LinkedIn has become much more than just a place to host your digital resume. In recent years, the platform has transformed into a thriving hub for professional content, thought leadership, and personal branding. At the center of this shift is LinkedIn‘s publishing platform.
If you‘ve been considering using LinkedIn to create and share content, there‘s never been a better time to get started. Publishing on LinkedIn allows you to showcase your expertise, provide value to your network and industry, boost your professional reputation, and even generate new business opportunities.
In this comprehensive guide, we‘ll cover everything you need to know to begin crafting stellar content on LinkedIn in 2024, even if you‘ve never published an article before. Let‘s dive in!
What is LinkedIn Publishing?
LinkedIn launched its publishing platform in 2014, gradually rolling it out to all users. The publishing platform allows any LinkedIn user to write and share long-form content, essentially blog posts, directly on the site.
When you publish an article, it appears in the feeds of your connections as well as in LinkedIn‘s article search results. High-performing articles can also get featured in LinkedIn‘s Pulse channels, which are categories like Leadership & Management, Technology, Entrepreneurship, etc. Getting featured exposes your content to a much wider audience beyond just your network.
Over the years, LinkedIn publishing has grown tremendously in popularity. There are now over 2 million posts, videos and articles going live on LinkedIn every day. Users are increasingly turning to the platform to learn about industry news and insights, seek advice from experts, and stay on top of trending discussions in the business world.
As a result, LinkedIn publishing has become a powerful tool for establishing your professional brand, demonstrating your knowledge, engaging with your industry, attracting new opportunities, and driving meaningful business results. No matter your experience level or job title, you can leverage the platform to level-up your career.
Getting Started with LinkedIn Publishing
Accessing LinkedIn‘s publishing tools is a fairly straightforward process:
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Click "Write an article" located near the top of your LinkedIn homepage, to the left of the "Start a post" button. This will open up the publishing platform‘s built-in content editor.
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At the top of the editor, add an eye-catching cover image. LinkedIn recommends an image size of 1200 x 628 pixels. Make sure you have the rights to use the photo.
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Write an attention-grabbing headline that clearly conveys your article‘s main topic or message. LinkedIn headlines can be up to 100 characters long, but try to keep it punchy.
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Craft your article in the body section, using the rich text editor to format your content with headers, bold/italicized text, bullet points, numbered lists, blockquotes, etc. You can also embed multimedia elements like images, videos, slides, links, and code snippets.
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Add relevant tags to categorize your article by topic and help readers find it. You can add up to 3 tags at the bottom of the editor.
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Click Publish and your article will go live across LinkedIn!
You also have the option to save a draft of your article and come back to it later before publishing. Plus, you can edit, replace, or delete any articles you‘ve already published in the past.
Choosing the Right Topics for Your LinkedIn Articles
One of the most common challenges of getting started with LinkedIn publishing is figuring out what to write about. The key is to choose topics that simultaneously showcase your unique knowledge/experiences and deliver genuine value to your target audience.
Here are some strategies for generating winning LinkedIn article ideas:
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Reflect on the subjects you‘re most passionate and knowledgeable about based on your professional and personal experiences, skills, research, etc. What unique perspectives can you offer?
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Consider the trending topics, common pain points, pressing questions, and future predictions in your industry. How can you weigh in on the discussions your audience cares about most?
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Repurpose your existing content into LinkedIn articles. For example, you could expand a popular social media post into a full-length article or refresh an old blog post with updated information.
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Use LinkedIn‘s content suggestion tool for inspiration. When you open the publishing editor, you‘ll see recommended topics based on your experience and what‘s trending in your network.
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Browse top-performing articles in your niche for inspiration. Put your own spin on proven topics by adding your unique insights, up-to-date information, personal anecdotes, etc.
When brainstorming topics, always keep your specific audience in mind. Who exactly are you trying to reach and what do they care about? Regularly publishing content that is hyper-relevant to your core audience is key to engaging your readers and organically growing your influence on the platform.
LinkedIn Publishing Best Practices for 2024
With millions of articles being published on LinkedIn every week, it‘s important to put your best foot forward to capture attention and make an impact. Here are some current best practices to help your LinkedIn content stand out and succeed:
Craft magnetic headlines
Your article headline is like a storefront window—it must immediately grab people‘s attention and compel them to stop scrolling and click. Include keywords that your audience is searching for while also sparking curiosity and sentiment. Clear list headlines and how-to headlines tend to perform especially well.
Nail your intro
Once someone clicks on your article, you need to quickly hook them with your introduction before they bounce. Your first few paragraphs should concisely set up the topic, communicate why it matters to the reader, and give them a reason to keep reading. Avoid long, meandering intros that bury the lede.
Make it scannable
People have short attention spans, so make your content easy to scan and digest. Organize information with descriptive subheadings. Keep paragraphs to 2-3 sentences max. Use simple words and short sentences. Break up walls of text with bullet points, numbered lists, block quotes, and plenty of white space.
