LinkedIn Ultimate Guide

By Christie Bilbrey

Table of Contents

• Why LinkedIn Isn’t Optional Anymore

• What People Expect When They Look You Up

• Profile Updates Worth Making

• What You Need to Post (Even If You Rarely Do)

• Types of LinkedIn Posts That Perform the Best in 2025

• Stay Visible With Once-a-Week Posts

• Comment With Credibility

• How to Search Smarter on LinkedIn

• Free vs. Sales Navigator: What You Need (and Don’t)

• Connect With More of the Right People

• DMs That Start Real Conversations

• Your 20-Minute Weekly LinkedIn Routine 

• What to Delegate (and How We Help)

• Final Thought: LinkedIn Is a Relationship Platform

Anyone can do what I’m about to share with you below to immediately improve their reputation, build their brand, and develop more relationships that grow their career or business.

Why LinkedIn Isn’t Optional Anymore

In 2025, LinkedIn is the most important channel for marketing, networking, and relationship building for B2B—and increasingly for professionals across many other industries. Whether you're a founder, executive, or thought leader, it's where decision-makers go to vet your expertise, discover your perspective, and decide if you're someone they want to work with or influence them. And you should use it the same way to proactively build your career.

What People Expect When They Look You Up

Before people meet you, they Google you.

And chances are, your LinkedIn profile is the first thing they see.

Whether it’s a prospective client, investor, podcast host, journalist, or recruiter—they’re forming an impression before they ever click “Connect.” If your profile is outdated, blank, or vague, it can unintentionally raise questions or cause missed opportunities.

What they expect:

• A profile photo that looks like the real you—today

• A headline that explains what you do and who you help

• A summary that shows who you are as a person and the type of value you offer

• Some signs of life: recent activity, a few posts, or engagement

You don’t need to post daily or list every accomplishment. But if someone lands on your profile, they should understand your value in 10 seconds or less.

If you do nothing else, updating your headline and About section can make a big difference in how you’re perceived and remembered.

Profile Updates Worth Making

You don’t need a perfect profile—you need one that’s purposeful.

If your LinkedIn profile hasn’t been touched in years, don’t worry. You don’t need to fix everything at once. Instead, start with the parts that make the biggest difference: your photo, headline, and About section.

Think of your profile as your professional storefront. When someone looks you up, they’re asking:

• What do you do?

• Who do you help?

• Are you someone I’d trust, hire, refer, or work with?

1. Start by making sure your photo is current and professional—not a cropped vacation pic. 

2. Next, write a headline that’s more than your job title. For example, here’s mine:

3. In your About section, speak like a human—not like a resume. Briefly explain what you do, why you do it, and what makes your approach different. Let your personality come through. Don’t stress about getting it perfect. You can always revise later.

• Start with a Hook: Begin with a compelling statement or question that piques interest.

• Tell Your Story: Share your professional journey, including challenges and successes, to create a relatable narrative.

• Highlight Your Unique Value: Clearly articulate what sets you apart and how you add value to your clients or organization.

• Incorporate Keywords: Use industry-specific terms to enhance searchability and align with your target audience.

• Include a Call to Action: Encourage readers to connect, visit your website, or reach out for collaboration.

By integrating these elements, professionals can create a LinkedIn "About" section that not only showcases their expertise but also tells a compelling story that resonates with their audience.

Here’s a great example from Ayush Singh

While yours doesn’t need to be this lengthy, he does a great job of drawing in the reader and going through his story in a way that leads to where he now adds value and ends with a clear call to action.

4. One more change I recommend is creating a custom LinkedIn URL. By default, you have a long series of letters and numbers. Just like you wouldn’t want that for your website URL, customize your LinkedIn URL to your name or as close to it as you can get. It looks more professional, helps with searchability, and makes it easier to share.

Here’s how to edit yours:

1. Go to your page and tap or click on the Public profile & URL pencil at the top right corner

2. At the top right of the screen, you’ll see another pencil to click and edit your custom URL.

3. Once you make your edits, hit save, and you’re all set!

You don’t have to make all of these changes at one time.

