How much does LinkedIn gold cost?

If you're a regular reader of our website or use our app, chances are good that we've talked about LinkedIn before -- but what exactly is this social network all about? And how much should you pay for its services?

For many years now, LinkedIn has been one of the main ways people connect professionally in order to advance their careers. It's also become an important tool for job seekers seeking employment opportunities.

But while these things might sound like they belong together, LinkedIn isn't always easy to navigate. This can make it hard to find jobs and connections as you need them. If you want to know more about why LinkedIn exists, check out our guide on how to use LinkedIn.

This article will explain everything from the basics of the site itself through to whether your membership fee gets you anything at all. We'll talk about how much LinkedIn costs, what you get when you join, and whether there's any way to save money by opting not to spend on the platform. Finally, we'll answer some frequently asked questions about LinkedIn so you have all the information you need to decide if this paid version of the site is right for you.

What is LinkedIn gold?

Before we go into too much detail about the various plans available, let's establish what "gold" actually means here. The term refers to paying $299 per year ($99/month) rather than the standard rate of $169 per year (or $69/month). That extra amount pays for additional features such as advanced search tools, custom branding, unlimited storage space for videos and photos, and other perks you won't be able to enjoy otherwise.

So, to sum up, LinkedIn gold gives you full access to all the basic functions of the platform, including searching profiles, messaging contacts, sending invitations to events, creating groups, sharing content, applying for jobs, and using the company directory. You don't get access to advanced features like Analytics or Sales Navigator, however.

You may wonder how expensive LinkedIn gold really is compared to competitors like Facebook and Instagram. A single post on those platforms usually costs between 0.5 cents and 1 cent each time someone likes or comments on it. Even though LinkedIn charges users 0.75 cents per comment, that still adds up pretty quickly. So, unless you plan on writing long-form articles, you probably won't notice a difference in prices.

What do you get with LinkedIn gold?

The main reason to upgrade your account comes down to two key areas: getting better results from searches and seeing which companies view your profile.

First off, the ability to customize your experience on LinkedIn.com lets you change the font size, background color, border style, and layout of the page. Of course, you can only choose from preselected options, but it makes browsing the site far less overwhelming.

Second, you can turn on notifications whenever anyone looks at your profile, posts something on your wall, sends you an invitation, or follows you. These alerts give you instant visibility into what kinds of people are viewing your profile and where you stand within the community.

As mentioned above, LinkedIn gold allows you to upload multiple images to add to your profile. While you can already upload photos to your own profile, uploading pictures is free once you upgrade to gold status.

There's no limit to the number of files you can upload, either. If you need help finding a picture online, just type 'upload' plus whatever file format you prefer into Google. For example, 'upload gif' would open a web browser window showing you dozens of sites hosting GIFs. Some offer high quality versions, others low resolution ones, but none charge anything for the privilege of uploading your image.

Another benefit of upgrading your account is increased storage space for video and audio files. You can currently store up to 10 minutes of video on YouTube, SoundCloud, Vimeo, or Wistia for free. After signing up for gold status, you can keep adding to your collection without worrying about running out of room.

Can LinkedIn Gold members see who views their profile?

Not surprisingly, being able to monitor who's looking at your profile is another feature you get by joining the gold club. By default, LinkedIn shows everyone who visits your page. However, you can set it so only approved friends and followers can see your profile. There's also a setting where you can hide your profile altogether until you log back onto the site.

In addition to monitoring who sees your profile, you can also block certain types of viewers based on their location. Block visitors from specific countries, cities, states, or zip codes. You can also select categories like 'job seeker', 'professional networking', or 'business'.

One last thing you get by becoming a gold member is the option to display your salary range alongside your name under your headline. Your employer must approve requests to show this info, but it's nice to know you aren't undercutting yourself by listing a lower figure than you truly earn.

Can LinkedIn members see if I viewed their profile?

While LinkedIn uses cookies to track activity across the entire site, it doesn't record every visitor's IP address. Instead, it monitors traffic patterns and assigns unique identifiers to individual members. When you sign up for gold, you agree to share that identifier with LinkedIn, meaning you can expect to receive personalized ads related to your interests.

These ads allow advertisers to target you specifically based on your personal traits. They can then serve relevant ads to you based on the products or services you buy, or even the places you visit.

LinkedIn says these ads are completely automated and require no human intervention. In theory, the system works perfectly. In practice, it's unclear if this kind of targeting ever goes beyond serving ads that match your interests or demographics.

Can LinkedIn members see if I looked at my profile?

It sounds crazy, but yes! Once again, it depends on your level of membership. As soon as you create an account, LinkedIn tracks every action you take on the site. Whether you click on a link, fill out a form, send a message, or perform a search, LinkedIn keeps tabs on everything.

