Is your LinkedIn profile safe from restrictions?
Whether temporary or permanent, it’s never pleasant to see a LinkedIn warning popping up on your screen during your login attempt. What’s equally unpleasant is performing various actions on LinkedIn as usual but realizing weeks later that no one has been able to see your content.
A permanent ban is a worst-case scenario, but even a temporary ban can disrupt your marketing, outreach, and social selling efforts on LinkedIn.
In this ultimate guide to your LinkedIn profile safety, we’ve compiled a list of top pro tips and strategies that’ll keep your account running and visible as it should be.
In Part 2 of this handbook, you will find tips and strategies exclusively for LinkedIn power users who want to maximize their productivity on LinkedIn in a safe manner.
Table of Contents
What Are Activities on LinkedIn?
How does LinkedIn’s sophisticated AI decide whether to restrict or ban your LinkedIn account?
Well, it all boils down to your activity on LinkedIn.
Your LinkedIn activity is a combination of everything you do on the platform, from viewing a profile to creating a post to sending a connection request.
Ask yourself if:
- Your interactions with others are spammy
- Your activity levels surged abruptly after being inactive on LinkedIn
- Your third-party tools are performing repetitive behaviors beyond human capability
Some actions can warrant a permanent ban from LinkedIn, such as creating a fake profile. Others, such as a sudden spike in activity, may lead to a temporary suspension lasting from hours to weeks.
Typically, the cumulative actions you take determine the fate of your account. Hence, this guide was created — to keep you on top of all the best tips to safeguard your LinkedIn account!
General Best Practices to Safeguard Your LinkedIn Account
Respect LinkedIn Limits
LinkedIn sets action limits for a myriad of reasons. With the increasing number of tools and AI to help users be more efficient in their work, those limits exist to maintain a positive user experience, protect user privacy, prevent abuse, encourage meaningful connections, and maintain the platform’s integrity as a valuable resource for professional networking and prospecting.
It’s important to note that LinkedIn may change those limits periodically. Additionally, they may even vary depending on various factors.
You have higher limit thresholds when you
- Subscribe to Sales Navigator (vs. using a free account)
- Created your profile some time ago (vs. recently)
- Completed all the sections of your LinkedIn profile (vs. keeping it blank or rarely updating it)
- Have been active on LinkedIn (vs. only becoming more active recently)
- Frequently post content (vs. once or twice a month)
- Engage with other posts
- Have quality connections/followers
- Have a high connection request acceptance rate (vs. high volume of pending invitations)
- High Social Selling Index (SSI)
The numbers shared below are good benchmarks as you attempt to scale your efforts on LinkedIn.
| Basic (Free) | Sales Navigator | |
|---|---|---|
|
Profile visits per day |
60-80 |
150 |
|
Connection requests per week |
100 20-25 (per day) |
100 20-25 (per day) |
|
Comments per day |
30 |
60 |
|
Total LinkedIn actions per day |
150 |
250-300 |
But! Going from one to a hundred in a day isn’t the best idea.
Consider where you are with your LinkedIn profile at the moment.
For instance, have you been sending connection requests daily? Since LinkedIn allows 100 connection requests per week, wouldn’t sending all 100 requests within a day be technically possible?
That brings us to the next point.
Pace Your LinkedIn Activities
Even if your cumulative LinkedIn actions fall under LinkedIn limits, you should take some time to warm up your account.
In terms of sending connection requests, we recommend:
Week 1: 5 requests per day
Week 2: 10 requests per day
Week 3: 15 requests per day
Week 4 onwards: Under 20 requests per day
Avoid Odd Hours
Logging in at 3 am?
That’s red flag number one.
Posting content, sending connection requests, and responding to messages at 3:02 am?
Those are red flags two, three, and four.
When LinkedIn notices odd user activity patterns during the odd hours in your timezone, your account will likely be flagged for suspicious or unusual behavior.
Be on the safe side:
- Use LinkedIn during typical waking hours in your time zone.
- Avoid or significantly reduce activities on LinkedIn between 10 pm to 6 am.
Ensure Quality of Network and Followers
High-quality connections tend to engage positively with your content. Since engagement sends positive signals about your account to LinkedIn, it greatly reduces the risk of restrictions.
Therefore, aim for meaningful connections rather than quantity. By focusing on building a high-quality network by connecting with professionals in your industry or related field, it also contributes to your Social Selling Index, which we discuss in the next section.
