LinkedIn’s New Algorithm Gives Smaller Businesses a Bigger Chance

LinkedIn has taken a page out of Google’s book and reconsidered its stance on context. The algorithm behind the platform’s content feed, which was once dominated by the LinkedIn elite, has been tweaked to ensure that the posts that each user sees aren’t just chosen for their popularity… it’s more important that the posts are relevant.

Why Change? While LinkedIn reports that user engagement on the whole is on the up, the figures don’t appear to be evenly distributed across all accounts. This suggests that viral posts that have, until recently, been heavily promoted through most feeds aren’t exactly pressing everyone’s buttons. So the platform has decided to mix things up a bit, making context and relevance more prominent aspects in determining what posts users see in their feeds… and perhaps even more importantly, what posts users don’t see pop up. Algorithm Changes The LinkedIn algorithm has been changed to more carefully consider the sorts of posts that each user is not only most likely to want to see, but also what posts they’re most likely to interact with in an effort to boost engagement levels across the platform. LinkedIn hopes that in boosting access to relevant and interesting posts from smaller businesses that are often overshadowed by network influencers, these accounts will have the motivation they need to continue creating and publishing great content.The new algorithm determines good candidates for posts by looking at:●LinkedIn connections●Direct interactions●Current and past colleagues●Shared interests and communitiesSo what do these changes mean in terms of website promotion, and building a strong online presence? Well, it’s good news. It means that LinkedIn is providing greater support for smaller, younger, and less visible businesses by taking away the strong obsession with major influencers and giving accounts with fewer followers an opportunity to be seen… and not just to be seen, but to be seen by the right people.But it doesn’t come served up on a silver platter. Content contributors trying to boost brand awareness and visibility will still need to put a bit of effort to help LinkedIn’s new algorithm ensure it’s able to match each post with the most relevant audiences. Tips for Success ●Create engagement-worthy content: LinkedIn chooses which posts appear in which feeds based on who is statistically most likely to engage with the content. Users won’t engage with posts if the content doesn’t spark any sort of reaction.●Include hashtags: Hashtags are a good way of letting LinkedIn more easily determine the context and meaning of your post, and ‘learn’ what it’s about to deliver it to the most relevant users. But don’t get hashtag happy… 3 is enough.●Be unique: If LinkedIn can see 100 different posts all covering the same topic, the power struggle comes back into play. Instead, try to cover niche subjects or take an alternative approach to popular topics to stand out from the competition.