The last piece of the offer-winning application is LinkedIn.

Data shows that 97% of recruiters use LinkedIn in their recruiting efforts. And that doesn’t count all of the people who will be looking at your profile as you network and land interviews.

But too many job seekers don’t do enough to fully realize the potential of their LinkedIn profile.

What Most People Do: If you’re like most people, you probably have a LinkedIn headline that’s not really helping your visibility or value. If you run a quick LinkedIn search for any job title, you can bet that at least 90% of the results will have some version of the same headline:

[Job Title] at [Company]

When everyone has a similar headline, it can be really hard to stand out. Additionally, the only value in that headline is focused on the brand equity of the company you work for.

It does nothing to illustrate the value you bring to the table!

What Actually Works In Today’s Market: If you want to maximize the potential of your LinkedIn headline, you need two things:

• Keywords that align with the terms recruiters are using to find candidates like you
• A value proposition that illustrates the tangible value you bring to the table

To make things easy, we baked both of those things into a simple headline template that you can use to begin structuring your headline:

[Job Title] | [Skill 1], [Skill 2], [Skill 3] | I Help [Company Type] [Insert Unique Value Proposition With Measurable Metrics]

This does two things for you:

First, it weaves in skills that will boost your visibility in LinkedIn’s search algorithm so you end up getting more views from potential employers.

Second, it showcases the tangible value those companies can expect to see if they hire you. Additionally, most other candidates aren’t showing value in this way, so it will make your headline pop off the screen and win you more interviews.

While a template can be helpful, you’re probably wondering how to make the most of this.

Here’s the simple, 5 step process for crafting a visibility-boosting LinkedIn headline:

1. Grab A Copy Of Your LinkedIn Headline

Head over to your profile and copy your current headline.

2. Go to HeadlineAnalyzer.io

Open up our LinkedIn headline analyzer tool and paste your headline into the field:

3. Hit Scan And Get Your Headline Score

Headline Analyzer will scan your headline and compare it to the criteria we’ve seen drive high engagement and interview rates on LinkedIn. When it’s done, it’ll give you a score from 1 to 100:

4. Analyze Your Headline Results

We start by breaking your headline down by those criteria. Which did you meet and which did you miss?

Then, if you keep scrolling, we’ll give you insights into each specific area to show you how to improve:

All you need to do is follow the instructions!

5. Update & Re-Scan Until You Get The Green Light

Make the updates, rescan, and repeat until you have a score of 70+.

Once you’re there, you know you have a solid headline that’s going to help you show up in more recruiter searches, win more clicks from employers and connections, and land more interviews at your target companies. Like Esther did at the New York Times:

Light Speed Tip: If you do this right, you only need to do it once for every job search! A great headline is going to include keywords that span most of the roles you’re looking for, with a value proposition that’s attractive to all of them too. If you’re struggling to accomplish that, it likely means that you’re considering too many different roles and need to narrow your focus.