Decoding the LinkedIn Algorithm in 2020: All You Need to Know

Just as most of us know, LinkedIn is a great professional social networking platform with a whole set of advantages. A lesser-known fact about LinkedIn is that it has been around even before Facebook, Twitter, or Snapchat came to the market. But more and more people are now realizing its significance. It is probably because it hosts more than 600 million professional profiles. This means nearly an unlimited supply of network connections and job opportunities.

But will just signing up and creating a profile do this job? Certainly not! With a lot of people present on the platform, why will the recruiters pick you? Well, you have to give them a reason to. This can be done by creating content that reflects your unique skill set as well as your personality. But again, how will you ensure that your content attracts more and more eyeballs?

A Shift in LinkedIn’s Newsfeed Algorithm

Back during 2017 and 2018, people used to get crazy views on their content on LinkedIn. During that phase, 100 likes on a post were equivalent to hundreds and thousands of views. Even hitting the million-mark was also easier as compared to the present. This was because LinkedIn was a highly user-oriented platform at that time. But with the onset of 2019, things started changing. The views and likes seemed to decline. This was because of the shift in the algorithm of LinkedIn.

The need for this shift arose when more and more people started using LinkedIn as a platform to create more and more content. This meant that the platform was flooded content. Consequently, the quality of the content was declining as it was easy to get more views and likes. Hence, to filter out the good content, the shift in the algorithm was a good move. However, they make some minor changes in the algorithm every now and then but those changes don’t affect the reach much.

But if your content is worthy of much more views and likes than what you are getting now, you need to get a hold on the algorithm of LinkedIn. Here are a few ways you can do exactly that.

1. Relevance and Relatability

Connecting with people who don’t engage with your content won’t be of much use. Suppose you are a freelance writer and you are connecting with people you work in the IT industry. That won’t help you with your content much because they are definitely not your target audience. So, try connecting with people who work in the same industry or work in the same role. That will ensure that your content reaches the right eyeballs which would like to read your content.

Another thing to take care of when it comes to relevance is that the topics you write on should be specific. Addressing very vast topics with 1300 characters limit is probably not a good idea as you will just end up touching the surface. Rather, pick a specific topic and try to give deep insights. You can even cover a topic through multiple posts if the character limit doesn’t allow you to do so in a single post.

2. Create Native Content

If you have a habit of just picking random links and posting them on LinkedIn, then probably your reach is not very good. This is because the LinkedIn algorithm rewards native content i.e. content created on LinkedIn itself. So instead of sharing the link, you can actually write some related text, and then give the link in the comments, not even at the end of the post. This will show the algorithm that your content is native and hence, it will reward you with a better reach.

In that regard, resharing posts should also be avoided. LinkedIn surely wants its users to spend more time on the platform but this probably won’t benefit you. Take it this way: if you reshare a post, people will go that post, read it, come back to your post and finally leave some comments. This makes the engagement process longer which decreases the user experience of your content. So instead of resharing, write some text and give credits to that person asking people to check their content as well.

3. Be Strategic With Comments

If you want to reach out to more people, who are relevant, a very good tip is to comment on others’ posts. This way, more like-minded people will be able to find you through the comment you left. You can even go through the comments on some posts of your interest and connect with people who’s comment hit the chords for you.

Another great trick to give a boost to your content time-to-time is replying to comments on your own posts. If you feel that after a few hours, you stop getting views and likes, try this out. All you need to do is reply to comments strategically. Do not reply to all of them at once. This will keep on pumping the algorithm and will show that your content is valuable. A quick tip to get more comments is to always ask for opinions or a question at the end of the posts.

4. Correct Use of Hashtags

Hashtags can do wonders if you use them correctly. There are some things to be kept in mind when it comes to hashtags. These include:

Use 2-3 hashtags only. According to most experts, this is the right amount of hashtags that a post should include.
Use specific hashtags. For example, in a post on Digital Marketing growth hacks, using broad hashtags like #marketing is not a good idea. Instead, look for more specific ones like #digitalmarketinghacks or maybe #growthhacks
Do not use the hashtags in the main text. That makes your post look messy. Instead, mention them at the end.