How and Why You Should be Posting Articles on LinkedIn

Did you know that for quite some time now LinkedIn has given you the ability to publish articles?

The idea behind this move is to encourage as many professionals as possible to share their expertise and ideas with other users.

The launch of this feature has been so popular that LinkedIn has reached over a million posts since it's inception which is why I've put together the following tips to help you grow your audience and generate better leads by becoming a publisher on LinkedIn.

Each post that you write will be matched to an interested audience by way of the blog topic and will be distributed to each of your followers via their daily news feed. Readers of your posts can also share your articles to entice and encourage new readers and new followers, further expanding your social reach.

How do I become a publisher?

LinkedIn approve publishers automatically and so there's no need to apply. You simply need to login to your LinkedIn account, navigate to your 'Home' page and click the 'Publish a post' button at the top of the page.

How do I publish my first post?

The best thing about publishing posts on LinkedIn is that it couldn't be easier. Once you've clicked on the 'Publish a post' button (shown above), you'll be redirected to a page where you can write and format your article. It's a super simple layout where you have the option to add an attractive header image, add your headline and then write your post. 

You can also add various media to your posts including images, video, presentations, podcasts and tweets etc. You can also create hyper-links and embed HTML code within your article.

Once you've done that, there's a small section at the bottom of your article where you're able to add tags to encourage more people to find your post.

That's it, just hit publish!

Tips for Writing Your Posts

1. Think of your headline - make it short and engaging. You want your headline to shake your readers from their daily reverie and completely intrigue them.
2. Consider the length of your article - somewhere around the 400 - 600 word mark should be just enough space to elaborate on your chosen topic or point without taking up too much of your readers' time.
3. Proofread - remember that the content you post on LinkedIn will be connected to your professional/personal profile and so you want it to be of the highest quality. Proofreading and reading your articles aloud will highlight anything that doesn't sound quite right or flow properly.
4. ​Date and time to publish - this is a trial and error topic. You should post a range of articles on different days and at different times to see what works best for you.
5. Create quality content - whatever it is that you want to write about ask yourself, will someone else want to read about it? And if so, will they be able to easily read what you've written? Remember that each published article is representing you and your brand, so do it well.
6. Add media to your article - I've touched on the ability to add various forms of media to your articles already but wanted to again stress the importance of it. As with Tweets and Facebook posts, articles with media content, be it images or videos etc. will perform better than those without any.
7. Question your readers - Did you know that asking your readers a question will engage them more with your article? Did you know that it suggests to your reader that you're interested in what they have to say? Asking questions is a great way to interact with your reader and simple 'Call to Action' questions such as; 'What's your experience of this?' or 'Can you share your story with us?' can open a new channel of reader interaction and feedback.

Pay attention to analytics...

Once you've publish your article and it's out there for the world to see, LinkedIn will provide data to show you how well your posts are performing. You can use this information to identify which posts are doing well and which aren't. This will help you with things like, when to publish and what types of media to include when writing your next post.

So, what are you waiting for? Get writing and share your thoughts and expertise with a much wider audience. You never know, your next article could increase your connections, land you a new media opportunity or generate a new client. 

What are your thoughts on LinkedIn Publishing?