How can you make people like you? Easy, give them what they want. People on Linkedin are not different. They’re already settled on the platform for a while and like to consume certain types of content.

We’ve been posting and observing for a long time now. So you’ll learn only the best practices. The learnings we find through our experiments.

At the same time, you should keep LinkedIn happy. For that, you have to understand how the platform works.

What happened after the latest update? What happens if you include a link in your post? All these things might seem small but they’re essential for keeping engagement at maximum volume.

Let’s first understand how the LinkedIn algorithm works. And how can you use it in your favor?

The 6 most important LinkedIn algorithm signals

LinkedIn is now a content platform. People are browsing on the platform to consume business content and seek new opportunities.

And like every content platform, LinkedIn tries to show related quality content to the users. Also, they want to make sure to keep them on the platform as long as possible.

Keep that in mind, while you’re reading the rest. It’ll help you to understand the algorithm more.

Linkedin algorithm tip #1: Personal connections

If you have more connections, you can reach more people with your content. This is what exactly LinkedIn wants from you.

To understand which posts are related to whom LinkedIn takes implicit and explicit signals.

It considers who you’ve interacted with directly, through comments, shares or likes. Also, it checks the information on profiles like skills, job title or interest, etc. 

Linkedin algorithm tip #2: Interest relevance

You have some people on your network that you have never seen a single content from. Why? Simply put, you don’t enjoy the same thing.

LinkedIn knows that by looking at the groups, hashtags, people and pages they follow.

Linkedin algorithm tip #3: Engagement probability

Interaction is the most important factor that affects the LinkedIn algorithm. Because LinkedIn wants to spark conversation and interactions among users.

The algorithm learns from your actions in the past. Then it evaluates the posts you’ll possibly like, share, comment or react. 

Linkedin algorithm tip #4: The first 30-60 minutes of your content

Stage 1

Every time you post, the LinkedIn feed algorithm scores it. Determines whether it’s low or high-quality post.

Stage 2

If it’s marked as high-quality content, it appears in the feed for a short time. Meanwhile, bots observe how your audience engages with your content.

Stage 3

If people in your network liked, commented or shared your post, the algorithm decides to take your post to the next level.

Here the more engagement brings better results.

Stage 4

At this point, real people will review your content. They’ll check why your post is performing so well, whether there is anything spammy.

If not, they’ll keep showing your post in related channels and it’ll keep getting engagements. It continues like that for 48 hours (this is our observation) and it drops down very quickly.

Linkedin algorithm tip #5: Post at the right time

As you see, more engagement=virality. It’s a good idea to post when people on your list are active.

According to Hootsuite:

• The best time to post on LinkedIn is 7:45 a.m., 10:45 a.m., 12:45 p.m., and 5:45 p.m. EST.
• The best day for B2B brands to post on LinkedIn is Wednesday (followed by Tuesday).
• The best days for B2C brands to post on LinkedIn are Monday and Wednesday.

Yes, these numbers are backed by data but every audience is different. If it’s not working for you, then stop and start testing with your guts.

Linkedin algorithm tip #6: Don’t include a link in your post

As I mentioned before, LinkedIn doesn’t want its customers to leave their platforms. And when you include a link into your main piece they don’t want to show it to a broader audience.

But there is a way to add links and avoid the penalty. Put your link in the first comment and voila. That’s it.

10 proven tips to maximize your engagement on LinkedIn

All these LinkedIn tips are used by our team members and tested many times.

If you want to skyrocket your engagements on LinkedIn, you can experiment with the upcoming 11 tips.

How to post on LinkedIn Tip #1: Write in a conversational rhythm and tone.

How to post on LinkedIn Tip #2: Use simple words

How to post on LinkedIn Tip #3: Use the power of whitespace

Long posts are scary to the reader. When you see a huge paragraph the first reaction of your brain is to run away from there.

Let’s make a comparison between short and long paragraphs. The content of two posts you’re going to see is identical.

