How To ‘Hack’ LinkedIn’s Algorithm to Get a Lot of Views

​Just as Google ranks web pages based on an algorithm that looks for ‘engagement’, social media platforms such as LinkedIn are also discerning in terms of the posts they will make visible to other members.

Engagement Signals

• The first line of the post has to be intriguing enough that readers will click “Read More” to see the whole post, a sign of engagement. Consider starting with a surprising or attention-grabbing question to lead off your post.
• The post has to be fairly long , as LinkedIn is measuring how much time the post occupies real estate on a reader’s screen as they scroll (another sign of engagement). You will see many posters putting a space in between each sentence in order to lengthen the overall post.
• Use numbered lists. Lists are easy to digest in a social media context. If a reader sees point #1 at the top of the post, the reader’s curiosity may be piqued and they may click “Read More” to find out points #2, #3, and so forth. A bulleted list with spaces between each bullet point also tends to lengthen the post.
• The post needs to have ‘likes’, ‘shares’ and clicks within minutes of its initial posting. Therefore, the timing of when you post is critical (hint: around 7am just as people are checking into their social media over their morning coffee). You could also ask friends and colleagues to deliberately ‘like’ your post when you first issue it, although I believe the algorithm quickly catches on to anyone in your network that appears to be “in cahoots” with you!
• And of course, the total number of ‘likes’, ‘shares’, comments and overall readers over time is a signal of engagement as well that LinkedIn will prioritize
• LinkedIn is prioritizing posts that make use of emojis, so the post could make use of emojis (although they can be annoying or detract from the professionalism of your writing
• Post video, even if it is just you reading out your article to a camera. Google, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn are all prioritizing video content to make the internet a richer experience overall.

Don’t Take The Reader Away From LinkedIn

• Your post should ideally NOT link to your website or a 3rd party website, as LinkedIn wants readers to stay on their platform. Some will put the link to the article they are promoting in the comments section rather than in the main body of the post, and in the post they simply write “see the link in the comments for more information”.
• Use LinkedIn’s features to promote your content instead, as LinkedIn will prioritize posts that make use of its intended features:
• ​If you have a lengthier article to promote, you could consider posting it as a LinkedIn article rather than on your own website. If you do that, LinkedIn will help promote the article automatically.
• If you have a post on a niche topic, consider posting to a specialize LinkedIn Group. Anyone browsing the group can view this, plus any of your direct connections who belong to this group will be served the post in their main feed.
• If you have a question, use a LinkedIn poll to ask your question. These can be useful for market research too!
• If you do include a direct link to your own website in your post, use an attention-grabbing high-quality image. When people are scrolling through many social media posts quickly, the image is the primary signal that will grab their attention. Stock images do not get clicks!
• If you do include a direct link to a website, it seems that LinkedIn will prioritize your post to more users if the page you are linking to has a high Page Authority. If you post an HBR article, it will tend to get a lot more views than the same headline and image but on a startup website. I have no evidence to back this up, other than my own experience from posting regularly on LinkedIn. Try it yourself and see. This is probably something that LinkedIn does to ensure a higher quality experience.

Build up Trust with the Algorithm
Just as Google builds up a “Page Authority” number associated with each web page it is aware of on the internet and uses this to decide what content to rank for searches, LinkedIn must certainly build up some kind of authority rating for each of its users. If your posts tend to always get a lot of engagement, over time LinkedIn will trust you more and serve your content to a broader audience by default.

It Depends on The Topic
Whatever you write about, the algorithm parses the text of your post and decides what it is about, then tries to show it to members that have an interest in the topic. Of course, if you post about a niche topic, you may not get the same broad readership as posting on a more general topic, unless your network all shares an enthusiasm for the niche topic. To help LinkedIn know what your post is about, consider using hashtags at the end of your post (e.g. #productstrategy).

Engage with Others
LinkedIn wants an engaged community of members that comment on each others’ posts and engage in discussion. As such, if you comment on someone’s post, that person is more likely to connect with you. LinkedIn promotes content of people you recently connected with. If you are regularly engaging and connecting with new people, LinkedIn tends to view this as a cluster or community and share content between those people.

Respect the Culture of the LinkedIn Community
In the early days of LinkedIn, I recall people would post advertisements about their products and services constantly, and it was a very boring experience. These days, LinkedIn members tend to react better to inspirational stories or stories that illustrate professional principles. Whether the platform’s algorithm has shaped this trend or not, it seems clear that the LinkedIn community now has its own culture of inspiring stories and supporting others.

A Useful, Relevant, Inspiring Post
At the end of the day, no amount of hacking the algorithm will make up for simply posting useful, relevant, and inspiring thoughts to your social media feed. In fact, too much of the above is very likely to backfire, just as my ridiculous post illustrated at the top of this article. LinkedIn’s algorithm might think you are being engaging, but the actual humans you are connected to will obviously find it annoying. You have to strike the right balance.

Originally published at https://www.stellexgroup.com.