How to pick the right LinkedIn profile photo?

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LinkedIn is globally the most used social business network. In the first place LinkedIn is your online resume. Secondly, it is your digital business card. And on the third place it can be used to build your personal brand. Whichever you pick, in the end you want to show the best version of yourself that matches with what you want to achieve. Crucial for this is your profile photo. What can you do to make sure you leave the best first impression?

Determining your goals

First, it is important to determine what you want to express and achieve with your profile on LinkedIn. This means you will have to take a hard look at your current position and think of ways how LinkedIn can be of an advantage to you. As a recruiter you would want to express openness and accessibility. If you are a director a serious tone, expressing experience and trust, would be more suitable.

Basics of a photo

There are a few basic do’s and don’ts that are important to keep in mind when uploading a photo on LinkedIn.

Use a professional background, this doesn’t necessarily mean white but keep it calm and clean.

Make sure you look representative in the picture. So, no bikini photo’s or a picture where you are having a good time with your friends and too much beer.

Make sure your photo matches with your experience and what you want to express.

An honest smile is still the best way to go, but don’t fake your smile too much.

It’s a pity we still must include this one but please do not use a filter on your picture.

A/B Testing

Keep these tips in mind and you will come a long way in selecting the right photo. For most people it can be difficult to keep an objective view when it comes to their own pictures. In the case you are having trouble deciding whether a picture is suitable for business purposes or if you can’t decide which picture to use, it is advisable to do some A/B testing. This means you will test a set of pictures to see which one is the most effective. Unfortunately, this is not possible on LinkedIn itself. However, there is a tool called photofeel.com which does the trick. It allows you to upload business pictures and you will get real people that will judge your photo on three aspects: competence, likable and influential. This will give you a great deal of information about your pictures. When testing more than one picture it will provide you with the information you need to decide which photo will be most effective in achieving your goals.