Are you hurting your visibility on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn can be a powerful tool for business development, but if no one sees your posts, you’re just wasting your time. There are a number of mistakes LinkedIn users make when creating content that could significantly reduce the visibility of their content to their audience.

Are You Making These Mistakes?

Some of the mistakes LinkedIn users make include:

1. Failing to optimize your images for LinkedIn
2. Not using hashtags that are directly relevant to the post and to your audience
3. Using links incorrectly
4. Not varying the kind of content you post – for example, posting only text-based posts or only video
5. Using too much – or not enough – white space in your posts
6. Posting only to the feed, and not to relevant LinkedIn Groups
7. Not responding to comments on your posts
8. Posting too much. Or not enough.

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Optimizing Images for LinkedIn

When you upload an image to add to your LinkedIn post, don’t forget to optimize it by adding an alt tag.

An alt tag is a written description of what is depicted in the image. Alt tags helpful for accessibility purposes; they can be read by screen readers for those with visual or reading impairments.

Alt tags can also help boost your post’s SEO, both inside and outside of LinkedIn. You have plenty of room to describe your image (up to 300 characters), so be specific and as descriptive as possible. If your image also contains text, Google can’t read it, so write out that text in your description.

The next time you upload a photo to a LinkedIn post, make sure you click on ALT below the photo to add your description.

Are Hashtags Still Useful on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn seems to be de-emphasizing hashtags and has removed the ability to follow hashtags on the platform, but there are ways that hashtags can still be useful if used strategically.

Think about hashtags like keywords that you want to incorporate into your content or categories your content falls into.

Choose hashtags that are specific to your target audience and relevant to the topic discussed in your post.

Combine broad hashtags with more specific or niche hashtags – for example, if your post is about divorce mediation, you may want to use the broad hashtags #divorce and #mediation, but also a more specific hashtag like #childcustodymediation or #divorcemediationtips.

Consider creating your own hashtags for your brand, company, or law firm.

You can integrate hashtags naturally within the content of the post or add them at the end of the post.

Don’t overuse hashtags on your posts. They can be distracting or make your posts look spammy. One to three hashtags per post have been shown in some studies to increase engagement over posts with no hashtags, but don’t use more than five hashtags in one post.

Although the feature allowing you to follow hashtags has been removed, you can still search for hashtags in the LinkedIn search bar to help you keep up with industry trends and find opportunities to comment on relevant posts.

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How to Use Links on LinkedIn

LinkedIn’s goal is to keep you on their platform as long as possible. As a result, LinkedIn disfavors external links that take users off of the platform, meaning that your post containing links to your website, to an article in another publication or to your event page may not be as visible.

You may have heard that a way to combat that is by putting the link into the comments instead. But that link still takes users off of the platform, so LinkedIn has been making comments with links less visible as well.

So what should you do instead?

Part of the answer depends on your what your goal is for that particular LinkedIn post.

Is your goal to gain more views for you post to expand your reach?

Or is it to get more engagement and start a conversation with other LinkedIn users?

Or is it to get your audience to take some other action, like registering for an event?

What part of the customer journey is this post targeting?

Are you targeting users who are in the investigation or research stage who don’t yet know who you are, or are you targeting users who already know you and your work who might be ready to take the next step?

The answers to these questions will help you decide your linking strategy.

For example, if your goal is to get someone to take an action like downloading your checklist or signing up for your event, go ahead and put the link right in the post. Your post may be less visible, but your goal is to get clicks from interested viewers, not necessarily visibility or engagement from those who don’t know you yet.

What if you want to demonstrate your expertise to those who aren’t familiar with you and direct them to an article or other resource?

It may seem counterintuitive, but if your link is important to your post, you might consider putting multiple links in the same post. According to @Richard van der Blom, those posts are seen as more authoritative, so they perform better than single link posts. Just make sure your post has more content than just a list of links.

What To Do Instead of Including Links on Your Linkedin Posts

If you don’t want to take the chance and include links in your LinkedIn posts, what can you do instead?

If your goal for your post is visibility, awareness, or engagement try to write a post that can stand on its own. Instead of including a link, think about how you can boost engagement—and therefore visibility—on the post:

• Ask a question
• Invite readers to share something in the comments, or
• Include a poll

What if you want to demonstrate your expertise by having users read a thought leadership article? In that case you could:

• Write a longer form post, or series of posts with the main points of the article.
• Attach a copy of the article as a document (PDF)
• Turn the article into a carousel or infographic
• Put the article on LinkedIn’s publisher platform and link to the article there

All of these options keep users on LinkedIn.

Varying the Type of Content You Post on LinkedIn

Are you stuck in a content rut on LinkedIn?

Are all of your posts in the same format – all text, all images or all video?

Varying the type of content you post on LinkedIn can have a number of advantages.

Even within your target audience, one type of content doesn’t always resonate with everyone. Some people prefer to watch a video, while others prefer to read an article or longer-form post. Still others prefer visuals like infographics.

By varying the type of content you post, you’ll reach a broader segment of your audience.

Posting content in different formats also means you can repurpose the same content into different formats, making it easier for you to post consistently. A text-based post can be turned into an image or video, and vice versa.

