In today’s world, social media has become an essential part of our lives. LinkedIn, the world’s largest professional networking platform, has revolutionized how we connect, engage and share information with our professional networks. With over 900 million registered users, utilizing the platform to build a professional brand is essential.
To maximize your reach and successfully build your brand, you must understand the LinkedIn algorithm and the strategies to optimize your content. In this blog post, we will decode the LinkedIn algorithm and provide the best practices for better success on the platform in 2023.
There are three key steps that the LinkedIn algorithm goes through when you initially publish a piece of content. These are:
Step 1: The first step of the LinkedIn algorithm is to skim your post to detect if it’s spam. During this stage, the LinkedIn algorithm will categorize your post as spam, low-quality, or high-quality.
To avoid having your post labeled as spam:
- Check your grammar
- Don’t include multiple links
- Avoid posting too frequently (multiple posts within 3 hours)
The platform prioritizes meaningful engagement; therefore, creating spam-free content will improve your chances of getting an increased reach.
To create “high-quality” LinkedIn content, you can follow some of these best practices:
- Make your post easy to read
- Ask questions to engage your audience
- Try to use 3 or fewer hashtags
- Use relevant keywords
- Tag people that are likely to respond to your post
You can also check out HubSpot’s LinkedIn hashtag guide for more best practices!
Step 2: Once your post has cleared the spam filter, the algorithm tests your post with a small group of followers to analyze engagement rates. The more likes, comments, and shares your post gets at this stage, the more LinkedIn will push your post to additional connections and others on the platform. If your post gets limited engagement at this point, LinkedIn won’t continue to share your post with your followers. This step happens in the first hour your post is live on LinkedIn.
To get better engagement on your LinkedIn posts, be sure to:
- Respond to all comments you receive
- Ask questions or encourage conversation
- Post consistently
- Try to post when you know your audience is active*
- Include images – LinkedIn posts with a photo get 2x more engagement than text-only posts
*Remember that LinkedIn is a professional platform. If you’re unsure of the best times to post, post during working or lunch hours (ex., 11 AM to 1 PM).
Step 3: The third and final stage is delivering content to more users. After the first hour, posts with a higher engagement rate are classified as valuable content and pushed out to more users.
LinkedIn pushes your content out to users based on how closely connected they are to you, how interested they are in the topic of your post, and how likely they are to engage with it.
Now that we’ve discussed how the LinkedIn algorithm works in 2023, let’s look at ways you can build your presence on LinkedIn.
Here are five ways to optimize your LinkedIn presence:
1: Post Relevant Content:
Understanding your target audience is the core of any marketing strategy, and marketing yourself on LinkedIn is no different. Ensure that any content you post is relevant and meaningful to your audience. Post content with topics that will resonate with your target market.
If you’re hunting for a job, post content targeted toward the job you’re searching for. This could include showcasing your expertise at relevant tasks, sharing your accolades, or commenting on trending news in the industry.
As a business owner, publish content that resonates with your customers. For example, you could share behind-the-scenes content from your business, post helpful tips and tutorials, or host Q&As with industry experts.
A great way to create relevant content on LinkedIn is through video! Sharing videos allows you to better connect with your audience. LinkedIn video posts also get 5x more engagement than standard posts and are 20x more likely to be reposted.
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2: Engage With Others:
Engagement is key to a successful presence on LinkedIn. Engagement is critical because the algorithm boosts posts with high engagement to greater audiences.
You can engage with other accounts on the platform in a few ways.
- Respond to every comment you receive on your posts
- Comment and engage with your connections’ posts
- Ask engaging questions to start conversations in your posts
- Interact with industry influencers
- Comment on trending articles or topics in your industry
Add something to the conversation when commenting on trending articles or influencer posts. LinkedIn isn’t like Instagram, where a slew of random emojis or a simple “nice” works as a comment. Rather, comments should bring a new perspective or idea to the conversation or add another valuable point you feel was missed.
Commenting on industry articles or influencer posts is a great opportunity to share your voice and lead more people to your page.
2: Improve your reach with Hashtags, Tags, and Keywords:
Use relevant hashtags, tags, and keywords to enable LinkedIn to categorize and classify your content, making it easier for the algorithm to target relevant audiences.
Avoid using spammy hashtags like #like, #comment or #follow. Instead, use a combination of hyper-specific and broader hashtags specific to your industry and the content of your post.
The top 10 hashtags on LinkedIn in 2023 so far are:
- #India
- #Innovation
- #Management
- #HumanResources
- #DigitalMarketing
- #Technology
- #Creativity
- #Future
- #Futurism
- #Entrepreneurship
Hashtags help you connect with others in your industry, can help you reach like-minded individuals, or put you in front of potential customers looking for what you offer. They can also help you promote your events or specific offerings.
3: Avoid Outbound links:
Refrain from using outbound links in your posts. They reduce user engagement by taking connections away from LinkedIn, reducing engagement, and making the algorithm less likely to promote your content.
As a note, most social media platforms are like this. They get more money when you spend more time on their platform, so they discourage anything that sends users off their app.
On LinkedIn, you can get around this by putting your outbound links in the comments section instead of in the body of your post.
4: Create original, engaging content:
As an expert in your field, create content to spark your audience’s interest. This creates a connection, builds trust, and boosts your brand awareness.
Suppose you don’t have the time to craft a well-worded original post. In that case, you can always comment on others’ posts, including trending articles in your industry. Doing so will help you contribute meaningfully to the conversation, establish yourself as an authority and thought leader, and help you get more engagement. Re-sharing others’ content with your commentary generally takes less time than writing a full post.
When creating content for LinkedIn, ensure that it’s original. For example, you can share photos of your employees, management team, offices, etc.
5: Post content that’s fit for LinkedIn
LinkedIn is a professional platform, and therefore, the content you post there should be geared more toward a business audience. This means not sharing a photo of your cat’s birthday party or what you had for dinner last night.
Once you find your niche, creating content geared toward that specific audience is best. Now, I think sharing memes and other fun content on LinkedIn is okay as long as they’re relevant to your niche. For example, The Marketing Millennials always share funny memes on their page. However, these memes specifically cater to their audience, young marketing professionals. They get great engagement on their posts because they know their audience so well. It also helps them stand out from the sometimes monotonous feed on LinkedIn.
Conclusion:
This article covered how the LinkedIn algorithm works and the best practices for creating a stronger presence on the platform in 2023.
The LinkedIn algorithm gets to work when you publish a post and does the following three steps:
- Combs your post to see what kind of content it is: spam, low-quality, or high-quality
- Pushes your content to a small group of connections during the first hour to see how they respond and how many choose to engage
- The algorithm pushes your content out to a broader audience if it is engaging.
By following the tips and best practices outlined above, you can master the LinkedIn algorithm and significantly increase your chances of success in 2023. Remember always to focus on your audience and create valuable and engaging content to connect with your target market.
Happy posting! 🙂
