The 5 LinkedIn tips no one tells you

LinkedIn is quietly reinventing itself, and it looks like it's borrowing TikTok's algorithmic playbook. It’s shifting from a social graph to an interest graph, and that one change rewrites the rules of reach, visibility, and what actually gets seen.

I read all the latest algorithm reports, so you don’t have to. Here’s what matters now, plus 5 tips on what to do and not to do.

What you’ll read below: 

• In 2025, the big shift, from a social graph to an interest graph
• Tip 1: Long-form is back. Depth and niche expertise are in. Video? Not so much
• Tip 2. Write as you speak, don't try to impress
• Tip 3: Stop asking fake questions. No one’s falling for it anymore
• Tip 4. Obsess on the hook
• Tip 5. Comment and engage
• Company pages: still technically alive, basically useless. Here’s what to do
• How often should you post

See the final paragraph for credits and sources.

Let’s dive in.

In 2025, the big shift, from a social graph to an interest graph

Since spring 2025, LinkedIn has increasingly prioritized content you engage with, not just who you're connected to. This marks the platform’s shift from a social graph (connections first) to an interest graph (topics first). 

It looks like LinkedIn is following the most addictive social in class, TikTok, which also has an interest-based algorithm, stickier and more addictive than Meta’s (still mostly) connection-based one. 

Feed saturation is real. Daily personal posts increased by over 20% between March and August 2025, but the total feed space (average posts seen per session) hasn’t changed.

What content shows up: more ads, more creators, more ‘for you’ content, and suggested posts. The algorithm now favors smaller accounts with niche expertise. 

The rise of suggested ‘for you’ and sponsored content. LinkedIn has quietly expanded both ‘Suggested for You’ and sponsored placements. Together, they now take up around 7–8% of all your feed. The numbers:

• Organic reach: down 47%
• Engagement: down 39%
• Follower growth: down 42%

The algorithm is multitasking. It’s optimizing for parallel goals: speed and depth. That’s why your feed feels like it’s bouncing between viral dopamine hits and thoughtful insights. It's not you. It’s the algorithm.

For brands? Company pages are basically useless, averaging just 1.6% organic reach. If you want reach for your brand, you'll need to piggyback on your employees. 

Tip 1: Long-form is back. Depth and niche expertise are in. Video? Not so much

Want reach? Start typing. 

→ The best-performing posts on LinkedIn right now are long, between 1,250–3,000 characters. They outperform short posts by 38%. That’s not an excuse to ramble; it is a push for conversational language and depth.

Quote from Richard: “Stay in your lane > authentic expertise counts. Own one or two topics instead of chasing viral posts outside your knowledge area.”

Why the sudden love for in-depth niche content? Because the internet is tired. Specifically:

• ChatGPT fatigue is real. People can smell AI-generated copy. They want something human, not corporate speak
• Authenticity beats polished. Longer posts reveal real thoughts, personality, and even some vulnerability
• Mobile friction is overrated. If it’s a good story, we’ll read it, even on a mobile phone as long as you optimize and design your copy for mobile reading

And video? Not so much anymore. Video reach has dropped -35%, but if you must do video, here’s what works:

• Short, vertical, 30–90 seconds
• Meant to support and complement written content, not replace it
• Prioritize substance and personality, not production value. Nothing wrong with a raw and human edge.

Tip 2. Write as you speak, don't try to impress

Aim for reading level 5 to 7, or B1 English. B1 is clear, simple language everyone easily understands, without jargon. In short: Write as you speak.

What not to do: Complicated language with expensive-looking jargon to impress others. Long words equal lower engagement. Posts with words of more than 5 letters per word performed 35% worse.

What to do: Easier reads equal better performance.

• Ask ChatGPT to rewrite your content to ‘reading level 5 to 7’, or into ‘B1 without dumbing it down’
• Design your copy, break your text. No big walls of text. Posts with fewer than 7 paragraphs perform 74% worse than posts with more than 14 paragraphs. Easier reads is better performance.
• Keep it easy on the eye. Use white space, bold, and bullets or lists as visual anchor points in your copy.

Tip 3: Stop asking fake questions. No one’s falling for it anymore

Ending your post with “What do you think?” isn’t engagement, it’s useless clickbait. Users are tired of fake conversation starters. The data shows that posts ending with questions perform slightly worse. The algorithm isn’t buying your faux curiosity, and neither are your connections.

What to do:

• Use provocative statements to spark responses. Do: ‘Most people get this wrong about X.’ Don’t ask, ‘What do you think about X?’
• If you really want to ask a question, make it specific and high-quality only. Like ‘I'm heading to a conference. What is the best booth you've ever seen?’ 

