How does the LinkedIn algorithm work?
LinkedIn is useful for many business purposes, from finding a new job to generating new leads and gaining new clients. There are many possibilities you can discover from using LinkedIn, including networking, finding new ways of online learning, and researching different industries.
The potential from LinkedIn is amazing, which is why it’s vital to understand best practices on the largest professional online networking channel. Here is an overview of how the LinkedIn algorithm works and how it can help you increase sales:
What ‘ranking signals’ does the LinkedIn algorithm use?
LinkedIn’s purpose is to help you grow your professional network, deliver interesting and relevant content to you, and to promote engagement and interaction.
So, whether your goal is to get in front of potential employers or to get your business in front of potential clients, it’s important to understand what ranking signals the algorithm uses to determine who sees what.
Engagement
LinkedIn gathers data about you based on what type of content you, and others like you, have interacted with on the platform.
The algorithm also considers posts that appear to be going viral as more important, and will display posts that have higher engagement to more people.
Relevant content
If you tend to ‘like’ posts or articles about a specific topic – market research, for example – it will be more likely to show you posts about market research from your connections.
The LinkedIn algorithm takes into account keywords and hashtags, so engaging with posts about certain topics will increase your visibility about those words and related industries.
Connections
It matters who you know on LinkedIn – the more *relevant* connections you can find, the better.
LinkedIn will show you degrees of relevant connections – i.e. second, third or fourth degree – who it will recommend you connect with.
How to use LinkedIn to increase your professional circle and generate leads
The takeaway here is to share content on LinkedIn that is:
- Genuine, so that your connections can relate to you.
- Thoughtful, to generate conversation.
- Relevant to your connections and to what you’d like to achieve from networking via LinkedIn.
It’s also important that you take the time to engage with others, find new connections, spread positivity, and add a human touch to comments.
This will not only help concrete your relationship with connections, but also signal to LinkedIn that you are an active member of its community.
Get in touch to learn more about how we use LinkedIn to generate B2B leads.
