How to Create a Click-Worthy LinkedIn Blog Post

If you thought LinkedIn was just a place to look for a job, think again. Since March, I’ve been using the LinkedIn publishing platform to reach a wider – and more engaged – audience than ever before. At the time of writing, my last 10 articles have had:

• 19,587 views


• 972 likes


• 114 comments

Articles have covered social media marketing, analysis of demographic research, marketing tips, commentary, and more. The LinkedIn publishing platform, in my experience, is a high-engagement platform that rewards authors who know how to use it effectively. Here’s how to get started.

Your Title – Where Character Count Is Everything

LinkedIn will display approximately the first 43-49 characters of your article’s title in certain formats (e.g. when you’re looking at a collection of all an author’s articles). Full titles are usually displayed in the homepage update stream. So, while you don’t have to limit the length of your title, be sure to frontload your title, starting off with all of the most important words and information.

Make It Personal.

LinkedIn is not just another syndicator. Articles that get a lot of traffic on “small business sites” or “social media sites” don’t necessarily translate to this platform. To be successful, you’re going to have to make it personal. With LinkedIn, the author is automatically connected to the writing with an in-depth profile – just like Google+.

Tell Your Friends.

If a LinkedIn article about social media marketing (or any such other topic with a lot of “experts”) comes up through my feed – and I don’t personally know the author – one of the main deciding factors in whether or not I click is… views, likes, and comments. Are other people reading it? Are they liking? Is it sparking conversation? If the answer’s, “yes,” for all three, then there’s probably something worth reading. So, when you publish on LinkedIn, let your friends know so they can like and comment, helping build momentum to bring organic traffic.

What to Avoid: The Back-to-Blog Link

Unfortunately, a lot of LinkedIn “publishers” have gotten into a habit of including an above-the-fold snippet of the post – or just teaser description info – with a link back to their own blog where the full post can be read. While this isn’t necessarily bad or frowned upon by LinkedIn, it doesn’t honor the platform as its own publishing vehicle. Use LinkedIn to either syndicate in full or – even better – write original content. If users really enjoy your reading, they can find your website through your profile, or you can simply provide them with a link at the end of the post.

What are your “best practices” on LinkedIn?

Are you a LinkedIn writer? What have you found makes for a click-worthy blog post? We’d love to see your LinkedIn publishing tips and tricks in the comments below!

How to Create a Click-Worthy LinkedIn Blog Post