Mastering The New LinkedIn Algorithm: A Guide For Business Leaders To Boost Visibility

Of the many things affected by the pandemic, one was the way we use LinkedIn. Forced to stay home, people began using the platform to socialize rather than for business. Selfies and cat videos leaked from other social media sites—we’re looking at you, Instagram—and onto a site that had been better known for job postings and brand stories.

At the same time, LinkedIn saw a 42% year-over-year increase in content shared from 2021 to 2023, and a 27% increase in content viewed. Founded in 2002, the platform has grown to over 800 million members, with three professionals signing on every second.

As a way to take back the platform, the algo-gurus of LinkedIn have monkeyed with how content is prioritized and shared. In this post we’re going to look at changes to LinkedIn’s algorithm for 2023 and how you, as a business leader, can leverage these changes for more engagement and opportunity.

Changes to LinkedIn’s algorithm for 2023

The long and short of it is, LinkedIn is prioritizing the sharing of content that reflects the knowledge and expertise of those creating it. When the algorithm detects such content, it’s more likely to share it not just to your following but beyond.

“We are looking to see that you are building a community around content, and around knowledge-sharing that you are uniquely qualified to talk about,” LinkedIn’s editor-in-chief Dan Roth told Entrepreneur.

Okay, but what does that mean, exactly? What are the factors determining that a post contains knowledge or advice?

The company has identified the following metrics:

• the post speaks to a distinct audience.
• the author is writing in their core subject area.
• the post generates meaningful comments.
• the post has a perspective.

4 ways business leaders can leverage LinkedIn’s new algorithm

Target your audience. To master the new LinkedIn algorithm, begin by figuring out who you are trying to reach. The days of a scattershot approach are over. Do you want your post to be seen by brand managers, consumers, other business leaders, investors, potential hires, the media? One way to think about it is by asking yourself what you know that can help other people, and tailoring your posts to them.

Stay in your lane. The platform now takes pains to evaluate whether you’re an authority in whatever you’re posting about. Does your post about NFL draft picks align with your title as the former CFO of Theranos? (Actually, come to think of it, it may as well.)

Engage engage engage. Social media platforms have always been comment-happy, and as bots take over the world they are becoming even more so. LinkedIn’s algorithm now rewards comments that go beyond “Great work dude!” and “Keep on rockin’ in the free world” (formerly one of our personal faves) and add value to the conversation.

LinkedIn is also paying more attention to who is leaving the comments, so try to tailor your content to elicit engagement from the people most likely to have something to bring to the table that you’ve set.

Perspective. All of this brings us to the secret sauce. LinkedIn’s AI is designed to differentiate from posts offering generic information from those that share the author’s perspective and insights. So, instead of just sharing the latest news about your industry, add something about what it might mean for the future, or how it reflects past developments, or how it will affect the market. Asking for other people’s opinion is also a surefire way to alert the LinkedIn sharebot that, “Hey, here’s something written by a human, and of potential value to other humans.”