When it comes to using social media and networking successfully, each platform has its own style, or voice if you want to call it that. LinkedIn, in particular has a powerful way of growing your audience and ultimately, your business – if used correctly. Fortunately, sharing and creating content for LinkedIn is now possible, however, there are certain set rules to apply or tips to follow if you want to be successful:
1. Share quality content consistently:
People like consistency. They like knowing what to expect from you. If you have a quality article this week and next week it’s below standard, people will recognise it as being inconsistent and ultimately not a page worth following. So if you want to keep your existing group of followers and gain a few extra, keep your content consistently great.
2. Post “How-to” articles:
“How to” articles rank higher on LinkedIn than headings where you may be asking a question. Your headings are the most important part in attracting readers, so you have to make them enticing. People enjoy reading lists – it’s an easy read. Anything that becomes too complicated to read loses interest, even on a more intelligent type of platform such as LinkedIn.
3. Link your articles from LinkedIn to your website:
Obviously, you want people to visit your website – not just read your content. So add links in your article that direct back to your website. Or better yet, publish your articles in the “blog” or “news” section of your website. That way, when your followers open one of your articles, they’re directed straight to your website – where they can investigate your service or product even further.
4. Write lengthy articles:
On other platforms, shorter articles seem to be the preferred length for reading. However, on LinkedIn, articles with roughly 2000 words seem to attract more readers. Your followers are business-minded individuals, searching for content that would improve their lives professionally. At the same time, you can’t make the reading too intricate.
5. Mingle:
You can’t expect people to connect to you if you don’t reach out to them and share their content. It goes both ways. Besides, by sharing content from companies with similar interest, you get a little bit more exposure and build relationships that may benefit you in the future. You may also learn a few things from your competition. Say thank you to the people who commented on your articles, engage with them. Encourage them to read your coming articles.
6. Share:
It’s great to share your content on LinkedIn, however, you want to share the same content on other platforms as well, such as Twitter, Pinterest and Google+
7. Update your page regularly:
Make sure you’re active on LinkedIn by posting regular updates on your business page. That way, people will know you mean business, instead of being just a fly-by-night.
8. Include photos in your articles:
Add at least one image in your article. Eight if you can. Articles with at least one image rank higher than those with no images.
9. Headlines should be no longer than 49 characters long:
Catchy, short headlines attract more interest than lengthy ones. Your headings should be no longer than 49 characters in order to grab your followers’ attention. Remember, the catchier the heading, the more clicks.
10. Avoid multimedia:
On LinkedIn, adding videos in your articles doesn’t work so well. Readers prefer quality content on a platform such as this. Even though videos may be entertaining, multimedia in articles are associated with fewer post views.
11. Think happy thoughts:
As with any content, you want to make it happy or neutral. Don’t be gloomy when posting an article on any platform, including LinkedIn. “Happy” posts seem to get more likes and shares on LinkedIn, whereas neutral posts get more comments and views. The key is to get comment in order to engage with your followers.
12. Post the right time:
According to Shopify, the most engaging times to post content on LinkedIn during the week is on Thursdays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays between 10 a.m. and 2 p.m.
At the end of the day, pleasing Google is what you’re after. By creating quality content consistently, you’ll attract more followers and ultimately push up the rankings. The better the content, the more people will read it, the higher you’ll rank in the search engine, the more people will be interested in your products or services, the earlier you’ll be able to go on your dream vacation or who knows, maybe even retire – which is exactly what you want!
If you need help setting up your business LinkedIn profile, hire a social media marketing agency South Africa, like us, today!