LinkedIn is an important tool for any company or business professional. What started as a social networking platform has become a powerhouse of opportunities.
To stay competitive on LinkedIn, it’s important to understand the ever-changing algorithm.
UNDERSTANDING LINKEDIN’S ALGORITHM
LinkedIn’s algorithm focuses on relevant, high-quality content, meaning every time you post, it will check a few things before extending it to your audience.
After the post is published, LinkedIn only pushes it to a small percentage of the audience to see how they engage with the content.
Depending on how the audience responds to the post initially will determine whether or not LinkedIn pushes it to more people or if it will stop showing up in the feed… I know — it’s a harsh world we live in.
Now, you might be wondering, “What exactly is LinkedIn scanning for?”
LinkedIn has different tiers for filtering content on the platform. It’s ultimately checking whether your post is scammy, low or high quality, and relevant.
Things that can flag your post for spam:
- External links
- Excessive emojis, tags, or hashtags
- Incorrect grammar
- Frequency of posting
Keep in mind that LinkedIn wants to be the #1 network for professionals, and it wants to make money on the ads it serves to those professionals.
So, it will promote quality social posts that keep people on the platform and convey professionalism.
What LinkedIn wants to see for high-quality posts (based on its best practices):
- Easy to read: Focus on readability
- Encourages engagement: Asking for feedback, what others think
- Native content: Don’t post external links (place those in the comment section)
- The account is posting consistently
- Relevance with other users
As mentioned, the 90 minutes of the post being live is critical to its overall performance. Here are a few tips and tricks on getting past the LI test:
- Interact with others before posting and after – warm up the algorithm
- Respond to anyone who comments
- Don’t edit your post within the first 3 hours after posting (this could hinder your reach)
Did you know that LinkedIn keeps the top of your feed with relevant content by showing you the posts from people you often engage with or recently connected with?
This is powerful! Use this to the best of your advantage.
As long as the post gets engagement, it will continue to show in others’ feeds—no matter how recent the post is.
TIPS & TRICKS
#1: DWELL time: The amount of time one spends on a post is important. The longer someone is on a post, the more relevant it becomes, boosting it to the top. Short posts or those that lack a visual will be hindered.
#2: Comments are ranked #1 in importance for the LinkedIn algorithm and how it impacts the performance of your posts.
Posts with comments have a higher chance of trending and are likelier to appear in the 2nd- and 3rd-degree connection feeds. Share your new posts with coworkers and colleagues to kickstart the discussion, and be sure to reply to comments that are left on your posts.
#3: Learnings on LinkedIn have supported the idea that hashtags no longer impact reach.
LinkedIn is now prioritizing keywords over hashtags as it is becoming more focused on SEO and user intent.
While LinkedIn hashtags haven’t been removed completely, you should be more intentional about if or when you use them.
If you decide to use hashtags, we recommend only using 3-5, and we wouldn’t repeat keywords mentioned in your copy as a hashtag.
Note: Don’t look spammy and use hashtags like #Follow #Like #Comment – this will flag the post and affect performance.
#4: Once again, do not use external links. If you have to, we like to follow the 80/20 rule—80% native content with 20% external.
LinkedIn is a business that wants you to stay on its platform and will penalize you for taking users off. The best practice is to place the link in the comment section.
#5: Videos are back! With the recent updates (Video tab & ‘Videos for You’ section on the mobile app), LinkedIn is now prioritizing videos again.
However, if you post a video–keep it short and post it natively. Videos that are 90 seconds or shorter tend to perform best.
If a video is longer than 3 minutes, it’s recommended to keep it off LinkedIn or direct views to the video itself in the comments.
Remember that LinkedIn is still a social media platform, and people have short attention spans.
#6: Anytime LinkedIn releases a new content type, they will favor those posts in the news feed, such as articles, newsletters, or carousels. Currently, the swipeable document carousels are getting extra reach—use them!
How to LinkedIn Tag the Right Way:
Tagging an individual or company increases the reach of one’s post. Not only will your followers see it, but so will the person you tagged as a follower. BUT don’t overdo it; you can get blocked by coming across as spam.
Note: It’s best to tag people if you know they will respond.
If you want to target a specific audience, name them in the post. LinkedIn also offers a post setting for targeting.
Best time to post on LinkedIn:
While this depends on one’s industry and followers–studies have shown that most users spend time on LinkedIn during the work week during working hours.
It is said that Tuesday through Thursday between 8am-10am, 12-2pm, or 4pm are the best days to post as some individuals might work a 4-day work week, have taken a 3-day weekend, or are more likely to be busy catching up on a Monday.
According to LinkedIn, companies that post monthly generally gain followers 6x faster than those that don’t and recommend posting 2-5 times a week.
That said, there can still be pockets of opportunity on the weekends, as there’s less ‘competition’ in the feeds with others posting.
We also like to think about the mindset that others are in at any given time.
Early in the week people are focused on business and the task at hand – technical content often performs best here. Later in the week people are thinking about the weekend, and lighter topics tend to perform better. On weekends, more personal topics can resonate.
Don’t Start 2025 Without An Organic Social Strategy:
If you’re struggling with your LinkedIn social strategy or can’t find the time to start digging into it, that’s where we come in.
Schedule a free consultation to see how Speedwork can help you: https://go.oncehub.com/sw-social-consultation