This summer has been a busy one for the staff at LinkedIn, the business-focused social network. There has been a complete site redesign, lots of new features rolled out, and the whole thing now has a more modern feel. But how will these changes – and others on the horizon – affect how you promote your company on LinkedIn?
1. The site now offers a more pleasant user experience. The design team at LinkedIn are hoping that the recent redesign will prompt users to visit the site more often, rather than just using it as a one-off place to upload a résumé and then forget about it. The site has needed some refreshing for a while now, so this is a welcome change for those who are using their LinkedIn page to try to attract an audience.
2. Likes and comments make the site a little more social. In a bid to be more like the larger social networks, LinkedIn has now incorporated likes and comments, in a similar manner to Facebook and Twitter. The “Today” feature allows users to comment on trending topics, news headlines, and other important news within their networks, creating more buzz around worthwhile information.
3. Secret weapon: mobile apps. LinkedIn’s mobile apps have always left something to be desired, but in recent months they have introduced an iPad app and Windows Phone app, and made significant changes to the iPhone and Android apps. There have been hints in the LinkedIn blog that more changes are coming – this could mean that the company is aiming to have a much greater percentage of its users visiting the site on the go. More site visits equals more exposure for businesses pushing their LinkedIn presence.
4. Notifications keep users up to date no matter where they are. Combined with all this is the new notifications feature, which makes it even easier for mobile users to use the site actively. In fact, this increase in the ability to connect and communicate with contacts may push LinkedIn from a simple business site into a full-fledged social network that may actually seek to take on the bigger social media giants.
How do you use LinkedIn to promote your business? Do you think a more social aspect and better mobile integration on LinkedIn is going to make it a better marketing tool for you?
