LinkedIn Highlights: 2013 Product Review

Here’s what we know: LinkedIn developed dozens of new products last year. We also know that 2014 will bring more ideas to life as more LinkedIn products roll out throughout the year.

With the help of LinkedIn’s post, recapping just one dozen of its many products launched last year, we decided to give you our take on these LinkedIn highlights. So, in case you blinked and missed something cool, now is your chance to get caught up:

LinkedIn on the Move

Many of LinkedIn’s members are viewing their networks on the go. In fact, 38% of all LinkedIn’s traffic is mobile. Like it or not, there will be a future time when mobile visits surpass desktop visits.

LinkedIn made big strides in mobile last year as they redesigned the LinkedIn mobile app and LinkedIn iPad app. The company also launched the LinkedIn Pulse app, for content and news, and the LinkedIn Contacts app, for managing your relationships. While our team at Intero believes engaging in the web-based view of LinkedIn can be more productive and give you more insight, we understand the value of being mobile. Check out the list of apps available for download here.

Changes within LinkedIn

Colleen and I can tell you on more than two hands how often LinkedIn changed throughout 2013. It never failed that at the twelfth hour of the night before a morning session, LinkedIn would change something big on us. Sometimes we liked the changes, sometimes we didn’t. The changes we didn’t like were either because we weren’t comfortable with them yet or because we didn’t fully understand why they were made. During those times, we had to remind ourselves of LinkedIn’s corporate mission: To connect the world’s professionals to make them more productive and successful. Period. So we pushed through.

Here are a few 2013 highlights rolled out by LinkedIn:

1. LinkedIn Contacts: Manage your relationships in one place (April launch)
2. Add rich media in your profile: “Share a 360 view of your professional self” (May launch)
3. Add rich media to your updates: Upload images, documents and presentations to the updates you share on LinkedIn (May launch)
4. University Pages: Students, prospective students and alumni have access to more information about more than 1,500 schools in over 60 countries (August launch)
5. Redesigned LinkedIn Groups: Get an average of 4x more profile views when you are active in Groups

So, what did you miss? What do you need to revisit and how will you continue to engage? Get busy, the clock is ticking!