First aid for LinkedIn® problems

Auteur:

Tom Baeten
May 14, 2024

You suddenly must enter an email address when requesting a connection? Or even more troublesome: your account was blocked? Are you stuck with two company pages you want to merge? Do you have plans to start a podcast on LinkedIn®? I go over some common questions below and give the solution right away.

LinkedIn® account restricted, blocked or deleted

Networking involves making new connections. But doing so too quickly and too much, LinkedIn® will sound an alarm. This is because the platform wants to prevent users from abusing the tool to spam other users. Sharing unapproved content and creating a false identity are also punished. This can range from a restriction to deleting your account.

Restriction: e-mail address required to send connection request

The least severe restriction you may incur (temporarily) is that when sending a connection request, you must provide an email address to prove that you know the person. This happens when LinkedIn® suspects you are sending too many unsolicited invitations to strangers. For example, because people respond to your connection request with the standard reply “I don’t know this person”. Are you indeed sending a lot of connection requests to people you don’t know? Take a moment to read my advice:

  • Send fewer requests and do it targeted. This will kill two birds with one stone. 1: you will soon no longer have to provide an e-mail address when sending connection requests. 2: you’ll build a quality network, with which you will achieve more than with a superficial network.
  • Regularly delete open invitations. If you reach the limit of 3,000 unanswered invitations, you will be considered a spammer. At the risk of being blocked.
  • Send a personal message along with your connection request. This increases the chances of people accepting your request.

Warning:
automation tool detected

You get a warning message from LinkedIn® because you are using an automation tool? You better take it seriously because the next step is a blocked account. Automation tools are officially banned on LinkedIn®. Moreover, LinkedIn® has a paying tool that is noticeably more qualitative: Sales Navigator. With this commercial tool, you expand your network in a relevant way.

It’s also possible that LinkedIn® wrongly suspects you of using an automation tool. This happens when you browse many profiles and send invitations in a short period of time. See this as a warning and reduce the intensity of profile searches and invitations so that you don’t get blocked.

LinkedIn® requests your ID

When LinkedIn® suspects that you are using a fake account, it will be blocked until you prove its authenticity with your ID details. If your profile is genuine, and you can prove it, your profile will be unblocked. If you don’t, the account will be permanently deleted.

Your profile is genuine and will be unlocked again? Take it easy for a while, so you won’t be considered a ‘spammer’ again. 

Besides, why would you want non-relevant contacts in your network? The chances that you will do business with them are nil, and business is precisely the essence of LinkedIn®, isn’t it?

Contacting LinkedIn®

You have a question and need LinkedIn®’s help? The Helpdesk offers answers to general questions. Using search terms, you can look for information on specific topics.

Can’t find the answer on the Helpdesk and you want personal help? Use this contact form. Type a clear question and possibly add an attachment to clarify your question.

Forms about pages and employees

You have several company pages and want to merge them into one? Are unknown employees linked to your page or do you have another question about page management? There are separate forms for page issues. Let me list them for you:

Merge company pages

Well-intentioned but annoying: several employees enthusiastically started using LinkedIn® and now you have two or more company pages. You obviously don’t want to lose followers and merge the content of both pages. Read the conditions for ‘merging’ two company accounts here and click ‘contact us’ to request the merge.

Delete non-existent employees

Are there profiles linked to your company that you don’t know about? People who have mistakenly or accidentally registered as employees of your company? Ask via this form to remove the link between your organisation and the profile. LinkedIn® will contact the person to verify whether the information is effectively incorrect. If your claim is justified, the link between your organisation and the alleged employee will be removed.

Other questions about page management

Do you want to link related company pages, e.g. because they are sister companies? Do you want to deactivate a page? Or convert a LinkedIn® page into a showcase page? Use this form to arrange everything considering pages.

Forms about podcasts and events

Planning to start a podcast on LinkedIn®? Good idea! Apply using this form and build your own podcast community. You can organise or manage an event here.

Feedback and improvements

Do you have a tip for LinkedIn®? The developers would love to hear how you can improve the platform. Submit more advanced feedback and suggestions for new developments here.

Safe, reliable and professional 👌.

My final conclusion? Stick to the LinkedIn® policy: “be safe, trustworthy and professional. This is a professional community where we treat each other with respect and help each other be successful.”

Need help building a quality and authentic network? Make an appointment and we will be happy to support you in your flight to online success!

Need help?

At Winger Academy, we’re not satisfied until you get results. We turn your LinkedIn® company page and profile into a golden business card and create LinkedIn® content that really scores.

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Reading material or learning material? Food for thought!

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