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6 Proven Tips to Increase LinkedIn Connections in 2025

LinkedIn is the oldest and most popular online professional network, with over a billion users worldwide. It offers many benefits to freelancers, business owners, consultants and other professionals to grow in their careers, and is used for different goals:

  • Build an influential network.
  • Recruit talent for your firm. 
  • Look for the right business partner. 
  • Find new professional opportunities.
  • Establish yourself as an expert in your industry.
  • Learn from other professionals to develop your skill set. 

All these goals can be achieved by expanding your network and thoughtfully increasing your LinkedIn connections. 

But, the task of networking is more challenging than it seems! It is a process that requires the utmost effort and thought, especially if you’re just getting started. This blog provides you with 6 proven tips to increase your LinkedIn connections. 

Before we learn how to do that, let’s gain some insights into LinkedIn connections and their importance.

Follower vs Connection - What’s The Difference?

LinkedIn gives you two options - following and connecting. Both options will allow you to view the other person’s posts, but only one will let you initiate a conversation. 

Follower - If you follow someone on LinkedIn, you can view their posts, insights and any articles they publish but your posts will not appear on their profile unless they choose to follow back. Additionally, you cannot initiate a conversation with them if you only follow them. 

Connection - Sending and accepting connection requests increases your network and profile visibility. Being connected on LinkedIn gives you the opportunity to have a two-way conversation where you can share posts, updates, and messages, and it means that your posts will appear on your connection’s profile and vice versa. 

When it comes to connections, LinkedIn does more than specify who you’re connected to. It assigns degrees of connection to people who are connected to your connections, allowing you to discover other profiles and decide who you wish to connect with. 

1st-degree connection - These are profiles you are directly linked to after you accept each other’s connection requests. 

2nd-degree connection - These are profiles that are linked to your 1st-degree connections, but not to you. If you wish to start a conversation with them or add them to your network, you will have to send them a connection request. 

3rd-degree connection - As you may have guessed, these are profiles that are connected to your 2nd-degree connections. You can view their profiles and choose to connect with them if you share any similar interests.

Now that we’ve established the distinction between followers and connections, let’s see why networking is helpful for you.

Networking - Why Does It Matter?

Having a large and diverse LinkedIn network can be beneficial for you in many ways. It can help you look for better job opportunities, build relationships with other professionals, connect with potential customers, and establish yourself as an expert in your industry. 

LinkedIn has this special feature that does not allow you to see the exact number of connections a person has if they’ve hit 500 connections. But why is that “500+ connections” impressive?

  • It boosts credibility! Having 500+ connections signifies that you must be doing something right. 
  • It increases your reach and profile visibility, helping your profile appear higher in search results through mutual connections. 
  • Recruiters feel more confident hiring people who are actively engaged on the platform with 500+ connections. 
  • If you have a website linked to your profile, odds are you’ll be able to get more traffic on it with the increased LinkedIn connections.

If you’ve already hit 500+ connections, is there any need for continuing to connect with others? The short answer is: yes! 

Reaching 500+ LinkedIn connections signals a strong network, but continuing to connect can help you expand in niche industries, engage actively, and strengthen second-degree ties. Beyond 500, strictly prioritize quality over quantity.

Hitting a benchmark of 5,000+ connections give you additional benefits such as more click-throughs, endorsements, and access to features like LinkedIn Stories - which allows you to create and post a 20-second video that disappears after 24 hours. 

While having 500+ connections is a sign of a good optimised profile, many people consider having 1,000-5,000 connections as a good benchmark of an active LinkedIn user. 

Who Should Be in Your Network?

LinkedIn connections are not achieved overnight, it is a long process that should be approached strategically. 

If you’re just starting out, it is best to start connecting with people you already know. Tap into the “Alumni” feature - use your profile to select your university/school and reach out to your fellow alumni. You can also connect with your current or former colleagues. A common experience encourages people to accept connection requests.

If you find people with similar interests or goals, invite them to connect with you and build relationships with them. Engage in conversations by sharing relevant posts and updates. 

Utilise the “Top Industry Leader” lists from your respective industry that showcase influencers and top professionals. Recognise which leaders you wish to connect with and send an invitation. 

How to Increase LinkedIn Connections in 2025?

LinkedIn is a valuable platform that can help you expand your professional network. Here are 8 tips on how to increase LinkedIn connections:

  1. Optimise Your Profile

The first step to increasing your LinkedIn connections is to make sure your profile showcases who you are. Optimise your profile by adding an appropriate banner, your location, writing a clear headline that reflects your designation and services, and showcasing your projects, skills, and endorsements. 

Write a summary that tells a potential connection who you are and why they should connect with you. Offer a call-to-action (CTA) that can be used to contact you or employ your services. 

  1. Personalise Connection Requests

If you’re clicking on that “Connect” button, add a personal note to your invitation to tell them how you know them or why you’re reaching out to them. Whether it’s an alum from your university or an author you met at a conference, a personalised connection request would be more likely to get accepted because it offers a purpose to connect.

