How Does the LinkedIn Algorithm Work

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Consider this: you’ve crafted a thoughtful post on LinkedIn that showcases your industry expertise and adds value to your network. You’re ready to share it with the world. But when you hit “publish,” you’re met with crickets. Not even a like from your mom. If you’ve been there before, you’re not alone. Many professionals struggle to get their content noticed on LinkedIn despite its importance as a business-oriented social media platform.

But what’s really behind the disappointing performance of some LinkedIn posts? In short, it’s the LinkedIn algorithm. Understanding how the LinkedIn algorithm works can help take your LinkedIn content strategy to the next level, giving your posts the visibility they deserve. This guide will help you achieve your goals, like boosting your content performance and going viral.

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Understanding the LinkedIn Algorithm: The Basics

The LinkedIn algorithm is a program created to display engaging posts in front of users, ensuring users see the most relevant content at the top of their feed. Like Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, and other platforms, LinkedIn’s algorithm is meant to provide the best possible experience for each user.

This means the algorithm pays attention to the types of posts and profiles that each LinkedIn user interacts with and caters to their feed to feature similar content—all to increase overall use and engagement on the platform. Ultimately, the LinkedIn algorithm determines what content is prioritized in your LinkedIn feed and how much reach your content receives in others' feeds.

How Does the LinkedIn Algorithm Work?

By default, your LinkedIn feed is sorted by “Top Updates.” These posts are populated based on your activity (think: accounts you regularly interact with via “Likes,” shares, and comments). However, LinkedIn allows you to sort updates chronologically. A few best practices for thriving after LinkedIn’s algorithm include the following: Users should encourage genuine, meaningful conversations versus self-promotion and jargon. The algorithm (allegedly) does not favor a particular post format (think text, images, video, and so on). People should “post things that encourage a response” rather than drop links and expect engagement. These tips don’t tell the whole story of the LinkedIn algorithm.

Pointers such as “encourage conversations” and “post things that encourage a response” are standard principles of social media at large. You will need to do a deep dive into LinkedIn SEO to know how to optimize your content and profile with more enthusiasm. However, there are four main factors that the LinkedIn algorithm takes into account when deciding which content to showcase to each of its users. Those factors are as follows.

Post Quality: The First Filter for the LinkedIn Algorithm

First, LinkedIn’s algorithm quickly checks to decide if your post is up to snuff. Does it violate spam guidelines? Or does it pass all of LinkedIn’s professional community policies? Spammy content obviously won’t be shown to users as often (if at all). Explicit content will take priority. And low-quality content will lie somewhere in the middle.

According to LinkedIn, some examples of spammy content are Emoji or reaction polls meant to boost engagement artificially, posts misrepresenting LinkedIn platform functionality meant to increase engagement artificially, chain letter-type content that requests likes, reactions, and shares, and Excessive, irrelevant, or repetitive comments or messages. There’s an automatic filter used to filter out spam content. More nuanced posts are sent for human review before deciding whether they pass the quality test.

Post Testing: How LinkedIn Evaluates Your Content

If your post passes the initial quality control, next it’ll be put to the test. The LinkedIn algorithm will start showing your post to your immediate and extended networks, keeping an eye on engagement. And if your post does well, garnering a lot of engagement, the algorithm will spread your post’s reach to an even wider audience. Engagement is a strong sign that your post is high-quality and of interest to LinkedIn’s users, which is why this is the base measurement for whether or not the algorithm will push your post out to more people.

Member Activity: The Role of Your Connections

However, LinkedIn won’t push your post out to random users. Their activity on LinkedIn—interests, hashtags they follow, posts they interact with, etc.—significantly impacts the posts they see. This member activity helps LinkedIn’s algorithm ensure they’re pushing your post out to people who likely have something meaningful to comment on your post, improving engagement even more.

Relevancy to Users: The Key to Getting Your Content Seen

Similarly, LinkedIn’s algorithm considers how relevant your post or profile is to other users. For example, first-degree connections are going to see your content first. People on LinkedIn can already know that you’re connected to will be prioritized. And more than that, the connections that LinkedIn sees you regularly interact with will also be prioritized. Then, LinkedIn will examine the content and its relevance to your extended network. Things like the post’s topic, language, people or companies mentioned, and other factors influence who will see your post. Overall, the LinkedIn algorithm does a great job of putting the most relevant content in front of the right users to maximize engagement and the user experience.

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Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile: Get Found by the Right People

Your LinkedIn profile is the foundation of your brand. Ensure it is visually appealing, up-to-date, and accurately reflects your professional expertise and achievements. To improve your discoverability, incorporate relevant keywords throughout your profile, including in your headline, summary, and job descriptions.

