LinkedIn allows you to format and style text in your posts to make them more visually appealing and readable. While LinkedIn’s text editor has basic formatting options like bold, italics, bulleted lists, etc., you can use HTML tags to add more advanced formatting.
HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) is the standard markup language used to create web pages and web applications. By adding HTML tags to your LinkedIn posts, you can format text elements like headings, paragraphs, lists, links, images, tables, etc.
However, LinkedIn does limit and filter out certain HTML tags and attributes as a security measure. In this article, we will go over what HTML formatting you can use in LinkedIn posts to style and layout your text.
Can I Use HTML in LinkedIn Posts?
Yes, LinkedIn supports a subset of HTML tags that you can use to format text in your posts. The main HTML tags that work in LinkedIn posts are:
- Headings:
<h1>
to<h6>
- Bold:
<b>
- Italic:
<i>
- Underline:
<u>
- Strikethrough:
<s>
- Ordered List:
<ol>
and<li>
- Unordered List:
<ul>
and<li>
- Paragraphs:
<p>
- Line Breaks:
<br>
- Horizontal Rule:
<hr>
- Tables:
<table>
,<tr>
,<td>
- Links:
<a href="url">
- Images:
<img src="image url">
However, some HTML tags like styles, fonts, colors, iframes, videos etc. are not supported. We’ll go over the permitted tags in more detail next.
Headings
You can use heading tags <h1>
to <h6>
to create section headings in your posts:
<h1>Heading 1</h1> <h2>Heading 2</h2> <h3>Heading 3</h3> <h4>Heading 4</h4> <h5>Heading 5</h5> <h6>Heading 6</h6>
This will create headings with decreasing font sizes:
Heading 1
Heading 2
Heading 3
Heading 4
Heading 5
Heading 6
Use headings judiciously to break up long posts into logical sections.
Bold, Italics and Underline
To make text bold, italic or underlined, use the <b>
, <i>
and <u>
tags:
<b>This text is bold</b> <i>This text is italic</i> <u>This text is underlined</u>
Renders as:
This text is bold
This text is italic
This text is underlined
Use these tags to highlight important names, titles or summaries.
Strikethrough
You can use the <s>
tag to cross out text:
<s>This text is struck through</s>
This text is struck through
Strikethrough can be used to indicate outdated information.
Ordered and Unordered Lists
Create numbered/ordered lists using the <ol>
and <li>
tags:
<ol> <li>List Item 1</li> <li>List Item 2</li> <li>List Item 3</li> </ol>
Renders as:
- List Item 1
- List Item 2
- List Item 3
For bullet/unordered lists, use <ul>
and <li>
tags:
<ul> <li>List Item 1</li> <li>List Item 2</li> <li>List Item 3</li> </ul>
Renders as:
- List Item 1
- List Item 2
- List Item 3
Lists allow you to organize information neatly.
Paragraphs
Wrap text blocks in <p>
tags to create paragraphs:
<p> This is a paragraph with multiple lines of text separated from adjacent paragraphs. </p> <p> Paragraphs have white space and indentation between them. </p>
Renders as:
This is a paragraph with multiple lines of text separated from adjacent paragraphs.
Paragraphs have white space and indentation between them.
Paragraph tags improve readability by organizing text into logical blocks.
Line Breaks
The <br>
tag inserts a line break or newline in text:
This is the first line<br> And this is the second line
Renders as:
This is the first line
And this is the second line
Line breaks are useful for writing text in a poetic or lyrical style.
Horizontal Rule
The <hr>
tag creates a horizontal divider line:
Some text above the line <hr> Some text below the line
Renders as:
Some text above the line
Some text below the line
Horizontal rules visually separate sections of text.
Tables
You can insert tables using the <table>
, <tr>
(table row), and <td>
(table data) tags:
<table> <tr> <td>Column 1 Row 1</td> <td>Column 2 Row 1</td> </tr> <tr> <td>Column 1 Row 2</td> <td>Column 2 Row 2</td> </tr> </table>
Renders as:
Column 1 Row 1 | Column 2 Row 1 |
Column 1 Row 2 | Column 2 Row 2 |
Tables allow you to arrange data in rows and columns.
Links
Add hyperlinks using the <a>
anchor tag:
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com">LinkedIn</a>
Renders as:
Links make it easy to refer to external pages from your posts.
Images
Embed images with the <img>
tag:
<img src="image.jpg" alt="Image Description" width="200" height="150">
Renders as:
Note that the image must be hosted elsewhere on the web, LinkedIn does not currently support uploading images.
Image tags allow you to include relevant photos and diagrams visually. But use them sparingly as they increase page load time.
Unsupported HTML Tags
While the above tags work, many other HTML tags are filtered out or removed from LinkedIn posts. Some commonly used tags that are unsupported:
- Styles –
<style>
- Fonts –
<font>
- Colors –
<color>
- Comments –
<!-- -->
- Scripts –
<script>
- Iframes –
<iframe>
- Videos –
<video>
- Audio –
<audio>
- Embedded Objects –
<object>
,<embed>
Using unsupported tags may result in the tags being stripped or the post flagged as spam. Stick to the permitted tags listed above.
Tips for Using HTML in LinkedIn
Here are some tips to use HTML effectively in your LinkedIn posts:
- Use headings, lists and paragraphs judiciously to structure long posts.
- Bold and italicize text to highlight key points.
- Add tables to present data in an organized manner.
- Include links to refer to external sources and content.
- Insert images relevant to your post topic.
- Avoid overusing formatting tags as it can make posts messy.
- Always close HTML tags and check for errors to avoid weird rendering issues.
- Preview the post after adding HTML to ensure it appears as expected.
- Do not try to add unsupported tags like scripts, videos, etc.
With the proper use of headings, formatting, lists, links, images and tables – HTML can greatly enhance the readability of your long LinkedIn posts.
Conclusion
In summary, LinkedIn does allow a subset of HTML tags to be used in posts for basic text formatting. This includes tags for headings, text styling, lists, links, images and tables. Unsupported tags like styles, fonts, videos, etc are filtered out.
Use HTML judiciously to structure, highlight and visualize information for your readers. Avoid overusing tags and always preview before posting. With some expertise in HTML, you can create engaging and well-formatted content within LinkedIn’s limitations.
So go ahead and leverage HTML to make your professional posts more appealing!