The LinkedIn Featured section shows executives' proof at a glance: three to five current items such as a keynote video, press coverage or a strong post. Together with a custom button that points to one clear next step and an Experience section that selects roles by the story they support, it backs up what headline and About claim.
What is the proof layer of an executive LinkedIn profile?
Three sections that back up what your headline and About section claim: the custom button, the Featured section and Experience. The headline and About section make the claim. These three deliver the evidence, and each gives a visitor something to click or read next.
They are also the sections executives neglect most. Featured often holds a post from years ago. The button is missing or points to a generic homepage. Experience reads like a CV with every role since university. My guide on the executive LinkedIn profile covers how all sections work together. This guide goes deeper on the proof.
What should an executive put in the LinkedIn Featured section?
The items that make your expertise visible to a visitor who skims. Featured pins content as visual tiles near the top of your profile. You can pin LinkedIn posts, articles, external links and media such as images, PDFs and videos. For leaders, these tend to work best:
- A thought leadership piece: an article or post that shows your view on an industry question.
- Press coverage or an interview: third-party validation carries more weight than anything you say about yourself.
- A keynote or talk on video: a stage signals authority before anyone presses play.
- A download: a report, case study or whitepaper relevant to your field.
- Team or culture content: useful when hiring is a priority.
- An achievement: a notable award, patent or certification.
Label each tile so it explains itself, for example "[Podcast name] interview: why [topic] matters now". A visitor should know what they are looking at before they click.
How many items belong in the Featured section?
Three to five. Three or four relevant, current pieces convince more than ten random ones. A useful test: would this set convince a sceptical visitor of your credibility within 30 seconds of skimming?
Three rules keep the section strong:
- Order by importance: LinkedIn lets you arrange the tiles. The one you most want people to see comes first.
- Keep it current: material from the last one or two years, unless an older item is a lasting career highlight. A post from four years ago makes the whole profile feel stale.
- Curate hard: a post does not earn a tile because it got likes. Vacation photos and unrelated hobbies stay out, unless they really are part of how your industry sees you.
Rotate the tiles from time to time. Clean, professional thumbnails help, and you can upload custom images for them.
What is the LinkedIn custom button, and where should it link?
With LinkedIn Premium, you can add a custom button directly below your profile header, next to Follow and Message. It links to a URL of your choice under a label such as "Visit my website". For Premium members, the button also appears on your posts in the feed. People can click it without ever opening your profile.
Point it at the one action you want most:
- Hiring or general reputation: the company website or the careers page.
- Sales: a product or services page.
- Thought leadership or leads: your newsletter, a report or a case study.
- Direct conversations: a booking link or a contact form, for anyone who welcomes outreach.
The button should match the story the rest of the profile tells. If headline and About focus on hiring, a careers button fits. If you lead with expertise, a link to your writing or a booking page fits better.
Two practical points. First, check where the button lands. A click that ends on an outdated page or a broken link is wasted. Second, add UTM parameters to the URL. LinkedIn shows no analytics for the button, and your web analytics will then show where the traffic came from.
What if you do not have LinkedIn Premium?
Use the free alternative. LinkedIn lets you add a website link to the intro area of your profile and choose the text people see, such as "See open roles". It is less prominent than the button and follows the same logic. One destination, matched to your goal, with a landing page that is up to date.
If you lead a team, agree on one primary action for the whole leadership team. During a hiring push, for example, every leader's button or link can point to the same careers page. The effect then multiplies across profiles.
How should an executive write the Experience section?
As support for the story in your About section. Selection is the work here. Ask of every role you list whether it supports the story you want people to believe today. Roles that do not support it get shortened or removed.
For each role, and above all your current one, four building blocks are available. Use the combination that fits:
- Company line: what the company does, in one sentence, if the name does not explain it.
- Mandate: one line on your scope, such as team size and regions. It gives the reader a sense of scale.
- Outcomes: two or three results tied to what you want to be known for now, with numbers where you can defend them. Where a role has no defensible metric, one concrete, verifiable outcome does the job.
- Strategic impact: for senior roles, one line that links your work to a larger company result.
Your current role should carry at least one outcome. Write in active language: led, built, launched, grew.
Take a hypothetical CEO of an imaginary data company. Her entry opens with one line on what the platform does for finance and operations teams. One line on her mandate follows. Then come three outcomes, such as team growth, funding raised and enterprise customers, each stated as a fact. Nothing in it describes duties. Everything in it describes results.
Should an executive list every past role on LinkedIn?
No. Your profile is a document you curate, and you decide what it proves. A six-month internship from fifteen years ago does not need detail, and often does not need to appear at all.
Three rules keep the selection credible:
- Less detail further back: early roles get fewer words or one grouped summary line.
- No unexplained gaps: large holes raise questions, so cover old experience briefly instead of deleting it.
- Accurate facts: titles and dates match your CV and the company page, because people cross-check.
Internal titles need a translation. If your title only makes sense inside the company, add the standard equivalent in brackets. Use terms people in your industry search for, and keep clarity ahead of keywords.
What weakens Featured and Experience for an executive?
- Stale tiles: old posts and outdated reports pinned at the top.
- Clutter: too many items, with no order and no context.
- Junior detail: bullet points from a role 25 years ago that dilute everything above them.
- Jargon: internal titles and acronyms that outsiders cannot place.
- Inflation: any claim that does not hold up. Credibility lost on a profile is hard to rebuild.
Read the finished profile from top to bottom. The roles should read like a career building toward what you do today. How the About section sets up that story is covered in my guide on the LinkedIn About section for executives.
“Your profile is a document you curate, and you decide what it proves.”
Frequently asked questions
What should a CEO feature on LinkedIn?
Three to five current items that prove credibility: a keynote video, press coverage or an interview, a strong post or article, or a relevant report. Order them by importance and give each a clear title.
Is the LinkedIn custom button worth it?
It is one of the first things a visitor can click, and for Premium members it also appears on posts in the feed. It pays off when it points to one clear next step on an up-to-date page.
How far back should an executive's LinkedIn experience go?
As far as it supports the story you tell today. Older roles get fewer words or one summary line, and large gaps should be covered briefly.
Do you help executives with their LinkedIn profile?
How CEOs come across on LinkedIn, the proof sections included, is part of my executive branding work. You can read more about my executive branding advisory.