  1. Use Advanced Search Filters

LinkedIn allows you to search for people and filter profiles based on criteria like location, industry, seniority, degree of connection, institute, and past and present company. Search filters like these help identify potential connections and send connection requests based on common experiences, industry, or interests.

  1. Break Down Your Goals

Going from 100 to 500 connections is not a task to be achieved overnight, and thus, it is best to break down such growth goals into realistic time-bound tasks. 

For example, focus on getting 20 new connections in the first week, then review your growth and determine what adjustments need to be made. If you are getting positive and steady feedback, then increase the difficulty level and try for 30 connections next week. 

  1. Publish Posts to Invite Engagement

Write and publish articles that inspire people to engage with your posts. Decide what you wish to write about and consistently keep up with the content - create visuals and infographics to attract more attention. 

Posts with high engagement are often recommended to 2nd and 3rd-degree connections, increasing your reach and profile visibility.

  1. Leverage Keywords in Your Profile

Use your headline to your advantage. LinkedIn showcases a part of your headline under your name, and if you use the right keywords there, more people are likely to click on your profile. 

If your role requires you to perform multiple tasks, give some thought to what you specialise in and showcase keywords based on services. For example, if you’re a content creator, you likely also perform creative writing, editing, or even graphic designing. Determine which of these tasks would attract the most attention based on your expertise and goals and use the keywords strategically.

How NOT to Network?

When building your professional network, certain things should be avoided at all costs to prevent damaging your personal brand. Let’s look into such mistakes and learn how to avoid them. 

  1. Avoid automated messages 

Sending out generic and automated messages to your connections can damage a potential relationship. It signifies that you have not put any thought into why you wish to connect with someone and can be harmful to your reputation. 

Give people a meaningful reason to connect with you - write personalised messages with a clear purpose for connecting.

  1. Don’t use networking tools to spam requests

Many people find the task of increasing LinkedIn connections very tiresome and end up using automated tools that promise to expand their network. The downside is that these tools usually run a LinkedIn search and mass blast connection requests, thus harming your personal brand and labelling you as a spammer.

Instead of using such tools, find people you have something in common with and connect with them organically.

  1. Adjust your expectations 

Increasing LinkedIn connections demands a lot of time and effort, and setting high expectations for quick results can be frustrating. Always remember that if you reach out to someone and they do not respond, it is not the end of the world. 

Every individual does not prefer to connect on LinkedIn or wish to keep a public profile, and that’s okay. Don’t consider such setbacks as personal attacks, and keep an open mind for networking.  

Conclusion

Increasing LinkedIn connections is an ongoing process. The only way to successfully build your professional network is through consistent engagement on LinkedIn. Set aside some time each week to catch up with connections, share posts, and explore new connections. 

The best way to start is by completely optimising your profile and connecting with people you already know. Reach out to fellow colleagues and alums and start engaging on the platform to increase your profile visibility. 

We work with industry leaders and executives to help them create a powerful presence on LinkedIn. If you’d like to discuss how you can build your network on LinkedIn, schedule a call with us.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

Is it important to increase connections on LinkedIn?

The answer completely depends on how you wish to go forward in your career. If you want to use LinkedIn to achieve goals and expand your network, then yes, it is important to increase your LinkedIn connections. However, if you wish to keep your engagement to a minimum, there’s no rule stopping you from doing that.

Does networking on LinkedIn help?

Yes, if you strategically build your network on LinkedIn, it can be extremely helpful in achieving different goals and establishing your personal brand. It is best to keep in mind that networking is a long process and can not be achieved in one go. 

How do I introduce myself on LinkedIn?

If you want to introduce yourself, don’t send automated generic messages. Instead, tell the person how you know them or have heard of them and offer them a meaningful reason to connect with you.

How many connections should I have on LinkedIn?

Many believe that having 500+ connections makes your profile more attractive, but no standard or rule is saying that you need to do that. You can keep as few and as many connections as you would like based on what you want to achieve with LinkedIn.

Why is it important to have 500+ connections on LinkedIn?

It is not necessarily important to have 500+ connections, but it is very beneficial. Profiles with over 500 connections get advantages like website click-throughs and blog traffic.

Should I stop making connections if I have made 500+ connections?

It is completely up to you. If your only goal is to achieve the 500 mark for your connections, go ahead and stop making connections. But if you have other things to achieve with LinkedIn, it is recommended to continue expanding your network.

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ARTICLE SUMMARY
Keyur Kumbhare
Founder & CEO
:
GrowedIn

About the Author

Keyur is a seasoned professional in the world of LinkedIn optimisation and personal branding. Having been in this space for 4+ years now, he brings a wealth of experience and expertise to the table. His driving force? Helping individuals and businesses reach their full potential on LinkedIn. As the Founder and CEO of GrowedIn, he has helped 60+ C-level executives build their digital reputation via LinkedIn and currently runs a team of 10 ambitious professionals.

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