Using the LinkedIn Algorithm to Increase Your Presence on the Platform

LinkedIn has given a rare peek into what fuels its algorithm to explain how it deals with spam. Posts that are identified as spam or low-quality may reach only a handful of people before being removed from the platform or getting drowned out by high-quality posts. These insights are important for LinkedIn members to understand the importance of pleasing the algorithm.

In this blog, we will cover the LinkedIn algorithm’s key factors as well as well as the do’s and don’ts to ensure your posts are identified as high-quality to reach your audience.

What key factors does the LinkedIn algorithm consider?

The LinkedIn algorithm considers the quality of your post, the content, links, hashtags, author, engagement signals, and temporal signals (velocity of reactions, shares, comments and views).

How to get maximum LinkedIn marketing traction

To ensure you get the most out of LinkedIn, you must make the LinkedIn algorithm happy. How so?

These factors are the most important for gaining traction:

• Your number of connections
• Your location
• The velocity of engagement with your post
• Number of followers you have
• Diversity consideration
• The seniority of users in your network

Start by building an audience of connections and followers. Once you have this down, you need to post engaging content.

Keep in mind, LinkedIn reports that the platform “is not designed for virality.” However, a post that receives a high number of likes, comments and reshares may be considered “viral” on Linkedin.

Make sure your post isn’t identified as spam

The LinkedIn algorithm will quickly sort your post as high-quality, low-quality or spam. B2B businesses and professionals need to ensure their posts are not identified as spam.  If your post used multiple links or poor grammar, your post may be sorted as spam. To ensure your content reaches your audience and is not categorized as spam, note these best practices.

LinkedIn Post Do’s:

• Proofread your post to ensure grammatical accuracy.
• Make your post easy to read, like a haiku.
• Use up to three hashtags.
• Ask a question to encourage responses.
• Only tag people who will respond.
• Use strong keywords in your post.
• Share outbound links in your comments section instead of your post.

LinkedIn Post Don’ts:

• Do not use hashtags such as #follow, #comment or #like.
• Do not post too frequently, i.e., within every three hours.
• Do not tag more than five individuals.
• Do not post overwhelmingly long content.

A post identified as low-quality isn’t spam, but it doesn’t meet the LinkedIn algorithm’s best practices. In contrast, a high-quality post strives to meet all these practices.

LinkedIn post performance

Within the first hour of you sharing your post, LinkedIn will “test” your post. It does this by displaying your post to a handful of your followers. If your post receives no interaction, or is flagged or removed from the member’s feed, LinkedIn will not share the post anymore.

To give your post the best chance of passing this test:

• Keep your content relevant and up to date.
• Spark engagement with high-quality content and a question or prompt.
• Post consistently so your audience is familiar with your content-sharing schedule.
• Post when your followers are on LinkedIn; consider using a scheduling tool.
• Respond to any comments or questions your post garners.

Consider interacting with other members’ content too. This may encourage those members to glance at your profile and your latest content.

Use LinkedIn analytics to take your LinkedIn strategy to the next level

Use your LinkedIn Analytics to track your audience behavior and the performance of your posts. This will provide you with actionable insights to improve your LinkedIn strategy and meet your business goals.

• Track your audience’s Visitor analytics to see when they are on LinkedIn.
• Your Follower analytics will show who interacts with your content, giving you an understanding of whether your content speaks to them.
• Your Competitor analytics will allow you to compare your page and engagement with direct competitors.

These analytics inform you of opportunities and areas for improvement in your strategy. But that’s only one piece of the puzzle. Make the most effective use of LinkedIn with a strategic marketing partner. Dream Local Digital has extensive experience working with B2B businesses and individuals by leveraging content and LinkedIn ads to help those businesses grow and increase ROI. Our social media services use a targeted approach to reach industry professionals, generating leads and raising brand awareness.