LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional networking platform with over 700 million members. As a LinkedIn user, you can create a profile to showcase your work experience, skills, and accomplishments. One popular feature is the ability to see who has viewed your profile.
However, this feature is only available to LinkedIn Premium subscribers. So is upgrading to Premium worth it just to see your profile views? Here is an in-depth look at the pros and cons to help you decide.
Who Can See Your Profile Views?
On the free version of LinkedIn, you can see the last 5 profiles that viewed yours. However, you can only see their name and headline – not the company they work for.
With Premium, you can see the last 90 days of profile views broken down by:
- Name and headline
- Company
- Location
- Industry
- Date and time they viewed your profile
You can also filter your list of profile views by criteria like company, industry, and location.
Benefits of Seeing Full Profile Views
Here are some of the potential benefits of seeing your full profile views with LinkedIn Premium:
Identify Decision Makers at Target Companies
When you see executives and hiring managers from your target companies viewing your profile, it signals that they may have an interest in you. You can then focus your networking efforts on connecting with those people.
Get Insights on Your Personal Brand
The companies and titles of people looking at your profile give you an indication of how your personal brand is perceived. If you mainly attract views from certain types of companies or roles, you may want to tailor your profile to reach a wider audience.
Find New Sales Prospects
For sales professionals, profile views can reveal promising leads at companies they want to target. Knowing who already looked at your profile makes them warmer prospects when you reach out.
See Recruiters and Hiring Managers
If you’re actively job searching, you can quickly identify recruiters and hiring managers that viewed you. Focus on building connections with them to increase your chances of getting an interview.
Gauge Interest After Networking
After meeting people through networking events or messages, you can check if they viewed your profile. This shows they are interested in learning more about you.
Thank Viewers for Visiting Your Profile
With Premium, you can send thank you messages to people who viewed your profile and make a positive impression. This helps advance the relationship.
Limitations of Profile View Data
While seeing your full profile views has benefits, there are some limitations to consider:
No Context on Why They Viewed
The data does not tell you why someone decided to view your profile. It may have been for personal or professional reasons. So you shouldn’t assume they have a specific interest in hiring or connecting with you.
Views Can Be Accidental
It’s possible for someone to end up on your profile without meaning to. For example, they may have clicked on your profile image out of curiosity after seeing you comment in a group. The view doesn’t necessarily signify interest.
Data Refreshes Slowly
LinkedIn only updates the list of who viewed your profile every 24 hours. The data may not be fully up-to-date at any given time.
No Recruitment Guarantee
While recruiters may view your profile, it doesn’t guarantee they will reach out to interview or hire you. They may just be doing general research.
Privacy Concerns
Some people dislike that their profile views are visible to others, as they intended it to be private research. So they may intentionally not view profiles because it will be tracked.
Cost of LinkedIn Premium
Here are the current monthly costs for LinkedIn Premium subscriptions:
| Subscription | Monthly Price |
|---|---|
| Premium Career | $29.99 |
| Premium Business | $49.99 |
| Premium Sales | $64.99 |
The main benefit of Premium relevant to seeing your profile views is seeing the last 90 days instead of just 5 profiles. This comes with the Premium Career plan.
So at minimum, you would need to pay $29.99 per month for the expanded view history. Premium Business or Sales offer more features like InMail messages and company research tools.
Alternatives to Paying for Premium
If you don’t want to pay for LinkedIn Premium, here are some alternative options to consider for seeing who viewed your profile:
Use LinkedIn’s Free Version
You can still get a sample of recent profile views with the last 5 people who visited your profile on the free version. While limited, for some people this provides enough insight without having to pay.
Analyze Your Traffic Metrics
Under the Me tab > View profile > See all profile views, there is an overview of your total profile view count over the last 30 days. You can study trends over time to gauge increased interest.
Install a LinkedIn Viewer Tool
There are browser extensions and other software tools that can show you more profile views than what LinkedIn provides for free. Be careful when using third-party tools and research legitimacy before installing.
Focus on Quality over Quantity
Rather than fixating on the quantity of profile views, concentrate on building strong connections through networking and engagement. Profile views alone don’t lead to opportunities.
Conclusion
Here are some final key points to summarize whether LinkedIn Premium is worth it for seeing all your profile views:
- Premium shows your full profile view history for the last 90 days rather than just the last 5 viewers.
- Benefits include identifying decision makers, gauging interest, finding new prospects, seeing recruiters, and thanking viewers.
- Limitations are lack of context, accidental views, stale data, no guarantees, and some user privacy concerns.
- Premium Career costs a minimum of $29.99 per month just for the expanded profile view history.
- Free alternatives are LinkedIn’s basic insights, traffic metrics, third-party tools, and focusing on quality connections.
In the end, it depends on your career goals and how much value you will realistically gain from seeing your full profile viewer list. For some job seekers and sales professionals, the insights are extremely helpful and worth paying for Premium.
Others may find the free profile view options and focusing on engagement provides sufficient insight without the cost. Evaluate your specific needs and decide whether Premium’s expanded profile visibility is likely to benefit you in your professional objectives.
