LinkedIn is a business and employment-oriented online service that operates via websites and mobile apps. Founded in December 2002 and launched in May 2003, it is mainly used for professional networking and career development, and allows job seekers to post their CVs and employers to post jobs.
LinkedIn allows members (both workers and employers) to create profiles and “connections” to each other in an online social network which may represent real-world professional relationships. Members can invite anyone (whether a site user or not) to become a connection. The “gated-access approach” (where contact with any professional requires either a preexisting relationship, or the intervention of a contact of theirs) is intended to build trust among the service’s users.
LinkedIn is currently the largest professional network on the Internet. It has over 740 million registered members in over 200 countries and territories as of August 2021. It is available in 24 languages, including Arabic, Chinese, English, French, German, Italian, Portuguese, Spanish, Dutch, Swedish, Danish, Romanian, Russian, Turkish, Japanese, Czech, Polish, and Finnish.
Overview of LinkedIn
Here are some key things to know about LinkedIn:
– LinkedIn allows users to create professional profiles with their work history, education, skills, and accomplishments. Profiles can include photos, videos, recommendations, and other media.
– The platform facilitates networking by allowing users to connect with colleagues, classmates, business contacts, and other professionals.
– Users can join groups based on industry, interests, university, and more to connect with like-minded individuals. Groups allow users to participate in discussions and share relevant content.
– LinkedIn profiles are public by default and come up high in Google search results, acting as a professional online resume. Users can control what content is visible to different audiences.
– The site provides job listings and allows users to apply directly through LinkedIn. Job seekers can search based on title, location, company, and more.
– Users can publish long-form posts called articles to share professional insights, attract new contacts, and demonstrate expertise. Articles can be shared with connections and groups.
– Targeted ads are LinkedIn’s primary revenue source. Advertisers can precisely target LinkedIn members based on their industry, job title, skills, location, and other profile information.
– Premium subscriptions provide additional services like viewing full profiles, seeing who’s viewed your profile, sending unlimited messages, and more networking capabilities.
History and Growth of LinkedIn
Here is an overview of LinkedIn’s history and rapid growth:
– LinkedIn was founded in 2002 by Reid Hoffman, Allen Blue, Konstantin Guericke, Eric Ly, and Jean-Luc Vaillant. The founders’ vision was to make professional information publicly available and connect professionals globally.
– The site officially launched on May 5, 2003. Within a month, LinkedIn had over 4,500 users.
– In its first few years, LinkedIn prioritized growing its user base over monetization. Famous Silicon Valley investors like Sequoia Capital saw LinkedIn’s potential and helped fund its growth.
– By 2006, LinkedIn had 20 million users. It began adding social networking features like recommendations, groups, and status updates to increase user engagement.
– LinkedIn opened its global headquarters in Mountain View, California and became profitable for the first time in March 2006.
– The company held its initial public offering (IPO) in May 2011 at a valuation of $4.25 billion. Shares were priced at $45 and closed up 109% on the first day of trading.
– In 2016, LinkedIn was acquired by Microsoft for $26.2 billion. This was Microsoft’s largest acquisition to date. At the time, LinkedIn had over 430 million members worldwide.
– As of 2022, LinkedIn reports having over 875 million members in more than 200 countries. It continues to see steady user growth, especially internationally.
– LinkedIn has expanded beyond professional networking and recruiting into a wide range of services including online learning, content publishing, and marketing solutions.
Business Model and Revenue Sources
LinkedIn has multiple revenue streams:
– Talent Solutions: This business line allows companies to post jobs, search profiles, use recruiting tools, and gain insights on candidates. Talent Solutions accounts for over 60% of LinkedIn’s revenue.
– Advertising: LinkedIn offers highly targeted self-serve, audio, and video advertising options. Marketers can precisely target LinkedIn’s user base based on job title, industry, location, interests, and more.
– Premium Subscriptions: For individual users, LinkedIn offers several tiers of premium subscriptions with expanding features. Options include Job Seeker, Business Plus, Sales Navigator, and others catering to recruiters, executives, and creators. Premium subscriptions account for about a quarter of revenue.
– Sales Solutions: LinkedIn’s sales tools help companies identify, monitor, and close more leads through services like Lead Gen Forms, PointDrive presentations, and Sales Insights.
– Learning and Development: LinkedIn Learning and LinkedIn Events cater to individuals and organizations looking to develop skills and host virtual events. This is an emerging revenue stream with big growth potential.
