If you’ve got a warning from LinkedIn or even if you account is restricted now which looks like this:
do not fall into despair — everything can be turned back to normal. But first, let’s try to define what has happened.
Reasons why your account may have gotten restricted
As you can see from this message, a LinkedIn account gets restricted if it violates LinkedIn’s Terms of Service in any way.
It means that the platform has detected some suspicious activity coming from your account. Basically, there are not so much cases over there, and we’ve created a list of some major reasons why your account may got blocked or restricted.
This usually happens when:
- Too many connection requests come from your account suddenly
- You have low connection request acceptance rate
- You’re using extensions to automate your activities
- You’re spamming people blatantly, sending one-size-for-all sales-y messages
- You’ve violated someone’s intellectual property or violated rules of the community in some other way
- You’ve posted something that contained software viruses, worms, or any other harmful code
Usually, newly created accounts with a very high and noticeable activity become suspicious to LinkedIn. Read on to learn some of the best practices to implement to avoid facing such problems and enjoy smooth lead generation.
LinkedIn Safety — Golden Rules
Even if it seems like everything is fine with your account, some activities that you may be doing now, can lead you right to LinkedIn ban.
- Do not use extensions for automation
This comes first. Extensions work in your browser — they’re usually up and running when you launch your Google Chrome. They usually don’t provide your personal IP address, meaning most of the time you may log in in different time zones, which looks quite suspicious.
LinkedIn extensions also use browser cash, making it more vulnerable to detection.
Besides, extensions aren’t the most advanced solutions, talking about the ease of use and a range of features.
So, the bottom line here — avoid LinkedIn extensions.
But it doesn’t mean that you should scale back your LinkedIn lead generation — not at all!
When used right, LinkedIn automation tools can create compound growth. You just need to understand how to choose them carefully.
How to choose the right LinkedIn automation tool?
Read the points below and note them down to know how to choose an appropriate automation solutions for your needs.
- Safe LinkedIn automation are always cloud-based, not extensions
A safe LinkedIn automation tool will always work in cloud. They’re harder to be spotted since they’re not front-end like extensions.
- Safe LinkedIn automation mimics human behavior
Look for an automation tool that can be set up to mimic natural behavior on LinkedIn.
Such tools will provide a dedicated IP address, exclusive to you, meaning that the login information will be the same each time.
- Safe LinkedIn automation has a warm-up feature
To secure smart automation, look for features such as a warm-up feature — the ability to send a limited amount of connection requests at first and the increase the number.
For instance, Closely always set up the warm-up mode by default, meaning that the scenario when you launch a campaign and the tool starts pumping out hundreds connection requests is ruled out. The warm-up mode feature means that the tool will start with sending out a few connection requests per day and then will gradually increase the number, making your lead generation look like there is a person behind it.
- Safe LinkedIn automation lets you stop and pause your campaigns
Also look for the ability to stop/pause your campaign and the option of setting maximum daily limits.
- Safe LinkedIn automation lets you set timezones
In Closely you can also set up the timezone to make sure your messages arrive to your prospects at their working days and hours — it improves acceptance and reply rates.
- Safe automation tools makes you able to disconnect your LinkedIn account anytime
Automation tools you can rely on provide the option of disconnecting your account from them. In case something goes nothing like you imagined it would be, or if you suspect that the tool can get you into trouble — you should be left the option of disconnecting your account anytime you want. If there is a problem with this — it’s better to stay away from such a solution.
There is plenty of decent automation tools on the market that will do it all for you — so, if you’re not sure 100%, keep watching or land directly on the Closely’s website.
- Safe automation tools can boast reviews
Watch for an automation tool that has reviews, ideally on multiple review sites. Read what other users write on Capterra and G2.
Now, since you’re familiar a bit with how to recognise a reliable LinkedIn automation tool, let’s look at what you should shy away from to avoid problems with LinkedIn.
Below are some points to write down to keep your account safe so you can avoid them in future.
Account restricted? DON’T Do This
If worst comes to worst and your account ends up getting restricted or banned regardless of the reason, it can get pretty frustrating and downright discouraging, with you channeling all your might into getting your workflow back on track.
But before any rash decisions are made in the midst of an account-restriction-induced chaos, it’s important to step back, breathe and map out the fastest way for you to recover your account without setting yourself up for more LinkedIn penalties along the way.
Here’s what you SHOULDN’T do if your LinkedIn account is restricted:
– Create a new account
Getting a fresh start is not the hassle-free, easy way to sweep your previous account’s flagged activity under the rug. LinkedIn is already ahead of this step – not only can this result in your new account also getting restricted (LinkedIn can detect your IP with the new account as well), but also you may end up getting permanently banned.
What you SHOULDN’T do if you’ve received a warning from LinkedIn:
– Keep any LinkedIn automation tools running
LinkedIn could have picked up on unusually high or suspicious activity associated with LinkedIn automation tools (almost all of which are against LinkedIn’s TOS). It’s best to disconnect any LinkedIn tools you were using, clear browser cache before and log out of your account.
After that’s done you can try logging in again within a few days or a week.