Include multimedia
Adding visual elements like images, videos, slides, infographics, etc. helps bring your content to life, reinforces your message, and improves information retention. Aim to include an eye-catching visual every 200-300 words to make your article more engaging.
Provide actionable value
The best LinkedIn articles give readers information they can actually implement, not just passive thought-starters. Look for ways to weave in concrete examples, personal lessons learned, frameworks, templates, scripts, exercises, and other practical how-to advice. And don‘t forget to include a clear call-to-action!
LinkedIn is a social network, so let your personality shine through in your writing. Share your unique experiences and opinions. Be vulnerable. Invite feedback. Ask questions. Crack a few jokes. The more human and relatable your content feels, the deeper it will resonate with your audience.
Promoting Your LinkedIn Articles to Maximize Reach
Hitting publish is just the first step—you also need to actively promote your LinkedIn content to maximize its visibility and impact. The more views, likes, and comments your article receives in its first few hours, the more likely the LinkedIn algorithm will continue surfacing it to new audiences over time.
Try these techniques to amplify your content‘s reach:
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Immediately re-share the article to your LinkedIn feed with a compelling caption that entices your network to click, like, and comment on it. You can even directly tag relevant connections who you think would be particularly interested.
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Engage with everyone who comments on your article to boost its ranking in the algorithm. Always reply to comments, answer questions, and keep the conversation going.
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Share your article on your other social media channels, online communities, email newsletter, website, etc. to pull in views from beyond the LinkedIn ecosystem.
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Add a link to your latest or most relevant LinkedIn article in your email signature to continuously drive more traffic.
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Reshare and link to your older articles when relevant to give them a second wind of engagement. Look for opportunities to naturally work them into your future content and conversations.
The more consistently you publish on LinkedIn, the more momentum you‘ll build. Aim to publish at least twice per month, and preferably once per week, to keep your audience engaged and continuously expand your reach over time.
Top Examples of High-Performing LinkedIn Articles
Curious what top-notch LinkedIn content actually looks like in action? Here are a few examples of articles that have knocked it out of the park:
1. "I Hire People Brighter Than Me and Then I Get Out of Their Way" by Steven Sinofsky
This short and sweet article really strikes a chord, as evidenced by its 20K+ likes. In less than 250 words, Sinofsky manages to impart an important leadership lesson in a clear, memorable, and authentic way. He gives a relatable glimpse into his own management style and challenges readers to think critically about their own approach too.
2. "If You‘re So Successful, Why Are You Still Working 70 Hours a Week?" by Grant Cardone
Grant is a master at crafting punchy, contrarian headlines that you can‘t help but click on. This article tackles a topic that really resonates with ambitious professionals and entrepreneurs—how to manage your time and energy as you ascend to higher levels of success. He provides helpful frameworks and tough love that spark productive reflection.
3. "24 Books to Make You a Better Leader" by May Teng
List-style articles tend to be extremely popular on LinkedIn because they promise an easy-to-digest burst of practical takeaways. This article delivers exactly what it says on the tin: two dozen book recommendations that offer valuable leadership lessons. Readers can quickly scan the list and click through to learn more about any titles that pique their interest.
4. "The Metaverse: An Opportunity for Innovation and Inclusion" by Abadesi Osunsade
Abadesi‘s article dives into one of the hottest topics in tech today while thoughtfully underscoring the importance of representation and diversity. She provides a balanced, research-backed, and actionable take on how we can leverage virtual worlds to drive meaningful progress in innovation and inclusion. It‘s an important read as leaders navigate the future of work.
The Future of LinkedIn Publishing
As we look ahead to the rest of 2024 and beyond, all signs point to continued explosive growth for the LinkedIn publishing ecosystem. More than 800 million members now use LinkedIn worldwide, and content creation on the platform has been doubling year over year.
To keep pace with this demand, LinkedIn is heavily investing in new creator tools and resources. For example, LinkedIn recently rolled out its Creator Mode feature which allows users to build more prominent followings, gain access to in-depth content analytics, and network with fellow creators.
LinkedIn is also putting more muscle behind its newsletter tools and audio/video content formats to empower more forms of storytelling. With 45% of B2B marketers already tapping LinkedIn for content marketing, we can expect a broader diversity of native content taking off on the platform.
At the same time, organic reach on LinkedIn is beginning to take a hit as competition stiffens and the platform‘s algorithms adapt. This makes it all the more important to consistently publish best-in-class content that is hyper-relevant to your niche, puts your unique voice on display, and delivers real value to your audience.
No matter what changes may come, one thing is for certain: professionals who take the time to master the art of LinkedIn publishing today will be well-positioned to reap the rewards of their efforts for years to come.
So what are you waiting for? There‘s no better time than now to start sharing your wisdom and stories with the rest of your industry. By sticking to the fundamentals of great content—clear focus, strong writing, original insights, and genuine personality—you‘ll quickly rise to the top of the LinkedIn feed. Your next big opportunity may be just one article away.