– Other Services: LinkedIn charges fees for its Marketing Solutions platform and Gated Content offering as well as the LinkedIn Talent and Learning Analytics tools.
LinkedIn has successfully monetized its massive user base of professionals. It strikes a balance between keeping users engaged and extracting revenue from businesses seeking access to those users and their data.
LinkedIn.com
LinkedIn.com is LinkedIn’s flagship website that provides the core professional networking platform and services. Here are the key features and capabilities of LinkedIn.com:
– Profile – The centerpiece of each user’s presence on LinkedIn. Profiles include work experience, education, skills, recommendations, accomplishments, and other details.
– Feeds – The home page feeds display updates from connections, companies, groups, and publishers that users follow. Users can like, comment, share, and post their own updates.
– Connections – Users can connect with colleagues, employers, clients, peers, and other professionals to build an online network. Connections facilitate networking opportunities.
– Groups – Groups allow users to share content and have discussions organized around professional topics, industries, schools, and shared interests. Joining relevant groups aids networking.
– Jobs – LinkedIn’s massive job board allows users to search millions of open positions by title, company, location, and other criteria. Users can apply directly through LinkedIn and get notified of potential jobs.
– Learning – LinkedIn Learning provides over 16,000 digital courses taught by industry experts. Users can develop in-demand skills at their own pace via video lessons.
– News and Insights – Users can publish long-form posts called articles to share professional knowledge. The newsfeed displays curated content including news digests.
– Search – LinkedIn’s powerful search engine allows searching by name, company, title, group, school, and keywords. Advanced search filters help narrow results.
The website is the primary interface for LinkedIn’s services on desktop. The mobile apps provide portability for core networking functions.
Key Features of LinkedIn.com
Here is a more detailed look at some of the key features available on LinkedIn.com:
– Profile customization – Users can select profile themes, customize their public profile URL, and showcase specific sections of their profile. A profile can be built out to any level of detail desired.
– Skills and endorsements – The skills section allows users to list out their professional capabilities. Connections can endorse skills to help validate a user’s expertise.
– Detailed work experience – Work histories can be expanded to include photos, videos, descriptions of responsibilities, accomplishments, recommendations from managers, etc.
– Education and volunteer experience – Schools and degrees earned can be showcased, along with test scores, activities, and honors. Volunteer work and causes can also be highlighted.
– Recommendations – Connections can write recommendations to validate a user’s skills and vouch for their capabilities. Recommendations are prominently displayed.
– Rich media content – Photos, presentations, documents, videos, and portfolios can be integrated seamlessly into a profile. This allows demonstrating work visually.
– Premium profile metrics – Paid subscribers get access to metrics on their profile views and how they compare to others in their industry.
– Saved jobs and job alerts – Open job listings can be saved for later consideration or applied to directly on LinkedIn. Alerts notify users of new relevant postings.
– Targeted ads – Ads that appear on the site are highly targeted based on each user’s profile, activity, and stated interests. Users see relevant offers.
– Publishing platform – Users can publish blog-like articles that appear in their network’s feeds. This allows demonstrating thought leadership.
LinkedIn Android App
LinkedIn’s Android app allows users to access core networking features on the go from Android smartphones and tablets. Here is an overview of the LinkedIn Android app:
– App Basics – The Android app is free to download from the Google Play store. It is optimized for all screen sizes. An average rating of 4.2 stars reflects its popularity.
– Login and Profiles – Users can quickly log in with their LinkedIn account credentials. Member profiles display with full details and media content.
– Feeds and Content – Stay updated on connections, companies, and news. Read articles, flip through presentations, watch videos, and interact with posts.
– Messaging – Communicate directly with connections via free messages and InMail (for paid users). Great for following up with networks.
– Notifications – Important notifications alert users to profile views, connections, messages, mentions, reactions, comments, job updates, and more.
– Search – Quickly search for people, companies, jobs, groups, content, and more. Advanced filters help narrow the results.
– Groups – Browse groups and join industry-specific discussions. Contribute your own commentary, polls, and content.
– Jobs – Browse millions of job postings and get notified of opportunities that match your profile and preferences. Apply directly within the app.
– Premium Features – Upgrade to unlock benefits like profile branding, expanded network reach, unlimited search history, and more analytical insights.
The LinkedIn Android app makes networking on the go fast and easy. It’s optimized to display profiles, content, and job listings clearly even on smaller screens.
