LinkedIn Networking: 10 Ways to Build Relevant Connections

You don't build a strong LinkedIn network by collecting connections. You build it by connecting with the right people. Decide who you want to reach, make your profile worth a look for them, use the ten routes below and keep in touch afterwards. Fifteen minutes a day gets you further than one big invitation spree a month.

What a professional network is and which LinkedIn features exist (invitations, InMail, following) is covered in our knowledge article How to build your professional network on LinkedIn effectively. This article is the playbook: who to invite, through which routes, and how to stay in touch.

Who belongs in your network (and who doesn't)

LinkedIn says it in its own help on connections: connecting works best when you have a good professional reason to reach out, for example because you worked or studied together, met at an event, or want to continue a conversation. Source: LinkedIn Help: Connections on LinkedIn, retrieved October 3, 2026.

That gives you three groups worth having in your network:

• People you know: colleagues, former colleagues, classmates, clients, partners. The reason is obvious.
• People you want to work with: decision-makers at your target companies, recruiters at the employers you want, candidates for open roles. Here you have to supply the reason.
• People you learn from: experts in your field whose posts are worth reading. Following is often enough here.

People you invite only because LinkedIn suggests them, or because you want the number to grow, don't belong. They rarely accept, and LinkedIn names invitations that are “ignored, left pending, or marked as spam” as a reason for invitation limits (LinkedIn Help a551012).

Get your profile ready before you invite

Whoever receives your request decides within seconds based on photo, name and headline. Three things should be in place before you start:

• A headline with a benefit: who do you help with what? “Sales” alone says nothing. For ideas, try the free LinkedIn headline generator.
• A recent photo where people can see your face. It is the first proof of trust.
• A post or comment from the last few weeks. It shows there is an active person behind the profile.

10 ways to make new LinkedIn connections

1. People you already know

The easiest route: go through your former employers, universities and client projects and invite the people you actually worked with. You rarely need a note here. Your name is enough.

2. Import contacts from your address book

In the mobile app you can import contacts from your phone via “My Network” and “Import contacts”. LinkedIn notes that it is gradually rolling the feature out and you may not have it yet, and adds: “We'll never contact anyone without your permission.” Source: LinkedIn Help: Import your contacts, retrieved October 3, 2026.

3. “People you may know”

The suggestions under “My Network” are useful if you filter them: only invite people you can place in one of the three groups above. Accepting suggestions in bulk fills your network with people whose posts you don't care about.

4. 2nd-degree connections through mutual contacts

Anyone connected to one of your connections is 2nd degree for you. The mutual contact is your best reason for a note, or you ask them directly for a short introduction. What connection degrees mean and when following beats connecting is explained in LinkedIn follow vs. connect.

5. Comment before you invite

Pick ten people from your audience who post regularly and comment with your own thoughts for a week. When you invite them afterwards, you are no longer a stranger. It takes time, but it gives you the strongest context LinkedIn has to offer.

6. LinkedIn groups

LinkedIn explicitly recommends groups for reaching people you don't know: “Use InMail and Groups to network with LinkedIn members you don't know.” (LinkedIn Help a551012). A shared group is a good reason for a note. How to find relevant groups and approach members is covered in LinkedIn groups for lead generation.

7. Events, trade shows, webinars

After every meeting with people, in person or online, connect the same day or the next. The memory is fresh and the note writes itself: where you met and which conversation you want to continue.

8. Your profile viewers

Someone who viewed your profile is interested in you. Depending on your account and settings, you see some of these viewers. The visit is a natural reason for a request that refers to the topic you share. What the viewer list shows is explained in LinkedIn profile views.

9. Targeted search with Boolean logic

LinkedIn search understands Boolean operators if you type AND, OR and NOT in capitals, use quotation marks for exact phrases and parentheses for grouping (LinkedIn Help: Use Boolean search on LinkedIn, retrieved October 3, 2026). That way you find exactly the roles you want instead of clicking through suggestions. The free Boolean search generator builds the string for you.

