How to Get a LinkedIn Profile URL 2024

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How to Get a LinkedIn Profile URL & More: 2024 Deep Dive

If you’re wondering why and how to get a LinkedIn profile URL, this article has you covered. In the past twenty years, LinkedIn has become the world’s professional networking platform, with more than a billion users worldwide.

A strong LinkedIn profile has become essential for professional networking across all industries, and anyone using it needs to take steps to make sure their profile not only stands out but is also easy to find.

A LinkedIn custom URL can help profiles stand out in search results and make it easier for employers to find the talent they’re looking for – like you. It increases profile visibility and elevates your professional image in a number of ways.

First, think of your LinkedIn profile URL as your digital business card. It’s easy to share and, if created properly, strategic for increasing visibility and building your professional brand. A smart LinkedIn URL makes it easier for everyone to find you, whether it’s a potential employer, client, or a new opportunity.

In essence, a well-designed LinkedIn profile URL conveys the message that you’re a polished professional and that you care about your image. A random URL full of meaningless letters and numbers isn’t going to accomplish this.

Here, we’re going to break down the steps to getting a LinkedIn custom URL on both desktop and mobile devices. Then, we’ll dig into how to customize it and share it to effectively boost visibility, build professional engagement, and use it for personal branding.

Ready to learn how to get your LinkedIn URL, plus some best practices and troubleshooting tips? Let’s go.

TL;DR

Custom LinkedIn URLs are key to professional visibility and personal branding.

It’s easy to find and change your LinkedIn URL on both mobile and desktop devices.

Using your name, along with relevant keywords in your URL can help others find you.

Custom URLs are easier to remember and easy to share.

Build a professional brand by sharing your URL across all routes of communication, including other social media platforms.

With the right steps, your LinkedIn profile can be maximized for engagement, professional growth, and credibility in your industry.

Understanding LinkedIn Profile URLs

What is a LinkedIn Profile URL?

Each LinkedIn profile has an assigned URL. By default, this URL is a series of letters and numbers with your name or business name stuffed in the middle somewhere. This URL does its job of directing people to your profile, but it falls short of professionalism and doesn’t help you stand out.

A LinkedIn custom URL is different in that it’s more memorable and lets others know that you’re a professional who takes your career or business seriously. LinkedIn URLs can be customized to include your name or business in a way that isn’t as convoluted with excess alphanumerical elements.

In a digital world, a customized LinkedIn profile URL is like handing out a business card. It lets others know where to find you and is essential for any personal branding strategy.

Default LinkedIn Profile URL

When you sign up for a LinkedIn account, you’re automatically assigned a unique LinkedIn URL. The URL includes your name, along with the alphanumeric characters from your assigned LinkedIn ID number.

A default LinkedIn URL will look something like this: www.linkedin.com/in/jane-doe-123456xyz.

Your name is there as an identifying element of a default URL, but it also looks a bit messy and crowded. Imagine handing someone a business card with your name buried within a bunch of other characters. The default URL isn’t eye-catching or memorable. If you’re planning on networking or job hunting and want to share your LinkedIn URL, some polishing is necessary.

Importance of a Custom LinkedIn Profile URL

Compare the example of a default LinkedIn URL mentioned above to this custom URL: www.linkedin.com/in/janedoe. The LinkedIn custom URL is visually more appealing, plus, it’s straight to the point and easy to remember. The lead you met at the last networking event can find you more easily using this custom URL.

When a potential employer or contact types your name into a search engine, such as Google or Bing, a custom URL makes your profile more searchable. In the world of networking and business, online visibility is an asset that’s important to have.

Speaking of visibility, what if your name really is Jane Doe, John Smith, or another name that is just as common?

Customizing your LinkedIn URL in a way that uniquely represents you through personal branding, is an effective strategy for standing out and getting noticed in the professional world.

Now that we’ve covered the basics of why a customized LinkedIn URL is important, let’s dig into the details of how to create one.

Finding Your LinkedIn Profile URL

The very first step in getting your own LinkedIn profile URL is to find the default URL assigned when you first created your account. Here is how to find your LinkedIn URL on both desktop and mobile devices.

