LinkedIn is an excellent platform for professionals to connect, share, and discover content. However, maximizing your content's reach requires understanding how the LinkedIn algorithm works in 2024. This algorithm evaluates numerous factors to predict the relevance of your content to your audience and ranks it accordingly. Initially, it shows your post to a small portion of your network and monitors engagement. Depending on the initial response, the algorithm determines whether to expand your post's visibility or limit it.

Viral LinkedIn Content Detection Pipeline

Detection Journey

From the moment content is posted, LinkedIn's machine learning classifiers evaluate it based on immediate features, such as author and content-related attributes. If the content is identified as spam or policy-violating, it is either automatically filtered or sent for human review. For remaining content, engagement signals, temporal signals, and spam-related indicators are monitored to detect potential viral spam throughout the content's lifecycle.

Source: LinkedIn

Key Features Predicting Virality

Several factors influence a post's engagement, categorized into post features and member features.

• Post Features

Post features include content type, content polarity, and spamminess. Evaluating these factors helps predict how content might go viral, observe correlations between polarity scores and content quality, and use member reports as spam indicators.

• Member Features

Analyzing features of members who interact with a post (shares, comments, or reactions) within a given timeframe provides early detection signals for potential virality. Key member features include influence and popularity metrics, such as followers and connections count, industry diversity, location, and network levels. It also encompasses engagement history, platform activity level, and membership duration.

• Engagement Features

Engagement features focus on the interaction a post receives, including likes/reactions, shares, comments, and views. Temporal sequences and velocity of these interactions act as strong indicators of a post's potential virality.

How the LinkedIn Algorithm Categorizes Content

Content Buckets: Spam, Low Quality, and High Quality

When you post on LinkedIn, your content is classified into one of three categories: spam, low quality, or high quality. The categorization is based on several criteria:

• Spam: Avoid using poor grammar, multiple links, excessive tags, frequent posting, or generic hashtags like "follow," "comment," or "like."
• Low Quality: Content that lacks engagement or relevance but is not spam.
• High Quality: Posts that generate significant engagement and relevance.

Tips to Avoid Spam Filters

To ensure your content avoids the spam filter:

• Use proper grammar.
• Limit links to avoid multiple outbound references.
• Tag no more than five people.
• Post at intervals greater than three hours.
• Use specific, relevant hashtags instead of generic ones.

Strategies for Creating High-Quality Content

Tagging and Hashtag Use

Only tag individuals likely to respond, and use a balanced mix of hashtags:

• One broad hashtag
• One moderately niche hashtag
• One highly niche hashtag

Formatting and Content Strategy

Format your posts for readability, focus on niche topics, and encourage responses by asking questions. Avoid placing outbound links directly in your posts; instead, include them in the comments. Use strong, relevant keywords to enhance visibility.

The Importance of the Golden Hour

Initial Engagement

The first hour after posting, known as the “golden hour," is critical. During this period, LinkedIn evaluates engagement to decide whether to extend the post's reach. High engagement in the golden hour increases the likelihood of broader distribution.

Do's and Don'ts During the Golden Hour

Do:

• Post when your audience is most active.
• Ask questions to prompt engagement.
• Interact with other posts.
• Maintain a consistent posting schedule.
• Respond promptly to comments.

Don'ts:

• Post and ignore the engagement.
• Tag people who are unlikely to respond quickly.
• Edit the post within the first hour.

Continued Engagement and Visibility

1. Maintaining Engagement

To ensure your content continues to appear in more feeds, consistently engage with comments and interactions. The golden rule is to avoid posting and disappearing; instead, stay active and responsive.

2. Negative Interactions

If users mark your content as spam, hide it from their feeds, or ignore it, LinkedIn will penalize your post by reducing its visibility. Thus, avoid spamming your followers with irrelevant content.

Ranking Signals in LinkedIn’s Algorithm

1. Personal Connections

LinkedIn prioritizes content from individuals you have worked with or interacted with frequently. The algorithm evaluates your network to determine the most relevant connections.

2. Interest Relevance

The algorithm assesses your group memberships, followed hashtags, people, and pages. It also considers the language, companies, and topics mentioned in your posts.

The relevance of a post is assessed based on its engagement metrics, the topics it covers, and how it resonates with users' professional interests.

3. Engagement Probability

The likelihood that users will share, comment, or react to your post significantly influences its reach. Quick and substantial engagement boosts the post's visibility in other users' feeds.

