Every time Facebook makes a change,  like letting companies use likes for contests or allowing multiple people add photos to an album, I see a flurry of conversation.  Everyone weighs in with an opinion on whether the change is good or bad and how it is going to impact businesses large and small.

But Facebook isn’t the only game in town. LinkedIn has made some subtle and not so subtle improvements lately which have really improved the experience on the platform. So what’s new with LinkedIn?

1. LinkedIn Groups got a facelift.  The landing page is cleaner. It’s easier to see what’s going on with the groups you belong to. Why should you check out this feature? There are more than 2 million groups on LinkedIn. While I don’t think you need to check them all out, there are at least a few interesting conversations going on in your industry. People who share content and engage in group discussions get four times as many profile views. If you want to get noticed, join a few groups.  The suggest a group feature will make it easier to find groups which are relevant for you.
2. Improved search. You can now search globally on LinkedIn without having to decide whether you are looking for people, companies, groups or content. Just start typing and a complete list will come up. Find what you need and find related content you didn’t know you needed at the same time. You can still narrow your search using company name or geography to find exactly what you are looking for.
3. Improved company page analytics. Rolled out in late July, not only can you identify the updates which drive the greatest engagement, you can also see a little bit about the type of people who follow your page, including what industries they represent and their titles. I can also see how our page stacks up against other, similar agencies. With more than 3 million company pages, this information can be useful to help us make the Roundpeg page successful.

We know that people come to LinkedIn when they are serious about business. They may not stay as long as they do on Facebook or Twitter, but they pay attention to content that is shared, click on links and respond to requests. These recent changes make the platform more valuable than ever.

This brief video from LinkedIn shows in more detail the new analytics tools.

By the way, as you are checking out the new Linkedin tools, be sure to swing by and like the Roundpeg page.