Answers to FAQs About Posting and Engaging on LinkedIn

LinkedIn has more than 900 million members and 40% access it daily, racking up over 1B interactions per month. If you’re not using LinkedIn to share your thought leadership, build relationships, and generate leads, you’re missing a key opportunity to meet your prospects where they are.

I’ve been using it consistently since 2020, successfully generating leads that became clients, as well as growing my brand and making friends. (Hi, friends.)

When I talk to people about the opportunity just waiting to be grasped on LinkedIn, the first question they ask is, “Do I need a company page AND a LinkedIn page?” Yes. You do. While it’s important to maintain and grow your company page, employee posts receive eight times more engagement than company posts so it’s important for you to have a personal presence on LinkedIn as well. People do business with people. 

Now… are you ready to meet your true fans where they’re at?

First, optimize your profile. Only then should you begin posting. 

Let’s go over the main questions I receive about posting on LinkedIn.

How often should I post?

I suggest a minimum of 3 days/week. Regular posting increases your visibility on the platform, making your posts more likely to appear in your connections’ feeds and ultimately leading to more profile views, connection requests, and engagement with your content. It also helps you stay top of mind with your prospects and clients.

What are the best days and times to post?

I have success posting on weekdays in the morning, but you can experiment to see what works best for you. If you’re not sure when your audience is most active, use a poll to ask them. The most important part is to post consistently on the same days. If you’re going to post 3 days/week, run a few experiments on dates/times (or poll your followers) and then stick with the same 3 days every week roughly around the same time. Consistency is key.

How long should my post be?

The depth of the post matters more than the length of the post. The meat of the post should include 3 - 5 valuable points or takeaways, plus a hook and conclusion.

How much time a reader spends on your LinkedIn post (this is called “dwell time”) plays a role in your visibility and reach so you need substance in your post. However, people like to be able to scan and get the gist of what you have to say quickly (only then will they read a post from start to finish) so it’s important that you balance a longer post with concise language and line breaks.

I have a personal page and company page. What's the best re-posting strategy?

The company page should re-post the personal page’s posts.

Is there such a thing as doing too much on LinkedIn?

The technical answer is yes. There’s a LinkedIn limit of about 100 connection requests per week and you’re allowed around 250 LinkedIn actions per day, including messages, connection requests, etc. But 250 actions a day is a lot. If you’re going to do a ton on LinkedIn in a day, I’d recommend those actions to be mostly comments. Comments make the most impact on a post’s reach and are a great way to grow your network.

As for posting, once a day is a good rule of thumb. If I ever have two really important posts in a day, I post the first one live and pre-schedule the other for later that day. You will get penalized by the algorithm publishing multiple posts in less than 18 hours, but your total views across both posts may outweigh the penalty. (Richard van der Blom did the math for you on this.)

But the most important thing to ask yourself is, do I need two posts in a day? Do I offer enough value to warrant doubling up?

Should I post pictures?

Yes. There’s a psychological phenomenon where people develop a preference for things (or people) merely because they are familiar with them. It’s called the mere-exposure effect. Seeing posts or updates from a specific person or page frequently on social media platforms can lead to a preference for that person or content; it’s science! Additionally, social media algorithms are said to prefer content with faces. Try showing yourself behind the scenes: at an event, having a cup of coffee, doing something you enjoy.

Can I post links?

Keep ‘em minimal. These days, social media platforms prioritize "zero-click content," which refers to content that is fully viewable and digestible within a post; users don’t need to click a link to access the complete content.

Shift your focus from getting to giving. Your posts should serve and help, not ask people to go visit your website. You will develop a more loyal following because your followers will see you are there to give. 

Should I use videos in my LinkedIn posts?

Yes - LinkedIn reports that videos get five times more engagement than other post types. I want to confirm that I’m talking about videos you upload to LinkedIn though, not links to videos (for the zero-click reason stated above). And don’t worry about getting any fancy equipment; informality performs well on LinkedIn. Get out your phone and talk to the camera.

Do I need to use hashtags in my posts?

Experiment with them as they can help your discoverability. Remember to consider hashtags that are relevant to topics or keywords that your prospects follow or look up.

What do you mean when you say I should engage before I post?

Your role on LinkedIn is not to post and ghost. It’s to create conversation. The algorithm wants to see you spending time engaging on the platform so I recommend commenting on 5-10 posts before you post. 

Also stick around after you post to reply back to people who leave a comment on your post. The algorithm rewards you for it.

How do I pick what to comment on?

Have a strategy! Comment on posts of other people who serve the same target market as you (in your ecosystem) and/or people who post content you love. Spending time on people and content you love makes it fun instead of just about the outcome! And don’t forget to be a consistent commenter before you send a connection request; don’t be a drive-by connector!

Pro tip: Figure out the time that a Creator with a big following in the ecosystem you serve publishes their posts and be the first to comment. This provides the added benefit of getting in front of their followers.