My LinkedIn Post Got Half a Million Views — Here’s How
By: Janice Gassam
Tags: Viral Post, Algorithms, LinkedIn, Viral

Update: When I published this piece a few days ago, my LinkedIn post had amassed over 250,000 views. Right now, almost a week after the post was published, it has over 500,000 views!!! I’m shocked, humbled and astonished. I wonder if it could get to a million views…lol. Let me not get ahead of myself. Just goes to show you that the time you post doesn’t really matter as much as the manner in which you post. A post on Saturday night at 10pm can still be seen by hundreds of thousands if you utilize the tips mentioned in this piece. Happy reading!

A few days ago I created a LinkedIn post, that has apparently gone viral. I’m not even sure what a viral post is on LinkedIn. I googled a few things and saw different answers. It seems like the definition of LinkedIn virality depends on who you ask. A common theme I noticed is that 100,000 views seemed to be the threshold. I thought it would be helpful to share what (I think) led to the success of my recent LinkedIn post.

It has never been a goal of mine to “go viral” however because I am a contributing writer for a well-known brand, I often share my latest pieces for my audience on social media. On this particular evening (Saturday night to be precise) I had just finished a write-up for an interview I conducted. In my usual fashion, I post to my Instagram stories, as well as my LinkedIn page.

Sidebar: I was recently having a discussion with a friend about when the best times to post to LinkedIn are. He insisted that weekends are a good time to post things, despite the notion that on weekends people take time away from their computers.

This is more detailed information on post-viewers

I posted the article around 10 pm on Saturday night and not long after, I shared the article on my LinkedIn page. I’ve been on LinkedIn since maybe 2012, but I have only been active on the platform since 2017. As of the time of this writing, my post has garnered over 250,000 views and counting. In the short time I have been active on LinkedIn, I have picked up on some tricks of the trade for post success and I believe this is what helped push this post to go viral.

Include visuals in your post. This is a practice I don’t always follow myself, but I’ve seen others mention how LinkedIn prioritizes posts with photos and videos. I think it’s human nature to be drawn to shiny objects (photos+videos) so if you can try to infuse photos into your posts, that can boost success. Do not include external links in your posts. LinkedIn does not prioritize posts that include outside links. Posts with videos embedded from your computer and photos added from your computer do extremely well, based on LinkedIn’s current algorithm. When you post outside links from Youtube or your personal blog, for example, the algorithm recognizes that and does not give priority to your post. LinkedIn wants you to stay on the platform and when you post links from other websites, users must leave the platform to watch or view the links, which is not in the interest of LinkedIn. If you want to include links to articles, videos, or any other outside websites, put the link as the first comment in your post. Use hashtags for increased reach. This is a great tip that everyone should be using. Hashtags are a good way to expand the reach of your post and introduce your content to new audiences. I always make sure I use at least 7–10 relevant hashtags whenever I post to LinkedIn. Be sure you are engaging your audience. I always try to respond back to each comment that is left on my posts. This increases the likelihood of new eyes viewing your post, so it’s always good to comment back and engage in dialogue with your audience. If someone shared your post, that’s an additional audience for your post, so it’s always a good practice to engage with the sharer(s).

When you think about it, the point of posting on LinkedIn is to spread knowledge to your audience or to engage with your connections on a specific topic. It’s beneficial to be aware of these strategies to maximize your post success.

Good luck and happy posting! Stay connected with me on LinkedIn :)