LinkedIn is making a new push for paid members with a slate of new features for its LinkedIn Premium service, and a new budget-oriented $9.99/month premium tier.
The features, announced today, include a new profile layout with a larger photo and header, along with a background image similar to Facebook’s Cover Photo.
In addition, LinkedIn Premium users can now increase their exposure on the site by using a new “open profile” that can be viewed and read by anyone on the web, unlike normal users who can only share their full profile with people who are already at least tangentially connected to them on LinkedIn. The profiles of premium users will also be twice as big in search results on the site.
Another new feature gives users personalized suggestions for improving their profiles.
Those benefits are now available to budget-conscious users using LinkedIn’s new Premium Spotlight subscription, which costs $9.99 a month, but doesn’t include the ability to send direct messages to any user on the site, something that the networking service’s more expensive plans offer, starting at $25/month.
The moves, announced by the company today, come just as a wave of new college graduates hit the job market. The company is attempting to appeal to their desire and need to stand out from the crowd of job seekers.
The new Premium Spotlight pricing tier could also make the paid service more accessible to people who are LinkedIn power users but don’t want to spend as much to get all the premium features. LinkedIn made $95.5 million from premium subscriptions in the first quarter of this year, about 20 percent of the company’s quarterly revenue.