Finding Your LinkedIn Profile URL on Desktop

When at your desktop or laptop computer, simply begin by logging into your LinkedIn account.

Once logged in, navigate the cursor to your name at the top of the LinkedIn homepage or click on your profile picture. This will navigate you directly to your account profile page.

You’ll see your default LinkedIn URL in the browser’s navigation bar.

Click on the URL if you want to copy or share it.

Finding Your LinkedIn Profile URL on Mobile

Locating your LinkedIn profile URL on any mobile device is just as simple as locating it on a desktop.

If you haven’t already, download and sign into the LinkedIn app on your smartphone.

If you’re not interested in downloading the app, navigate to the LinkedIn website using your mobile device’s browser and follow the instructions above.

Where to find your LinkedIn URL in the app? Once you’re inside the app, tap on your profile picture, which is located in the top left corner. This will bring you to your profile page.

Next, tap “Contact Info”. This is where your profile URL is located.

Customizing Your LinkedIn Profile URL

Why Customize Your LinkedIn Profile URL?

LinkedIn already provides a URL that contains your name, so is it necessary to go through the extra steps of creating a custom URL? For personal branding and LinkedIn growth, the answer is yes.

The entire point of being on LinkedIn is to increase visibility and establish a professional presence. Now, stop and consider just how large the LinkedIn platform is. Currently, there are more than a billion users on LinkedIn, and they come from more than 200 countries and territories. In addition to individual accounts, there are also more than 67 million registered business accounts.

LinkedIn is a massive social network and you need a strategy to stand out. Creating a custom LinkedIn URL may seem like a small change but it’s one that has a significant impact.

The simple act of customizing your URL helps you stand out in a sea of more than a billion users. Recruiters and employers today are seeking professionals who are innovative thinkers and know that sometimes, the smallest actions have the biggest impact.

Steps to Customize Your URL

Customizing a LinkedIn profile can be done in just a few easy steps. Here are the step-by-step instructions on how to change a LinkedIn URL on both a desktop and mobile device.

Customizing on Desktop

Begin by logging into your LinkedIn account.

You want to navigate to your profile by clicking on your profile picture and selecting the option to “View Profile”.

On the right-hand side of the screen, you’ll find an option to “Edit Public Profile”. Click on this.

On the right-hand side of the screen, click on edit “Public Profile & URL”

Under “Edit your custom URL”, click on the URL link after “ www.LinkedIn.com/in/”

Add your custom URL text to the box. Your custom URL addition must be between at least three characters, but less than one hundred.

When finished, click “Save”.

Customizing on Mobile

The steps to customizing a LinkedIn URL on a mobile device are similar to the steps used on a desktop computer.

Here’s how to customize your LinkedIn profile URL on mobile:

Click on the LinkedIn app to open it.

Navigate to your LinkedIn profile

Locate “Contact Info” and tap on it.

Locate your profile URL and tap the edit icon located next to it.

From here, you can directly enter your custom URL, using between three and one hundred characters.

Click on “Save” before exiting.

Sharing your LinkedIn URL is one of the simplest ways to enhance your professional visibility, take advantage of networking opportunities, and place yourself in the line of sight of industry recruiters.

There are multiple ways of sharing your LinkedIn profile, all of which can help establish your professional presence and maintain a consistent image across multiple social platforms.

LinkedIn is the primary platform for professional growth, but you may be missing out on opportunities if you are building your professional brand on other networks as well. Your custom LinkedIn profile URL is step one to building a strong digital presence.

Here are a few ways to share your LinkedIn URL to build visibility and make important connections.

Adding URL to Email Signature

How many emails do you send or respond to on any given day? For many of us, the number is too high to keep track of. Including your customized LinkedIn profile URL as part of your email signature is one of the simplest strategies to encourage others to learn more about you.

Now, consider the visual appearance of an email signature. Ideally, you want a LinkedIn URL that is streamlined and conveys who it belongs to.

