What Is the LinkedIn About Section?
Founder of ContentIn — I've built LinkedIn tools since 2023 and test every competitor with a real account.
Key Takeaways
- The About section (formerly called the Summary) is a first-person free-text block near the top of your profile.
- It allows up to 2,600 characters, roughly 400 words.
- Only about the first two or three lines show before a 'see more' link, so the opening is decisive.
- LinkedIn indexes the About section in search, so relevant keywords placed early help you get found.
- It reads best in first person; third-person summaries feel like a copied resume bio.
How the LinkedIn About Section Works
The About section—sometimes still called the Summary—is a block of free text near the top of your profile, below your headline and intro. LinkedIn gives you up to 2,600 characters to write it, roughly 400 words and one of the more generous character limits on the platform, and you can edit it any time from your profile.[1]LinkedIn Help. "Edit the About section on your profile." View source Unlike a job description, it is written in the first person and in your own voice, which is what makes it the clearest statement of your positioning on the whole profile.
The mechanic that changes how you write it is the fold. LinkedIn truncates the About section after roughly the first two or three lines and hides the rest behind a "see more" link. Most visitors never click it. That means the opening lines are doing the same job as a post's hook: earn the click or lose the reader. Everything specific—who you help, the proof, the call to action—has to either survive that first impression or accept that far fewer people will see it. The section is also indexed in LinkedIn search, so it works while you sleep if the right keywords sit near the top.
How to Structure the About Section
A reliable structure treats the section like a short landing page:
- The first two lines — a hook that names who you help and the outcome, written to survive the "see more" cut.
- The middle — proof: what you do, for whom, and evidence such as results, clients, or a short story.
- The close — a clear next step: how to contact you, subscribe, or book a call.
Short sentences and line breaks lift the section's readability on mobile, where most profiles are viewed. You can check where your text hits the 2,600-character limit or the "see more" cutoff with a tool like ContentIn's LinkedIn character counter before you paste it in. And a few things quietly sink About sections: writing in the third person—"Jane is a marketing leader with 12 years..."—which reads like an obituary; burying the point under a career history instead of leading with who you help; and neglect, where an About section written for a job you left years ago actively misleads visitors. Pair a strong summary with a curated Featured section directly below it and the top of your profile does real work.
Example of an About Section
Say a fractional CMO opens with: "I help Series A SaaS companies fix the gap between marketing spend and revenue. In the last three years that has meant taking four startups from flat pipeline to predictable growth." Those two lines are all that show before "see more," and they already name the audience (Series A SaaS), the problem (spend versus revenue), and proof (four startups). A founder scanning the profile knows in five seconds whether to keep reading. Below the fold she adds two short paragraphs of detail and ends with "DM me 'pipeline' if you want a teardown of your funnel." If her profile gets 500 visits a month and a sharper opening lifts read-through from 10% to 25%, that is roughly 75 extra people a month actually reading her pitch. The numbers are illustrative; the lesson is that the first 200 characters decide the fate of the other 2,400.
The Bottom Line
The About section is your LinkedIn profile's summary—up to 2,600 characters of first-person text that states who you help and why you are worth their time. Its power lives in the first two or three lines, because that is all most visitors see before deciding whether to click "see more." Write the opening like a hook, put proof and a next step below it, and treat the whole thing as the single best place to make your positioning unmistakable. Keep it current, and it quietly does sales work on every profile visit.
What people get wrong about the About section
Almost everyone writes the About section as an autobiography—a chronological brag about degrees, titles, and years of experience. Nobody reads that. The brutal truth is that only the first two or three lines show before "see more," and most visitors never click. So the 2,400 characters below the fold that people agonize over are largely invisible. Write the opening two lines as if they are the only thing anyone will read, because for most visitors they are. Name who you help and the outcome you produce, in plain words, before you say a single thing about yourself. And write in first person—the third-person "Jane is a seasoned professional" reads like a eulogy and signals you pasted it from your resume.
| About Section (Summary) | Headline | |
|---|---|---|
| Length | Up to 2,600 characters | Up to ~220 characters |
| Position | Below the intro; needs a click for detail | Directly under your name, always visible |
| Its job | Tell the full story and give a next step | One-line positioning that shows everywhere |
| Where it appears | On your profile, indexed in search | Next to your name across LinkedIn |
Frequently Asked Questions
- What is the character limit for the LinkedIn About section?
- The LinkedIn About section allows up to 2,600 characters, roughly 400 words. Only the first two or three lines show before a 'see more' link, so the opening matters far more than the total length.
- How much of the About section is visible before 'see more'?
- Only about the first two or three lines—roughly the first couple hundred characters—appear before LinkedIn truncates the text with a 'see more' link. Most visitors never expand it, so front-load your key message.
- Should you write the LinkedIn About section in first or third person?
- First person. The About section is one of the few first-person spaces on LinkedIn. Third-person summaries read like a resume bio and feel impersonal. Write as if speaking directly to the reader.
- Is the About section the same as the LinkedIn summary?
- Yes. LinkedIn renamed the 'Summary' to the 'About' section years ago, and the terms are used interchangeably. It is the free-text block near the top of your profile describing who you are and what you do.
- Does the LinkedIn About section affect search?
- Yes. LinkedIn indexes the About section, so keywords a recruiter or buyer might search—your role, skills, or niche—help you appear. Place important terms early, since relevance and placement both matter.
Article Sources
ContentIn requires writers to use primary sources — official LinkedIn documentation, engineering publications, and original platform data. Learn more in our editorial standards.