LinkedIn is the world’s largest professional network with over 850 million members worldwide. As a social media platform focused on career and business opportunities, LinkedIn allows users to connect with professionals in their industry, find job openings, share content, and build their professional brand. One of LinkedIn’s premium features is the ability to send InMail messages to any LinkedIn member, even if you are not connected to them.
What is InMail?
InMail is LinkedIn’s internal messaging system that allows you to directly contact any LinkedIn member without needing to connect first. This differs from the standard LinkedIn messaging which only allows you to message your 1st degree connections. With InMail, you can send messages to 2nd and 3rd degree connections or members outside your network. This gives you access to a much larger audience on LinkedIn.
InMail messages bypass the recipient’s inbox and appear as notifications on LinkedIn. This helps increase the chances that your message will be seen by the intended recipient. Some key features of InMail include:
- Ability to message any LinkedIn member
- Higher response rates compared to standard LinkedIn messages
- Messages appear as notifications to stand out
- Option to attach files and media
- Read receipts let you know if your message was seen
Who can send InMail?
The ability to send InMail messages is a premium feature on LinkedIn. To gain access, you need to upgrade to one of LinkedIn’s paid subscriptions:
- LinkedIn Premium: Gives you 5 InMail credits per month
- LinkedIn Premium Business: Gives you 25 InMail credits per month
- LinkedIn Premium Sales: Gives you 100 InMail credits per month
- LinkedIn Recruiter Lite: Gives you 25 InMail credits per month
- LinkedIn Recruiter Corporate: Unlimited InMail messages
The number of credits indicates how many InMail messages you can send each month. Once your credits are used up, you will need to wait until the next billing cycle to send more messages. Only paid subscribers have access to send InMails.
Why use InMail?
Here are some of the main reasons LinkedIn members use InMail when messaging:
- Directly contact recruits: Headhunters and recruiters use InMail to reach promising job candidates outside their network.
- Connect with decision makers: Salespeople use InMail to engage leads and prospects at target companies.
- Extend your network: Business developers can grow their network by introducing themselves to relevant contacts.
- Stand out: InMail messages differentiate you and catch people’s attention.
- Get responses: The notification format drives higher response rates compared to standard messages.
In summary, the unique advantages of InMail allow you to more effectively engage the right people on LinkedIn to grow your business, find talent, generate leads, and meet influencers in your industry.
Best practices for using InMail
To get the most out of your InMail credits, here are some best practices to follow:
- Personalize each message with the recipient’s name and customize it to them.
- Keep your message concise and communicate your value proposition.
- Follow up if you don’t receive a response within a week.
- Avoid sending copy-paste InMails or spamming contacts.
- Use a meaningful subject line that conveys the reason for your message.
- Proofread carefully and check for typos before sending.
- Include a strong call-to-action so recipients know how to respond.
- Follow up any successful conversations by connecting on LinkedIn.
Limitations of InMail
While InMail is a powerful messaging tool, there are some limitations to be aware of:
- Recipients can easily ignore or delete unwanted InMail messages.
- There are restrictions on how frequently you can message the same recipient.
- Each InMail credit costs money once your monthly limit is used up.
- There is no guarantee the recipient will respond to your InMail.
- Your messages may get lost among the many notifications people receive.
- InMail cannot directly reach recipients who have disabled messages in their settings.
To overcome these limitations, craft targeted messages, adjust your outreach cadence, and track InMail performance to optimize who and how you message.
InMail vs. Open Messaging
How does InMail differ from LinkedIn’s open messaging system? Here is a comparison:
Feature | InMail | Open Messaging |
---|---|---|
Who you can message | Any LinkedIn member | Only 1st degree connections |
Delivery method | Notification | Inbox |
Cost | Paid feature requiring credits | Free for all members |
Ideal for… | Outreach to new contacts | Communicating with connections |
The key distinction is that InMail facilitates initial outreach while open messaging fosters ongoing conversations.
Conclusion
InMail allows LinkedIn members with premium subscriptions to directly message any other member to generate new connections and opportunities. It enables expanded reach compared to standard messaging that is restricted to existing contacts. To maximize results, InMail campaigns should be targeted, personalized, and tracked for optimization. When used strategically, InMail can accelerate relationship-building and supercharge lead generation.
Some key takeaways include:
- InMail messages appear as notifications and bypass inboxes for visibility.
- Only paid LinkedIn members can send InMails based on monthly credit limits.
- InMail is ideal for sales outreach, recruiting, and networking with new contacts.
- Personalize InMail messages and follow up for higher response rates.
- Compare InMail capabilities versus open messaging when planning campaigns.
Understanding how to leverage InMail is important for any professional wanting to unlock the full potential of LinkedIn for connecting with influential contacts and growing their business or career opportunities.
Links are the building blocks of the web. They allow users to easily navigate between websites by clicking on links on a page which takes you to a new destination. Understanding how links work is key to using them effectively on the web.
Anatomy of a Link
A basic link consists of:
- Anchor text – The visible, clickable text that users see.
- Href (hypertext reference) – The URL or web address that the anchor text links to.
- Title attribute (optional) – Additional text that appears when hovering over the link.
Here is an example of HTML code for a link:
<a href="https://www.example.com/" title="Example Website">Click Here</a>
- The anchor text is “Click Here”
- The href is the URL https://www.example.com/
- The title attribute shows “Example Website” on hover
Absolute vs Relative Links
Links can be coded in two ways:
- Absolute – Includes the full URL, e.g. https://www.example.com/page.html
- Relative – Points to a file path on the current website, e.g. /page.html
Absolute links will take users to that exact destination, while relative links point them to a page within the site’s own domain.
Internal vs External Links
Links are also categorized by where they take the user:
- Internal – Links to pages within the same website, e.g. /about.html
- External – Links to outside websites, e.g. https://www.othersite.com/blog
Internal links help users navigate within your site, while external links allow them to discover new resources.
broken Links
Broken links occur when:
- The target page or resource no longer exists.
- The URL is incorrectly typed.
- The server returns an error page.
Some signs of a broken link:
- The link goes to a “404 Not Found” page.
- The link is underlined and colored, but does nothing when clicked.
- The link destination looks broken or unfinished.
Broken links frustrate users and must be fixed by webmasters. Using link checking tools can identify broken links for repair.
Link Elements
There are also HTML elements that help define the relationship of a link:
- <base> – Defines a default URL for links on a page.
- <link> – Creates a link relationship between documents.
- <nav> – Contains major navigation links on a page.
These provide context for certain links and help search engines categorize relationships between pages.
Best Practices for Links
When using links on websites and in content, it’s important to follow best practices:
- Use descriptive anchor text, not “click here” or URLs.
- Link to high-quality, relevant resources.
- Check links regularly and fix any that are broken.
- Use relative links when pointing internally.
- Open external links in a new browser tab.
- Include the title attribute for additional hovering text.
Properly formatting links and monitoring them over time improves the user experience and SEO performance.
Link Building
Link building is the practice of generating links from external sites back to your own. This is a key part of SEO strategy because it helps increase authority and rankings. Useful link building tactics include:
- Creating high-quality content that attracts natural links.
- Reaching out to related sites to request links.
- Participating as a guest author for backlinks.
- Building partnerships through content syndication.
- Joining industry directories and local citations.
The focus should be on earning links from reputable and topically relevant sites.
Conclusion
Links form connections across the web. Understanding the makeup of a link, the different types of links, and best practices allows you to connect your site’s content more effectively. Keeping links in good working order through ongoing maintenance and building new quality links will improve the user experience and SEO.