Even if someone doesn’t have access to their email later down the road when they want to contact you, they may remember seeing your custom URL in the signature and can easily find you on LinkedIn.

Here’s how to share your LinkedIn URL to an email signature is an easy five-step process.

First, open your email.

Next, go to your settings and locate the “Signature” option.

Click on “Add New Signature” or similar options for your email provider.

Add your signature, then copy & paste it into your LinkedIn URL.

Click save.

Every email you send from this account will now automatically attach this signature by default.

Including URL on Business Cards

While a LinkedIn profile URL can serve as a digital business card, it’s important that your LinkedIn link be added to physical business cards as well.

Design is everything with business cards. The design should be one that matches your personal brand aesthetic. When adding your LinkedIn profile link, make sure that it’s prominently located on the business card along with your other contact information.

Having your profile link in a visible location with a readable font size, color, and style is key, but you can make it so your profile is even more accessible by also adding a QR code that will take them directly to your LinkedIn page.

Best Practices for Optimizing Your LinkedIn Profile URL

Choosing the Right URL

Now that we’ve covered the “how” and “why” of creating and sharing your custom LinkedIn URL, let’s dig into choosing the right URL for your personal branding strategy.

For the biggest impact, your LinkedIn URL should be concise, simple, and reflect you as a professional.

Ideally, your LinkedIn URL should be aligned with your presence on other social media platforms. Keeping your digital presence as unified as possible is important for consistent brand messaging.

While you might not be able to use just your name due to the URL already being taken, it’s important to keep it simple and easy to remember. It’s fine to add your initials or keywords that are relevant to your profession, but you want to avoid using numbers or special characters that don’t have meaning.

Using Your Full Name

In a perfect world, the ideal custom LinkedIn URL would contain your full name. This is hands down, the easiest way for others to remember and find you. However, with over a billion users, and many of them who have already created their own custom URLs, using just your full name may not be an option.

While LinkedIn allows you to add up to one hundred characters as your unique URL, you want to keep it as short as possible. If you need to add or modify your URL, it’s best to avoid anything cutesy or too casual. Also, avoid stuffing in random characters to create a link that hasn’t already been taken.

Here are a few good examples of effective custom URLs that will boost your visibility on LinkedIn:

Full Name: www.linkedin.com/in/susansmith or www.linkedin.com/in/susan-smith

Full Name with Company Association: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-smith-postwiseai

Full Name with Professional Title: www.linkedin.com/in/susansmith-project-manager

Full Name with Relevant Keyword: www.linkedin.com/in/susan-smith-marketing

Another advantage to using your full name, and if necessary one or two additional words, is that you’ll never need to ask yourself “What is my URL for Linkedin?” When you customize your LinkedIn URL with your full name, it’s easy for you and everyone who encounters it to remember.

Adding Relevant Keywords

We mentioned above and gave an example of adding relevant keywords to your LinkedIn URL. Adding the right keywords accomplishes more than just setting one Susan Smith apart from the others. Relevant keywords are tools that can increase your visibility in search engine results.

You can add a professional title, such as CEO, CFO, Director, or VP. You could also take an industry-specific route with keywords like healthcare, technology, engineering, marketing, or finance.

Including skill-based keywords is also a smart strategy. When adding words like healthcare manager or marketing consultant, the person who comes across your profile immediately knows what your strongest skill set is.

Finally, we don’t want to neglect the value of adding location-specific keywords. Someone who is looking for talent in a specific geographical area can easily find local talent with keywords like NYC, Seattle, or Berlin.

The goal of adding keywords to your LinkedIn URL is to enhance visibility and help your profile appear in front of the employers and recruiters who most want to connect with you.

Troubleshooting Common Issues with LinkedIn Profile URLs

Issues with Custom URL Availability

Let’s circle back for a moment to the fact that LinkedIn has over a billion users, and the chances of more than one person with your name being on the platform are pretty good. We just discussed a few strategies for setting yourself apart, but it’s still frustrating when the custom LinkedIn URL you want is already taken.