Tip 4. Obsess on the hook

If you’ve got something worth saying, say it up front. You should really obsess on the hook, before the ‘more’. If you don’t hook readers there, they’re gone. It’s roughly the first 90 characters that matter.

→ Please, don’t bury the good stuff and your key message below the fold in a paragraph. Or stick to the too obvious engagement bait hooks with ‘surprising’ statistics, and questions, both perform the worst. See tip 3.

What to do:

• Personal stories are the best hooks; people want to hear from you, from your own experience, and in your own words.
• Consider experience-led hooks, fear-based strategies, or showcasing authority. Example: ‘I almost got fired for doing this one thing—turns out, it saved my career.’ ‘Everyone’s doing X. Here’s why I stopped—and what happened next.’

See the ‘State of the Algorithm Report’ and ‘LinkedIn™ Algorithm InSights 2025’ for examples.

Tip 5. Comment and engage

Comment and engage with other people’s posts to boost your own reach, show that you’re a social butterfly, and not just making noise. Comment on potential clients’ posts, peers, and respond to comments on your own posts.

• Top 5% creators comment 150+ a week, versus 25 for average creators
• They reply 90+ a week, versus 15 for the average creator
• And more comments equal faster follower growth; there’s a strong correlation of 0.545

What not to do in comments:

• Don’t outsource this to AI; it destroys your credibility and trust
• Be a one-word wonder, or empty flattery like ‘great post’ or ‘this is so important’
• Self-promotions are a no-go; no one wants to be sold to in the middle of a comment thread

What to do instead:

• Write as you speak. If that includes a little sass, go for it
• Share a POV, story, or insight that adds to the conversation
• Actually read the post you’re commenting on

Company pages: still technically alive, basically useless. Here’s what to do

Your company page has 1.6% organic reach, so if, by some miracle, you do reach someone, don’t waste it trying to sell them something they didn’t ask for. Don’t make your post an ad-in-disguise post.

What to do: ‘Leave them better than you found them.’ Share knowledge, offer insights they can’t get anywhere else, or make them smile.

A quote from Richard's take on what's happening for company pages: 

"Across 600+ Company Pages analyzed, we saw reach rebound by 6–12% overall, but the real story lies in formats. 

• Text-only posts climbed +10.34%,
• Text + Image +5.9%, and
• Articles — the surprise winner — surged +27.9% in average reach.
• Meanwhile, Polls dropped –21.6% and
• Videos took the hardest hit at –40.5%.

The takeaway? 

Company Page audiences are turning away from “scroll entertainment” and leaning into educational and narrative-driven content. Articles and external links perform best when they deliver insights, not marketing."

→ Nor is B2B an excuse to make your content as boring as possible. Keep it human. Add a little fun. 

And please, cut the jargon. There’s nothing sexy about hiding behind expensive-looking jargon and buzz words, trying to impress. Overusing jargon just proves you don’t understand your own product. Because if you can’t explain complex ideas simply, you probably don’t understand them that well.

Respects your reader’s time and their brain.

How often should you post

LinkedIn isn’t looking for volume. It’s looking for and rewarding rhythm and reciprocity.

Here’s what actually works:

• Post 2–3 times a week. That’s the sweet spot
• Spend the rest of the time in the comments
• Pick 1 or 2 core formats and get good at them. Format discipline pays off; consistency builds trust with both your audience and the algorithm

What not to do:

• Daily posting causes content fatigue and can tank your reach by 45%.
• Irregular posting, long gaps followed by bursts of activity, causes an even sharper decline, as the algorithm deprioritizes accounts with unreliable, inconsistent behavior.

Summary: the algorithm is moody and unpredictable

The LinkedIn algorithm is always changing. What worked a few months ago can be totally different right now. There are so many details, stats, best practices, dos and don’ts, it’s hard to keep track.

→ But here’s the thing… You don’t have to obsess on growth to make an impact and be seen. 

At the end of the day, the best strategy is still that I share for the sake of sharing. Not to generate leads, drive business, or collect followers. If you focus on doing what you love and loving what you do, the business usually follows.

If you want to stay on top of what works, please follow my go-to sources: They nerd out on the data so you don’t have to.

You're welcome.

My sources and all credits

“Just Connecting™— LinkedIn™ Algorithm InSights 2025” by Richard van der Blom. I highly recommend buying it and diving into it. This is an affiliate link, so I'll get a small fee as well.  

→ Read Richard's take on the report. It's gold. 

State of the Algorithm Report, by Say What and The Creator Accelerator, Will Mctighe and Chris Donnelly 

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More insights on LinkedIn's algorithm secrets 

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