Publish High-Quality Content Consistently: Get On the Algorithm's Good Side

The LinkedIn algorithm favors users who consistently create and share valuable content. Establish a content strategy that resonates with your brand and your target audience. Share a mix of original posts, curated industry insights, and thought-provoking perspectives to position yourself as a subject matter expert.

Engage With Your Network: The More You Interact, the Better

Actively engage with your connections by liking, commenting, and sharing their posts. This helps to strengthen your relationships and increases your content's visibility as the algorithm prioritizes engagement. Additionally, participate in relevant LinkedIn groups and discussions to expand your reach and build authority within your industry.

Leverage LinkedIn's Targeting Options: Get Specific With Your Audience

Utilize LinkedIn's targeting options to ensure your content reaches the right people. Take advantage of features like hashtags, location targeting, and job title targeting to ensure your ideal audience sees your posts. This can help you attract new connections and build deeper relationships with your existing network.

Analyze and Optimize Your Performance: Make Data-Driven Decisions

Review your LinkedIn analytics regularly to understand which types of content and engagement strategies resonate with your audience. Use this data to refine your approach and experiment with different content formats, posting schedules, and engagement tactics to maximize your impact.

11 Tips to Increase LinkedIn Engagement

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2. Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile for Search

Your LinkedIn profile is like a professional branding page. Think of it as a homepage for your career. And if you’re wondering, “Why are my LinkedIn posts not getting impressions?” chances are, your LinkedIn profile could be better. Now, how can you optimize your LinkedIn profile? These tips can help give you a head start: Optimize your LinkedIn profile URL by keeping it short and specific.

Use keywords like your profession and services offered. Use a high-resolution headshot as your profile picture and a rich banner. Precisely describe what you do and who I help in your professional headline. Have a short but engaging summary that tells what I do and whom I support. Don’t forget to add a CTA, for example, a link to book a call with you. Include your current and past work and my roles and responsibilities at each job. Certifications help add brownie points to your expertise. Add them to LinkedIn’s “Certifications and Licenses” section.

3. Create Engaging Content

Engagement is a key metric to track on LinkedIn.

Remember

You can have a lot of impressions but reach people who need to be more relevant to your goals. People only engage with posts that are valuable to them—either entertaining or educational. Post content that aligns with your content pillars and positively showcases your brand. For example, you might post a funny cat GIF. Does that help you with your brand/business? I doubt it.

How do you write engaging content? Use active voice, write in a simple language that’s easy to skim through, and use short sentences to make your posts more readable. Experiment with different content types for your industry/ audience (text only, video, image, pdf...) and measure what works best for YOU. At the end of the post, ask a relevant question. Tag 1-3 connections in the post or comments to ask for their opinion. If they're influencers, even better! But make sure these are people who ARE going to comment (if they don't, you'll get dinged a bit)

4. Use Hashtags and Keywords

Effectively using hashtags and keywords is a game-changer for increasing the discoverability of your LinkedIn posts. By strategically placing relevant hashtags, you can tap into trending topics and niche communities, amplifying your content's reach.

How to Use Hashtags

Identify Popular Hashtags: Research popular hashtags in your industry.

For instance, hashtags like #ArtificialIntelligence, #Blockchain, or #CyberSecurity are widely followed if you're in tech.

Mix Niche and Broad Hashtags: Combine specific hashtags with broader ones to capture diverse audiences—for example, #DigitalMarketing (wide) and #SEOTrends (niche).

Limit the Number of Hashtags: Using too many hashtags can dilute your message. Stick to 3-5 relevant ones per post.

When in doubt, take the industry route. Portray your expertise by sharing industry insights. But not just any insights. Dig deeper into your industry and identify trends the typical audience needs to know. This is the best way to stand out and get more LinkedIn impressions. For example, if you’re a sales executive for a no-code platform, you could share exclusive tips on particular use cases of no-code, success stories, and personal productivity hacks to grab attention.

6. Increase Your Post Dwell Time

Dwell time is the time a user spends on your post-viewing it, reading the comments, etc. You want that time to be as long as possible. Why? Because it indicates to LinkedIn that your content is relevant, it rewards you with more potential reach. How to Increase the Dwell Time? Engage with the comments you receive - as quickly as possible. Avoid writing generic comments and replies - be more engaging, share valuable insights, ask open-ended questions, or compliment your audience.