There are scenarios when some of the suggestions we’ve already discussed might not work. For instance, someone who is in college and looking to expand their network even though they aren’t yet solidly in a career or industry. Someone who is looking to change careers but isn’t sure how to use relevant keywords to their advantage is another example.

In cases like these, your best options for gaining traction might be to include a middle name or your initials. If you’re in college, you can add your field of study to attract other like-minded people, and potentially recruiters who are looking for new talent in the field.

The bottom line is to not let the availability of your preferred LinkedIn profile get you down. You still have many customized options available to you.

If you’re having trouble thinking of appropriate keywords, try using LinkedIn AI for personal branding to help you learn more about the audience you want to engage with and the keywords they are using in their searches.

Problems with URL Changes

As your career and experience evolve, so should your LinkedIn profile. Changing your LinkedIn URL to one that is more timely and relevant is part of this.

There’s a potential for issues anytime URL changes happen. The change can lead to confusion among your network, as well as broken links that make it impossible to connect with you at all. Fortunately, there are a few simple steps to mitigate these challenges.

First, remember that consistency is key. If you change your URL on LinkedIn, make sure that you’ve updated the information across all social platforms, even the ones you rarely use. You never know where the next important contact might come from.

Second, update the new LinkedIn profile URL information on all forms of communication. This includes email and other digital signatures, as well as business cards, letterhead, etc.

Finally, make sure that everyone in your new URL has been shared with everyone in your professional network. Doing this will minimize stress, confusion, and headaches down the road.

Enhancing Your LinkedIn Profile for Better Engagement

Profile Completeness

Now that you have a custom URL that sets you apart and builds your professional image, you want to make sure that you have a profile to match. Profile completeness is vital in building a strong professional presence on LinkedIn.

Set aside some time during your day to assess your LinkedIn profile. Look to see if every area is complete and that all the information on your profile is up to date. A completed LinkedIn profile with a custom URL increases the odds of being found by potential employers, clients, and other important contacts.

Your LinkedIn profile should include a photo that represents you as a professional.

Write a compelling summary. This is such a valuable step that many people miss out on. Think of this as your one shot to capture someone’s attention.

Don’t forget to add or update all of your relevant skills and professional endorsements on your profile.

Highlight your experience and relevant education.

Adding a Professional Photo

When clients, potential employers, and other professional contacts are looking to reach out, it’s easier for them to connect when they have a visual of the person they’re contacting. It’s human nature to want to see the person we’re engaging with.

Your profile photo is where their eyes are going to land first, so it’s worth the investment to put a little time and effort into it.

Ideally, the image you choose should be a professional headshot with a neutral background. This is the type of image that conveys professionalism. Remember, this is a professional photo, and stay away from images that are too casual or taken in causal locations.

This isn’t the place to share that great pic from while you were on vacation last year unless you have great photo editing skills and can make it appear more professional. Additionally, choose a LinkedIn profile photo where you’re groomed and dressed professionally.

Writing a Compelling Summary

The profile summary is where you have the opportunity to tell the world about your skills, experience, and professional goals in a way that captures their attention.

Not everyone enjoys talking about themselves, so crafting an engaging summary is a challenge to many. Know that your LinkedIn summary doesn’t need to be elaborate to be effective.

There are three main details you want to quickly highlight in a LinkedIn public profile. These include skills, experience, and professional goals.

Begin with a strong opening of one sentence highlighting your expertise and use actionable language. Follow this with a brief description of your current professional status, along with your key skills and areas of expertise.

Public LinkedIn profiles that stand out have summaries that end as strongly as they started. Try closing with a CTA that encourages them to contact you.

Listing Relevant Skills

Think of your LinkedIn profile as an extension of your resume or CV, because for many employers and clients, this is exactly what it is. It’s important to highlight any skills that are relevant to your profession and industry.

One fatal error that is seen repeatedly is not remembering to update LinkedIn skills and experience. Make a point of it to revisit your LinkedIn profile at least once a month to ensure your skills, education, endorsements, and experience are all up-to-date.

Endorsements and Recommendations

LinkedIn endorsements and recommendations are what give your profile credibility. Those who are searching for you are eager to learn how you’ve performed for others and learn a bit more about what you can do for them.

