Having a large number of followers on LinkedIn can make you look more influential and popular, which is why some people are interested in buying LinkedIn followers. However, buying followers is controversial and against LinkedIn’s terms of service. There are risks associated with buying followers, but some services claim to offer “safe” options. This article will explore how you can buy LinkedIn followers, the risks, and some alternative methods to grow your followers organically.
What are the benefits of having more LinkedIn followers?
Here are some potential benefits of having a high number of LinkedIn followers:
- Increased visibility and reach – More followers means your posts and activity have the potential to be seen by more people.
- Appear influential and popular – A high follower count can make you look more established and influential in your industry.
- Improved brand awareness – More followers means more people are engaging with your brand and content.
- Higher credibility – People tend to equate high followers with expertise and trust.
- New opportunities – Followers can lead to networking, partnerships, referrals, and new business opportunities.
Essentially, more LinkedIn followers expands your audience and presence, which can potentially boost engagement, improve perception, and open new doors. Many people want to quickly increase their followers to achieve these benefits.
Should you buy LinkedIn followers?
Buying LinkedIn followers involves paying a provider to add fake follower accounts to your profile. This can quickly inflate your follower number. However, there are some significant risks to be aware of:
- Against LinkedIn rules – Buying followers violates LinkedIn’s User Agreement and can get your account banned.
- Fake followers – Purchased followers are bot/spam accounts that do not engage or benefit you.
- May damage credibility – Low engagement rates from fake followers can raise suspicions.
- No long-term impact – Effects wear off as fake accounts are removed.
- Security risks – Providers may compromise your account.
- No shortcuts – Improving your content/engagement is better for organic growth.
Because of these risks, most experts advise against buying LinkedIn followers. The benefits tend to be short-lived and outweighed by potential damages. Focus instead on cultivating real, engaged followers.
How do some providers “safely” add LinkedIn followers?
While buying followers is not recommended, some services claim they can add followers “safely” through methods like:
- Account farms – Networks of fake accounts controlled by the provider.
- Bots – Automated scripts that mimic human activity and follow profiles.
- Exchange services – You follow others in exchange for follows back.
- Targeting inactive users – Followers added are real but inactive accounts.
However, these methods still violate LinkedIn policies and offer no real benefits. The followers are either fake, inactive, or not genuinely interested in your brand. Engagement levels remain poor. It’s best to steer clear of these “safe” follower providers as well.
What are the risks of buying LinkedIn followers?
Here are some key risks to consider when buying LinkedIn followers:
- Account termination – LinkedIn actively monitors and bans paid/fake followers, which can lead to account termination.
- Wasted money – Benefits tend to be short-lived before fake accounts are removed.
- Perception issues – Unnaturally inflated followers and engagement rates may raise suspicions.
- Security risks – Providers may gain access to account login details and other private info.
- Reputational damage – Getting caught buying followers creates mistrust with your audience.
- No real growth – You miss the opportunity to build real connections and organic followers.
Essentially, any temporary vanity metrics boost is not worth the potential account termination, wasted money, perception issues, security risks, and other damages. Focus your efforts instead on cultivating real followers.
How much do LinkedIn followers cost if you buy them?
Costs to buy LinkedIn followers vary depending on the provider and number of followers you want added. Some general price points:
- 100 followers – $5 to $20
- 500 followers – $30 to $60
- 1,000 followers – $60 to $150
- 5,000 followers – $250 to $800
- 10,000 followers – $500 to $1,500
Many providers offer packages with gradually increasing numbers of followers at discounted rates compared to buying individually. However, as covered already, the risks make buying followers inadvisable at any cost.
What are some safe, organic ways to get more LinkedIn followers?
Rather than buying followers, focus on organic growth strategies like:
- Post engaging, valuable content consistently.
- Participate actively in LinkedIn Groups and discussions.
- Connect with those who engage with your content.
- Optimize your profile to attract your target audience.
- Build relationships and network strategically.
- Leverage hashtags and trending topics when appropriate.
- Consider limited, relevant paid advertising and influencer campaigns.
- Partner with compatible brands and contributors.
Organic follower growth takes more time and effort but leads to real followers interested in your brand. This pays off with higher engagement and new opportunities. Be patient, consistent, and strategic with your approach.
Are there any legal issues with buying LinkedIn followers?
Buying LinkedIn followers does not directly break any laws. However, it does violate LinkedIn’s User Agreement, which states:
You can’t misrepresent your identity, create a false presence for an organization, or create multiple accounts. Don’t buy, sell, rent, or lease LinkedIn connections or followers, or otherwise artificially inflate traffic and engagement.
Violating these policies puts your account at risk of termination. LinkedIn actively works to detect and remove purchased followers as well. While not illegal, buying followers does break LinkedIn’s rules and contractual agreement as a user.
What does LinkedIn say about buying followers?
LinkedIn explicitly prohibits buying or selling followers and fake engagement in their User Agreement. Here are some direct quotes from LinkedIn on purchased followers:
“Purchased followers are against our terms of service because misrepresenting your connections or influence is misleading.”
