Boost Your Job Search With A Custom LinkedIn URL

[Monirul Islam]

If you are using the default URL that LinkedIn assigned your profile when you create it, you don't look like a member of the "In crowd" because the default URL is full of numbers.

The In crowd members have URL's that look like this:

linkedin.com/in/their-name

Rather than a URL like this:

linkedin.com/pub/yourname/29/890/2b9/

You will look like a much more savvy LinkedIn user, and the URL will look better whenever and where every you post it.

Here's how to make this change:

It's easy to do:

1.Go to your LinkedIn home page ("Home" on the left end of the the menu bar near the top of the page when you are logged into LinkedIn).

2.Click on the "Profile" choice, and

3.Select "Edit Profile" on the drop-down menu.

LinkedIn Edit

LinkedIn Edit

5.Click on the "Edit" link (by the arrow above), and a new page will open containing a great deal of information about your Profile. The right column of that page is (currently) entitled, "Customize Your Public Profile." Scroll down near the bottom of that column, and you will find...

LinkedIn Edit

6.Clicking on blue pencil circled above will open this dialog box:

LinkedIn

7.Type in your name or your personal marketing message in the box beside "www.linkedin.com/in/" and you're done. Pick the name carefully! Read Your Most Important Keywords for help.

Pick something that will be applicable and you'll be happy using for a long time. If your name is available - like "marysmith" - that's probably your best choice.

Your name must be different from every other LinkedIn member, or LinkedIn won't allow you to save it. Bear in mind that this URL will become quasi-permanent as you use and distribute it, so try to pick something you won't need to change in the near future.

• Using only your name is common, if it's available.

• Add your middle initial or middle name if your "real" name is already being used by someone else.

• If all versions of your name are taken, you might try your last name followed by your first name, like "smithmary."

• Perhaps you could add the job title for what you do or want to do, like "accountantmarysmith."

• People also add professional designations, certifications, or degrees to their names to make them unique, like "marysmithcpa" or "marysmithmba."

LinkedIn allows you to change your name up to 5 times in 180 days. So this name isn't "set in concrete." However, consistently using the same version of your name is a very good idea.

7.Click on the "Save" button. You now have a new, much cooler URL for your LinkedIn profile.

8.Copy your new URL from the your Edit Profile page (# 4, above) and add it to your Twitter Bio, business cards, email signature, and everywhere you want people to see your LinkedIn Profile.

Bottom Line

Anyone searching LinkedIn for you will find you more easily. Wwhen you link to your LinkedIn Profile, you'll look savvier with the custom URL. Don't forget to add this line to your email "signature" section at the bottom of every email you send out related to your work or your profession.

Source: https://www.careercast.com/career-news/boost-your-job-search-custom-linkedin-url