Track Your Social Selling Index (SSI)
SSI is a LinkedIn metric that measures the effectiveness of a user’s social selling efforts on the platform. LinkedIn calculates your SSI using four key elements:
- Establish Your Professional Brand – How well do you present yourself on your LinkedIn profile?
- Find the Right People – Are you identifying and connecting with people in your industry or potential clients?
- Engage with Insights – Are you regularly sharing, commenting, and interacting with posts in your network?
- Build Relationships – Are you nurturing your relationships by personalizing your interactions, responding to messages, and maintaining an active network?
The SSI is scored on a scale of 0 to 100, with a higher score indicating a more effective social selling strategy. You can view your SSI on LinkedIn for free.
By actively working to increase your SSI, you’re not just enhancing your visibility, credibility, and influence within your LinkedIn network – you’ll also be fortifying your profile against restrictions.
Personalize Connection Requests
When sending connection requests, take the time to personalize your message.
1. Mention a post or article they’ve written.
Just read your awesome post on [topic] — it really hit home for me! I’d love to connect and chat more about [shared interest]. What do you think?
Cheers,
[Your Name]
2. Mention how you know the person.
We crossed paths at [event/conference] last month. Remember our chat about [specific topic]? Let’s keep the conversation going — connecting here sounds like a plan!
Cheers,
[Your Name]
3. Mention why you want to connect.
Been following your [industry/field] journey and totally inspired! Would love to connect, learn from your experiences, and maybe share a few thoughts too. What do you think?
Cheers,
[Your Name]
4. Mention a mutual connection.
I’ve heard great things about your work in [industry/field] from [Mutual Connection’s name], and I’d love to connect and learn more from your experiences. Let’s connect and share insights!
Cheers,
[Your Name]
5. Mention that it was LinkedIn's recommendation based on your shared interests or profession.
Hey [Name!] The LinkedIn gods suggested we connect, and I thought, "Why not?" We seem to have a lot in common, both interest-wise and career-wise. I'm thinking connecting could be a win-win for us!
Cheers,
[Your Name]
Overall, personalizing your connection requests not only enhances your professional image but also reduces the chances of being marked as spam.
Connect Wisely
Are you sending connection invitations to the right people?
People to whom you’ve sent connection requests can select ‘I don’t know this person‘ upon clicking to Ignore the invitation over accepting it.
It’s like a report users can submit to LinkedIn; you wouldn’t be privy to it since you’re the one sending the invitation.
Receiving too many ‘I don’t know this person’ from potential connections is a clear signal to LinkedIn that you may not be growing an organic network but rather pushing for connections.
To reduce chances of getting restricted for this reason:
- Connect with people who know you first – colleagues, clients, and other people within your industry
- With a bigger network, you’ll have more mutual connections with potential prospects
- Make sure to personalize your connection requests
Delete Old Pending Connection Requests
Whether your potential connections choose to flag your account to LinkedIn with ‘I don’t know this person‘ or simply ignore your connection requests, leaving pending requests to accumulate in your account will lead to LinkedIn labeling your profile as spam.
To keep your connection request acceptance rate above 20%, you will want to remove old requests.
- Go to My Network
- Click See all [no. of pending invitations] or Manage
- Under Manage invitations, click the Sent tab
- Click Withdraw to remove requests you’ve sent over a month ago
@ Tag Relevant People
Picture this: you get tagged in a post.
Sure, the post owner would love you to hit ‘like’ or drop a comment. But there’s more to it — it’s a clever move in the social media game. By tagging you, they’re hoping your followers will see the post and give it a boost.
If tagging is done with relevant people you’ve worked with or know well, it’s a great strategy to boost engagement, strengthen connections, promote recognition, and increase visibility.
However, while LinkedIn encourages tagging on its platform, there are many cases where people abuse this feature simply to further their reach. When you reach a certain level of influence, others may use tagging to piggyback on your success to increase their visibility, influence, and credibility.
To counter this, LinkedIn penalizes the reach of posts where tagged individuals do not respond or engage. If you’re found to tag irrelevant people on your posts consistently, it may lead to an account restriction.
Even if you’re confident that the person you tagged will respond and engage, it’s good to be mindful:
- They may not receive the notification and email if they’ve turned them off in the settings
- They may have missed it or forgotten to respond
To ensure their response:
- Make sure your content is valuable and relevant to them
- Reach out personally and give them a heads-up that you’re tagging them in your LinkedIn post
- Share how they can benefit from engaging with your post
Just wanted to give you a heads-up about a new post I've put up on LinkedIn about [post topic]. I think it's right up your alley, and you might have some interesting thoughts to share.
