There are a few main ways that search engines like Google and Bing discover web pages on LinkedIn to index and rank them in search results. The most common method is through links – when one LinkedIn page links to another, search engines follow those links to discover new pages. Other ways include sitemaps, social media shares, and direct submissions.
Links Between Pages
Links are by far the most common way search engines find new pages to crawl and index. When a page on LinkedIn contains a link to another page on the site, search engines like Google will follow that link to discover the new page. LinkedIn has a very interlinked structure, with member profiles linking to other profiles, Groups linking to related content, job listings linking to company pages, and so on. All of these internal links allow search bots to explore the site and catalog its content.
Some key facts about how links assist discovery:
- LinkedIn pages with more incoming links from other domains tend to get crawled more frequently.
- Pages linked higher up on a page get more link equity and tend to rank better in search.
- Links in footers and sidebars are given less weight than contextual links in the main content.
- Nofollowed links and links marked as sponsored still get crawled but don’t pass link equity.
- Broken links result in 404 errors which can negatively impact SEO.
Overall, a well-interlinked site architecture allows search bots to efficiently spider and index all of LinkedIn’s content. Site owners should ensure that pages are linked contextually where relevant throughout the site.
XML Sitemaps
Another very common way that search engines discover new and updated pages is through XML sitemaps. A sitemap is an XML file that lists all the URLs on a website to notify search engines about available content. LinkedIn maintains a large sitemap index file that points to numerous smaller sitemap files organized by content type and country.
Some key points about XML sitemaps:
- Sitemaps supplement crawler-based discovery via links.
- They can list pages that might not be linked internally.
- They notify engines of removed or changed content.
- Large sites like LinkedIn use sitemap indexes to point to many smaller sitemaps.
- Sitemaps can be generated automatically or uploaded manually.
By submitting a sitemap, LinkedIn helps the search engines index their content more thoroughly and keep their massive index up to date. Sitemaps are a webmaster best practice for any large-scale website.
Social Shares
With over 850 million members, LinkedIn has a very active social ecosystem. When members share LinkedIn content via social media, those public social signals can alert search engines about pages gaining popularity. Google and other engines track shares, likes, tweets, pins, and other social media mentions to discover fresh content.
Some key points on social shares aiding discovery:
- Popular social shares can bring new LinkedIn pages into search results.
- High social activity signals readers find value in the content.
- Share buttons should be easy to access to encourage spreading content.
- Trending articles on social gain more visibility with search engines.
- Unique content is more likely to get social shares and links.
So while not as direct as links or sitemaps, social media integration can significantly boost discovery and referrals from search engines.
Direct Submissions
The last main method for getting LinkedIn pages indexed is direct submissions to search engines. The site’s webmasters can manually submit URLs to engines like Google and Bing through their respective webmaster tools accounts or APIs. This is done selectively for important new pages the engines should prioritize crawling or pages that require re-indexing after changes.
Key notes on direct submission:
- Allows selecting individual URLs for indexing instead of full crawls.
- Prioritizes time-sensitive or important content.
- Useful for pages blocked by robots.txt or noindex tags initially.
- Requires verifying ownership through webmaster tools.
- Should be used sparingly and temporarily.
So direct submission provides finer control over discovery, but at a much smaller scale than automatic methods like links and sitemaps.
Best Practices for LinkedIn SEO
Based on the main discovery methods covered, here are some best practices LinkedIn members and page owners can follow to improve discoverability and search performance:
- Interlink relevant pages using contextual internal links.
- Avoid excessive linking networks or schemes.
- Maintain a clean navigation menu linking to main pages.
- Implement social sharing buttons and encourage quality shares.
- Produce unique content not available elsewhere.
- Check for broken links causing 404 errors.
- Generate and submit XML sitemaps to search engines.
- Monitor site performance in Google Search Console.
Following search engine guidelines and best practices will allow LinkedIn content to be discovered and indexed efficiently for the benefit of visitors.
Conclusion
In summary, the most common way search engines discover web pages on LinkedIn is through internal links between pages on the domain. Link equity passing from page to page allows efficient crawling of the site architecture. XML sitemaps provide a supplementary list of URLs and social shares can bring prominence. Direct submissions fill in discovery gaps but are not the primary method. By optimizing on-page content and implementing best SEO practices, LinkedIn members can improve visibility and search performance.