Varying the type of content you post will also keep both you and your audience more interested and engaged, and it allows you to demonstrate different skills or aspects of your services. A video demonstrates your public speaking ability, while a well-written article showcases your written communication skills.

Posting in different formats gives your audience a more well-rounded impression of you and helps them get to know you better.

Using White Space Correctly on LinkedIn

When you’re creating content for LinkedIn, you consider what you want to say and how you want to say it, but do you consider how your posts look, even if they’re just text posts?

The appearance of your post can significantly impact its readability and may be the difference between LinkedIn users fully engaging with your post or scrolling right past it in the feed.

One thing to look for is your use of white space. Not enough white space and your post looks like a wall of text. It can be intimidating or tiresome to read.

Give your words some room to breathe. Consider using short sentences, paragraphs of only a few lines, and bullet points.

Don’t forget to check how your post looks on mobile devices as well as on the desktop.

But don’t go overboard with white space. There’s no need to put four spaces between paragraphs or to put a space between every single line on every post.

Balancing text with white space makes your post easier to read, more engaging, and more accessible for those who are visually impaired or who use screen readers.

Other formatting tips:

Emojis, icons, and special characters can help break up your post, guide the reader to important information, or help emphasize key points.

But again, don’t over-use dashes, icons or emojis. They can come across as spammy, unprofessional, or signal to some users that the post was written by AI instead of a human being. (ChatGPT has a reputation for adding too many emojis).

Similarly, use bold or italics sparingly. They can be great for headlines, emphasizing a statistic or result, or for things like titles, but using bold or italics for other reasons or throughout your post can be more distracting than it is helpful.

Post Beyond the Feed to LinkedIn Groups

Are you limiting the visibility of your LinkedIn content by posting only to the Feed?

You can expand the visibility of your content if you don’t limit your content to the Feed. Take advantage of opportunities like LinkedIn Groups.

I’ve talked about the advantages of LinkedIn Groups before, but one of the main advantages is that, if chosen correctly, your LinkedIn Groups will contain a concentration of your target audience who have joined the Group intentionally because they have a specific interest.

If your content aligns with that interest, members of the Group are more likely to be attracted to and engage with your content.

And many of those members will not see your post in the Feed because they aren’t connected to you.

Next time you create a post for your LinkedIn feed, think about which Groups that post might also be relevant to and post your content there as well.

Respond to Comments on Your LinkedIn Posts

How good are you at responding to comments on your LinkedIn posts?

You probably already know that when other LinkedIn users comment on your posts, those comments help boost the visibility of your posts. The commenter’s connection’s are more likely to see your post, and LinkedIn sees engagement on the post as proof that the post is useful to others, so it may show in more users’ feeds.

What you do next can either build on that momentum or work against it.

Remember, LinkedIn wants to keep people on the platform for as long as possible. They want LinkedIn users to actively engage in conversations, not just post or comment and leave.

If you want to keep the momentum going on your post, when someone comments, reply to their comment. Many experts say that the first hour after you post is the most important, and that you should promptly respond to comments in the first hour. But even after the first hour, check your posts and your notifications often to make sure you aren’t neglecting your audience by failing to continue the conversation.

You’ll need to experiment with how often you need to check back in on your posts, since LinkedIn has been resurfacing posts recently; you might suddenly see activity on a post from a week ago. I would actively check for a day or so and then make sure you are paying attention to your notifications, since LinkedIn will notify you if someone comments on your post.

How Often Should You Post on LinkedIn?

This is a question I get a lot. Unfortunately, there is no hard and fast answer to the question.

A lot depends on who you are, what you do, what your goal is for using LinkedIn, and probably most importantly, who you’re trying to reach/who your audience is.

Very generally, I would recommend that most professionals try to post at least 2 to 5 times a week. Posting too infrequently may mean that your post just gets lost in the feed. But posting too frequently may get you labeled as a spammer.

More important even than how often you post is how consistently you post, and making sure that each one of your posts provides value to your audience.

Write or speak in a consistent voice with a consistent point of view.

Choose a small number of topics that you want to be known for, and then post regularly on those topics. Put it on your calendar if you have to.

Analyze the performance of each of your posts afterwards. Check to see which posts resonate the most with your audience, and then adjust accordingly. Look not just for likes and comments, but also for profile views. More profile views around specific posts are a good signal that those posts are getting your audience to take action and to learn more bout you.

Remember that LinkedIn is a networking platform. It should be a conversation. So look for other people who post on the same topics, including experts, and provide thoughtful substantive comments on their posts as well.

If you found these tips helpful, check out the other videos in my LinkedIn Tips playlist.

You can also pick up a copy of Make LinkedIn Work for You on Amazon.

Or see more videos and posts about LinkedIn:

• Improving Your LinkedIn News Feed
• Improving Your Visibility on LinkedIn
• No Time for a LinkedIn Company Page?
• Securing Your LinkedIn Account
• Increase the Reach of LinkedIn Company Page Posts
• Have You Forgotten About Your LinkedIn Company Page?
• Is LinkedIn Using Your Data to Train Its AI?
• Where to Find Images for Your Marketing
• What Does It Mean To Be Yourself And Add Value On Social Media?
• Should You Use AI to Post on Social Media?