Two years ago, LinkedIn launched LinkedIn Today, a digital newspaper that compiles stories from around the Web based on what a user’s connections and industry peers are reading. On Wednesday, the professional networking site unveiled a redesign of the news site with a refreshed look and a new content discovery feature called Channels.
Through Channels, people can follow more than 20 broader topic areas crossing over different industries, including Your Career, Economy, Social Impact, Big Ideas, Innovation, and Higher Education, with more to come over time. Once someone begins following a channel, they automatically get updates directly to their home page feed on the desktop.
The revamped LinkedIn Today also incorporates the Influencer blog network the company introduced last fall. Along with channels, users can now also access tabs at the top of the page to see a list of all 250 Influencers and top Influencer posts of the day from Arianna Huffington, Richard Branson and Meg Whitman.
People can also still go to their tailored news page, which now has a more image-centric design consistent with the update profile pages. And users’ email digests will provide an overview of top Influencer posts, trending professional news, and Slideshare content all in one place.
The LinkedIn Today makeover and addition of channels are among the latest steps by LinkedIn to boost engagement on the site by ramping up the quantity and quality of its content offerings. Those efforts helped LinkedIn increase member page views (including mobile) 63% in the first quarter, based on the company’s internal metrics.
Getting users to spend more time with more content should also benefit the company’s ad business. In the first quarter, LinkedIn reported that ad revenue rose 56% to $74.8 million, or 23% of overall sales. Its membership increased to 218 million worldwide from 200 million at the end of 2012. The new LinkedIn today is rolling out to all English-speaking members this week.
COMMENTARY: LinkedIn's new features include:
- New, simpler and modern design – Streamlined the look and feel of LinkedIn Today to make it easier for you to discover and share the news and information that matters most to you.
- Follow a Channel – You can follow more than 20 different channels ranging from topics such as Your Career, Economy, Social Impact, Big Ideas and Innovation, and Higher Education, with more channels to be added over time. Once you follow a channel, you will automatically see updates from that channel directly in your Homepage stream.
- New ways to sort content – You can easily navigate to exactly what you’re looking for with new sorting options, including:
- Your News – Offers a customized LinkedIn Today page, which features the latest news from the channels and Influencers you follow.
- Influencer Posts – Provides a quick overview of the top Influencer posts of the day.
- All Influencers – Shows you our more than 250 Influencers in one place, sorted alphabetically and by number of followers, so you can easily follow someone.
- All Channels – Displays our new channels so you can easily follow the professional topics that interest you.
- More relevant email digests – Your email digests will now offer a comprehensive overview of top Influencer posts, trending professional news, and Slideshare content all in one place.
Courtesy of an article dated May 8, 2013 appearing in MediaPost Publications OnlineMediaDaily and an article dated May 8, 2013 appearing in the LinkedIn Blog
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