How professionals are capitalizing on LinkedIn

LinkedIn user trends

According to a LinkedIn user survey released by PowerFormula.net, professional networking site, LinkedIn.com now has over 150 million users and continues to grow, however half of all users have 100 percent incomplete profiles, and the number of active users is likely smaller than the 75 million users with completed profiles, but it remains the largest professional networking site around.

Half of all survey respondents have over 200 first degree connections, a sizable average network size for the site which launched nearly a decade ago, remaining primarily free, with only 8.4 percent of users paying for the pro version of the service. The majority of users are in between 1 to 9 groups, yet 21 percent have joined over 30 groups. While groups do not require interaction, and this count is not necessarily an indication of activity levels, it is fascinating to note how the community has taken to groups.

Activity levels, popular features

Activity levels of respondents were relatively low, with half noting they spend under two hours per week on the site, compared to the averages of rival networks Google+ whose users spent an average of 3.3 minutes on the site in January, and 7.5 hours on Facebook during the month, according to comScore. One in ten survey respondents say they spend over 8 hours on LinkedIn per week.

The top three rated features of LinkedIn per the survey are groups, followed by people searching, and the people you know feature. The lowest rated features are Google Presentation, polling, and SlideShare which points out that LinkedIn users taking advantage of these features stand out from the majority that do not list these as their favorite features, which means they likely spend much less time grooming these LinkedIn options.

Reaching consumers

One in three respondents note that LinkedIn has helped them to build new relationships with potential clients, half have reached others who influence their clients, and the majority have used the site to research companies and/or people.

LinkedIn is not as sexy as Twitter and Facebook and is less about what users are doing in the moment and more about the digital handshake, so it is often an overlooked or forgotten piece of a professional’s digital portfolio, but given interaction levels and how users are saying they are benefiting, it is worth taking a second look at your profile and investing a bit more time in growing your network.