LinkedIn currently provides two ways for you to share your thoughts on the platform—short status updates and longer, blog-length articles. You’ve probably even seen some of your connections sharing articles from their LinkedIn account.
Sharing an article is a great way to increase your reach on LinkedIn and demonstrate your expertise in your field. Not all articles are created equal, though—here are a few tips to make sure yours has a better chance of being read and appreciated.
Establish expertise
LinkedIn is a network of professionals, so keep this audience in mind when you write your articles. Write about things that will show you are experienced and knowledgeable in your field. For example, you could share advice for others in your field, tips on working with people in your industry, or write about how you started your career.
An article on LinkedIn is definitely not the place to be advertising your products, services, or job openings. Share things that will benefit other professionals! Think about problems you’ve solved, industry misconceptions you could correct, or advice that others would find helpful.
Create long-form content (but not too long!)
A LinkedIn article is considered long-form content, but it’s a good idea to keep most of your articles short enough for busy people to read quickly. I’ve found that 300-600 words is a good goal, and LinkedIn recommends at least three paragraphs.
Capture attention
Just like content on other social media platforms, your articles on LinkedIn will be competing for the attention of your connections. Make sure your headline is appealing and relatively brief—focus on the benefit to the reader when you create your headline.
Include an image with your article that is interesting and relevant to your text. It’s okay to use stock photos here! Having an image with your article will catch the eyes of contacts scrolling through your feed, and makes it more likely that they will choose to read your article.
Want more in-depth tips on writing articles? LinkedIn offers more information about writing a great article in this article.