How to Set Up Your LinkedIn Profile in just 10 Minutes (Using AI)

0:00You know that feeling of finally getting something right on social media and then the platform changes something and you have to learn all new rules. Like seriously, we have already searched how to create a professional LinkedIn profile. We've watched the tutorials. Whether you like it or not, LinkedIn is an incredibly powerful networking tool. Whether you're an employee,

0:21a freelancer, or a business of any size, we followed the advice and for a while it worked. But alas, there is a new LinkedIn algorithm in town. The good news is that everything you've learned still stands. There are just a few simple tweaks that you need to make to optimize for 2026. Jamal made a video for this channel a couple years ago. You may have already seen it. Great video, still relevant. So, we are going to look at what he said and talk about a few updates that you need to make for the new algorithm. Everything we talk about today is listed in more detail in

0:53HubSpot's LinkedIn profile playbook. This is free for you to use to your advantage. I've linked it in the description. So, grab it now to follow along because we will be using it as we go. In the next 10ish minutes, you're going to learn what advice still stands, what changed, and five tweaks to help get your profile visible again. I'll use my LinkedIn profile to demonstrate, and you're going to be shook at how fast of a process this actually is. So, here's what happened. Okay, LinkedIn changed how it reads your profile. So, if your sections aren't telling the same story, it gets confused. And when LinkedIn gets confused about who you are, your posts reach fewer people

1:34and your profile shows up in fewer searches. You basically go quiet without knowing and think nobody likes you. The first thing that we want to look at is our headline. Let's see what the advice was. While this short description is often used for job titles, I'll take it a step further by adding keyword-rich terms that succinctly capture who I am as a professional. And though it's one of the best places to score instant keyword points, it's also one of the easiest spots to slip in buzzwords, which will hurt more than the hub. Get descriptive. Write about results. List what you can do and if it's relevant, how long you've been doing it. So, for the most part,

2:12this is still true. Your headline is a search signal. It tells LinkedIn what to show you for when someone searches, but now it is also a reach signal. You want to make sure that your headline aligns with your content so that LinkedIn can surface your posts to the right people. So, for example, say that your headline says that you're a content strategist and you engage and post about travel. LinkedIn's new algorithm gets confused and doesn't know who to show you to. So, here's how to write your headline for the new algorithm. First, take a look at the playbook's headline section. It walks you through exactly what a strong headline looks like and gives you

2:49a real example to model. Then, use your favorite AI chat tool. I use the free version of Claude here. We'll be using the same chat for all of the prompts in this video. But before we run any of them, we need to give AI context. So, you just need to gather a few things from your LinkedIn profile. a PDF download of your profile and screenshots of your most recent posts, your skills list, and your featured section. Add all of that into your AI chat before you go any further and tell it to act as your LinkedIn profile advisor. Extra tip here, try adding the LinkedIn profile playbook as well. This way, your chat knows the up-to-date information. The more

3:27it knows about you and what you're trying to do, the better every output is going to land. Okay, for your headline specifically, you're going to ask it to rewrite your current one so that it reflects both who you are and what you talk about online. The formula that works right now is role plus specialization plus value proposition. By the way, I'm going to list all of these prompts for you in the description, so you can just copy and paste them. When the output comes back, push back, iterate, or just pick one, and then your headline will be aligned with what you actually do and post about. Now, LinkedIn can start to figure out who you are. But your headline is just the door. So,

4:04what happens when someone walks through it and lands on your about section? That's where most profiles lose people. And this is where the 2026 algorithm update hits the hardest. The next thing that we want to look at is our about section. This was the advice. The first 265 characters are what you'll see before having to click see more for the rest of the summary and will strengthen first impressions in a way no other profile section can. So, I want my opening lines to hook profile visitors immediately with who I am, what I care about, and what I aspire to do. This works because it's specific, sticks to a theme, storytelling,

4:44makes myself relevant by connecting the dots between my storytelling and marketing experience. LinkedIn now uses AI to create a summary that shows up in specific search and recruiter tools, which is exactly why your about section needs to answer one question in the first two sentences. What is your unique value proposition? That's exactly what LinkedIn's