Key Features of the LinkedIn Android App
Here is a deeper look at some of the notable features and capabilities of LinkedIn’s Android app:
– Push notifications – Opt in to receive real-time alerts and updates on messages, mentions, reactions, comments, profile views, and more.
– Saved searches and jobs – Bookmark searches and listings to revisit later. Get notifications when new matches arise.
– Sharing options – Easily share profiles, content, and job postings via text, email, social media, and other apps on your device.
– In-app camera – The built-in camera allows quickly capturing and sharing photos without leaving the app.
– Localized content – Browse location-specific content like local job postings, nearby people, and local business pages.
– Salary insights – Research typical salary ranges for different job titles in specific companies, cities, and regions.
– Flash Briefing skill – Get personalized news, job openings, and profile updates verbally through Alexa-enabled devices.
– Lite mode – Toggle to Lite mode to minimize data usage and quickly load content on slow connections.
– Premium mobile features – Paid subscribers unlock perks like unlimited profile searches, complete network analytics, and custom branding.
– Offline access – Previously viewed content, profiles, and searches remain available even without an internet connection.
– Dark mode – Switch to a darker color scheme to minimize eye strain, save battery life, and reduce glare.
The Android app brings LinkedIn’s power and seamless experience to mobile devices. It makes networking and recruiting constantly accessible.
Comparison Between LinkedIn Website and Mobile App
While LinkedIn’s website and mobile apps offer similar core capabilities, there are some key differences between the two platforms:
LinkedIn Website
– More powerful search tools with advanced filters and Boolean operators
– Larger feeds with expanded content and richer media
– Ability to draft longer-form written content
– Wider range of plugins and apps to enhance features
– Analytics dashboard with more metrics and customizable tracking
– Access to computer-centric features like Lead Gen forms
– More options for custom branding and profile skins
– Expanded capabilities for recruiters and hiring managers
– Larger job search inventory and filters
– Easier navigation through menus and page links
LinkedIn Mobile App
– Push notifications for real-time updates and alerts
– Camera integration for quick photo capture and sharing
– Location-based networking, jobs, content, and research
– Offline access to previously loaded content
– Dark mode for low-light situations
– Enhanced accessibility features like screen readers
– Energy saving features like Lite mode
– Salary estimation based on title and location
– Job application submission and management
– More focused, streamlined interface
– Accessibility on-the-go for messaging and notifications
– Optimized for speed and performance on mobile networks
The website interface allows power users to maximize LinkedIn’s capabilities for searching, content creation, data analysis, and recruiting. The mobile experience focuses on portability and quick connections.
Getting the Most Out of LinkedIn
Here are some tips to maximize the value of LinkedIn for networking, thought leadership, and career growth:
– Spend time customizing your profile with media, metrics, recommendations, etc. to stand out.
– Research and join highly targeted industry and interest groups aligned to your goals. Engage actively.
– Follow influential companies and thought leaders to gain exposure to emerging trends and insights.
– Develop a large network by endorsing skills, writing recommendations, and helping connect professionals.
– Stay on top of notifications and messages to cultivate relationships and opportunities.
– Use advanced search techniques and filters to find relevant jobs and people.
– Publish articles and long-form posts to establish expertise and credibility.
– Use multimedia content to showcase your skills and experience visually.
– Curate content to share rather than always posting promotional updates. Provide value.
– Monitor analytics through Company Pages and the Sales Navigator tool.
– Participate in discussions and ask strong questions to demonstrate thought leadership.
– Consider upgrading to a Premium account to get full visibility and insights.
With some strategic effort, LinkedIn can become an invaluable asset for empowering your career and achieving professional goals through networking and knowledge sharing.
Conclusion
LinkedIn has evolved into the world’s largest professional networking platform, with over 875 million members. The website LinkedIn.com provides users with capabilities to create rich professional profiles, connect with colleagues and clients, join industry groups, search jobs, publish content, and grow their networks.
The LinkedIn mobile apps extend networking abilities on-the-go through an optimized interface for Android and iOS devices. Features like push notifications and location-based content make relationship building and career management possible anytime, anywhere.
While the website offers more powerful tools for things like analytics, recruiting, and branded content creation, the mobile experience focuses on profile visibility and building connections through timely notifications and access. Used together, LinkedIn’s website and mobile apps provide a versatile toolkit for networking in the digital age.
