What is the LinkedIn Algorithm?

First, you have to understand the algorithm. So what is it?

I do not know the exact algorithm, but I have a solid grasp on it.

I have also done a ton of research on what LinkedIn has shared regarding its algorithm.

So, once you have reached an all-star status, you're going to be 500% more noticeable on LinkedIn, am I right?

LinkedIn wants you to take your time to build your profile, and then ultimately, they will reward you with more visibility. Makes sense.

You're also giving them a mountain of free information without knowing, which they use to update their database.

The reason why it's important is because you need all-star status before you can obtain any visibility.

First, you need to find out what your reason for learning LinkedIn is.

Is it to get your content seen by a larger audience?

Is it to spread out your profile?

Is it to extend your reach to an ideal customer?

Whatever the case may be, that will be up to you to figure out.

However, I'm here to help you master LinkedIn and its potential.

So, when you're building your content, you have to do a couple of things.

One, it needs to be catchy.

People love 1-3 minute videos.

If it's anything longer than that, it has to be of quality content. Or make yourself known for long videos, so it becomes your norm.

That way, people can digest it over time.

It's not a bad thing, but you need to have that content regularly made for people so they understand what to expect.

For example, my YouTube videos are typically about 5 to 10 minutes long, usually around the seven and 9-minute mark.

Because that's what people expect from me.

The same thing should be applied to your content. It has to be consistent whatever it might be.

Two, the quality of the content is tremendously important.

Nobody needs an extremely high-end camera to make content.

Your iPhone or Android camera alone, is enough for most of your needs.

What you have to be mindful of is your sound quality and lighting.

If your sound and lighting are poor, then you can be sure that any viewer will sooner close your video before suffering through static noises and dark, shadowy screens.

After creating quality videos, you can move on to creating engaging content.

When you have highly engaging content, LinkedIn will start to help you by moving your profile through the algorithm faster.

This is what everybody wants.

Over time, as you put in content, people are going to see it for weeks after, if not months.

I don't like to look at things that happened in the last week. I like to look at them after a month or two to see how they're performing.

This is because not everybody signs in to LinkedIn every day.

There are a ton of people, but not everybody is someone I want to get in front of.

What's important is to get good engagement on LinkedIn. Once you do, they will start to spread you further out.

So if you have somebody that likes your video, for example, then you can spread that video to XYZ's network from his "like," and then his friends can see your content, and it can expand further and further through the same simple process.

If you don't have that, then you have zero engagement.

When your content has zero engagement, then LinkedIn will give you a negative strike on your profile.

A negative strike means people will see your content less and less.

Over time, you are going to be at the bottom tier.

You want to get to the top tier, so you need to gain visibility constantly.

But with top tier, comes top tier responsibility and top tier quality.

Top tier also comes with an expectation that you have to create high-quality content, not just once, but consistently and regularly.

Now, when somebody likes your stuff, you ultimately want them to comment.

You want to tell people, as I do on LinkedIn and YouTube, "Hey, comment below what you found valuable in this video."

I also add, "Subscribe," in my YouTube videos, because I want people to know they can subscribe to see my stuff more regularly.

Now, LinkedIn doesn't have that ability, and that's fine, but tell people, "Hey, by the way, share this and comment below if you found this valuable."

Now you're getting people engaged.

LinkedIn sees when a video gets a ton of engagement.

If we put it on a point system, a single like might be one point, a comment might be three points, and a share is worth five points.

If you have somebody that shares it, comments on it, and likes it, then you're talking about nine points per person, the more engagement you get, the further it's going to go.

If you get a bunch of likes, but you don't get a lot of comments, or a lot of shares, then it's going to stay in the lower tier.

But if you get a lot of comments and it becomes a debate topic etc., then that is some quality content being seen by a lot of people.

Also, really heartfelt messages and less, there's typically less engagement on informational stuff, but informational stuff can be used towards your target client.

Ask yourself what kind of content you need to make for you to get the most visibility?

And after you've found your answer, you want to run it through the algorithm of likes, comments, and shares for quality content for the best results.

If you have 500 connections, and they have 500 connections, LinkedIn doesn't show it to all one thousand connections.

But they might show it to 250 contacts of yours, and maybe 250 contacts of theirs.

And now you get 500 views, 250 of which came from not your immediate circle.

If you could replicate that time and time again, then you're going to get results.

Further, your content will be pushed out more, and you're going to get the visibility that you want on LinkedIn.

That's how this whole algorithm works.

So, when you're trying to get in front of your ideal customer, you have to think...

"Hey, what can I do? How do I tweak this? How do I get in front of that person?"

What I love to do is comment on those people in the section where you type in the information about the video, adding their names and saying, "Hey, what are your thoughts on this?"

I love asking questions and getting feedback because, not only does that content do better, but now people are commenting on it.

They are giving their information.

And ultimately, that information is going to help springboard you further down the road.

The algorithm changes over time, the more successful you are producing quality content, the more successful you are going to be climbing that LinkedIn ladder.

On the flip side, if you produce crappy stuff, nobody is ever going to see it.

Because LinkedIn knows if it's crappy.

And if it's constantly crappy stuff, then they will put you in that lower threshold as far as what they want from their community.

They want you to produce good stuff, so you stay on the platform longer.

And ultimately, they will reward you with more views and visibility, which puts more dollars and better connections, etc. in your pocket.

And who wouldn't want that?

So, take the time to produce high-quality stuff.

You don't have to go get an expensive camera, go get an extra light, maybe a lav mic for your iPhone or your Android and you're already halfway there.

Set it up with a small little tripod, and for $20-$30, you can have a pretty decent setup as far as getting content seen.