In our LinkedIn trainings, we share some of the algorithm points that kill the exposure your posts get, and the reaction is always the same: frustration that they didn’t know sooner. Here are ten of our best strategies + the most common LinkedIn algorithm rules you may be breaking.
1. Tagging multiple people in your post – post’er beware
Tagging one? Have at it. Tagging multiple? Make sure they know the post is coming. If 50% don’t engage in the first hour, LinkedIn assumes you’re spamming and kills the post.
2. Using words like “sign up” “subscribe” “register” “link” or including links in posts
All of these signal that you’re hoping to take users away from LI, which is the opposite of what they want. Be especially aware of using links with UTM/source codes which signal you’re using the platform to REALLY deliberately drive people off the site.
3. Editing in the first hour
Don’t do it. As painful as it is to stare at a post for an hour with typos in it (just us?) hang tight. In an hour, you can go back and edit AND add your links in with no penalty.
4. Deleting a post that has typos and re-posting within an hour
Just don’t – let it sit, or delete it and post again after an hour.
5. Posting more than once every four hours
The second post will get killed. That said, you can also use this tip strategically if you’re required to post something that you’d rather not be widely seen. 
6. Repost vs. Repost With Your Thoughts
There’s no better post-killer than doing the latter. Doing this nets you 10-15% of the actual reach you’d get and, while an honor for the author, it doesn’t help them. If you want to do a solid for the author, simply repost without your thoughts.
7. Asking a question in the post fuels engagement
Potentially. But more often than not, it discourages engagement as it feels like a trap to get you to engage.
8. There’s no perfect day to post
There isn’t, but there are some strategic plays:
If you don’t post often, avoid Mondays. It tends to be the highest traffic day of the week = more competition to get your content seen.
Save a strategic post for the weekend. Execs spend an average of 42 minutes on LinkedIn on the weekends – reading, connecting, DM’ing. This is your time to get their attention.
9. Some posts get low likes + super high impressions, others get high likes and less impressions than the aforementioned. Must be a glitch.
It’s actually Dark Social. The former means you wrote something interesting/educational/controversial and people shared it off LinkedIn and into Slack, DMs, group texts, emails. People then came to your post, read, potentially looked at your profile, and left. They didn’t engage because they don’t know you, but it drove up impressions.
The latter usually represents something that only your network will be excited about. This could be a picture you posted yourself, celebrating a new job, or sharing another achievement of some sort.
10. Using an auto-share platform
LinkedIn values two things over all else: how many times you come to the platform and how long you stay (your dwell time). So when you use an API-connected platform to share content, you don’t need to log in or stay on LinkedIn, which in turn throttles the content you share. Give it a try – share a post directly on the platform and you’ll see it soar in comparison. Additionally, using these platforms mean you’re sharing company content vs. your own thought leadership. Your audience doesn’t want to be sold to, they want to learn, so they don’t engage and your content will continue to perform poorly.
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