5:05AI is going to try to summarize. Make sure the answer is already in there so AI isn't guessing. Ask your AI chat to tell you how LinkedIn's AI would summarize your profile and then rewrite your opening so that the summary is actually accurate. Now your about section is working for both the AI that reads it first and the human who might read it after. The next place that

5:28LinkedIn looks skills and most profiles are missing half of what they should have there. Here's what the advice was. and transferable skills regardless of industry or background. That includes keywords like communication, critical thinking, creativity, goal setting, time management, and adaptability. I'll add them to the skill section, but also pepper them into my experiences to show relevant examples. The skills section works the same way it always has. What changed is how LinkedIn grades it. LinkedIn now looks at whether your skills cluster correctly. If you list content marketing, but you don't also have content strategy, editorial planning, or brand voice anywhere, LinkedIn reads that as shallow, like you just added a keyword to rank, which to be fair,

6:21we did. But now it needs to know that you live in that space. So ask your AI chat to find the gaps in your skills. What should be there that isn't? Add the missing skills to your profile and attach them to the specific experiences where you actually used them. Once your full list is

6:38updated, go back to your about section and pick the five skills that you want to be known for. Those are the ones that show up on your profile without anyone having to click anything. So, you want to make them count. Now that everything is aligned, we want to make sure that when someone lands on our profile, the first thing that they see makes them actually do something.

7:02The smartest LinkedIn profiles aren't using their featured section as a showcase anymore. They're using it for something much more valuable. Here's what the advice was a couple years ago. Business owners can use this space to feature top offerings. Thought leaders can share their best articles or videos. And employees can highlight notable projects. Still correct? But now the best profiles are using it as a conversion lever. Think about what you want someone to actually do when they land on your profile. Subscribe to your newsletter, download something, book a call, visit your portfolio. That's what belongs in your featured section, not a post from 2023. So, make sure to pin your next steps here. If you're not sure what to pin, just ask AI for

7:47ideas on what to feature based on your goals and your audience, and it'll give you a direction. All right, we have one more tweak to go. And this one, most of you haven't even touched yet. Most people posting on LinkedIn have never touched the one tool that bypasses the entire algorithm. Okay, so when you post a regular update on LinkedIn,

8:13the algorithm decides who sees it. And for most people, it's a fraction of your followers. When you publish a LinkedIn newsletter, it goes directly to every single subscriber. No algorithm, no filtering, 100% delivery. And the coolest part is that LinkedIn automatically prompts every new connection to subscribe. So, it grows itself. I started mine last year, and I swear to you, this is the easiest growth I have ever built

8:40on any platform. I'd posted three newsletter editions, and I have almost 500 subscribers. It is wild and we love low lift work. So just ask AI to suggest newsletter concepts that match who you are and what you want to be known for. I have a whole video walking you through how to set up a LinkedIn newsletter to grow your LinkedIn. I will link it in the description to help you out with this. Most people have a LinkedIn profile that works like a resume. A newsletter turns it into a content engine. Okay, let's take a look at what we just did. Headline rewritten to match what you

9:17post about. About section written for the AI that reads it first. Skills clustered, not just listed. Featured section working as a conversion lever. And newsletter ready to launch. And every one of these tweaks is repeatable. So run them again in 6 months when your content shifts or your goals change. Your profile should always reflect who you are right now, not who you were when you first set it up. If you want the full foundation, the advice that Jamal gave still holds. So definitely check out that video. I will link it on the screen for you here in a second. Just remember that

9:50LinkedIn just changed how it grades everything. So these five tweaks make sure that you pass. The complete LinkedIn profile playbook is free for you to download. It is in the description. Everything that we covered today is in there in more detail. If this video helped you out, hit like to let me know. And if you haven't already, make sure to subscribe to this channel, HubSpot Marketing. We have a ton of videos to help you out on LinkedIn that you can browse once your profile is optimized. Thanks so much for hanging out with me. My name is Bridget

10:20Oor. Feel free to connect with me online. Maybe I'll even see you on LinkedIn. Bye.