However, there are three levels of privacy settings you can adjust depending on how sensitive you'd like to remain anonymous. On top of that, you can opt to make your profile invisible to certain audiences, such as employers or recruiters.

Here's the list:

Public - Anyone can look at your profile. No matter what group you belong to, public profiles are visible to everyone else.

Friends Only - Friends can read your profile, but nobody outside of your circle can see it.

Followers Only - Followers can see your profile, but nobody else can.

No Visibility - Nobody can see your profile, regardless of who they follow.

When you start working on your LinkedIn profile, you can assign different visibility levels to different parts of the document. Keep in mind, however, that changing the visibility of a page after posting it requires you to delete and repost it.

LinkedIn offers several other helpful tips for making sure your profile stands out among the competition. Check them out below.

Make sure you include links to your work history and education. Include awards, honors, and certifications because they can prove valuable in interviews or during reference checks. Don’t forget to mention extracurricular activities, volunteer positions, hobbies, sports teams, clubs, etc., since they provide insight into who you are as a person.

Don't neglect your contact info. Make sure to include your phone numbers, email addresses, mailing address(es), and physical address. Be sure to update your profile regularly.

Always remember to proofread your written material. Spellcheck and grammar checkers often miss small errors that can cause confusion or embarrassment later on. Also, avoid typos and grammatical mistakes. Remember that a professional persona reflects well on both you and your organization.

Showcase your strengths and expertise. Create a custom badge highlighting your accomplishments. Add keywords and phrases that relate to your field of study or profession. Always think ahead when designing your profile. What skills do you hope potential clients will recognize? How can you leverage those skills to improve your standing in the industry?

Share your knowledge and insights with others. Use LinkedIn Answers to ask questions and solicit feedback from experts in your field. Offer advice to colleagues, students, or peers. Share interesting tidbits and news stories related to your area of interest.

Keep your profile updated. Update your resume periodically. Maintain consistent communication via emails, tweets, DMs, etc. Stay active on LinkedIn. Posting updates and engaging with others helps build trust and credibility.

Create meaningful conversations. Ask questions, make suggestions, and encourage collaboration. Join discussion boards and participate in discussions related to your niche. Invite influencers in your field to contribute to your LinkedIn profile.

Learn more about LinkedIn

LinkedIn is a great place to advertise your brand or business. Learn how to optimize your LinkedIn presence with our guides to building a strong profile, reaching prospects, and increasing engagement.

If you're a regular reader of /r/LinkedIn, then chances are good that you've seen this question come up at least once or twice before in the subreddit's history. It's an important one for many people -- especially those who don't have any kind of job right now, or haven't been working in tech in years. And if you want to know more about what it means when someone says they pay "gold" on LinkedIn, keep reading!

LinkedIn has long been considered by some as a tool primarily useful for finding work, but with its recent changes and additions to its platform, there's no denying that it can be used just as easily for other things too. If you'd like to learn more about how it can help you find clients, make connections with potential future employers, or even get better results from existing jobs, then we recommend giving it another look.

But first, let's talk a bit about why you might actually consider paying for LinkedIn Premium. After all, it isn't free, so why would anyone bother to subscribe? Here's our breakdown of whether the costs associated with LinkedIn Premium really matter, or not.

What do the colors on LinkedIn mean?

The different color schemes found across LinkedIn profiles tell us a lot about what type of person you'll likely run into while using the site. For example, if you go onto your own profile page, you should notice that blue is used to indicate that you worked in sales, marketing, customer support, etc., whereas green indicates that you were previously self-employed.

A red background will show up next to your name if you're currently unemployed, and yellow backgrounds appear whenever you're looking for freelance gigs online (which may also include part time positions). Finally, orange tells you that you're actively searching for a full-time gig, and purple signifies that you're seeking out networking opportunities. You can read more about these specific color codes here.

These types of details aren't always available to everyone, however, which makes them less obvious than they need to be unless you take the time to check. That's where LinkedIn Gold comes in handy. While you won't earn points just because you log into LinkedIn every day, you'll still accumulate enough that you can use to buy things later down the road.

Can LinkedIn gold see who viewed?

This feature will definitely appeal to marketers or advertisers, since you can use it to figure out which products or services were displayed alongside yours on certain pages or ads. The information collected through this method is anonymized (i.e., nobody knows you personally), making it extremely valuable for businesses to use to determine what kinds of content gets clicked on the most, and thus generates the most revenue.

In addition to seeing this sort of information, you'll also receive notifications via email whenever somebody views your posts and messages. This way, you can reach out to them directly without having to wait around for them to get back to you after they finish scrolling past your entire message inbox.