Your engagement could not only spark some great conversation but also increase your visibility among my network. Plus, it's always a treat to hear your take on things!
[link to post]
With thanks, [Your Name]
But what if it’s someone relevant you’re going to tag, but you’re just less confident about them responding?
- Make it a two-way street: Use Engage AI to regularly engage with their posts by commenting and sharing. Authentic and genuine interactions can help strengthen your relationship and encourage them to engage with your posts in return!
- Provide value: Make sure the content you share is high-quality, relevant, and valuable to the person you are tagging. This could increase the chances of them engaging with your post.
- Give them a heads-up: Send them a personal message explaining why you think the post would be of interest to them.
Love the posts you’ve been sharing with the community! I especially appreciate the one on [post topic] and enjoyed our discussion!
I recently posted on [post topic] and would love to hear your unique insights on it.
Your engagement could not only spark some great conversation but also increase your visibility among my network. Plus, it's always a treat to hear your take on things!
[link to post]
With thanks, [Your Name]
Regular Profile Updates
Real users are more likely to provide comprehensive details about their professional background.
Completing your LinkedIn profile and regularly updating it signals to LinkedIn that you’re a genuine user, not a spam account or a bot.
A well-rounded LinkedIn profile includes:
- Profile Headshot
- Headline
- About
- Experience
- Education
- Skills
- Recommendations
- Certifications
- Volunteer Experience
- Projects
- Languages
- Courses
- Accomplishments
- Test Scores
- Interests
- Customized LinkedIn URL
- Background Photo
Verify Your Account on LinkedIn
LinkedIn also allows you to verify your account, and that should be your next step in fortifying your account against being mistaken for a fake profile.
- Visit your profile page
- Click on More
- Select About this profile
- Click on Get Verified
- Upload your government-issued ID or take a live selfie using certain trusted partners
Verify Information Before Sharing
While LinkedIn is a safe space to express your professional opinions, it’s vital to distinguish between fact and opinion. If you are sharing facts, verifying the information should be your first priority.
Since LinkedIn allows users to report any content that appears to be misinformation, is offensive, or makes them uncomfortable, it can lead to LinkedIn taking action against your account or content. The severity of the action depends on the severity of the policy violation.
Share Appropriate Content
LinkedIn is a professional platform, and the content you share should align with that. Sharing inappropriate, offensive, or irrelevant content can violate LinkedIn’s policies and result in account restrictions.
Keep Open Tabs on LinkedIn Minimal
Do you tend to open separate tabs on LinkedIn for various tasks?
Having too many LinkedIn tabs open simultaneously mimics the behavior of spam, bots, or scrapers. To protect its users and data, LinkedIn may restrict or even suspend accounts displaying such behavior.
We recommend:
Limiting the number of LinkedIn tabs open at a time to less than 5.
Sales Navigator Lowers Restriction Chances
Sales Navigator is not just a premium feature for accelerating your lead generation — it’s also a safety shield for your account.
Reasons why having Sales Navigator lowers your risk of getting your account restricted or suspended include:
- Paid account: LinkedIn would not want to disrupt the experience of a paying customer without good reason.
- Legitimate Usage: Sales Navigator is designed for heavy users, particularly those in sales and recruitment. LinkedIn might be more lenient with these accounts as they understand the user uses LinkedIn for its intended purpose – professional networking and outreach.
- Account verification: When you pay for a service like Sales Navigator, an additional verification level is involved through payment details. This could make LinkedIn less likely to restrict your account as it has more assurance that your account is not spam or malicious.
Nevertheless, owning Sales Navigator doesn’t grant complete immunity against restrictions. LinkedIn can still restrict or suspend your account if you violate their terms of service or engage in prohibited activities.
It’s always important to use LinkedIn responsibly and professionally, regardless of whether you’re using the basic or paid versions of LinkedIn.
Key Takeaways
- Know LinkedIn’s rules – it saves you from surprise account issues.
- Account upkeep is critical – update your profile regularly.
- Smart networking pays off – connect with the right folks and join in on meaningful chats.
- Stay ahead of the game – look out for updates in LinkedIn’s policies and tweak your strategies accordingly.
To keep your LinkedIn account in top shape for 2024, stay on top of LinkedIn’s rules, keep your account clean, and network wisely. This way, LinkedIn works for you, not against you.
And if you’re employing strategies to enhance your productivity and efficiency on LinkedIn, be sure to check out the second part of this guide for more pro tips to preserve your LinkedIn account.
