How To Fool The LinkedIn Algorithm into Favouring Your Content

Imagine writing a fantastic blog post. Naturally, you want the world to see it, which makes sharing it online a simply inevitable choice.

You schedule as a post across all applicable social media platforms, then kick back, sit back and wait for the likes to start rolling in.

But they don’t. Well, not quite.

Your post on Facebook does somewhat well, while your LinkedIn post doesn’t receive near as many likes.

We’ve all been there. Organic reach isn’t easy to master, but with some handy tips up your sleeve, you can certainly change things up.

Firstly, we need to remember that Facebook and LinkedIn are different platforms.

It’s not enough to post the same copy and the same picture across different platforms. By carefully crafting our content to align to certain platforms, we can increase engagement and attract the right audience.

The Power of Connections

In 2020, LinkedIn changed its algorithm to focus more on the user-to-user connection. Instead of being hyper-focused on the top 1% of users that constantly appear in our newsfeeds, the new algorithm focuses more on users ‘real connections;’ this means showing us content from our co-workers, former colleagues, fellow LinkedIn group members and so on.

To find out ‘who’ your real connections are, LinkedIn analyses the following:

• Your teammates
• People you talk to on LinkedIn
• Hashtags you follow
• LinkedIn pages you follow
• LinkedIn groups you’ve joined

Group Up

You can build your following on LinkedIn by creating a network with those interested in your expertise. Network with like-minded professionals by connecting with others in relevant LinkedIn groups. This is the place to ask questions, share blog posts, and start conversations with those who have an interest in similar topics.

#UseHashtags

LinkedIn has found that users like to read specific niche topics.

So how do you find these ‘niche’ topics? Hashtags.

People can find information about items they’re interested in by searching and clicking on a hashtag.

For example, if you were searching for #businesscoaching, you would type this hashtag into LinkedIn’s search tool, and receive all relevant results. You could be part of the conversation and even create a post with #businesscoaching included.

Be sure to follow and use relevant hashtags to keep track of related topics and developments in your area of expertise. When creating a post, it’s best to stick with three to five hashtags per post; adding too many can send conflicting ideas about your niche.

Choose a variety of broad (with 1000’s of followers) such as #digitalmarketing and niche hashtags, such as #smallbusinessperth.

(READ: What is a Hashtag? And How To Use Hashtags in 2020)

Content Creation for LinkedIn

Increasing likes on your LinkedIn posts comes down to creating valuable content, and formatting it the right way.

You can improve readability with white spaces

Adding more space to your post can make it easier to read.

When a user clicks on the “…see more” button, this signals to LinkedIn’s algorithm that someone IS interacting with your post, therefore boosting your post to be seen by more LinkedIn users.

Hint: Make sure that what you’ve written within your post (before the …See More button) catches the user’s attention. Make your content creative, interesting, fun, engaging and interesting. After all, people will only click if they’re interested in what you have to say.

Stand out by incorporating brand elements into your posts

By consistently including your business’ branding within your content, you can make it instantly recognisable. For example, you could use emojis that replicate the colours of your logo, or are similar to your logo.

At Caffeinate Digital, we use ‘inspiring’ emojis that elicit ‘transformation,’ such as the ??? and of course the ☕, which is close to our coffee cup logo.

You can also use your branding in the creation of photos. For example, you could place your logo on the bottom of the photos you post.

Get Your Images Sizes Right

1024x 576 is the perfect size for photo/image posts on LinkedIn.

Write Text-Only Posts

Remember that your audience on LinkedIn is different from other platforms. LinkedIn is brimming with industry professionals that will take the time to read news and information about their field. This means you don’t always have to pull people in with flashy images or video. While these are always good to post, LinkedIn is the platform to get creative and use our words to win people over.

Take a Step Back

Don’t forget to look at the analytics for the content you’ve already shared; see what’s working, and what’s not.

Get a feel for the content you’ve posted that has a high engagement rate and create more content that is similar. If your previous videos have done well as opposed to infographics, then it’s probably best to post more video content.

Within your LinkedIn analytics, you can find a breakdown of your audience by job title, location and people you work with. This is an excellent place to start to ask the question “Is this the audience I want to target?” These metrics are useful to tweak your content to reach the right audience that WANTS to engage with your content.

So, What Now?

We need to remember that we can play the algorithm game, but what brings people back time after time is always by creating authentic, valuable content, and the right audience will find their way to you.

(READ: Caffeinate Digital’s Winning Point of Difference)

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