We all want more connections on LinkedIn as we are in turn getting access to more opportunities.
However, having a huge LinkedIn network may hinder your growth if your connection list is filled with irrelevant connections.
If this sounds familiar, maybe it’s time to clear out your network.
But how many connections are too many? And more importantly, if you do have too many connections — how do you remove them?
Can you have too many LinkedIn connections?
Once you hit 500+ connections you’ll already have incredible reach and visibility, and when you reach over 5,000 connections you can do some serious growth magic.
However, you can’t endlessly grow your network — LinkedIn only allows you to have up to 30,000 1st-degree connections.
LinkedIn recommends that you only connect with individuals you know and trust. They also suggest managing your connection list and maintaining only those that bring you the highest relationship value.
When it comes to your LinkedIn profile, quality is more important than quantity. More isn’t always better.
Why you should remove LinkedIn connections
While networking we get connected to lots of people, in just a few months you can reach 1000s of connections.
Not all of these connections should stay in your network and there are many benefits to removing them.
These are the most common reasons:
- You get connected with a person just for the sake of keeping in touch. However, after some time, you realize they don’t add value to your network.
- You realize that a person who engaged with you a lot when you first connected isn’t even active on LinkedIn anymore, being just a ghost connection.
- You might have a lot of LinkedIn connections that don’t engage with your content lowering the reach of your posts. The relevance of your connections is a crucial factor when it comes to pleasing the LinkedIn algorithm.
- You might be having a lot of spammy connections trying to pitch to you all the time or inviting you to events that don’t provide you any value.
- You connected to random people to get to 500+ connections fast.
So, how do you go about “pruning” your LinkedIn network and getting rid of irrelevant and inactive connections?
LinkedIn provides a feature “Remove Connections”.
When you go to your “Connections” page, you will see a remove button next to each name. By clicking on the remove button, you can remove that connection from your LinkedIn connection list.
However, this is manual one-by-one work that is tedious and time-consuming.
Furthermore, LinkedIn does not allow you to view a history of connections you have removed.
But there’s an easier way to remove multiple LinkedIn connections at once.
How to remove LinkedIn connections in bulk with LeadDelta
LeadDelta is a simple LinkedIn connection manager that allows you to have a clearer view of your network and manage it the way you want.
One of its many features is the ability to remove connections in bulk in minutes.
Before you even begin, be sure to download the LeadDelta extension to your browser and you can start managing your network.
Step-By-Step Guide
To get your network up-to-date, be sure to sync your connections to get an overview of your current network.
Go to the top right corner of LeadDelta beside your profile picture and click the sync button.
Note that this process will take more time the more connections you have.
After you sync your connections, you can start selecting who you want to disconnect by clicking the checkboxes beside their profile pictures.
Now click on the three dots (…) to open More Action and select the Disconnect/Remove option.
Once you select it, a popup will appear asking for your confirmation and what action you want to take:
- Disconnect on LinkedIn – You will disconnect on LinkedIn, but you will keep their data in LeadDelta.
- Remove from LeadDelta – You will remove their data from LeadDelta, but you will stay connected on LinkedIn.
- Both Options – You will disconnect on LinkedIn and remove their data from LeadDelta.
After choosing the option you want, confirm your action and let LeadDelta do its magic.
After your LinkedIn network has been cleaned, you can still see those connections inside LeadDelta under the “Disconnected” Tag.
This way, you can easily distinguish disconnected contacts from those you are still connected with on LinkedIn.
This also means that you can track who disconnected from you on LinkedIn.
Disclaimers
It’s important to understand that LinkedIn doesn’t like to see suspicious activity on its platform.
This also includes disconnecting from lots of people in a short period, especially if you aren’t very active on LinkedIn.
The worst thing you can do is select 200+ connections to remove them at once.
We recommend that you start by removing 25 connections at once followed by 25 more after an hour.
Remember, the more you use LinkedIn, the less suspicious you are making it easier to remove more connections in bulk.
Benefits of Using LeadDelta to Remove LinkedIn Connections
The main benefits of using LeadDelta to remove LinkedIn connections:
- You can keep their data inside your LeadDelta
- You can filter the exact connections you want to remove
- You will save time not having to remove them manually
There are many more benefits LeadDelta provides you with after you clean your network.
Why Should You Keep Connections Data Inside LeadDelta?
You might be reluctant to delete your connections altogether with their data, but there’s a reason not to do that.
You can use their data in three different ways:
- Sometimes, it’s just not the right time to be connected to someone (you haven’t talked to them, and they aren’t your ICP…), but in the future, you might be looking for a specific person that fits their profile. Luckily if you kept their data inside LeadDelta you will be able to see their information and if they fit the profile you are looking for you can just reconnect with them and start a conversation.
- You can export all your connections from LeadDelta and get connection details in CSV format. This allows you to remove connections from both LinkedIn and LeadDelta while still preserving relevant information you might need further down the line.
- Maybe you don’t need those connections in your network, but your team might find them useful. By using LeadDelta Worskapces, you can share all of your connections, even the ones you disconnected with your team and they can use them for sales, recruiting, connecting…
What else can you do to better organize your network?
You can start by viewing your connections more efficiently which will let you have more control over your network and who you want to keep in it.
Take advantage of Tagging your LinkedIn connections and organizing them the way you want to.
Lastly, make sure to better organize your LinkedIn inbox and messages. With Tags and Pins, you will never lose an important message and will always stay on top of your inbox.