10. Follow first, connect later

Following needs no acceptance, and LinkedIn says the number of people you can follow is unlimited (LinkedIn Help: Network size limit). Follow first, read along, comment, and invite when there is a reason. That saves your invitations and protects your acceptance rate.

Connection request: with or without a note?

With a free account, LinkedIn says you can add a personal note to up to three requests per month, each up to 200 characters. Premium members can add a note to every request, but request limits still apply (LinkedIn Help a563153). On a free account, use your notes where they make the biggest difference: with people who don't know you.

With people who know you, skip it. With strangers, follow LinkedIn's own advice on content: how you found them or what you have in common, why you want to connect now, and a clear, polite tone. Whether your audience accepts more often with or without a note is something only a test over a few weeks will tell you. Ready-made texts for different occasions are in our connection message templates. Two short examples:

Hi [First name], we were both at [event] on [topic]. I liked your point about [detail], let's stay in touch.

Hi [First name], I have been reading your posts on [topic] for a few weeks. I work on [related topic] myself and would be glad to connect.

LinkedIn limits: what LinkedIn Help says

Your network doesn't grow faster because you send more requests. LinkedIn caps invitations but gives no fixed number per day or week. The table only shows what LinkedIn itself writes in its help center. As of October 2026.

All help pages retrieved October 3, 2026. What this means for your weekly planning, and why the often-quoted 100 requests per week doesn't come from LinkedIn, is covered in detail in our article on the LinkedIn connection limit.

Weekly routine: 15 minutes of networking a day

Networking works through consistency. Here is our suggestion for a work week; adjust it to your calendar:

On Friday, go to “My Network”, then “Manage invitations” and the “Sent” tab (LinkedIn Help a568295). Withdraw requests that have been pending for weeks. LinkedIn doesn't notify the person.

Nurture your network instead of collecting contacts

A connection you never talk to is worth as much as one you don't have. Nurturing doesn't mean sending offers regularly. It means staying present when you have something relevant to add:

• Congratulate on a new job with one sentence that shows you know what the person does.
• Share an article or an experience when it fits a project someone mentioned.
• Comment on existing connections' posts too, not just new ones.
• Get in touch when you can introduce someone who would help your contact.

How CompLeadly helps with this is described in the knowledge article LinkedIn network nurturing with CompLeadly.

How CompLeadly helps you build your network

CompLeadly runs locally on your own computer as a desktop app and takes over the repetitive steps of the routine above:

• Audience from a search: A LinkedIn people search or Sales Navigator search becomes your audience. Your profile viewers and followers can be used as audiences too.
• Visit and connect: A profile visit as first touch, then the request with or without a note (up to 270 characters, with placeholders such as the first name). You set the number of requests as a daily value. The weekly limit is set by LinkedIn.
• Clean up pending requests: On request, CompLeadly withdraws requests older than a number of days you choose.
• Acceptance rate: The dashboard shows it, so you see right away whether audience and note fit.

For sales, recruiting and job search, that means: in sales, a Sales Navigator search for decision-makers at your target companies becomes the audience for visits, connection requests and a first message. In recruiting, CompLeadly also uses searches and pipelines from LinkedIn Recruiter Lite as audiences; more on the recruiters page. As a job seeker, you turn a people search for team leads and recruiters at the employers you want into an audience and connect with a note that says why this company interests you.

You start with a 10-day free trial with every feature. After that, your account continues automatically as the free version with basic features and daily limits, for example 2 connection requests and 25 profile visits per day. Plans and prices are on the pricing page.

Mistakes that cost you connections

• Selling in the note. A pitch in 200 characters leads to declines and pending requests.
• All requests on Monday. Spread invitations across the week; LinkedIn names many invitations in a short time as a reason for restrictions.
• Letting pending requests pile up. Withdraw what has had no response after a few weeks.
• No photo, no headline. An empty profile looks like a fake account.
• Silence after they accept. Connecting and never writing wastes the connection.