“We regularly conduct sweeps looking for members who are buying followers or engagement. Accounts we confirm to have purchased followers will get shut down.”
“Any time we find evidence of purchased followers, we will permanently suspend your account and you will not be allowed back on LinkedIn.”
LinkedIn makes it abundantly clear that buying followers risks account termination. Their guidance is to focus on building authentic connections and engagement with real professionals interested in your brand.
What are signs that someone bought LinkedIn followers?
Here are some signals that someone may have bought LinkedIn followers:
- Sudden spikes in followers.
- High follower count but low engagement on posts.
- Followers with incomplete profiles and no clear professional connection.
- Followers in unrelated industries and geographies.
- Generic names and stock profile photos among followers.
- High follower growth but no major events or reason for influx.
These signs indicate followers may be bots, fake accounts, or purchased in bulk. Compare follower count to engagement rate and profile quality to assess authenticity.
Can you get banned from LinkedIn for buying followers?
Yes, buying followers or fake engagement of any kind can lead to your LinkedIn account being permanently banned. LinkedIn monitors for signs of purchased followers and regularly removes them.
According to LinkedIn’s User Agreement:
“If you buy or sell followers, or otherwise attempt to artificially inflate traffic or engagement, LinkedIn may terminate your account without further notice.”
They have automated systems as well as manual reviewers that investigate suspicious spikes in followers. If they confirm followers were purchased, your account faces termination.
Are there any services that provide “safe” LinkedIn followers?
No, there are no truly safe options to buy LinkedIn followers. Any service offering followers through bots, fake accounts, inactive users, or automated scripts violates LinkedIn’s terms and poses risks.
A few providers may claim to safely boost followers via methods like exchange services. However, the followers often turn out to be disengaged or irrelevant, offering no real benefits.
Ultimately, even services marketing “safe” or “organic” followers are manipulating LinkedIn’s system. Your best bet is to steer clear of these options altogether and focus on building real follower relationships.
What are the alternatives to buying LinkedIn followers?
Rather than buying followers, consider alternative growth strategies like:
- Creating engaging, useful content consistently.
- Staying active in relevant LinkedIn groups and discussions.
- Optimizing your profile for your target audience.
- Strategically connecting with those who engage your content.
- Leveraging hashtags and trends when appropriate.
- Running occasional targeted ad and influencer campaigns.
- Partnering with compatible brands and influencers.
- Focusing on building relationships, trust, and engagement.
While organic growth takes patience and effort, the payoff is real, targeted followers interested in what you do. Focus on these alternatives for legitimate growth and engagement.
Should LinkedIn ban people who buy followers?
LinkedIn already actively bans accounts confirmed to have purchased followers, engagement, or other forms of fake growth. Their User Agreement states:
“LinkedIn has the right to suspend or terminate your account if you violate this Contract or the law, or for any other reason without explanation.”
This policy is reasonable given buying followers misrepresents connections, inflates perceived influence, and undermines trust in the platform. Allowing paid growth would degrade the quality of the LinkedIn community.
Banning fake follower purchases protects authentic professionals using LinkedIn for legitimate networking and opportunity. It also incentivizes healthy, organic growth behaviors and content strategies.
How can you spot fake LinkedIn followers?
Here are some signs that can indicate fake or bot LinkedIn followers:
- No profile photo or generic stock photo
- Suspicious or nondescript account name
- Very few connections
- No work experience listed on profile
- Profile lacks customization and personal details
- Account is relatively new or inactive
- Industry, location, interests unrelated to you
- No real engagement with your content
Compare followers’ legitimacy to the average quality of profiles who organically follow you or similar accounts in your industry. Fake followers tend to be easy to spot.
Should buying LinkedIn endorsements and recommendations also be banned?
Yes, buying LinkedIn endorsements, recommendations, and other forms of engagement should also be prohibited under LinkedIn’s policies.
These practices similarly inflate perceived expertise and trust artificially. They misrepresent real skills, experience, and credibility.
According to LinkedIn’s User Agreement:
“You can’t misrepresent your identity or create false presence on LinkedIn, or attempt to artificially inflate engagement.”
This covers any forms of inauthentic activity, including bought endorsements and recommendations. These undermine the trust and value of engagement on LinkedIn.
Banning all types of paid growth and fake engagement maintains the integrity of the platform for authentic professional networking and credibility.
Conclusion
Buying LinkedIn followers is an ineffective shortcut that offers no real benefits and poses major account risks. Focus instead on cultivating engaged followers organically through valuable content, strategic networking, and genuine relationship building. Remember that quality connections trump quantity of followers on LinkedIn.
Here is a recap of key points:
- Buying followers violates LinkedIn’s terms and can get accounts terminated.
- Purchased followers have no real value and poor engagement.
- Signs like spikes and low engagement can reveal bought followers.
- Organic growth takes more effort but delivers real benefits.
- Build relationships, high-value content, and network strategically.
Avoid shortcuts and stick to LinkedIn’s guidelines for healthy community growth. With consistency and patience, your influence and opportunities will grow.