What to do in case your account got restricted
If it already happened, try not to panic. LinkedIn support are people who are there to help you out. So, if it’s the first time it’s happening, you can always at least try to reach out to their support team and apply some best practices to maximize the chances of getting it back.
Contact LinkedIn Support
LinkedIn doesn’t have email which you can use to contact support. But you can create your user case and submit it.
Describe, without getting into much details, what has happened. You might be required to confirm your identity – so prepare your passport, identity card, or a driver’s license.
In any scenario, don’t do this:
- Don’t mention that you used automation tools
- Focus on your intention to sort things out
If you’ve trouble reaching LinkedIn support via form, try Messenger.
LinkedIn asking you an ID?
If you’ve been asked to provide an ID, there is only one thing to do — provide some real document that would prove that this account belongs to a person fro the document.
If your account is fake, — well, there is now way is can be reactivated. If you’ve used Closely, you can upload your contact list from it into a CSV.
LinkedIn can still reply to you within two weeks. If it doesn’t happen and your account is still permanently banned, then it’s probably time to move on, because chances are very small that you’ll get it back, unfortunately.
Your account is recovered – congrats! Next steps
If your account has been previously restricted and you got it back, the best thing to do would be to treat it as a brand new account – here’s where you should start the whole process from the beginning.
Warm Up Your LinkedIn Account From Scratch
The best way to treat your recovered account is to reinforce it again as if it’s a new one. You have to warm it up again before jumping into automation.
- Warm up your account – start improving your account again, visit communities, comment, be active and send connection requests manually
- Set a limit of only a few manual connection requests per day
- Delete old connection messages
- Focus on high-quality outreach and use a lot of personalization
- Implement different hacks to improve your reply and acceptance rates
Let’s talk a little bit more about warming up your account because it’s important in order to keep your account safe from now on.
Usually, it takes up to a few months to warm up your account all over again.
To ensure your account doesn’t look spammy to LinkedIn, it’s always best to start with sending out a handful of connection requests first few days and then increase this number gradually.
Think something like:
- 1-5 days – 10 connection requests per day.
- 5-10 days – 20 connection requests per day.
- 15-20 days – 30 connection requests per day.
- 20-25 days – 50 connection requests per day.
Read more: Automate LinkedIn Connection Request
Sticking to these numbers keeps your account safe, because this way your account won’t scream non-human behavior.
Moving further… Focusing on high-quality outreach means diving deeper into what is personalization and how to integrate best writing practices to your prospecting. For example, you can always visit closelyhq.com/templates and look up some of our templates that we used to reach different conversion goals. You can brush through them, pick up your favorite and adjust it for your case. It’s always best to refresh some theoretical knowledge about LinkedIn prospecting to ensure you target right people.
We’ve written a few articles that will help you understand LinkedIn prospecting better and improve your reply rates which directly correlates with your account’s health and safety. The higher is your reply rate, the better reputation your account gains.
Start with learning some theory, then move on to exploring Closely and its features, subscribe to our Youtube channel and watch some webinars to get a better understanding of what is a hyper-targeted outreach and how to overcome the LinkedIn weekly connection limit safely.
We’ve also added some more templates for your outreach sequences here:
It may seem like it’s a lot to do, but believe us, once everything is up and running, it’s difficult to stop, and you start seeing better and better results.
In case you stick to all the mentioned rules and best safety practices, chances that your account will be blocked or restricted are very low. Just keep on going, don’t rush into it and success will come.
Use only safe tools
Safety is #1 priority when it comes to LinkedIn prospecting. No reason to jeopardise your account for the sake of gaining more leads in a short time. Always rely on cloud-based LinkedIn automation tools.
Message people in their working days and hours
Always configure timezones to reach out to your prospects when they’re at work. What happens when you do this? They are more likely to see your message and reply to it.
And you remember that reply rates correlate directly with the reputation of your account. You may think that these details aren’t important. Yet, they are very important. Because, put together, the minimize your changes of getting into such a trouble as LinkedIn ban in future.
Read more: Automated LinkedIn Messaging
Besides, you can do it easy and fast — any solid automation tools will let you do this before starting your campaigns. Look how easy you can configure settings in Closely:
Just set it up once and forget about it. The tool will be messaging your prospects on autopilot only during their working days and hours.
Ensuring Your Account Doesn’t Get Restricted – Summary
Accounts with high conversion and acceptance rates, as well as decent SSI are more immune to LinkedIn’s dreaded restrictions. To guarantee the highest possible security for your account, it is paramount that you:
- Use only safe, cloud-based LinkedIn automation tools
- Opt for automation tools that allow setting timezones and disconnecting your account from it anytime
- Steer clear of extensions — they’re not safe and pose much higher risks for your account
- Put emphasis on personalization in your outreach.
- Message people in their working days and hours
- Compose unique, eye-catching connection messages that don’t sound like spam
- Warm up your account effectively
- Optimize your profile
If you stick to these recommendations, there is a great chance your LinkedIn lead generation will turn into your biggest gaining. Don’t neglect basic safety rules and follow some best practices to achieve higher reply rates and avoid sad situations like having your account banned or restricted.
