Ah, LinkedIn... that [almost] incomprehensible social network that you know must serve some kind of purpose, even though you can't totally figure out what that 'purpose' is. Given that it's quickly rising in popularity (and currently the 3rd most popular social network in the United States), it's shocking that we all know so little about LinkedIn's extensive feature set! So, in an effort to reduce some of this confusion and help you beef up your social networking skills, today I'm sharing my top 5 need-to-know LinkedIn hacks.

1. Export your LinkedIn contacts.

Wouldn't it be awesome to be able to have the email address of the person you met one time at that one thing who said they'd be willing to put in a good word for you with a potential hire? Good news: totally possible. If you're interested in downloading a .csv export of your contact's First Name, Last Name, and email address, all you have to do is sign into LinkedIn, click over to this link, choose your export format, and click 'Export'. Boom - now you can email your contacts to your heart's content!

(According to LinkedIn, the feature will only continue to be available for a short period of time, as they work on beefing up their protection against those who continuously scrape the site for spammy initiatives, so be sure to export your contact ASAP.)

2. Customize the URL for your public profile.

Are you interested in making your LinkedIn easier for important people to find? Of course you are. One of the best ways to do this is to create a custom profile URL that's easy to remember, such as linkedin.com/in/JohnDoe. In order to customize your URL, all you have to do is click here, find the "Your public profile URL" section on the right side of the page, and type in your desired URL.

3. Download the Pulse App and stay up-to-date with industry news.

LinkedIn is quickly becoming a major platform for people to publish their professional work (and I would argue that it's also quickly becoming my favorite place to read interesting and relevant content). The Pulse App makes it easy to stay on top of the most important stories, cutting through the clutter of the desktop version and bringing you only the most need-to-know information. Within the App, you can not only view a curated list of recently-published articles, but you can also search through the various publishers and people that you follow in order to find your own must-read content, fast. Click here to download the Pulse App!

4. Utilize Open Profile messaging to send messages to people that are outside of your network.

If you've ever wanted to send messages to people you don't know, then this feature is for you! LinkedIn has a feature called Open Profile, which allows Premium members to turn on (and off) the ability to receive messages from people outside of their networks. For us, this is an opportunity to message those people!

In order to send an Open Profile message to a member who has the featured enabled, you should be able to click on "Send an InMail" in the section near the top of their profile. If this option isn't available, click on the Down Arrow to pull up a new menu and find the "Send InMail" option.

5.  Make searching simple by using Saved Job or People searches.

Do you find yourself searching for the same few bits of information over and over again on LinkedIn? Maybe you're keeping an eye out for other lawyers in your area or you're looking to hire a new Paralegal. If that's the case, Saved Searches are a definitely time saver for those that are using LinkedIn to network or find a job. In order to save a search, all you have to do is conduct a normal search by entering the criteria that you want to filter by and then click on "Save Search" in the upper-right-hand corner of the page.

Now, in order to pull up your saved searches at a later time, all you have to do is click on the cog (it's next to the text that says "Save Search") and select "Saved Searches." From here, you can view, edit, or delete a saved search with ease.

And there you have it: my top 5 need-to-know (and totally useful) LinkedIn hacks! Do you have any other great tips that I missed? Let us know in the comments below!

P.S. If you don't follow MerusCase on LinkedIn, be sure to connect with us! ;-)