LinkedIn is one of the most popular professional social networking sites, with over 722 million users worldwide as of April 2021. On LinkedIn, users create profiles to showcase their work histories, skills, and accomplishments. An important part of LinkedIn is posting updates – sharing news, links, media, and other content with your network.
LinkedIn’s algorithms
When you post an update on LinkedIn, it does not automatically go out to all of your connections. LinkedIn uses algorithms to determine which of your connections are most likely to be interested in and engage with your post. Factors LinkedIn considers include:
- How recently and frequently you interact with a connection
- The industry you and your connection work in
- Whether you and the connection went to the same school or worked at the same company
- How many connections you and the person have in common
- How closely related the update is to your connection’s field of work
Based on these factors, LinkedIn picks a subset of your connections who are most likely to appreciate the update. The update will show up directly in these connections’ feeds. For other connections, the update may show up under “Updates from your network” on the right side of the homepage feed.
1st degree connections
Your 1st degree connections are people you are directly connected to on LinkedIn. When you share an update, it will almost always be shown to all of your 1st degree connections in their feeds unless they have specifically muted you.
According to LinkedIn, your updates are likely to be seen by around 40% of your 1st degree network on average. But that number can vary a lot depending on how engaged your connections are with your content.
2nd degree connections
2nd degree connections are people who are connected to your 1st degree connections. Unless you change your sharing settings, 2nd degree connections can see your posts through mutual connections.
For example, if you post an update that is seen by Jane who is one of your 1st degree connections, the update may then be visible to others who are connected to Jane. The update will say “Your connection Jane shared an update.”
Group connections
If you post directly to a LinkedIn Group, your update will be visible to all members of that Group. Groups allow you to target updates to a specific professional community rather than your entire network.
For example, if you post to a “Social Media Marketers” group that has 10,000 members, your update could potentially be viewed by all 10,000 of those people.
Company connections
If you share an update on your Company Page, it will be visible to anyone who follows your Company Page. Company Page followers include:
- Your company employees who are connected to the Company Page
- Customers, partners, and other business connections who follow your company
- LinkedIn members interested in your company’s product or industry
Company Page updates are a great way to distribute news, product announcements, and other branded content.
Interests and Hashtags
LinkedIn allows you to tag your updates with relevant hashtags and interests. For example, adding #socialmedia or #marketing to a post. This makes the update more discoverable to LinkedIn members who follow those interests and hashtags.
Tagging updates with popular hashtags and interests can significantly expand the reach of a post. However, it’s important to use them selectively so you reach the right audiences.
Sponsored updates
LinkedIn offers a paid product called Sponsored Updates that allows businesses to promote their posts. Sponsored updates appear in the feeds of LinkedIn members who meet the targeting criteria regardless of whether they follow your company.
For example, a company can choose to target their Sponsored Update to LinkedIn members who work in marketing and are based in New York. This amplifies the reach of the update beyond just organic followers.
LinkedIn’s Feed algorithms
The LinkedIn homepage feed shows a blended mix of posts from connections, sponsored content,Groups, and news. LinkedIn uses machine learning algorithms to rank and select the most relevant content to show each member.
Factors that influence what appears in a person’s feed include:
- How recently an update was shared
- Member’s engagement with previous updates from the same source
- Content relevance based on member’s profile and activity
As a result, even if your update is initially shared with a connection, there is no guarantee they will see it in their feed as other content may take priority.
Who can’t see my updates by default?
There are some limitations on who can see your LinkedIn updates:
- 3rd degree connections and beyond cannot see your posts directly unless you change sharing settings.
- LinkedIn members who are not logged in can only see limited profile information and no posts.
- Complete strangers who are not connected on LinkedIn cannot see your activity.
Changing default sharing settings
Under your account Settings & Privacy, LinkedIn allows you to customize exactly who can see your updates by default:
| Sharing setting | Who can see your updates |
|---|---|
| Public | Visible to anyone on or off LinkedIn including people not connected to you. |
| Connections only | Visible only to your 1st degree connections. |
| Connections of connections | Visible to 1st and 2nd degree connections. |
You can also selectively turn sharing on or off for individual posts as you publish them.
Seeing who viewed your post
LinkedIn’s PaidPremium accounts include analytics that show how many 1st and 2nd degree connections your updates reached. You can also see the companies, titles, and locations of members who viewed your posts.
This allows assessing the quality and relevance of your audience. However, you cannot see the names of individual connections who viewed an update.
Key takeaways
- LinkedIn’s algorithms determine which of your connections see updates based on relevance factors.
- On average, updates reach about 40% of 1st degree connections but this varies a lot.
- 2nd degree connections see your posts via mutual connections.
- Group posts reach all members of that group.
- Use interests and hashtags to extend reach to the right audiences.
- Adjust sharing settings to control the default visibility of your updates.
- Premium accounts provide analytics on who viewed your updates.
Conclusion
LinkedIn utilizes advanced algorithms, network connections, interests, and settings to determine the visibility of updates. While you cannot control all factors, you can optimize posts for relevant audiences and analyze performance data to continually improve reach. Understanding how updates spread on LinkedIn enables posting content that grabs attention within your target professional communities.