Brian Lang
This list features 10 tips for getting exposure on LinkedIn's publishing platform. Ideas were gathered from a study of articles that got featured on the Pulse on LinkedIn.
Source: http://www.smallbusinessideasblog.com/linkedin-publishing
Unlike writing an article on your own blog, remember that LinkedIn's audience is likely different than your own. For the most part, people that are active on LinkedIn include business people looking to grow their business and career minded individuals.
Most popular topics from Pulse featured articles include:
- Careers - 42% of posts that got featured on the Pulse were about careers
- Business - 15% of posts were about business
- Self Improvement - 9.33% of posts featured were about self improvement
Technology, sales and marketing, productivity and current events were also popular topics.
64% of posts in this study were just standard blog posts and the next most popular format was list posts with 27%. Stories, humor and tips were also used in some posts.
The first image on each Pulse article becomes the featured image that is displayed on the main Pulse page and as a thumbnail next to each LinkedIn article. A good image can make the article stand out.
70% of Pulse articles had a simple stock image or similar photo. Only 8.67% of posts did not have an image, so be sure to at least include a stock photo.
You don't have to be an influencer to get featured. 29.7% of posts were from influencers, but 70% were from non-influencers. Some Pulse featured articles even included brand new writers that just published their first article.
Around half of writers featured on the Pulse aren't linking out to their site or social media. 37.7% are linking out to their website, but most are linking to their home page rather than an email capture page.
13.3% link out to their social media profiles or book on Amazon. Link to your site to drive website traffic and get more subscribers.
Does the number of followers matter? Here is a breakdown of follower counts:
- 2,500 followers or more = 56%
- Under 2,500 = 44%
20% had under 1,000 and 4% had under 500 followers. While followers can give your articles more potential exposure, people with small followings can still do well and writing consistently will allow you to grow your following.
Both long and short articles can do well on the Pulse, but only 23.7% of featured posts were over 1,000 words while 76.3% were under 1,000 words. Amazingly, a full 18.7% of posts were under 500 words.
Although most posts were short, a few longer posts also did well. Test out both long and short posts to see what works best for your audience.
The average Pulse featured article gets 1,843 social shares. Social shares tend to decrease on the weekends, although that could be due to the fact that most top publishers write during the week.
Most people seem to be on LinkedIn during the week, so try publishing during the week to maximize social sharing. Experiment with weekend publishing later.
Is it possible for first time writers to do well on the Pulse?
16.3% of Pulse featured articles were from first time writers and 33.3% had 5 articles or less when they got featured.
So the answer is yes. Even if you are new, start publishing and building your following.
Some people have suggested that it is best to write during the weekdays, but posts can still do well on the weekends. While many people may take time off from LinkedIn during the weekends, LinkedIn's audience is huge and there are still many people using LinkedIn on Saturday and Sunday.
Some posts that did really well that were published on Saturday:
- How to Handle Your Coward Boss (https://www.linkedin.com/today/post/article/20140614162619-11075081-six-tips-to-handle-your-coward-boss) - 18872 Views in 24 hours / 2260 Followers
