Over a billion people globally in 200 countries are on the professional networking site LinkedIn, with 65 million people using it to search for jobs each week, making it the biggest social platform for professionals.
Given its importance in the business world, consultants and communications professionals need to apply best practices to maximize LinkedIn’s full power. Knowing what works today versus just a few years ago is vital.
In a recent livestream, Zoetica Media founder Kami Huyse shares what she considers the most important things to know about LinkedIn’s new algorithm, gleaned from BlissPoint Consulting CEO Richard Bliss’ presentation Understanding the LinkedIn Algorithm for Maximum Business Growth at the Social Media Marketing World 2024 conference and Access Founder/CEO of Just Connecting HUB Richard van der Blom’s 123-page 2024 Algorithm Insights and Findings on LinkedIn.
LinkedIn’s New Algorithm Changes What Worked In the Past
“Last September or so there was a huge shift in the algorithm,” Kami explains. “You just don't get as much reach anymore” doing the things that worked in the past.
For example, reach drops when links are added within personal account posts, leading to a massive 50% reduction, while posting too much leads to a 10% reduction. Posting and then ignoring engagement reduces reach, as does tagging too many people or organizations in a post.
“When you put out a post on LinkedIn, LinkedIn will show it to… 10% of your audience right off the bat. It's a test, it's a test to see what happens,” she says. “And if you have a link in there it'll show it to even less, so right away it's going to be only showing it to 5% or something like that, so putting that link in right away is going to tank the reach immediately.”
Workarounds for Personal Accounts That Up the Chances of Your Content Being Seen
Rather than throw up your hands in frustration, consider adopting the recommendations below to increase the chances of having your content seen by as many as possible on the platform.
• If you know a link would provide information critical to a post, for example, rather than omit it, the report recommends publishing the post first and then going back afterwards to edit it.
“Obviously we need to put links sometimes… there's an event or something that people need the information [about],” says Kami. “One of the things that you can do is immediately after you post, you can put the link in. So you can go back and edit the post and put the link in… If you edit the post and you change less than 15% of the post, that will not tank your reach.”
An option is adding a link in the comments, but as Kami points out, when people actively comment on a post, the comment with the link risks getting buried and not seen by those who would benefit from the information.
• The next recommendation is spacing the publishing of your posts. “When you put your post up, [LinkedIn is] only going to show it to 10% of your audience for your first post in that 24-hour period,” she says. “What counts as a post? Well, a post you put up yourself or say you're sharing somebody's post. One of the things that I've loved to do is to share my own thoughts and share somebody else's post… [But] that'll be considered your one post for the day.”
• Another thing to make sure you do is actively engage. “If you post and then you don't stay around, then you're not going to get as much out of the algorithm,” she explains. “If I post something and then one of you lovely people comment on it, there is a… golden hour or up to 90 minutes where the algorithm's looking to see what people are going to do. And if you interact with people who are commenting on your post, … they may open it up to a bigger amount of individuals.”
• Finally, don’t go overboard in tagging people within your posts. “We like to tag and give people credit…. And the problem with that is that if those people don't react or don't respond to your post…it's going to tank your reach,” she says. “So I think it's like 60%, half of the of the tags you put in, have to respond in order for it not to tank your reach.” Tagging no more than eight people or companies within the body of a post is ok, while there isn’t a limit to how many can be tagged in the comments.
Know the Percentages You’re Dealing With
The new algorithm hasn’t just impacted reach overall, it also differentiates between personal and business accounts. For example, your first post of the day is shown to 10% of your audience, compared to 2% of your business account audience.
Whether 2% or 10%, engagement can increase reach. Kami shares that 70% of those who comment on a post within the golden window of 60-90 minutes are shown your next post, noting “that's huge, that's so huge.” Meanwhile, 80% of those who share your content will see your next post, “whether they add a comment or don't add a comment.”
Profile views also carry great weight on the platform. “If somebody goes and looks at your profile, you know, checks you out, then they 100% will see your very next post,” Kami says.
New connections are equally rewarded. “A new connection – so this is a cool one – like when you get those new connections on LinkedIn, the algorithm will show your posts and will show you their posts for the next two weeks.”
Take Full Advantage of The Golden Hour
“This blew my mind,” says Kami. “So in the first 60 minutes LinkedIn is going to run that test” to see how many people are interested in the content you just shared. “During that time, if you comment on three to five posts in this time frame of somebody else's, and you make sure that you're responding to all your comments,” LinkedIn sees heavy interaction and is likely to reward you for it.
“Just put it together. [Make sure] post and interaction time for the day is at the same time. That way you're commenting on your own stuff, you're commenting on other people's stuff… and you are responding to all of the comments on anything that you've posted. It absolutely opens up the algorithm.”
Additional Best Practices
In addition to the previously mentioned things, Kami recommends the following:
• Posting 3-5 times a week, spaced 24+ hours apart
• Turn on Creator Mode (but only if you regularly post)
• Consider recording LinkedIn Lives, which get 25% more comments than other content
• Add links after posting
To dive deeper into the LinkedIn secrets Kami learned at Social Media Marketing World, watch her full livestream.