Observe your first reaction. It looks painful and hard to read, right?

But you can transform the same piece to snackable bits by using whitespace.
Also, you’ll get the power of rhythm and flow together.

You see, that one is easy on your brain. It hooks you with that wavy rhythm and sparks curiosity. You ask yourself, “what is the next line about? and keep reading until the end.

How to post on LinkedIn Tip #4: Start your post with an attention grabber.

On LinkedIn, your first sentence is your headline. When your audience is browsing on LinkedIn, they’ll see your post like this.

You see, it folds after the first or second sentence. So, your opening sentence will determine whether they continue to read or scroll down.

You can hear out what David Ogilvy said here,

“80 cents of your dollar should be spent on writing headlines.”

Your first line should trigger the reader and make them click for more. Let’s see which strategies you can use to write a compelling first line.

Make them curious

Ask questions about their pain points

Get specific and narrow down your audience

Introduce new X feature (Also use the power of emojis)

Make a bold statement.

Spark interest.

How to post on LinkedIn Tip #5: Use emojis for a more fluid reading experience

This is something we learned by experimenting, emojis increase engagement. They make your text easier to follow.

You can add some characteristics to your content by using them as storytelling elements or pointers.

How to post on LinkedIn Tip #6: Add related hashtags and tag people to increase engagement

When you use hashtags, you tell LinkedIn that the content you shared is relevant to that topic. 

Then if your post got enough engagement, Linkedin starts to send a notification to the people who are interested in that hashtag.

Like this:

Tagging people can also increase your engagement. If you mention a name in your post, they’ll receive a notification plus and email (unless they turned it off).

Try to mention the people that you are already in touch with to start a conversation to maximize your engagement.

 PS: You can tag people by typing “@” and then begin typing a name in the box. You’ll see a list of potential people you can mention.

How to post on LinkedIn Tip #7: Trade valuable content with comments.

We generated 1500+ leads on LinkedIn with this strategy, reached thousands of people and made hundreds of new connections.

And we implemented the same strategy to different customers. It worked every time.

Here how it goes,

You’ll create a lead magnet (eBook, cheat-sheet, blog post etc.) that solves your audience’s problems.

And you’ll launch it on LinkedIn. Here are the simple three steps:

Offer a solution(lead magnet).
Promise value in exchange for a comment.
Provide a solution.

If you can come up with a great resource that your audience needs, your post will explode with likes, comments and views.

We documented our entire LinkedIn lead generation strategy for you.

The playbook contains details about every single step, including self-made how-to-videos and images.

You’ll also see real-life examples with the actual results of our campaign. You can download it here and start generating leads. Or read it from here.

How to post on LinkedIn Tip #8: Unveil the human element

Yes, LinkedIn is a business platform where you talk about your product, accomplishments, promotions and milestones. And people on LinkedIn like that talk.

But they love personalities they can relate to. Therefore, being one of them and telling about your stories, daily challenges, breakdowns or personal milestones influences people.

But of course, you need to be deliberate about your timeline. If you share a lot about yourself, then it could look selfish, even creepy.

The balance here is the key. Also you can mix things up, here Nicholas delivers a challenge about his personal life. At the same time, he passes the business idea to his audience.

Or this one from Dave Gerhardt. You can even be funny as long as it’s fun.

How to post on LinkedIn Tip #9: Plant your seeds

You already started to add people on autopilot. It’ll leverage your engagement and you’ll reach your audience’s audience.

All of this automation is good and can bring you good connections.

But what if you can reach the audience of a marketing guru like Gary Vee? Or a person who can influence your target audience?

What if you can be friends with that person? Your credibility and influence would skyrocket too.

This is the ultimate goal of the seed strategy.

We called it “seed” because it’s a long term plan. It can take months, even years.It’s simple. You’ll make a list of influencers. They can be:

• Business geniuses that you follow.
• Influencers that your audience love.
• The people that you want to become in the future.

