LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional social media platforms, with over 800 million users worldwide. On LinkedIn, users can share content like articles, images, and videos to their connections. Two key metrics on LinkedIn are views and viewers. But what exactly do these terms mean and how are they different?
What are Views on LinkedIn?
On LinkedIn, a view refers to the number of times a piece of content has been seen. For example, if you share an article on your LinkedIn profile, the views would be the number of times people have opened and looked at that article. Some key things to know about LinkedIn views:
- A view is counted every time someone opens or looks at the content, including the original poster.
- Views accumulate over the lifetime of the content. They do not reset or expire.
- There are no limits on how many views a piece of content can receive.
- Views indicate how many times your content was seen, but not who saw it or how they engaged with it.
In summary, views give you a simple tally of how many times your content was opened or seen by people on LinkedIn.
What are Viewers on LinkedIn?
Viewers refer to the unique people who have viewed your content on LinkedIn. For example, if you have 100 views on a post, but only 50 unique viewers, it means that some people opened and viewed the content more than once. Key things to know about LinkedIn viewers:
- A viewer is counted the first time a unique LinkedIn member views your content.
- Someone will only be counted as a viewer once, even if they view your content multiple times.
- The viewer count shows you how many distinct people you reached with your content.
- You can only see the viewer count if you are the original poster of the content.
In summary, viewers provide an accurate count of individual people who engaged with your content, whereas views may include multiple views from the same people.
Why is the Viewer Count Lower than Total Views?
It is very common to see a higher total number of views compared to viewers on LinkedIn. There are a few main reasons for this:
- Repeat views – One person can view your content multiple times, racking up views but only counting as one viewer.
- Scroll views – Simply scrolling past content in your feed counts as a view, even if someone does not fully open or read your content.
- Accidental clicks – Sometimes people mis-click and accidentally trigger a view without meaning to.
- Bots – Bots and web crawlers may trigger views without being actual human viewers.
The viewer number gives you a more realistic picture of how many individuals truly engaged with your content on LinkedIn. This helps avoid inflating your metrics with duplicate or accidental views.
Why Viewer Count Matters
While total views indicate overall exposure and traffic, viewer count gives you valuable insight into real human engagement. Here are some of the key benefits of tracking viewers:
- Understand the actual reach of your content across unique viewers.
- Identify patterns in who engages most with your content.
- Personalize follow-up communication based on who viewed your content.
- Analyze viewer demographics to create more targeted content.
- Benchmark viewer engagement rates over time.
In summary, while views provide useful data, zeroing in on your number of unique and engaged viewers helps sharpen your LinkedIn strategy.
Tips to Increase Viewers on LinkedIn
Here are some tips to help boost your viewer count and improve meaningful engagement with your LinkedIn content:
- Craft compelling headlines that capture attention.
- Personalize and target your posts using LinkedIn’s algorithm and filters.
- Engage your existing connections by liking and commenting on their posts.
- Post at optimal times when your audience is most active.
- Use relevant hashtags to expand your reach.
- Include visuals like images, infographics, and video.
- Follow up with connections who have viewed your content.
Tracking both views and viewers provides valuable insight into how your audience interacts with your LinkedIn content. While views show overall traffic, viewer count zeros in on real, unique engagement from individuals. As a best practice, monitor both metrics but emphasize viewers to assess genuine interest and reach.
Frequently Asked Questions
How are bot views counted towards LinkedIn views?
Bot views generated by search engine crawlers, content scrapers, and other automated scripts do count towards your overall LinkedIn post views. However, bot views will not be included in your viewer metrics since these are non-human interactions. Focus on viewers as a more accurate gauge of real user engagement.
Can you buy LinkedIn views or boost view counts?
While some third-party sites claim to offer LinkedIn views for purchase, this goes against LinkedIn’s Terms of Service. LinkedIn has automated controls to detect and filter out any inauthentic or bot views. The best way to increase views is to create engaging content that your audience wants to view organically.
Do profile views and video views also count as LinkedIn views?
No, LinkedIn views typically refer only to the number of times posts have been opened and viewed in the LinkedIn feed. Profile views and video views are tracked separately from regular content views on member posts and articles.
Can you tell who viewed your post on LinkedIn?
Regular LinkedIn members can see only the total viewer count on their posts, not the names or profiles of individual viewers. Paid Sales Navigator accounts do give the ability to see the names and profiles of your post viewers for more in-depth audience insight.
How often does LinkedIn update view and viewer counts?
LinkedIn refreshes analytics on content views and viewers each day. You’ll notice the counts go up daily as long as your post continues receiving new engagement over time. It’s best to check your LinkedIn Insights each day to keep tabs on views and viewers.
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn views refer to total opens and impressions on your content, while viewers represent actual unique people who engaged with your posts. Although views are easier to rack up, viewer counts give invaluable perspective on real reach and engagement. As a best practice, analyze both metrics but emphasize viewers when evaluating audience interest and adjusting your LinkedIn approach. With the right content strategy, you can steadily increase quality viewers over time.