LinkedIn remains the go-to platform for professional networking, and one of its most underrated features is endorsements.
They’re a fast, credible way to validate your expertise and reinforce your personal brand with social proof.
Anyone can claim to be skilled in something, but seeing “99+” endorsements beside a skill sends a clear message: your peers agree you’re good at it.
In this guide, you’ll learn practical, ethical ways to boost engagement on your LinkedIn profile and grow endorsements—using real examples and a case study from a top-performing member.
What are endorsements?
If you’re new to LinkedIn or unfamiliar with this feature, here’s the quick version.
Endorsements are one-click votes from your connections that confirm you have a specific skill.
They’re simple for others to give and powerful for you to showcase—especially when your top skills are pinned at the top of your profile.
Here’s how LinkedIn officially defines it on their help page:
Take this example: the user’s top three skills are SEO, online marketing, and web analytics—exactly what they want to be known for.
Endorsements help prove you’re not just listing skills—you actually use them and others recognize it.
The more high-quality endorsements you have—especially from colleagues, clients, and collaborators—the more credible and trustworthy you appear.
A strong benchmark is 99+ endorsements for your core skills. You don’t need this for every skill, but it’s a helpful target for the few you want to lead with.
Let us show you.
Another example here:
Each one of those skills shows 99+ endorsements—clear, quick validation for anyone skimming the profile.
Now, it’s worth noting: LinkedIn caps the visible number at 99+. If someone clicks into the skill, they can see the actual total count and who endorsed you.
Check out this example:
This user has 2,134 endorsements for SEO, but visitors will only see “99+” unless they dig deeper.
Why are endorsements important?
Getting people to endorse you can increase your visibility, boost credibility, and attract more professional opportunities.
Endorsements act as quick third-party validation that supports your listed skills—especially when paired with recommendations and concrete examples of your work.
Potential partners, recruiters, and clients often scan your top skills and endorsements to confirm you’re strong in the areas your profile highlights.
While LinkedIn doesn’t disclose every ranking signal, many practitioners believe endorsements—especially from close collaborators and recent coworkers—can influence internal search and recommendations.
The takeaway? More relevant endorsements = more professional leverage.
Let’s dive into practical strategies for getting 99+ endorsements on all your key LinkedIn skills.
We’ll start with the fundamentals.
Prioritize your skills
LinkedIn lets you add up to 50 skills, but only a handful should lead. Pin your top three and reorder the rest so your strongest, most relevant skills sit front and center.
The key is to be strategic about which ones appear at the top. Choose the skills you’re actively practicing and want to be hired for this year.
In the earlier case study, the top three skills were SEO, online marketing, and web analytics—tight, consistent positioning that reinforces a clear specialty.
This prioritization matters for two reasons:
First, people are more likely to endorse the skills they most associate you with. Make it obvious what you want to be known for.
If you’re known for SEO more than for web development, showcase SEO as your top skill and place adjacent skills (content strategy, technical SEO, analytics) near the top.
Second, listing dozens of unrelated skills can dilute your brand. Trim or de-prioritize anything that doesn’t support your current focus.
Feature your core competencies at the top so connections know what to endorse—and so your profile tells a coherent story.
Endorse others
We strongly believe in the law of reciprocity.
This principle, often used in marketing, works just as well on LinkedIn: give value first.
When you endorse others—especially teammates, former colleagues, managers, freelancers, and satisfied clients—many will gladly return the favor.
Visit their profiles, review their listed skills, and endorse them authentically for the areas you’ve seen firsthand. Specific, relevant endorsements earn the most reciprocity.
Chances are, if they value your work or know your capabilities, they’ll endorse you back—no hard sell required.
And remember: this doesn’t take much effort. A single click is all it takes—far quicker than writing a recommendation.
So don’t overthink it. Start endorsing the pros whose work you respect, and do it consistently.
Straight-up ask for endorsements
Sometimes the best way to get what you want is to ask for it—politely and specifically.
That applies to life, business, and yes, even LinkedIn endorsements.
People are often willing to help, but they may not think of it until you prompt them.
Tactic #1
Reach out to your connections directly and ask for an endorsement tied to the projects you’ve done together.
In an article on LinkedProspect, one user—Scott—shared how he messaged 300 connections asking what skills they most associated him with.
Here’s a look at the message he used:
The opening question—
What skills do you want to be endorsed for?
—keeps the request conversational instead of self-serving and invites them to tell you where they’ve seen you at your best.
The result? Scott’s endorsements jumped from 28 to 302 in just one day.
That’s over a 1,000% increase—just by asking the right way.
And the whole thing took less than 15 minutes. Personalize that message, mention a specific collaboration, and ask for 1–3 skills you want to highlight.
Even if you don’t see a 10x jump overnight, you’ll almost certainly see a meaningful boost.
Tactic #2
Leverage the platforms where your credibility already lives—your blog, newsletter, portfolio, and podcast—to funnel new first-degree connections.
Step 1: Add a LinkedIn CTA at the end of blog posts and in your email signature inviting people to connect. Only first-degree connections can endorse you, so grow the right audience.
Step 2: Once connected, follow up with a short, friendly message (like the example above) and request endorsements for the exact skills you showcased in your content.
Be active on LinkedIn
One mistake professionals make is letting their LinkedIn profile sit idle.
LinkedIn has more than a billion members, yet only a fraction post consistently—so publishing even a few times a week can dramatically increase your visibility.
Compared to other networks where daily posting is the norm, this underutilization is an opportunity for you to stand out.
Posting regularly keeps you top-of-mind with your network and creates more touchpoints where people see your expertise and endorse your skills.The more visible and active you are, the more likely your connections are to engage—and to endorse the skills you’re demonstrating.
You don’t need to post only original content. Curated insights, thoughtful commentary on industry news, and short case study breakdowns all work—just keep it relevant to the skills you want endorsed.
For example, if you specialize in conversion optimization, you might share an insightful post from ConversionXL and add a few lines explaining how you’d apply the ideas in a real project.
Over time, consistent activity builds authority and gives your network more chances to interact—and endorse your skills.
Conclusion
When it comes to growing your professional reputation, LinkedIn is still the top platform for serious networking and career-building in 2025.
It may not generate the same buzz as Instagram or TikTok, but it delivers where it counts—professional visibility, business relationships, and trust.
We’ve used LinkedIn to build valuable connections, generate leads, and uncover opportunities we wouldn’t have found elsewhere.
Endorsements have played a big part in that.
They’re a low-friction way for others to verify your expertise—and when you hit 99+ on your core skills, you earn instant credibility with anyone viewing your profile.
By prioritizing your skills, giving first, asking thoughtfully, and staying active, you’ll rack up endorsements naturally and ethically.
That credibility can open doors to job offers, client projects, speaking gigs, partnerships, and unexpected career wins.
Take ten minutes this week to reorder your skills, endorse a few peers, and send a couple of personalized messages—you might be surprised by how much momentum it creates.
The impact may be bigger than you think.