t see the verification email from LinkedIn, check your spam folder. If it’s not there, try re-adding your custom email again in your settings.
Domain not verified
It can take up to 48 hours for domain verification to reflect in your account. If it’s been longer than that, contact LinkedIn customer support for assistance.
Can’t set custom email as primary
Your primary email cannot be disabled until you first add the secondary email. Add your custom email as a secondary address first before making it primary.
Profile URL not updating
After changing your profile URL, refresh your public profile page. It may take a short time for this change to take effect.
For any other issues, LinkedIn provides helpful customer support to address problems adding your custom domain. Reach out to them if you get stuck.
Frequently Asked Questions
Here are answers to some common questions about adding custom domain emails on LinkedIn:
Does my domain email have to match my LinkedIn username?
No, your custom email domain does not need to match your profile username. You can have a username like “john-doe-1234” with an email like [email protected].
What are the email verification requirements?
LinkedIn requires you to click a verification link sent to your custom email address. This proves that you own the domain and have access to receive emails.
Can I add multiple domain emails?
Yes, once your domain is verified you can add other email accounts from that domain like [email protected] or [email protected].
What’s the benefit of having my domain on LinkedIn?
A custom domain looks more professional, builds your personal brand, and adds credibility. It also helps unify your identity across your website, resume, and other platforms.
Does my profile URL have to match my email?
No, you can customize your profile URL with any email that you have added and verified on your LinkedIn account. It doesn’t have to match your primary email.
Is there a way to automate domain verification?
Unfortunately no, LinkedIn requires manual verification by clicking the confirmation link. This ensures a human is verifying access to the domain.
Professional Uses
Displaying your professional domain email on your LinkedIn profile has a number of benefits:
Job Seeking
- Shows you have an established professional identity
- Adds legitimacy for recruiters and hiring managers
- Unifies your brand across your resume, website, and LinkedIn
- Stands out from generic email accounts
Freelancing
- Looks more professional than personal email accounts
- Reassures clients that you’re established
- Reflects your personal branding and business
- Allows you to list contact@yourdomain on your profile
Entrepreneurs
- Aligns with your company website domain
- Reinforces your brand as a founder
- Shows your professionalism and business focus
- Lets you publish team email accounts on your profile
Business Owners
- Syncs your domain identity across platforms
- Custom URL establishes you as an influencer
- Communicates professional reputation to partners
- Reflects your accomplishments as an entrepreneur
No matter your profession, a custom domain email on LinkedIn helps present your best professional image and brand.
Conclusion
Adding your custom domain email to your LinkedIn profile is simple once you understand the verification and set up steps. By following this guide, you’ll be able to establish your professional brand identity with your own domain.
The benefits range from appearing more credible, standing out from the crowd, and unifying your online presence. So don’t settle for an awkward gmail address – take control of your LinkedIn profile with your own professional domain email.