Set a reminder to review one section each week, and you’ll be ahead of 90% of the platform in a month.

And if you’d rather not do it alone—we’ve got you.

We specialize in personal brand strategy and done-for-you LinkedIn content. Schedule your free consult and let’s make your profile work harder for you.

What You Need to Post (Even If You Rarely Do)

You don’t need to be a “content creator” to post something meaningful on LinkedIn.

Start with what’s already happening:

• A client win (anonymized is fine) or testimonial

• Event photos to show what you’re up to

• A lesson you learned from a difficult conversation or situation

• Share an article with a few sentences on the top takeaways your audience will want to know

• Timely tips

• Achievements or accomplishments

• Share something personal to show you’re human—not all business. It makes you more relatable and invites others to open up.

The best posts often come from moments you wouldn’t think to share—until you start noticing them.

No need for polish. Speak simply, write like you talk, and be specific. People remember real stories, not jargon.

If you’re still stuck, you can type keywords or your industry or title into any of the following and see what others are sharing:

• Google

• Google Trends

• Google Search Console

• YouTube

• LinkedIn search

• Colleague & competitors’ LinkedIn posts

• ChatGPT

Types of LinkedIn Posts That Perform the Best in 2025

I recommend creating a variety of different types of posts. Experiment with video, carousel, image, and text posts. 

1. Carousel posts are slides that have a cover page sharing the topic with a hook and then subsequent slides that take the reader through top tips or steps on that topic and it often ends with a call to action slide. Unlike other channels, LinkedIn will only place the slides in the order you want by creating them as a PDF. You can find great templates on Canva. Just make sure that you download the slides as a PDF file when you finish creating them. Audiences enjoy carousel posts and the LinkedIn algorithm seems to favor them as well.

2. Video posts typically perform very well on LinkedIn because it wants its users to add more video content to the platform, so they tend to get pushed out to more of your audience. I do recommend keeping them short, up to approximately 90 seconds and adding subtitles since many don’t have sounds on.

3. Image posts are a great way to incorporate your brand, include a quote that conveys the philosophy you take for your business and that would interest or inspire your audience, or share an article that you wrote or that you know would interest your audience—and make sure it has a great image to get your audience to stop long enough to pay attention and want to stop and read it.

4. Text-only posts can be surprisingly popular and you don’t have to add any additional visuals. Successful text-only posts include things like: 

5. personal stories with a lesson learned

6. breaking news for your industry or audience

7. controversial topics

Below is an example of a controversial topic related to my audience who hires public relations firms. It performed very well!

With any type of post, you want to start with a hook, something your audience either really wants or is really worried about. You want it to be a little teaser that you’re going to provide some information they really want to know. I’m not saying you should use clickbait but keep in mind what would make you stop your scroll to read and why, then apply that to what your audience cares about.

Adding variety to the types of posts you use make it more interesting for your audience and can enhance your LinkedIn presence and engagement.

Stay Visible With Once-a-Week Posts

You don’t need to post daily to stay top of mind. LinkedIn says that even posting weekly is great. It’s important to note that most users rarely ever post, so even planning a once-a-week post puts you ahead of nearly everyone else on the platform. You’ve got this!

Comment with Credibility

Winning with LinkedIn isn’t all about posting, it’s about connecting with more of the right people and deepening those relationships. Commenting on others’ posts is a huge piece in a winning LinkedIn strategy. You want to go to the right people and leave thoughtful comments. This can make them curious to see who you are or what you’ve been up to. By reaching out to them in this way, you draw them to your page out of curiosity—and then they’ll see the great branding you’ve done with your profile and posts that make them interested in connecting or taking the conversation or relationship deeper.

Thoughtful comments help you:

• Stay visible to the right people

• Show your expertise without pushing it

• Spark conversations that can lead to real relationships

Avoid comments like “Great post!” or only using emojis. You also don’t want to be salesy and make the post all about you. Make sure you’re adding something valuable to the conversation. You’ll be surprised how many people remember (and respect) those who take time to engage. 

