Having a customized LinkedIn URL is an excellent way to establish your professional brand and make your profile more memorable. Your LinkedIn URL appears in the address bar when someone views your profile and is used when sharing your profile link. With a customized URL, you can make your URL more professional, unique, and personalized.
Why should you customize your LinkedIn URL?
Here are some of the key benefits of customizing your LinkedIn URL:
- It makes your profile URL more professional and polished
- It’s easier to remember and share
- It establishes your personal brand and identity
- It looks more authoritative than the default URL
- It makes you stand out from other LinkedIn users
Your default LinkedIn URL uses your name and a series of numbers, like www.linkedin.com/in/john-smith-455880145. While there’s nothing wrong with this, it’s not very memorable. A customized URL that incorporates your name or business makes your profile link easier to remember and pass along.
How to customize your LinkedIn URL
Customizing your LinkedIn URL is easy to do. Just follow these steps:
- Go to your LinkedIn profile
- Click on the “Edit public profile & URL” button located near your profile photo
- Under the “Edit URL” section, delete your existing URL
- Type in your new desired URL – this can include your name, business, keywords, etc.
- Click the blue “Save” button
And that’s it! LinkedIn will let you know if the new URL you entered is available. If not, you may need to tweak it or add additional numbers/letters until you find a variation that is available.
Best practices for custom LinkedIn URLs
When creating your customized LinkedIn URL, keep these best practices in mind:
- Use your full name or a variation of it
- Incorporate important keywords relevant to your industry and expertise
- Make it short and memorable
- Add your business name or personal brand
- Avoid using special characters or hyphens if possible
For example, “www.linkedin.com/in/john-smith” is a simple URL using your name. Or you could do “www.linkedin.com/john-smith-marketing” to incorporate a keyword. Just don’t make it overly complicated or too long.
Using keywords in your LinkedIn URL
Including keywords relevant to your profession in your URL can optimize your LinkedIn profile for search engines. Here are some tips for incorporating keywords:
- Prioritize 1-2 primary keywords, such as your job title or industry
- Don’t just stuff as many keywords as possible, or it will look spammy
- Make sure the URL still flows naturally and is easy to say
- Separate different keywords with hyphens
For example, “linkedin.com/john-smith-marketing” or “linkedin.com/jane-doe-project-manager” incorporate important keywords while still looking professional.
Keywords to potentially include:
- Your name
- Your job title or profession
- Your industry or specialty
- Your business or personal brand
- Location (city, state, country)
Just don’t go overboard with keywords. 2-3 should suffice.
Tips for an excellent LinkedIn profile URL
Here are some additional tips for creating the best customized URL for your LinkedIn profile:
- Keep it short and memorable
- Make it consistent with other social media handles
- Add your name so people know it’s your profile
- Be consistent with the spelling and formatting
- Test it out and get feedback before changing
- Use dashes (-) to separate words rather than underscores
- Claim it even if you aren’t actively using LinkedIn yet
Your LinkedIn URL is valuable real estate, so put some thought into crafting the right one for your personal brand.
Can you change your LinkedIn URL later?
Yes, you can change your customized LinkedIn URL in the future if you need to. Simply follow the steps above to edit it. However, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- You can only change your URL once every 90 days
- Any existing links to your profile will break once you change the URL
- Your profile’s SEO value may temporarily drop after changing the URL
- You’ll need to let your network know about the new URL for your profile
So while you can change it, it’s best to pick a customized URL that will remain relevant for your personal brand as your career evolves. But the option is there if you need it down the road.
Should you use your name in your LinkedIn URL?
Using your name in your customized LinkedIn URL is recommended for several reasons:
- It makes it obvious the profile belongs to you
- It builds name recognition and reinforces your personal brand
- It’s simple and easy to remember
- It adds a human touch rather than random words and numbers
- It builds trust and authenticity for networking
For example, “linkedin.com/in/john-smith” instantly lets people know they’ve found your profile. Your name is likely how people know you, so it makes sense to incorporate it into your URL.
