Are you looking to get more traction and engagement on your LinkedIn posts?
With over 740 million users, LinkedIn is a powerful platform for professionals looking to showcase their expertise, build their personal brand, and engage with their network.
But with so much content being shared on the platform, it can be tough to stand out and get your posts seen by the right people.
Richard Van der Blom studied the Linkedin algorithm extensively. And each year, he shares his findings in an annual report. So here are our top 19 tips to help your LinkedIn posts perform better and reach a wider audience.
Let’s dive right in.
- Make it personal.
- Post frequently: once every 18 hours (or every day).
- Nurture your own posts for better results.
- The ideal post length for Linkedin: 1200 to 1600 characters
- Stick around. Don’t just drop and leave.
- Creator mode will grow your followers and reach.
- Maybe you don’t need a LinkedIn newsletter.
- Different formats have different results.
- The ingredients for the perfect LinkedIn post.
- Slide decks are the best kind of post
- Three tips to improve the results of your video content.
- Use between three and five hashtags per post.
- Keep things civilized.
- Only your first action of engagement counts.
- The first 90 minutes is where the magic happens.
- Don’t be too quick with editing or commenting.
- Be creative with external links.
- Be consistent.
- Be mindful of the way you use tags.
1. Make it personal.
People do business with folks they know, like, and trust. So so make sure they get to know and see you. That means including your selfies, your behind-the-scenes stuff– these are all awesome Linkedin content.
2. Post frequently.
One author can show up with multiple posts on your Linkedin feed now. To maximize your visibility: post once every 18 hours (or every day). Which means the name of the game is QUALITY over QUANTITY. Aim for content that your market can relate to. Content to get the conversation going.
3. Nurture your own posts for better results.
Respond to all the comments made on your post within the first 12 hours. LinkedIn loves the interaction between authors and audiences.
4. The ideal post length for Linkedin.
The ideal post length for Linkedin: 1200 to 1600 characters (roughly about 15 to 20 lines or so). Linkedin loves posts of this length because it seems this is the sweet spot to deliver something meaty yet snackable, and encourages engagement from your audience.
5. Stick around. Don’t just drop and leave.
Another thing they value at Linkedin is the time you spend within LinkedIn and how you contribute to the entire ecosystem. So get more eyes on your own content by engaging with at least three to four posts directly after you have published yours.
6. Creator mode will grow your followers and reach.
You need to post at least two to three times a week. Make sure your content resonates with your audience– something your audience digs. Relevancy is key.
7. Maybe you don’t need a LinkedIn newsletter.
Data shows that the reach and engagement for LinkedIn newsletters have gone down. So maybe it’s better to wrap your content instead within a slide deck, a video or a text post because these other formats get more instant reach. Or, even better, do your regular posts + a newsletter.
8. Different formats have different results.
Types of content favored by the LinkedIn algorithm:
- slide decks
- PDFs
- Videos
- Polls
- multiple picture posts
Types of content Linkedin doesn’t like as much:
- posts with external links
- posts that celebrate an occasion
- full articles.
9. The ingredients for the perfect LinkedIn post?
First, you got to have a trigger within the first three lines.
Next, you got to have a scroll stopper somehow.
At least eight lines of text.
And you have about three to five hashtags.
Tag relevant people and companies.
Have a call to action.
10. Slide decks are the best kind of post.
Slide decks are the best kind of post, you can put up on LinkedIn. These are also known as document posts.
- Use between five and nine slides.
- Not more than 30 words per slide.
- Include pictures to make it more visually appealing
- A photo of yourself specifically can make it more human and relatable.
11. Three tips to improve the results of your video content.
The best types of video would be:
- Snackable videos between 20 and 60 seconds
- Square format
- Has subtitles
- Most important part: you gotta upload it directly native to LinkedIn.
12. Use between three and five hashtags per post.
The best is three hashtags. If you must, you can go for you can go five at the most. So don’t forget to include hashtags. But don’t overdo it either.
If you forget to include hashtags, you get 30% less reach.
If you have more than 10 hashtags, you get 35% less reach.
13. Keep things civilized.
Avoid negative engagement on your posts. People that unfollow you remove the connection or movie mentioned in your post, or report your content will stop the acceleration of the growth of your post.
14. Only your first action of engagement counts.
So what this means is you might want to reconsider your behavior on LinkedIn. Right? First, like then a comment it will kill the positive impact on the algorithm a comment normally has.
15. The first 90 minutes is where the magic happens.
LinkedIn analyzes all posts– they will share yours with your frequent readers, your inner circle of highly engaged followers, etc. So make sure you get them to engage in the first 90 minutes and this will skyrocket your reach.
16. Don’t be too quick with editing or commenting.
Cardinal rule: never be the first one to comment on your own post and don’t edit any typos within the first 10 minutes after publishing. Doing any of these will lead to a penalty in reach.
17. Be creative with external links.
We already know that LinkedIn doesn’t like having posts with external links. So how do you now drive traffic from LinkedIn to your website?
So you can put the link in the comments after 10 minutes or edit your post and add it yourself. This might result in a 10% decrease in reach.
Or just be brave and included in the original post using the six ingredients for a perfect post. See tip number nine.
18. Be consistent.
If you take a break from posting regularly and don’t post for four weeks, your next four to five posts will receive about 35% less reach.
19. Be mindful of the way you use tags.
Tagging multiple people for the wrong reasons that don’t engage, you get a penalty. Tagging yourself in the post– no benefits. Better to tag people in the comments.