Experiment with writing a little longer content - share an engaging story with a moral that everyone can take something away from, share a concept that you have a lot of opinions about, share detailed case studies, etc. Use line breaks to make your content more readable and extend the scroll duration—leverage bullet points, shorter paragraphs, emojis, and format sentences with bold and italics when possible.

A video, PDF carousel, or infographic might also increase the dwell time. To make users click through, you aim to grab their attention at the beginning of a video or PDF.

Bonus tip

Add a call to action at the end.

7. Engage With Your Audience

Actively engaging with your audience is key to boosting your LinkedIn presence. Responding to comments and messages shows appreciation and fosters a community around your brand. This interaction can significantly enhance your social engagement and build valuable connections.

How to Engage With Your Audience

Commenting: Regularly reply to comments on your posts.

Messaging: Send personalized messages when connecting with new contacts or following up on previous interactions.

Sharing User-Generated Content: Highlighting content created by your followers or customers promotes engagement and shows that you value their contributions.

By focusing on these interactions, you optimize your LinkedIn profile's visibility and reinforce a positive brand image. Engaging with your audience isn't just about increasing numbers; it's about creating meaningful connections that enhance your social media presence

8. Create Value-Packed Downloadable Lead Magnets

Give away your subject matter expertise by creating small lead magnets for free. This is one of the quickest ways to earn trust. And listen, the audience would love the free value-packed stuff, and before you know it, you’ll have hundreds of LinkedIn impressions of your post.

9. Leverage LinkedIn Features

Using LinkedIn features like LinkedIn Stories, Articles, and Groups can significantly improve visibility and interaction on the platform.

LinkedIn Stories

Share short, engaging updates to keep your audience informed and engaged. These stories appear at the top of the feed and create a sense of immediacy.

Articles

Craft in-depth articles to showcase your expertise. Long-form content can position you as a thought leader in your industry.

LinkedIn Groups

Join and actively participate in relevant groups. This fosters group engagement and helps grow your social media presence.

Using these features, you optimize user engagement, strengthen your brand image, and boost your following on this media platform.

10. Join and Participate in Relevant Groups

LinkedIn groups have stood the test of time. They are one of the best tactics to get content traction and generate leads. How? Start joining LinkedIn groups in your industry or niche. For example, if you’re into the marketing niche, filter out groups on LinkedIn using keywords like marketing, digital marketing, advertising, and so on. You could also look for groups based on your interests, such as LinkedIn posting tips, local events, or favorite tools.

This way, you can meet many like-minded professionals to add to your network and post relevant content. Another key tactic is actively participating in your recently joined groups rather than being an onlooker. Contribute to group discussions and live meetings, and share your insights to increase your visibility amongst professional communities.

11. Expand and Nurture Your Network

Growing and maintaining a strong LinkedIn network is essential to boost your visibility and engagement.

Here are some strategies to help you expand and nurture your network:

Optimize Your Profile: Ensure your LinkedIn profile is fully optimized with a compelling headline, detailed profile summary, relevant experience, and skills.

Reach Out: Contact professionals in your industry, alumni, or colleagues from previous roles.

Engage Meaningfully: Focus on building meaningful connections by engaging with their content through likes, comments, and shares.

Join Groups: Participate in LinkedIn Groups related to your industry or interests to meet like-minded professionals and expand your social connections.

Network Strategy: Develop a network strategy that includes regular interaction with your followers to maintain a dynamic social media presence.

Implementing these strategies will help you enhance your professional network, leading to increased follower growth and a strong brand image on LinkedIn.

What Kind of Posts Get LinkedIn Engagement

1. Text Posts: Straight to the Point

Text-only posts are the simplest type of content you can create for LinkedIn. The posts are exactly what they sound like—posts with no media, just text. Within these posts, you have a max of 1300 characters to engage and hook your audience through information, quotations, questions, and hashtags. Using a LinkedIn analytics tool can help you determine which types of text posts resonate best with your audience, allowing you to refine and improve your content strategy. But there are different variations that you can use: short one-liner, listicle, land long-form text posts. Let's explore all three content types and see some good examples of LinkedIn posts.

a. Short One Liner

There’s no better example of this simple and elegant LinkedIn post type than the king, Gary Vaynerchuk. His posts are all of three below.

