LinkedIn Connection Message: 8 Templates in 200 Characters

A LinkedIn connection message is the short note you add to a connection request. LinkedIn's help page caps it at 200 characters, and a free account can add a note to three requests a month. That leaves room for one true observation and one reason to connect. Here is one you can copy now.

Hi [first name], I noticed [one finding] on [company]'s website. I build sites for [trade] in [area]. I'd like to connect and send you what I saw.

Seven more follow, each for one situation. Every filled-in example on this page fits in 200 characters.

How long can a LinkedIn connection request message be?

Up to 200 characters. That is the figure on LinkedIn's help page, Personalize invitations to connect, as we read it on Nov 10, 2026. The same page sets how many notes you get.

Other guides that rank for this search quote 300 characters. Write to 200 and your note fits either way.

Should you add a note to every request?

No. On a free account you can't, because the cap is three notes a month. Spend each one on a prospect where you have something true and specific to say.

The rest of your requests go out blank, so the context has to come from somewhere else. A blank request from a stranger gives the owner nothing to go on. A blank request from the person whose letter sits on their desk does.

LinkedIn asks for more than that. Its page on invitation restrictions tells members, "Only send invitations to people you know and trust." An agency doing cold outreach cannot meet that standard in full. It can get closer by writing first.

So the request belongs late in a sequence. Leadodo's sequence is one model. Your Outbound Machine runs six steps over 19 working days. A posted letter arrives on day 1, emails follow on days 4, 7 and 11, and LinkedIn comes on days 15 and 19. Day 15 is a connection request with a message. When the person accepts, a second message follows. By day 15 your name has reached the owner four times. Our guide to the sales cadence walks through each step.

The templates

Most LinkedIn connection messages talk about the sender. These talk about the owner's business.

Square brackets mark the parts you change. Finch Plumbing at finchplumbing.example and its owner are made up.

1. The phone check

For a prospect you have never contacted. This one deserves a note.

Hi [first name], I opened [company]'s site on my phone. [What happened, in one sentence.] I build sites for [trade] in [area]. Open to connecting?

Filled in.

Hi Carla, I opened Finch Plumbing's site on my phone. The call button sits under the menu, so I couldn't tap it. I build sites for plumbers in Boise. Open to connecting?

That is 169 characters. Why it works. The owner can check the claim on their own phone in ten seconds.

2. The letter reference

For day 15 of a sequence that opened with a posted letter.

Hi [first name], I posted you a letter on [date] about [company]'s website. Connecting here so you can see who wrote it. Glad to answer questions.

Filled in.

Hi Carla, I posted you a letter on March 3 about Finch Plumbing's website. Connecting here so you can see who wrote it. Glad to answer questions.

That is 145 characters. Why it works. The letter did the introducing, and the note only puts a face and a profile to it. Read more on why the letter goes first.

3. The email reference

For a prospect who got your emails and did not answer.

Hi [first name], I emailed you about [finding] on [company]'s site. LinkedIn may be an easier place to reply. If the timing is off, ignore this and I'll stop.

Filled in.

Hi Carla, I emailed you about the quote form on Finch Plumbing's site. LinkedIn may be an easier place to reply. If the timing is off, ignore this and I'll stop.

That is 161 characters. Why it works. It gives a reason for the second channel and an easy way out.

4. The neighbor

For a business in your own town.

Hi [first name], I run a web design studio in [town], [how close] from [company]. I like to know the owners nearby. Open to connecting?

Why it works. Being local is something you share with the owner. Use it only when it is true.

5. The mutual connection

For a prospect who knows someone you have worked with. Ask that person first.

Hi [first name], [mutual name] and I worked together on [project]. [He or she] spoke well of [company]. I build sites for [trade] and would like to connect.

Why it works. A shared contact gives the owner someone to ask about you.

6. The reviews gap

For a business with strong reviews and a website that hides them.

Hi [first name], [company] has [number] five-star Google reviews and none of them appear on your website. I build sites for [trade] in [area]. Open to connecting?

Filled in.

Hi Carla, Finch Plumbing has 140 five-star Google reviews and none of them appear on your website. I build sites for plumbers in Boise. Open to connecting?

That is 155 characters. Why it works. It opens with the owner's strength, so the finding reads as a missed chance.

7. After you met

For an owner you spoke to at a chamber breakfast, a trade show or a client's office.

Hi [first name], good to meet you at [event] on [day]. You mentioned [what they said about their website]. I'd like to stay in touch here.

Why it works. LinkedIn tells members to invite people they know and trust, and this is the one request here that does.

What should you change before sending?

The finding. A note that could go to any business reads like a note that went to every business. One clause about this owner's website makes it theirs.

In a 200-character note the finding gets about 40 to 60 characters. Here is how four common problems fit.

Write what happened to you as a visitor. "I couldn't tap the number" is a fact the owner can check. "Your site is outdated" is an opinion they can argue with.

Finding that line by hand means opening each site on a phone. Our list of nine signs a business needs a new website shows what to look for. Leadodo does the same step for a whole list. Twip, the AI inside Leadodo, scores every website in a search out of 100 across 10 domains, and its findings become the opening line of each letter and email. The same finding, cut to one clause, fits a LinkedIn note.

Our evidence for picking prospects by their website comes from email. In a test of 3,570 cold emails to Dutch companies, businesses with the weakest 20% of websites replied positively about 3.2 times as often as a random sample of the rest. The test did not cover LinkedIn, so it says nothing about acceptance there. The details are in our write-up of the test.

What should a connection note never do?

• Pitch. 200 characters hold no room for an offer. An owner who accepts has agreed to a contact and nothing more.
• Carry a link. A link in a first note from a stranger looks like spam. Send it when they ask.
• Come back after a withdrawal. LinkedIn says a withdrawn invitation can't be sent again to the same person for up to three weeks. If an owner has not accepted, leave the request where it is.

What do you send after they accept?

One short message within a day, built on the same finding. Ask one question the owner can answer in a line. Leave the project pitch for a call.

Our LinkedIn cold message templates cover that first message and the single follow-up after it. For the whole channel, including where it sits next to letters and email, see LinkedIn outreach for agencies.

Questions

What is a good LinkedIn connection message?

A good LinkedIn connection message says who you are, why you are writing to this person and one true thing about their business, in under 200 characters. It makes no offer. For a local business owner, the true thing is something you saw on their website that they can check themselves.

Is it better to send a connection request with or without a note?

With a note, when you have something specific to say and a note to spare. A free account gets three notes a month, so most requests go out blank. A blank request makes more sense once the owner knows your name from a letter or an email.

How many connection requests can you send in a week?

LinkedIn's help page on invitation restrictions gives no number. It says an account can be restricted for sending many invitations in a short time, or when many are ignored or marked as spam. Most restrictions lift on their own within one week. Send requests to people who have a reason to know your name.

Can someone reply to a connection note without accepting?

Yes. LinkedIn's help page says the recipient can reply to your note without accepting the invitation. The reply appears in your messages, so look there before you decide a request was ignored.

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Next step. Your Outbound Machine puts LinkedIn on days 15 and 19, after a posted letter and three emails, and it stops for every business that replies. See the sequence.