Is it possible to see who’s been looking at your LinkedIn profile? Yes, with LinkedIn Premium you can see exactly who’s viewed your LinkedIn profile. This is essential information if you’re using LinkedIn to look for a job or grow your business. Disclosure: We are affiliates for some of the products and services mentioned on this page. Learn more here.
Contents:
- How to see who’s viewed your LinkedIn profile
- What information will LinkedIn show you?
- Why you need to know who’s viewed your LinkedIn profile
- How to get more views on your LinkedIn profile
- The best tool for optimizing your LinkedIn profile
How to see who’s viewed your LinkedIn profile
The feature we’re talking about is ‘who’s viewed your profile’. This feature reveals everyone that’s landed on your profile page within the last 90 days. Before we explore why this is essential information for job seekers, let’s look at how to access it!
Step one:
You’re going to need a premium LinkedIn subscription. LinkedIn Premium is a paid version of LinkedIn that offers users enhanced features.
You can learn more about the LinkedIn Premium features in this dedicated article. If you don’t yet have a LinkedIn Premium package, follow this link to sign up.
Every LinkedIn user has access to a 30-day free trial of LinkedIn Premium every 12 months. I recommend that you make use of this feature.
You’ll see that there is more than one Premium package available to you. Read this article to learn why I recommend opting for LinkedIn Premium Business.
Step two:
The who’s viewed your profile feature from a desktop or via the mobile app.
Desktop:
Click the Me icon at the top of your LinkedIn homepage, then View Profile.
Scroll down to the Analytics section and click [Number] profile views.
Mobile:
Click on your profile picture, then click on View profile.
Scroll down to the Analytics section and hit [Number] profile views.
What information will LinkedIn show you?
This all depends on what privacy setting the viewer has opted for. There are three possibilities, each one reveals less about the user.
Privacy settings open
As the name suggests, this is the most open privacy setting. You’ll be able to see the user’s full name, headline, location, and industry. (In my experience as a recruiter, most LinkedIn members have their profiles open).
Semi-private profile
If a user has their profile set to semi-private, LinkedIn will show you some limited info. You’ll see job title, company, industry and place of education. For example VP of Marketing in the manufacturing industry. Or a student at NYU, or someone who works at PWC.
Private LinkedIn profile
If a LinkedIn member has their profile set to the private mode you’ll only see ‘LinkedIn Member’. Whilst this isn’t very helpful, you’ll still get an idea of how many views you’re getting.
Analytics
A great benefit of the ‘Who’s viewed’ feature is the analytics. At a glance, you can see how your views are increasing or decreasing over time. This allows you to analyze the effects of your LinkedIn optimization efforts. More on this below.
Why do you need to know who’s viewed your LinkedIn profile?
There are two main reasons why you need to know who has viewed your profile.
1. So that you can optimize your LinkedIn profile.
2. So that you can reach out and connect.
So that you can optimize your LinkedIn profile
There are two ways that people discover your LinkedIn page for the first time. Generally speaking.
1. LinkedIn recommends your page to them because you have similar interests or backgrounds.
2. They discover you whilst conducting a LinkedIn search.
In both of these cases, LinkedIn recommends your profile based on the keywords and content that it contains.
The aim of LinkedIn profile optimization is to help LinkedIn to connect your page with the correct searches and to the right people. If you’re looking for a job as a Marketing Manager, you want to appear in searches for “marketing manager”. You also want other marketing professionals to see your profile, and marketing recruiters to find you.
If you’re not getting the right views, you have some optimization work to do. But you’ll only understand what changes to make once you know who’s finding you.
So that you can reach out and connect
This is a job search hack that many people overlook. If someone visits your LinkedIn profile there must be something about it that interests them. These are the people that you should be contacting.
If these are recruiters or professionals from within your target industry, message them! These are pretty warm leads, not completely cold contacts. It’s a lot easier to start a conversation with someone who has taken the initiative to visit your page.
You can either send them a connection request or jump right in with an InMail. To learn how to send great InMail messages, read ‘LinkedIn InMails: How to Reach Out About a Job’.
How to get more views on your LinkedIn profile
So we’ve covered how to find out who’s finding your LinkedIn profile. We’ve also explored the importance of getting the right kinds of views. Now let’s look at what you can do to get more views from more of the right people. There are three sections of your LinkedIn that you should optimize immediately for more views.
1. Headline
A good LinkedIn headline will help you appear in more searches and also encourage people to visit your page. Think of it as a keyworded, catchy advert for who you are and what you do.
Why is your LinkedIn headline important?
Let me give you three reasons why you should take time over your LinkedIn headline;
1. A good LinkedIn headline tells recruiters or potential clients what you do. It gives them a reason to take a closer look at your LinkedIn profile and to connect with you.
2. Your LinkedIn headline can help you to stand out from the competition. This is very important in a job search context.
3. The headline section on LinkedIn is an important component of an optimized profile. It’s one of the sections of your profile where you can include keywords. It’s these keywords that help you get found by recruiters and hiring managers.
For examples of great LinkedIn headlines head here.
2. About section
You can write a lot in this section so you need to get it right. Including the correct keywords will help you to show up in the right LinkedIn searches.
Treat your visitors to an interesting narrative about you. Tell them about your career journey, what makes you unique, and why they might want to know more.
3. Skills list
The Skills section of a LinkedIn profile is often misunderstood and neglected. Listing the correct skills is an essential part of key-wording your LinkedIn profile.
You can add up to 50 unique skills to your LinkedIn profile. Your chosen skills are used to match you to relevant searches and job recommendations. Remember to pin the most important and relevant skills at the top of the list so that visitors see these first.
Use Jobscan to scan your LinkedIn profile
According to Jobscan:
87% of recruiters use LinkedIn specifically to find candidates for jobs
94% of recruiters use LinkedIn to vet job candidates
Jobscan scans your LinkedIn profile and compares it to your target job descriptions. It will then tell you exactly what keywords you need to include and how to include them. Jobscan is a very effective way of optimizing your LinkedIn profile and the results can be quite remarkable. Click here to explore Jobscan.
Conclusion
Take the time to work on fully optimizing your LinkedIn profile. Remember, your aim should be to increase both the number and relevancy of your profile visits.
When the right people begin to visit your LinkedIn page reach out to them and begin networking. Some of the best career opportunities come about as a result of professional networking.
If you’re unsure of how to start the conversation, check out this highly-rated tool by Madeline Mann of Self-Made Millennial.