Engaging

Easy to read

Hooks the audience

As you can see, writing a text post that works sometimes means writing a short post and keeping it short and straightforward works, too!

b. Listicle

When we scroll through LinkedIn, we often see a lot of long text posts written without formatting or spacing. That's why lists are a good way to switch things up and grab your audience's attention. Lists are great because they break the pattern of a text wall. When we put items in a list, they become easy to read. Use lists when you want your audience to go through multiple points in a flow. We can write them differently: using numbered lists, bullets or dashes, and singing emojis.

c. Long Form Text Posts

Justin Welsh is the perfect example of an in-depth, engaging post. Justin lays his text out in an easily read-format. He bundles different sections together, creating spacing for readability so the audience is hooked to keep reading.

2. Engage the Audience with Polls

If you spend time on other social media platforms, such as Twitter, the ability to post polls will be around for a while. Polls are an exciting content type on LinkedIn as well. This is because they allow users to crowdsource information from their audiences. Let's consider you were a UX designer. You could directly ask your audience what they prefer. Do they like a particular product, such as a T-shirt or a hoodie? Or do they prefer the color red or blue in a design? Do they prefer a website in font A or B? Polls can be used to ask your audience specific questions.

In 2021, on LinkedIn, we've seen a vast focus drawn to polls, maybe too much. Nonetheless, they are the best way to extract insights directly from your audience. Whether you're brand new to LinkedIn or a seasoned veteran, there's a lot of opportunity in polls for everyone. A well-structured poll post has the potential to deliver high engagement and be seen by thousands of people. As a result, polls can act as a catalyst for growing your LinkedIn profile.

LinkedIn states: "Polls help you understand trends and opinions and can be a great conversation starter." Therefore, it makes sense that you can spark conversation if polls are used correctly. LinkedIn polls allow LinkedIn users to weigh in on what's happening worldwide. For example, in the LinkedIn news section, there may be a macro discussion regarding "Should we transition to a 4-day work week? Users can then utilize LinkedIn polls to give their opinion on the micro-level.

3. Carousels: More Engaging Than a Text Post

If you’ve been on LinkedIn, you may have come across the term "carousel." You may have also heard this term used on Facebook and Instagram. A "carousel" is a multiple-image document (or post). It is a file that a user uploads and includes a UX that allows the user to scroll through different pages to reveal content. Carousels are very similar to PowerPoints and slide decks. Each image (or slide) will reveal new information to the user scrolling.

This might be text or an image. Carousels are powerful for screen real estate, no matter what device you are on mobile, tablet, or desktop. These post types stand out because you need to swipe (or scroll) through the content. This can make content more fun and engaging as it requires more interaction than other post types. This is down to there being more user touchpoints on the post. LinkedIn loves dwell time. If you need to familiarize yourself with how LinkedIn uses dwell time, you will find that they are measuring a post's quality by how long users stay on it. Higher dwell time = higher-quality post.

It will take longer for someone to swipe through a carousel and consume your content than quickly scanning a text post. This can help you with overall dwell time and boost your post engagement. We will now show you examples of three kinds of carousels you could create to get your audience's attention while they scroll through LinkedIn. Carousel with images that tell a story Carousel with a list Single page carousels

4. Videos: Stand Out and Build Trust

Video content on LinkedIn is a great way to establish trust with your audience. It's always refreshing to see someone's face and hear their voice. Another note is that videos still need to be used more widely than text posts. This helps your content stand out from the others—videos on LinkedIn work just like many other social media platforms. However, there are some essential points to remember when creating a video for LinkedIn.

1. Post Native videos on LinkedIn instead of linking a video from YouTube. On LinkedIn, you can post native videos. "native" means uploading a video file to be played inside LinkedIn. Users can watch a video right on the LinkedIn feed. This differs from linking to a YouTube video that will be hosted and played through YouTube, taking you outside LinkedIn. Look at this excellent example of how to make videos on LinkedIn natively. Here, Shay Rowbottom talks about how to make your LinkedIn video more engaging. Give her a follow for more LinkedIn video tips!

2. Always add subtitles to your LinkedIn videos. Plan for no audio. This is one of George Pfeiffer's top tips for creating video content on LinkedIn. Many people scrolling the feed will have their audio turned off. They may be at work, in a library, or just being polite. Whatever the case, you must ensure your content can still be consumed effectively regardless of the audio situation. One of the most important things to do is to add subtitles or captions quickly. We suggest adding captions to your video content to ensure your users get a smooth experience no matter how they consume it.

3. Keep the video short to maximize your LinkedIn audience's attention. Regardless of the platform, you should consider video length. When someone consumes content on YouTube, they often expect a lengthy video explaining something in detail. On the other hand, think of the TikTok audience, who usually browse and expect short, entertaining, value-adding, or funny videos.