Can LinkedIn Premium users see anonymous?

If you're worried about being stalked by creepy exes, then you probably shouldn't spend $100+ per year on LinkedIn Premium. However, if you simply want to remain safe from prying eyes while browsing social media sites, then you should definitely give this feature a try.

It works exactly like the viewability feature mentioned above except that instead of determining what was shown inside of your ad space, LinkedIn uses facial recognition technology to identify visitors based off their photos. In theory, this process prevents people from viewing your profile without knowing who you are, though it's possible that this could lead to false positives as well.

You can opt out of this feature entirely by going under Account Settings & Privacy & Viewing Activity. Just remember that doing so will prevent you from accessing your account altogether until you change your mind again.

Does LinkedIn track who viewed your profile?

While LinkedIn tracks who has visited your profile, it only stores this information locally, meaning that it cannot connect your unique ID number to anything else outside of your computer. As such, there's no reason to worry about this happening accidentally.

However, if you ever decide to leave LinkedIn and sign back up somewhere else, you'll lose all of your previous activity. Thankfully, you can restore your old settings by logging into your account and clicking Restoring Profile Data at the bottom of the screen.

As far as I'm concerned, this alone justifies spending the extra cash on LinkedIn Premium each month. Not only do you save yourself the hassle of constantly refreshing your browser window to make sure nothing strange happens, but you can rest assured that your privacy remains protected. 

Is LinkedIn worth it?

There's no doubt that LinkedIn offers plenty of benefits, particularly if you're trying to build up your professional network. On top of that, there's a ton of value in learning how to improve your personal brand and create a compelling resume, both of which can greatly benefit your search engine optimization efforts moving forward.

And speaking of SEO, a huge portion of the traffic that LinkedIn receives consists of organic searches, meaning that you can expect to see substantial increases in your website rankings when you start building genuine relationships with other professionals.

Now that you understand why it's smart to invest in LinkedIn, it's time to put everything together and weigh the pros and cons of subscribing versus sticking with the free version. We hope that helps clear up any confusion about whether or not it's worthwhile to pay for LinkedIn Premium.

What are some of the benefits I get from a premium account on LinkedIn?

While there isn't a single answer to this question, we can break down the different types of rewards available as part of your subscription.

Premium Access - This is where things start getting interesting. The first thing you'll notice is that every feature that requires a paid membership will be marked with a $ sign next to it (e.g., Groups). You also get access to a lot of other cool stuff like advanced search filters, enhanced email notifications, increased storage space, and exclusive content designed specifically for members only. In addition to these perks, you also gain free access to all public profiles so you can find potential jobs without paying anything extra.

Data Analytics - If you're looking for employment opportunities, you might not need additional help finding them. However, if you're already employed, but just want to learn how your company operates, this may prove invaluable. For example, you can use Linked Data Analytics to track changes made by employees throughout the year, which helps you understand why certain shifts happen and makes future predictions easier.

Training & Learning - While you won't necessarily receive direct career advice through LinkedIn, there's no shortage of learning material out there. Whether its tutorials on various topics such as time management, project management, leadership, sales, marketing, or customer support, you should find something useful here. Additionally, you can take advantage of the knowledge base created by experts within the platform to learn everything from resume writing tips to interview skills.

Communication Tools - LinkedIn has become the go-to place for professionals across the globe to connect, share information, and discuss industry trends. That said, sometimes communication gets lost along the way. With a premium account, you get access to tools like instant messaging, video conferencing, voice memos, and live chat to improve your productivity and make sure everyone knows exactly what's going on.

When you sign up for a LinkedIn account -- or any other social network -- there are two things that immediately jump out at you from the get-go. First of all, there’s an annoying pop-up asking you whether or not you want to “See More Recommended Profiles From People You May Know.”  And second, there’s a $199 yearly fee just to keep using the platform as long as you like (or until you cancel). These aren't small fees by any means, but they're also not exactly shocking either. After all, what else would you expect when you pay upwards of hundreds of dollars per year in order to use one of the biggest online professional networking services around?

But while these charges may seem steep, many users swear by LinkedIn. The site has been called "the Facebook for professionals" since its inception back in 2003, which makes sense considering CEO Jeff Weiner founded both companies. And with more than 400 million members worldwide, LinkedIn remains one of the largest networks in the world. If you've never used the site before, here are some basics about how it works.

If you’re looking into signing up for the full version of LinkedIn Premium, however, you might be wondering how much that costs each month. Fortunately, we have a pretty good idea. Here are the latest details surrounding the LinkedIn gold plan. We'll update this post whenever anything changes!

