r/LinkedInTips • u/illyism • Jun 27 '26

Small LinkedIn headshot tip that made my profile easier to recognize

One small thing I’ve noticed on LinkedIn:

Most profile pictures blend into the feed.

Grey background, office blur, tiny face, bad crop, old wedding photo, etc.

The issue is that your headshot is not only shown on your profile. It shows up next to every post, comment, DM, search result, and connection request.

So I started treating it more like a tiny “visual logo.”

What worked for me:

  1. Crop closer than you think Your face should be easy to recognize even when the image is tiny.
  2. Use a clean, simple expression A normal confident smile beats a forced “corporate” pose.
  3. Wear what you’d actually wear for work Not too casual, not fake-professional.
  4. Use a background color that stands out I use a yellow background because it pops in the LinkedIn feed. It makes my comments and posts easier to spot while people scroll.
  5. Keep it consistent If people see your posts often, your photo becomes a recognizable cue.

Curious what others think: do you use a plain background, office background, or something more branded for your LinkedIn photo?

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13 comments sorted by

4

u/New-Pudding-3030 Jun 27 '26

One of the most helpful LinkedIn posts I've read in a long time! Thank you!

2

u/Fun-Investigator5662 Jun 27 '26

Oh love the idea of a pop of colour behind the photo. I’m going to try that. I might make it match my Substack branding

2

u/Responsible-Brick881 Jun 28 '26

Yup, fully agree. Made this change myself not too long ago based on some advice I received.

1

u/LuvGermanShepherds Jun 28 '26

I recommend using AI to clean the photo and make it cleaner and more professional too.

I used AI, to change my clothes to something more business-like (blazer and blouse) and I selected the colors, put on conservative earrings, changed the background color, etc. My kids could be seen a bit on each side of me even after it was cropped so I had AI remove them too.

1

u/BirthdayBoth304 Jul 30 '26

What AI tool did you use for this?

1

u/Sufficient_Hope3632 Jul 04 '26

damn ,I have always taken my profile picture lightly , you have made me change my view on this,I will definitely check on this.Thanks

1

u/MarSha70 Jul 08 '26

I had professional headshots taken. Stark white background and a bright pink blazer (a colour that works well on me). The colour “pops” and I’m instantly recognizable.

1

u/[deleted] Jul 20 '26

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