Why your LinkedIn profile isn’t converting with recruiters, clients or potential contacts

If your LinkedIn isn’t attracting recruiters, clients or connections, it’s likely not your experience, but how you’re communicating it. Let’s talk about why your profile isn’t converting (and how to fix it).

Your LinkedIn profile isn’t just a digital resume; it’s your professional brand on full display. It either invites people in or inadvertently turns them away. If you’re not seeing results from recruiters, clients or potential connections, it’s time to audit your LinkedIn profile to attract new opportunities and relationships. Let’s explore five reasons your LinkedIn profile might not be converting and how to easily overcome these to elevate your online personal brand. 

1.Your visual brand is letting you down 

Your LinkedIn profile is the shopfront window of your personal brand. Your profile photo and LinkedIn banner need to welcome and draw people into your profile.

Research shows that first impressions are formed within a tenth of a second. So while we like to think we don’t judge a book by its cover, science says we do. Your visual brand may be saying more for your professional personal brand than any words you put in your LinkedIn page.  

Avoid photos that are: 

• Dark and uninviting

• Unclear and pixelated

• Unprofessional (e.g. personal social photos or inappropriate wardrobe choices)

• Distracting, featuring people other than you

• Misaligned to your industry (unless you're doing this strategically to position yourself as an industry disrupter)

For more on how to elevate your LinkedIn profile photo, see my earlier blog.

2.  You’re overwhelming the reader

When you confuse them, you lose them. Just because LinkedIn offers generous character counts and many profile additions doesn’t mean you should maximise them all. 

Most recruiters or potential contacts don’t have the time to invest in your personal brand that you have. They are likely skimming your LinkedIn profile page, looking for key information as quickly as possible. Make your value proposition pop on the page.

For an easily digestible LinkedIn profile: 

• Break up big blocks of text 

• Add headlines or create other visual hierarchies, e.g. capitalisation  

• Dot point information, e.g. highlights in your professional experience

• Add numbers wherever possible to give the eyes something to land on

• Use emojis and symbols tactfully and tastefully to draw the eye to key details and call to actions

• Create dynamic pacing to keep the reader engaged, e.g. a mix of shorter and longer sentences

• Vary the size of blocks of text to create visual interest

3. Your dream job recruiters or potential contacts can’t find you

Every word should earn its place on your LinkedIn page. While being highly succinct and choosing them strategically, make sure they are optimised to maximise SEO impact. 

For a simple SEO strategy: 

• Define what industries and roles you're targeting 

• Identify what key skills your target roles prioritises (check a range of job ads for ideas)

• Optimise your Skills, About Me, and Professional Experience sections of your LinkedIn profile with your target SEO words and phrases in mind

• Ensure keywords and phrases are upfront in key sections to avoid being cut off in previews

4. You’re communicating vague claims

It’s possible to write a whole lot on your profile without saying anything of value at all. Avoid fluff and highlight priority skills. SEO aside, you want the viewer's eye to immediately notice the words they are looking for. 

Build an achievement-oriented profile. Avoid bland job description style writing. To optimise your personal impact, add highlights unique to you.  Add the evidence to your claims and communicate skills and results. 

Compared to your formal resume, your LinkedIn profile is also a perfect place for more of your personality and personal story to shine through. Swap the vague claims in your bio for compelling storytelling that showcases your character. 

5. You’re repeating yourself

You don’t need a description for every role you’ve ever had. Prioritise the most recent or most relevant roles. If you’ve had a comprehensive and long career, you also don’t need to list every role. While avoiding creating career gaps in the roles you do share, remove any earlier roles that don’t add to your desired career branding going forward and that are confusing search engines. 

When you're adding to your highlights, showcase the diversity of your skill set. Avoid repeating achievements that convey the same skills. Write your blurbs and key points to tick multiple boxes across your LinkedIn profile.  

From crickets to connections

A high-converting LinkedIn profile is equal parts strategy, story skills and style. When your visual identity, messaging and keywords work together, your profile does the talking for you. Because the right people aren’t just scrolling, they’re searching. Build your personal brand on LinkedIn to make sure they find what they’re looking for in you.