In the same way, LinkedIn's audience expects how much time they should be willing to invest in a video. Short—to medium-length videos are a great fit for LinkedIn. People scrolling through the feed will only invest 5 to 10 minutes into a clip. Keep it short and sweet! You may have a bank of long-format content. Chop it up into bite-sized clips and post different snippets as new content.

You will see an increase in engagement! So why should you add videos to your LinkedIn content strategy? Gianluca Bazzon has a great article on various stats for using videos on LinkedIn. And are you getting fewer views on your videos than on other posts? This might be the reason... You will receive a video view on your video post when viewed (played) for over 3 seconds. If a user scrolls past your video and it only plays for 1 or 2 seconds, you will not receive a view. Therefore, your views are typically fewer.

This does not mean videos don't get viewed. It is counted differently than a text post, for example. That's why I always focus on video comments and generate meaningful conversations. Do you want to know how well your videos are doing? Then, you need to work out your engagement rate. Calculating your LinkedIn engagement rate is easy. Simply add your likes, comments, shares, etc. Divide by the total views of your video and multiply by 100. For example, if you had 52 likes, 21 comments, and 10 shares, you would add these all together = 83. Then divide by your views (e.g., 340). 83/340 = 0.244. Then multiply this number by 100 = 24.41. This number is a percentage, so your engagement metric is 24.41%.

5. Get Comments with Question Posts

Generating comments on LinkedIn is essential. Not only does it help boost your engagement rate, but it also evokes discussion, which can help extend your organic reach. If you're new to creating content on LinkedIn, promoting debate and getting people to talk about your post is essential. As discussed earlier, this is what LinkedIn is interested in. We know a great, tried, and tested way to do this. Ask your audience questions.

A question-based post is a text post focusing on a particular question. You'll want to do several experiments to see how your audience reacts to question posts. Do they get more engagement, views, and comments? Or does crafting my questions into polls generate more interaction? It's essential to test this and see what works for your audience.

Why is generating comments through question posts important? When a user comments on your post, it deploys your post to their network. This helps extend the organic reach of your post and helps grow your profile. This is because their followers are seeing your post and may interact with it.

Bonus tip

Employer advocacy software can increase engagement by encouraging team members to share and interact with your posts, boosting reach and visibility.

6. Articles: Show Off Your Expertise

LinkedIn is constantly in the lab, looking for more ways for its users to show off their expertise and share their interests. One way users can do this is through articles. An article on LinkedIn is similar to a blog post. It is a longer-form piece of content that can include other media such as images, videos, slides, and even content from other social media channels.

LinkedIn users often use articles that need room to explore a topic in depth. With an article, you can structure your content with headings and supplement sections with relevant media. Articles are a great way to show off your expertise and build trust with your audience. Your audience will also be able to engage with your article in a way that is similar to your posts.

They can leave reactions or even comment and share. This sparks discussion, leading to more organic reach and account growth in the long run. In the past, LinkedIn heavily pushed articles. When you post a new article, all your followers will get notified. However, articles are a little more hidden than they used to be. LinkedIn has decided to prioritize status updates instead. This doesn't mean that articles are pointless.

Signposting a cornerstone article on your profile highlighting your expertise in an area can be a great way to convince visitors to hit that follow button. You could show off your knowledge in the SEO industry, and a budding SEO user would read your post and see how much you know. They may click follow to wait for more SEO insights from you. To increase the engagement of your articles, maximize media. With articles, LinkedIn gives us more freedom than other content types. Include infographics, videos, screenshots, and more to make your content easily digestible. Articles on LinkedIn can also appear on Google.

If written correctly, your article can appear on the search engine results page when a user searches for something related to the topic of your article. This helps further extend your article's reach and solidifies you as a topic expert. Articles can have a massive reach and be seen by thousands of people. Take this one, for example, which talks about LinkedIn hashtags. It's had nearly 40,000 views, is on the first page of Google, and is still getting engagement after a year of posting.

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LinkedIn's algorithm has changed significantly over the years. Back then, the platform was primarily a digital resume for job seekers. Today, it's a robust publishing platform prioritizing fresh, relevant content that helps users connect to professional opportunities. As you create content for LinkedIn, the algorithm will help determine who sees your posts, how many people they reach, and how much engagement your efforts receive. The more you can do to appeal to the algorithm, the better.

How Does the LinkedIn Algorithm Work?

Think of LinkedIn's algorithm as a search engine. When you create content for LinkedIn, the algorithm assesses your posts and ranks them according to relevance. This helps the platform determine which connections to show your content to. The higher your content ranks, the more likely your connections will see it.