10 Ways I Use Linkedin to Generate Leads for My Business
By: Daniel Hopper
Tags: Content Marketing, Marketing, Social Media, LinkedIn, Digital Marketing

6. Tips to Get the Most From the Algorithm

You cannot just put random content out there and assume people are going to see it and engage in it. There are a few different tactics you can use to maximise the chance of people seeing your content.

As just discussed, there is a mutual benefit of engaging in the content of other people. The LinkedIn algorithm favours those who engage. You often see it when people start posting content for the first time.

If they have been regularly engaging in other peoples’ content over some time before posting themselves, then their content often they get a huge push from the algorithm. They have already earned a lot of LinkedIn algorithm brownie points.

Use relevant hashtags in your content, but not too many. LinkedIn recommends using three. If a post does well, it might start trending in a certain hashtag and go out to more people.

As well as this, people can find your content if they are looking through posts with that hashtag. Aim for one broad hashtag such as #Marketing, use one more niche hashtag such as #Contentmarketing and you can also use a unique personalised hashtag to help people find other posts from you. I have one called #50weeksofmarketing.

Trending posts on LinkedIn (Source: author)

In a post, the maximum number of characters is 1200. Try and use as many of them as possible.

The algorithm gives more of a push to content that uses up more characters, as its easier to identify as quality content. Try to add an image to your written content, as more people are likely to notice your post and stop and read it.

The LinkedIn algorithm push posts out to a bigger audience if the initial engagement is high. A post might initially only go out to 1–5% of your connections and if nobody likes it or comments, it dies.

However, if five or ten people for example like it within the first 30 minutes, the algorithm identifies it as a good piece of content that people want to engage in and sends it out to a higher proportion of your connections.

The time of the day you post can also influence how well a post does. If you post between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m., 12 p.m. and 1 p.m., or 4 p.m. at 5 p.m. during the week, this is usually when the highest number of people are browsing the platform.

Therefore, you have more chance of people seeing the content when you first post it.

In saying this, I posted some of my popular content between 8 and 9 a.m. on a Saturday morning and sometimes, 8–9 p.m. can work well.

People often have more time to browse after work hours as LinkedIn has become more like Facebook. It is not just a work thing anymore.

Many “influencers” use engagement pods to make sure that their content gets this initial push. They try and cheat the algorithm by posting a link to their latest content in a private group and there is an obligation to like and comment on one another’s posts.

Most of these pods you have to pay for, and does not guarantee the right people are going to see your content anyway; as most of the people in these groups are on the other side of the globe, and their network is the people most likely to see your post. Not your local network.

It takes a lot of time and effort to engage in all this random content (I imagine) and it also means you do not learn what kind of content works best for you. What your sweet spot is. There is no quality control, they like everything. But hey, if you want an ego boost and pretend you are famous, go for it.