How to Search Smarter on LinkedIn

LinkedIn isn’t just for being found—it’s also a powerful tool for finding the people, businesses, and ideas that matter to your career or business goals.

Use the main search bar to:

• Find executives, peers, and leads at companies you care about

• Explore trending posts in your industry

• Discover speaking opportunities, events, and thought leaders

Check out all of the great categories you can search:

If you want even more control, LinkedIn Sales Navigator offers deeper filters and tracking tools. It’s ideal if you’re in business development, partnerships, recruiting, or thought leadership—but not necessary for most casual users.

Free vs. Sales Navigator: What You Need (and Don’t)

LinkedIn’s free plan is more powerful than most people realize.

You can:

• Build a strong network

• Share and engage with content

• Send up to 100 connection requests per week

• Message people in your network and group members

• Search by company, industry, and job title

Sales Navigator is useful if you want to:

• Create lead lists and track company activity

• Use advanced filters to find very specific prospects

• Message people outside your network more easily

• Receive real-time alerts on lead and account activity, like job changes, new posts, and company news

• Access to more profile data, including second-and-third-degree connections, recent activity, and more before you connect

• Ability to see all decision-makers within a company, org charts, and company annual revenue

If you’re focused on outreach or deal flow, it’s worth considering. If you’re just starting to get more active, the free version is more than enough.

Connect With More of the Right People

Once you run some searches and find others you want to connect with, it’s time to reach out. Surprisingly, I’m finding more success by sending connection requests without a note. So don’t worry about spending time to craft the perfect reason why they should connect with you—just reach out.

DMs That Start Real Conversations

Direct messages don’t have to feel weird.

The best approach? Don’t pitch. Start by referencing something real—like a post they shared, a mutual connection, or shared background.

Here are a few message starters:

• “Really appreciated what you said about [X] in your post. Curious how you’re thinking about [Y] in your role right now.”

• “I noticed you’re speaking at [event]—I’ll be there too. Would be great to say hello.”

• “I saw your company’s growth in [area]. I’ve worked with a few teams navigating something similar—happy to swap notes if that’s ever helpful.”

The goal is connection, not conversion.

Your 20-Minute Weekly LinkedIn Routine

Here’s a simple routine you can do once a week to stay present without losing your whole afternoon:

⏱ 5 min: Skim your feed. Comment thoughtfully on 1–2 posts.⏱ 5 min: Check who viewed your profile and send one follow-up message.⏱ 5 min: Review your notifications and reply to any comments or DMs.⏱ 5 min: Share or schedule a post.

That’s it. If you do this once a week, you’ll be more consistent than most executives on the platform.

What to Delegate (and How We Help)

If you’re thinking, “This all sounds great, but I don’t have time to keep up with LinkedIn,” you’re not alone. Most professionals know they should be more visible—but life happens and consistency can be a struggle.

That’s where we come in.

At Stella Nova Media, we offer a high-touch, personalized, done-for-you service that makes showing up on LinkedIn effortless and authentic. Each month, we meet with you on a customized Zoom interview. From that conversation, we create a full month of content tailored to your goals and voice, including:

• Short-form video clips

• Carousel posts with custom graphics

• Quote and image posts

• Captions and scheduling

• Ongoing content strategy

You bring the expertise. We turn it into clear, consistent visibility—without adding more to your plate or asking you to stare at a blank screen.

Final Thought: LinkedIn Is a Relationship Platform

In 2025, success on LinkedIn isn’t about posting more. It’s about showing up with purpose, building relationships that matter, and becoming the kind of expert people remember, refer, and trust.

If you're in B2B—or any industry where relationships and reputation drive results—LinkedIn isn't optional. It's your most valuable marketing and networking asset.

Ready to elevate your presence and take the guesswork out of your content?

📩 Schedule a free consult here to explore how we can help you grow your reputation and your client pipeline on LinkedIn.