 The algorithm considers users' past interactions, such as posts they’ve liked, commented on, or shared, to predict future content preferences.

Optimal Content Types for LinkedIn

1. Outbound Links

LinkedIn prefers users to stay on the platform, so avoid placing outbound links in the post body. Instead, add links in the comments to prevent penalization.

2. Shares

Re-shared content typically receives less engagement than original posts. Users tend to interact with the original content rather than the shared version.

3. LinkedIn Articles, Live, and Slides

New content types introduced by LinkedIn often receive a temporary boost in visibility. Utilize these formats to enhance your reach.

4. Photos and Videos

While images can add value, ensure they are relevant and supportive of your text. For videos, keep them concise and engaging, as users have short attention spans.

But don’t merely repost existing videos from your webinar or podcast on to LinkedIn. Uploading the entire video might not hold your audience’s attention. The key to success lies in tailoring your content to fit the platform’s unique audience and dynamics. This is where vidyo.ai shines. 

Instead of publishing the same lengthy video, vidyo.ai helps you identify the most engaging segments from your existing content, ensuring your LinkedIn posts captivate your audience. You can then edit and optimize these highlighted segments to align with your content strategy before scheduling or sharing the video on LinkedIn using our one-click scheduling and posting feature. 

💡Related read: Pick From a Variety of LinkedIn Templates to Customize Your Videos

5. Text-Based Posts

Text posts generally receive higher engagement on LinkedIn. This is not due to preferential treatment by the algorithm but because users are more likely to read and interact with text content.

Key Challenges of the LinkedIn Algorithm

According to Richard van der Blom, a common misconception is that LinkedIn is a platform for your leadership content. He busts a bunch of myths about the LinkedIn algorithm, as outlined below:

1. SEO Limitations

According to a Medium blog, LinkedIn content often performs poorly in Google SEO due to the competitive dynamics between Microsoft (LinkedIn’s owner) and Google. To enhance your SEO visibility, consider publishing your leadership content on your own blog or newsroom.

2. Rented Audience

LinkedIn users often fall into the trap of viewing the platform as a primary content hub. However, LinkedIn is more accurately described as a distribution channel, where your audience is essentially "rented." To maximize reach, it's important to repurpose LinkedIn content across various channels, such as email marketing and blogs, where you own the audience data.

You can use vidyo.ai's AI content assistant, Viddy, to get the most out of your content repurposing needs. Viddy helps in transforming your LinkedIn posts into tailored content suitable for multiple platforms, ensuring a consistent and effective content strategy. Watch this video to learn how to use Viddy and generate search-engine optimized blog posts and newsletters in seconds:

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Strategies to Optimize Your LinkedIn Presence

1. Reuse LinkedIn Content Across Channels

Don't limit your high-quality LinkedIn content to just one platform. Share it on your website, email newsletters, and other social media channels like Instagram and X. Tailor the content to fit the specific requirements of each platform to maximize engagement.

2. Encourage Engagement

Meaningful engagement is crucial for LinkedIn success. Encourage your audience to share their thoughts by asking questions and sparking conversations. Participate actively in the discussion to show your engagement and relevance.

3. Optimize Posting Times

Timing is everything on LinkedIn. To maximize exposure, schedule your posts for when your audience is most active. While 1 p.m. on Mondays is generally effective, use analytics to identify the best times for your specific audience.

vidyo.ai will soon be rolling out social media analytics to help you track your LinkedIn engagement and analyze patterns for doubling down on content types that perform well. 

Sign up on vidyo.ai today to kick off your LinkedIn video creation journey.

💡Related read: Agency Clients Achieve 45.12% Higher LinkedIn Engagement with vidyo.ai

4. Leverage LinkedIn Analytics

In the meanwhile, regularly review LinkedIn Analytics to understand what types of posts resonate with your audience. Use these insights to refine your content strategy, ensuring you consistently deliver valuable and engaging posts.

Conclusion

Navigating the LinkedIn algorithm in 2024 requires a strategic approach that prioritizes high-quality content, meaningful engagement, and multi-channel distribution. By understanding how the LinkedIn algorithm works and staying updated on its latest changes, you can enhance your professional presence and reach on the platform. Remember, LinkedIn is a powerful distribution channel within a broader content ecosystem. Always think beyond LinkedIn, leveraging your content across multiple platforms to maximize impact and reach.

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