What to do with LinkedIn in 2026

The LinkedIn algorithm secrets, September update

Not seeing results on LinkedIn? Your feed filled with slop?

It’s not you, it’s—

Actually. It is you.

Most people use LinkedIn wrong, then wonder why it’s not working. Usually, it comes down to three mistakes.

First, treating LinkedIn as a one-way platform. You post and leave, then wonder why nothing comes back. But LinkedIn is a two-way platform. Reach and engagement run on the same mechanism: interaction.

LinkedIn’s algorithm looks at whether you show up in other people’s comments, whether you reply to your own, and whether you’re actually part of a conversation. Your activity helps determine who gets to see your content.

Second, not deciding what you actually want from LinkedIn and being consistent about it: do you want to build your position as a thought leader, or do you want to build a pipeline and generate business? Because that shapes your strategy: what you post, which formats you use, how often you post, and who you engage with.

By the way, ‘I just want to be there because everybody is there’ is also a strategy. But realise that dropping something in once in a while and expecting results is hoping for a miracle. LinkedIn is unlikely to give you one.

Third, expecting your feed to be useful without showing LinkedIn what useful means to you. Your feed is shaped by what you engage with and what you spend time on. And that includes the rubbish that annoys you.

If a post irritates you and you stop to read the whole thing, LinkedIn sees attention.

You can influence what shows up in your feed. The strongest signals are the ones that show genuine interest: save a post, write a substantial comment, and spend time actually reading it. A proper comment of 15+ words gives LinkedIn considerably more information than a quick ‘Great post!’.

In other words, don’t hate-read your way into a terrible feed and then blame LinkedIn for it.

The actual reach numbers most people don't know

Median engagement rate on LinkedIn: 2.50%
Median impressions per post: 860 for a personal profile, 500 for a company page

Also worth knowing: posting more isn’t automatically better.

Post once a week: 2.4% engagement, 679 impressions. Push to four or five a week: 2.6%, 870 impressions, the peak. Go past seven a week: 1.79%, 586 impressions. Worse than doing less. (source: AuthoredUp)

The time most don't want to invest

Whether your goal is business or becoming a thought leader, doing LinkedIn properly takes roughly 4 to 8 hours a week to source and produce content and keep up with what works.

Plus at least half an hour a day actually engaging with other people and improving your feed.

That engagement part is what almost everyone skips. And it’s the part that helps your posts get reach. The same goes for your feed. If you want LinkedIn to show you better content, you have to give it something to work with.

AI and automated outreach is a mistake

An automated AI comment or message is still one-way communication dressed up as interaction. LinkedIn is getting better and better at recognising and hiding low-quality, obviously AI-generated comments and posts. And people are even better at spotting them.

Keep in mind: people still want to do business with people. Not with automation opening with the standard ‘Hey {first name}’.

I don’t engage with automated outreach. If you couldn’t be bothered to write something personal to me, why should I be bothered to do business with you?

Why I'm still here

I don’t expect LinkedIn to generate direct business, and I’m not chasing reach or likes. If a handful of people read my posts and they actually make them think, that’s a win for me.

My payoff is being seen as someone worth listening to, a.k.a. a thought leader.

And I know that potential clients check my profile before they hire me. LinkedIn doesn’t necessarily bring them in. It helps close the deal once I’m already in their mind.

That works because I treat LinkedIn as a two-way platform and I’m intentional about my content and how I use it. It’s just smaller and slower than most LinkedIn gurus would have you believe.

My take

I genuinely don’t care which strategy you pick: business, positioning, or simply being there. Pick one and act — and set your expectations — accordingly.

If you want reach, you have to show up in other people’s comments and conversations. That same interaction also shapes what LinkedIn gives back to you in your feed.

So complaining about your reach while you post and disappear, or complaining about your feed while you keep consuming rubbish, is rather missing the point.

It’s not LinkedIn, it’s you.

Well, most of the time.

Sometimes LinkedIn is to blame for lower reach or an ugly feed. Algorithm updates roll out, things shift, and glitches happen. LinkedIn isn’t sacred. They get things wrong too and occasionally make a mess.

But before blaming the tool, it’s worth looking at our own behaviour first. What are we posting? How are we engaging? What are we spending our time on?

Because quite often, LinkedIn is simply giving us more of what we’ve been giving it.

Sources: The numbers above come from AuthoredUp's analysis of over 3 million LinkedIn posts, March 2025 through February 2026. Give them a follow and read ‘LinkedIn Metrics to Track’ and ‘Best Performing Content on LinkedIn’. Automated-comment detection and suppression confirmed by LinkedIn VP of Product Gyanda Sachdeva, via Social Media Today. The algorithm keeps changing, so treat these as a snapshot, not a permanent rulebook. And get Richard van der Blom's Algorithm Insights Report, which also breaks down which content formats currently perform best (affiliate link, I earn a very small fee if you buy through it).