Don’t be shy about asking for endorsements from colleagues, previous employers, and professional contacts who can speak to your abilities. To receive the highest quality endorsements, be specific in your request. An endorsement that mentions a specific project or outcome is more effective than one that offers general praise.

Keep in mind that your LinkedIn contacts are looking for endorsements too, so take the lead and offer to write an endorsement for your professional connections, and then kindly ask if they’ll do the same in return.

Tying It All Back to Postwise.ai

You know that optimizing your complete LinkedIn Profile with a custom URL has numerous advantages, but it doesn’t stop there. Postwise.ai can help you increase engagement on your profile by maintaining an active LinkedIn presence through a dedicated LinkedIn strategy.

We simplify personal branding on LinkedIn by helping you maintain a strong, engaging LinkedIn profile through ai content creation, scheduling LinkedIn posts, and generating the level of engagement you need. Our AI-driven tools achieve the results you’re looking for, and leading LinkedIn marketing experts would agree that engagement is key!

Staying Active on LinkedIn

For professional networking, it’s important to stay active on LinkedIn, but we all know this requires time and energy, both of which you’d rather be devoting to enhancing your career in other ways. If you want to see the powerful results of engagement but don’t have the resources to manage this yourself, Postwise.ai is the answer.

Our AI tools assist with automated LinkedIn content to enhance your LinkedIn presence. Are you ready to try it for yourself? Sign up for a free trial of Postwise.ai today and see the difference it makes.

Learnings Recap

In this deep dive into the value of a custom LinkedIn profile URL, we’ve covered all the details of why a custom URL is important and how to create one for yourself. This one simple step is an important element of your personal brand strategy. Now you have the tools to take full advantage of it to enhance your LinkedIn presence.

We know things don’t always go smoothly, which is why we also covered troubleshooting and best practices for optimizing your LinkedIn profile. A custom LinkedIn URL is just one element of creating a professional and memorable LinkedIn profile.

Start with these guidelines to create your custom URL, and then when you’re ready for the next step, reach out to us at Postwise.ai to take your profile to the next level.

Throughout this guide, we've covered the essentials of mastering your LinkedIn profile URL. From understanding what a LinkedIn profile URL is and why it's important, to finding, customizing, and sharing your URL effectively, we've provided you with the tools and knowledge you need to enhance your LinkedIn presence.

We also explored best practices for optimizing your LinkedIn profile, troubleshooting common URL issues, and leveraging Postwise.ai to streamline your LinkedIn strategy. By following these guidelines, you'll be well on your way to creating a professional, memorable, and engaging LinkedIn profile.

Recap Bullet Points

A custom LinkedIn profile URL is a valuable tool that can help enhance your professional online visibility.

It’s easy to find and change your LinkedIn URL on both desktop and mobile devices with just a few steps.

Following best practices for customizing your LinkedIn profile URL makes you easier to find, and easy to remember

Custom LinkedIn URLs can be shared through various channels, including other social media platforms, as an email signature, and on physical business correspondences, such as letterheads and business cards.

When you change your LinkedIn URL, make sure to change it across all places you’ve shared it. Consistency is key to a strong professional reputation.

Postwise.ai can help elevate your LinkedIn presence through content automation, lead generation, and more.

Final Thoughts

Today, we recognize LinkedIn as the strongest platform for “career and networking goals, from job searching to connecting with colleagues”. Creating a custom LinkedIn profile URL is a simple step toward personal branding, but it’s not an insignificant one. They say that small changes yield big results, and this is just one example of how this is true.

Every step you take to optimize your LinkedIn profile brings more engagement, more visibility, and the opportunity to make important connections. These guidelines and best practices for creating a custom URL will help you get the most from your LinkedIn presence. By choosing to work with Postwise.ai, you can build that presence even further and connect with the right people to move your career forward.

Thanks for reading, and here’s to your

LinkedIn success!

How to Get a LinkedIn Profile URL & More: 2024 Deep Dive

How to Get a LinkedIn Profile URL & More: 2024 Deep Dive