You can also include variations like:
- First and last name (john-smith)
- First initial and last name (j-smith)
- Last name only (smith)
- First name and last initial (john-s)
So in summary, putting some form of your name in your LinkedIn URL is recommended as a best practice. But it’s ultimately your choice based on the uniqueness you desire.
Should you use your company name in your LinkedIn URL?
Including your company or business name in your customized LinkedIn URL can also be beneficial:
- It demonstrates your professional association
- It establishes expertise and authority in your industry
- It builds your personal brand alongside your company brand
- It shows that you are proud to be affiliated with that company
- It adds credibility and trustworthiness
For example, if you worked at XYZ Corp, using “linkedin.com/in/john-smith-xyzcorp” would incorporate your company name. This can add legitimacy and industry context.
However, there are a few things to keep in mind:
- Shorten long company names for simplicity
- You may want to remove it if you change companies
- Don’t let it cause confusion about who you are
- Balance it with establishing your own personal brand
So in summary, including your company name can be beneficial, but ensure it remains portable and focused on you as an individual. Don’t let your employer overshadow your personal brand identity.
Should you use your location in your LinkedIn URL?
Adding your location like a city, state, or country to your customized LinkedIn URL can also be advantageous:
- It communicates where you are based for networking
- It helps determine time zones and logistics
- It establishes you as an authority in your geographic region
- It appeals to local opportunities relevant to your area
- It personalizes your URL with helpful contextual clues
For example, “linkedin.com/in/john-smith-los-angeles” or “linkedin.com/in/john-smith-ny” would incorporate location details.
However, there are also a few drawbacks to consider:
- It may pigeon-hole you if you are willing to relocate
- It can exclude you from opportunities outside your region
- It may not age well as your location changes over time
So in moderation, adding your city or state can help, but don’t let location dominate your personal brand if you are flexible.
Mistakes to avoid when customizing your LinkedIn URL
When creating your customized LinkedIn profile URL, there are a few mistakes that should be avoided:
- Avoid random numbers and letters – make it spell something
- Avoid obscure abbreviations only you understand
- Avoid unrelated keywords that are confusing
- Avoid anything unprofessional
- Avoid overly long or complex URLs
- Avoid hyphenating every word as it becomes difficult to say and remember
The goal is to make your URL simple, professional, focused on you, and memorable. Some common examples to avoid:
- linkedin.com/in/jsmith2891
- linkedin.com/john-sm1th-mkt-xyz-ceo
- linkedin.com/johnsmithsocialmediaexpert
Keep it clean and tight. Less is often more when it comes to crafting the perfect customized LinkedIn URL.
What’s the character limit for LinkedIn URLs?
LinkedIn allows for a maximum of 100 characters in your custom URL. This includes letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores.
It’s unlikely you’d ever need 100 characters, but that’s the limit. Ideally, you should aim for fewer than 50 characters so your URL is short and memorable.
The character limit includes:
- All letters (a-z)
- All numbers (0-9)
- Dashes (-)
- Underscores (_)
Other special characters like !, @, #, etc. are not allowed. Stick to letters, numbers, dashes, and underscores only. And be concise – don’t use up the full 100 characters unless absolutely needed. A customized LinkedIn URL should be short, simple, and representative of your personal brand.
Conclusion
Customizing your LinkedIn profile URL is one of the easiest ways to establish a professional brand and stand out from the crowd. By following the best practices outlined here such as using your name, incorporating key industry keywords, and keeping it short and memorable, you can create the perfect customized URL. Just be sure to avoid common mistakes and don’t make it overly complex.
With a properly optimized LinkedIn profile URL, you’ll make it easier for new connections to find you and reinforce your capabilities each time you share your profile link. So take the time to craft the right customized URL – it’s well worth the investment for your professional reputation and networking success on LinkedIn.