LinkedIn algorithm secrets revealed, May update

How you can create reach for your business content with personal profiles, for free

Do you also experience a lower reach for your business content on LinkedIn? The reason is very simple: you don't follow the updated algorithm, and you're not spending money. Along with its recruitment and Sales Navigator parts, LinkedIn is also an advertising platform; you have to pay to play.?

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Empower your employees to help you create a broader reach?

So, if you don't want to pay, you'll need to use the algorithm to your advantage. One of the tricks is to rely on your employees to spread your content. Quite a no-brainer and nothing new. Yet, this is becoming more and more important for the visibility of your business content.?

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1. Optimize your personal profile with the checklist
2. Rewrite your headline
3. Update your summary
4. Learn how to share content (scroll all the way down or wait for next month's update)

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As a brand, you can't oblige your employees to share your content. Their LinkedIn profile is personal and, honestly, none of your business.?

What you can do is help and educate your employees on how LinkedIn works. Give insights on the algorithm, trends, and do's and don'ts of creating an engaging post. To start, first, you teach your employees how to set up an amazing profile that gets attention.?

After all, the best way to motivate them is to have fun, be inspired, and see the results of their efforts. And maybe they'll share your business content in their network as well.?

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1. To start, optimize your personal LinkedIn profile: the 33-point checklist

As always, Richard van der Blom has your back. He created a simple 33-point checklist for improving your LinkedIn profile.?

My take on his checklist is that these are the 4 easiest fixes that most often go wrong

• Header visual: F'it with the boring corporate visual and big logo; keep it personal and authentic. There are many templates available to help you get started creating something awesome
• Profile picture: let it be professional, yet not too corporate stiff upper lip. And set it open; don't keep it a secret unless you're a celebrity special snowflake
• Spend time writing an amazing headline. Check out Richard's post or scroll down. Make an effort, and don't stick to just your job title; that's boring, and nobody gets excited by that.
• Be active. If your last post, comment, like, or share is more than a few weeks ago, it signals you don't give AF about being social. Nobody likes not-social people

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On average, the LinkedIn profiles Richard analyzed ranked 62%. This is your chance to do better and stand out

Check out his complete checklist to improve and complete your profile, and give him a follow for more great LinkedIn content and secrets. He knows.

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2. Your LinkedIn headline is your personal ad

Your profile headline is your own personal ad in 120 characters; make them count and treat it like a mission statement - who you are and why people should connect with you.?

There is no golden formula, yet these are LinkedIn's own great examples to be inspired by.?

My key takeaways

• Write it like a super short elevator pitch without buzz or jargon
• Share something personal in a light-hearted way,?
• Strengthen your headline with your profile picture and cover photo; it’s the combination of the 3 that makes you stand out
• It’s not about you; focus on what you can do for the other, for example, as a rhetorical question as your headline
• You can be bold and show confidence

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3. There's magic in your LinkedIn profile summary

LinkedIn gets it. Writing your LinkedIn Profile summary isn’t at the top of your to-do list. Sometimes, you need great examples to see the summary’s magic and figure out how to write your own.

These are LinkedIn's 14 best practices.?

My key takeaways

• Very personal and authentically written in ‘I,’ they write as they speak
• Around 3 to 5 short paragraphs, quite some extended information with a minimum of around ~200 words
• Visually appealing; use break lines, making smart use of whitespaces
• Giving an overview with bullets or numbers where needed

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Here are a few more tips

• Describe what makes you tick (in your own words)
• Explain your present role and describe what you do in the simplest terms. Share what problems you solve and for whom
• Highlight your successes, cite the biggest takeaway from your experience section across roles
• Reveal your character, show your personality next to who you are professionally
• Ask for what you want your audience to do after reading your summary; be specific
• Make your first sentence count; hook them
• Include keywords that highlight your top skills; these are the same keywords used in job descriptions
• Cut the jargon, as already mentioned; write as you speak

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Below is Santa Claus's LinkedIn summary. Be inspired. ?

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'About

I'm the happiest guy you'll ever meet. My cheer is infectious, and I get thrills spreading it at scale. I love children too. I thrive on their faith in me. The combination of these two passions is why I’m in the business of making kids smile.

My idea of fun is patiently listening to whiny customers seated on my lap in a mall, and turning their toy requests into $500 billion in sales. I’m proud that I have a direct impact on their behavior too: nice? Gifts. Naughty? Coal.

I can wear many hats: postal worker, reindeer tamer, workshop executive, sleigh pilot, chimney gymnast and elf resources manager. Desk jobs aren’t for me though. I do my best work on the move, flying through the sky.

I manage a team of 300,000 three-foot direct reports who live and breathe generosity and goodness. I know how to get the most out of them too. Since the launch of my elf-training program, my letter-readers have cut time-per-letter by 39% and my toy builders, wrappers and leaders have increased their output by 17%.

I can brave arctic temperatures and overcome sleep deprivation. I can shimmy up and down chimneys in a flash – without making a peep. No chimney? No problem. I’ll figure out how to get in.

I’m the kind of guy who is so meticulous that when I make my list in Excel, I check it twice. I have an uncanny ability to know when my customers are sleeping, and when they're awake.

Despite the demands of the job, I’ve never missed my annual deadline. Ever. Some people don’t even believe in me, yet I still deliver to them on-time.

Once you nailed your LinkedIn profile, it's time to share content.'

Source: ‘What Santa Can Teach Us About LinkedIn Profiles’

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4. Then, learn to create engaging LinkedIn content

You need a strong profile to create that desired reach. So, as an employer, once you teach your employees how to nail the profile, teach them how the algorithm works and how they can create engaging posts.?

In June's update, I'll create a summary of the top 10 do's and don'ts for content that makes an impact.?

For now, here are some tips and tricks.?

• Why a comment is 15x the value of a like and how to write an engaging comment
• How to repost on LinkedIn
• Dark reach matters more than you think

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More insights on LinkedIn's algorithm secrets?

On my newsroom you will find the collection of my monthly updates on the LinkedIn algorithm. The dos and don'ts, what works and what doesn't.?

1. It's all about the ‘comment’, which has 15x the importance of a ‘like’
2. Reposting on LinkedIn
3. How to favor or annoy the LinkedIn algorithm (2023)
4. Why video is not the best content format for your LinkedIn post
5. How the algorithm pushes your content (2023)?
6. Dark reach; it's still reach even if it can't be tracked
7. Explanation of why LinkedIn is not a free advertising channel
8. LinkedIn as a distribution channel, not a content platform
9. Sources and who to follow

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Read everything here. And please, before jumping to any conclusions, check the original sources for all insights and details.?

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