What exactly is the LinkedIn algorithm? In simple terms, all social media algorithms are designed to determine the most relevant content for users, and the optimal order in which to display posts. For businesses, the benefit of knowing how an algorithm works is to draw in their target audience, keep their attention as long as possible and — in this case — boost their professional LinkedIn presence.
To do this, it’s important to understand how the algorithm works and keep track of when it changes (like it did recently!).
Why it’s Worth Investing Time to Learn the LinkedIn Algorithm
LinkedIn has more than 1 billion members in 200 countries, with 67-million-plus companies, making it a prime social media resource for businesses — especially those seeking to expand their reach.
One way LinkedIn differs from other social platforms, such as Facebook, Instagram and X, is that its algorithm doesn’t rely on advertising for results, benefiting users who post consistent and quality content. In fact, the more engagement a business or user has on LinkedIn, the more exposure it will provide them over time.
But, like most things, there’s a catch! The algorithm also requires its users to know and follow its inner workings.
Latest LinkedIn Algorithm
Cultivating Compelling Content
There are certain ways to post on LinkedIn and optimize company and personal profiles that will be favored by the algorithm, starting with prioritizing keywords similar to how search engines rank.
- High-caliber content: Posts should include topical, well-written, thought-provoking and relatable content whenever possible. And believe it or not, LinkedIn’s algorithm favors posts with a more personal touch. For a business, this could translate to a recent happy customer experience (ex: An accounting firm helped streamline a company’s operations, resulting in saving the company oodles of time and money). All posts should start with a compelling attention grabber to readers and end with a call to action. Providing premium content means more comments, likes and reactions, which leads us to the next point.
- Length of content: Universally, experts agree that more content is better for LinkedIn posts. Some of the best-performing posts consist of 900-1,200 characters (about 125 to 400 words). That doesn’t mean every single post will reach this length, but it’s something to shoot for regularly. Content should be broken into short-sentenced paragraphs that are easy to digest. And even though the algorithm favors storytelling, it needs to be well-crafted content, focused on a timely topic with relevant keywords.
- Keyword usage: Posts should include between three to eight keywords for best results. Any more than that and LinkedIn will likely consider content spam.
Just as LinkedIn’s algorithm is choosey about content, it also appraises posts based on imagery. Photos, videos, animations and GIFs should also be high-quality and mobile user-friendly
- Personalized photos: Original photos perform better than stock photos, as do posts with multiple photos versus one.
- Short, high-quality videos: Videos should only last one to two minutes and be comprised of high-quality content with clear audio and subtitles.
- Consider digital and AI tools to create high-quality images: Online resources like Canva, Adobe Spark, AI Art Generator and Snappa can help generate high-quality photos for LinkedIn videos and posts.
- Create engaging captions that support image previews: Preview images are now reduced in size. This puts a stronger onus on publishers to select attention-grabbing images that will only be seen on a small corner of the auto-populated link, as well as the need for catchy, succinct post introductions.
Frequency of Posts
If it seems like the frequency of posting on social media platforms is constantly changing, it’s because it is — and LinkedIn is no exception. Part of the most recent iteration of LinkedIn’s algorithm is to space posts out a minimum of 12 hours.
Post Engagement Dos and Don’ts: Tagging, Hashtags and Comments
Are there other LinkedIn algorithm components to consider for better results and visibility? Yes! There are several ways to incorporate tagging, hashtags and comment strategies for optimal outcomes.
Algorithm Dos
- Tag three to five accounts/people per post — their engagement is worth 1.5 times more than someone who is not tagged.
- Research the days and times when your target audience is most likely to be reading their feed, considering the time zones in which your audience lives.
- Select one to two broad hashtags relevant to the post. Hashtags won’t increase reach, but can be visually helpful to users.
- Ask questions and engage with commenters.
Algorithm Don’ts
- Using more than three tags. This can clutter a post and push a post toward the spam zone — plus, with this latest update, hashtags don’t improve reach.
- Posting too often (more than once daily).
- Ending your posting strategy too soon due to low engagement – it will pick up over time.
Profiles Matter to the Algorithm
Outside of optimizing posts to improve reach and searchability on LinkedIn, page profiles are equally important. The same rules that apply to posts, qualify for profiles. Quality content and imagery should be the cornerstone of a profile. Ensure keywords relevant to your desired networking opportunities are present in your profile, optimizing each job and education description as needed.
Don’t Feel Like Decoding LinkedIn’s Algorithm?
Decoding LinkedIn’s ever-changing algorithm can feel like a tall order, but it doesn’t have to be. Our team is fully versed in the latest algorithms for all social platforms. Learn more about our social media services and connect with an Aker Ink expert.