Make a list of 10-20. Actually, there are no limits, but over 20 is not practical because it’ll take a lot of time.

You’ll start to follow the people on your list. You’ll comment on their LinkedIn posts. You’ll criticize their latest blog post and reply to their tweets.

If they have an online course, buy it. A book? Buy it and read it.

The goal here is to share more common interests and to be able to talk over them like genuine friends. This is not your job; it’s a friendship.

In the long term, anything can happen. A podcast, interview or speaking invitation in a summit. Or mention in a post that can bring you hundreds of leads.

Plant your seeds today and make real friends in your market.

How to post on LinkedIn Tip #10: Master the art of storytelling

You wrote an awesome article in your blog and you want people to read it.

And you write the following;

The new blog post is out!

It’s called six neuromarketing strategies that will work forever.

Follow the link to read it and transform your prospects into your customers.

You see, it’s boring and sloppy. You wrote your new article for nothing. You’re lazy at writing and you hope that your post will generate you leads.

Well, wrong.

How is that as a starter?

If your audience is conscious of your sales effort, you can sell subconsciously.

Want to know how to sell subconsciously? Follow this.

Better right? Now you already give them a promise and value. Plus, it’s all about them.

Then you can briefly explain that six neuromarketing tricks and finally direct them to your blog post.

The difference?

Here you already gave some value and put in an effort. Plus, you earned their trust and interest. Now it’s easy for them to click your blog post.

We got used to the “We wrote this go and read” approach and it’s not working anymore.

Here is a storytelling approach that is used by screenwriters. It’s called Hero’s Journey and it can help you to structure your writing.

Normally it’s a 12 stage journey but here we’ll tweak it and end up with five stages for LinkedIn writing.

5 phases of Hero’s Journey

The first phase, Trial:

Here, you face a challenge about your business or personal life.

The second phase, Problem:

What problems has that challenge brought to you? How it affected your life and business?

The third phase, Guidance:

How did you try to solve that problem? How did you realize or who helped you? It could be a person, book or bird. Where did you get your inspiration?

The fourth phase, Solution:

The problem is solved. How does it feel right now and what are the echoes of the solution? How did it affect your business?

The fifth phase, Transformation:

You’re changed. Now you’re stronger and capable. Tell other people about your experiences and how they can solve their problems.

Try to stick to that structure. Remove or add one more step, tweak it for your needs and writing style.

How to post on LinkedIn – Key Takeaways

Always keep in mind the signals of the algorithm.

• Personal connections: add more connections on LinkedIn to have a broader range of engagement.
• Interest relevance: try to be friends with people that share the same interests with you.
• Engagement probability: Engage first then expect engagement.
• The first 30-60 minutes of your content: Try to reach as much as people in the first 30 minutes to benefit from the virality effect.
• Post at the right time: Find what time works best for you.
• Don’t include a link in your post: Always add it in the first comment.

Then use the proven strategies

• Write in a conversational rhythm and tone: don’t write a post, write a song.
• Use simple words: never write obtain when you can write get.
• Use the power of whitespace: breakdown the long paragraphs to shorter pieces.
• Start your post with an attention grabber: surprise the reader with the first line.
• Use emojis for a more fluid reading experience: add 1-4 emojis to your long posts.
• Add related hashtags and tag people to increase engagement
• Trade valuable content with comments: offer value, ask for comments and provide value.
• Unveil the human element: get personal and talk about your story.
• Plant your seeds: make a list of your idols or influencers in your market.
• Master the art of storytelling: use 5 phase hero’s journey schema to tell a story.

And one more important tip #11. Always spend time on your LinkedIn, like, comment and share others posts to make new friendships.

Give and take.

If you find this blog post valuable. The same.

Give and take. Tell me what do you think in the comments or share the post with your LinkedIn-savvy friends.

Take care, see you around.