Can someone see if I viewed their LinkedIn profile?

This question gets asked quite often, so let me answer it once and for all: no. While you can check to see if anyone has looked at your profile, it will only tell you if they were viewing it through another browser tab. So if you don't mind sharing your email address, you can find out if people have checked out your profile after you log off.

Can you view someone's profile on LinkedIn without them knowing?

Yes, absolutely. In fact, you can do so right now. Go ahead and create a fake email address and open up a free trial account (it won't show up on your main LinkedIn page) and then try logging in under that email address. It should work fine.

The same goes for creating an anonymous email address. Just make sure to follow our guide on how to create a truly untraceable email address.

You can also go through your contacts list and look at everyone else's profiles too. This is something I did recently to figure out why my connections weren't liking me anymore, and it turned out that they had unfriended me because I didn't respond to messages. Which brings us onto...

Which LinkedIn Premium lets you see who viewed your profile?

Not every feature in LinkedIn Gold is available to non-premium members, and unfortunately, the Who Viewed Your Profile tool isn't one of those features. That said, though, you can still track down who visited your profile via third party tools like Google Analytics.

On top of giving you insights into where people found you, this feature allows you to send targeted emails to specific visitors based on their interests and location. For example, you can send them information about upcoming job openings in their area, or give them tips about improving their own skillset.

Another cool thing you can do with this feature is set up automated notifications about potential new leads. All you need to do is enter a name, company, or industry, and LinkedIn will notify you about anyone who matches the criteria you specify within 24 hours.

What does LinkedIn gold mean?

As mentioned above, you can upgrade your LinkedIn membership to gold status for $99/year ($9.95 monthly), platinum status for $249/year ($19.85 monthly), or diamond status for $399/year ($29.90 monthly). Each level includes additional perks beyond the basic functionality of the paid tier, such as custom domain names, enhanced security settings, and unlimited likes and comments on posts.

However, the real selling point of LinkedIn gold comes when you take advantage of the Advanced Searching option. With this tool, you can search for jobs posted anywhere on the web, filter results according to keywords, and export your findings to Excel.

For example, if you wanted to know which employers are hiring for positions related to "data science," you'd simply type that phrase into the search bar, select Advanced Searching, choose the websites that fit your needs, and download the resulting spreadsheet. Then you can sort and analyze the results yourself.

These sorts of advanced searches can help you stay current when searching for new opportunities, especially as the economy continues to rebound from the pandemic. At the very least, they can save you time and effort compared to manually checking sites like Glassdoor and Indeed for job postings.

LinkedIn is constantly rolling out new features aimed specifically at its gold membership subscribers. One recent change was the introduction of a dedicated career section, complete with curated lists of interesting projects, relevant articles, and helpful resources. Another improvement is the ability to add photos directly from your smartphone camera instead of having to upload images first.

While these updates are nice additions, it seems likely that LinkedIn will continue adding new features to its premium membership program in the future. As of early 2020, the company plans to release a redesigned version of its mobile app, and a revamped video editing tool is already live. Hopefully those enhancements will translate to better overall performance as well.

What I like about it.

The first thing that really stands out to me about LinkedIn Premium is its ability to help you find people with whom you might have something in common. The site has been working hard lately on making connections between users more meaningful -- and this new feature definitely helps make those connections easier to spot. When you look through profiles of people you know, you can now click the "Find Similar" button right next to their name. This will show you other similar professionals within 25 miles, which makes finding someone you may both be interested in connecting with a lot less daunting than before.

I think another big reason why so many people subscribe to LinkedIn is because they enjoy seeing how others manage their careers. In addition to being able to view recommended contacts based on mutual friends or shared interests, LinkedIn offers some unique insights into who's looking at each member's page. For example, if you click on the "Who Views My Profile?" link under my own profile information, you'll see a list of every single person that visited my profile during the last 30 days. If you then scroll down the page, you'll see individual lists of everyone who looked at a particular section of my profile. It's pretty cool! And while these kinds of features don't necessarily add anything new to the experience, they do provide additional insight into how others interact with your own personal content. So, yeah, I'm totally digging that part too.

Another great way to connect with people outside of your existing networks is via LinkedIn Pulse. As the name implies, LinkedIn Pulse is basically a blog where members post articles about topics related to business/career development, marketing, sales, etc. Since I've never had a problem finding interesting pieces of content to read, I was excited to hear that LinkedIn recently added a tab called "Related Articles." Right below the title of each article, you'll see a little preview box containing links to three different sections of the article. One of them contains links to similar posts written by other members (which you can always check out), and the other two contain suggestions for further reading based on keywords found throughout the piece. Clicking on any of these links takes you directly to the full text of the original article.