If you’re wondering how to create great LinkedIn content to improve your exposure, this article is for you! This article that the JC Sweet & Co. team found on Social Media Examiner has your step by step guide for creating LinkedIn articles your followers will read.
How to Create LinkedIn Articles That People Will Read and Share
While LinkedIn posts and status updates are limited to 1,300 characters, LinkedIn articles can be up to 125,000 characters in length, which gives you more opportunity to showcase your expertise and knowledge. Writing articles is also a great way to start conversations and raise your visibility on the platform.
When someone viewing your LinkedIn profile scrolls past the About section, they’ll see an Articles & Activity box. In this box, the last article you wrote (whether recently or years ago) will take up half of the box. This prominent placement highlights content that’s central to you and your brand.
If you haven’t published any LinkedIn articles, this box will simply show your last four activities, which may be sharing or liking other people’s content. Your brand doesn’t get the same exposure if you’ve only published posts and not articles. In fact, other people’s brands may get the attention.
When you open a LinkedIn article to read it on desktop, an Articles link appears to the person’s byline. Clicking that link will display all of the LinkedIn articles they’ve written. If you’re viewing an article on the mobile app, simply swipe left to read the next article by that person.
#1: Write a New LinkedIn Article
Start by going to the LinkedIn Home tab and clicking the Write an Article link at the top of the page.
After you click this link, the LinkedIn Publishing tool opens. This is where you create your article.
Choose Your Headline
To add a headline to your article, click the Headline field and type in a headline.
Choose a headline that will grab users’ attention in the feed and make them want to click through to read the article. Also, think about what terms your ideal audience is searching for. “How to” and number headlines (“7 Reasons to Start Writing LinkedIn Articles Today”) typically perform well on the platform.
Format Your Article for Easy Reading
The next step is to format your article in a way that makes the information easy to consume.
Because we’re bombarded with information and text online, it’s best to use shorter text paragraphs interspersed with images. This approach makes your article easier to read, which is particularly important when people are consuming the content via the LinkedIn mobile app.
Adding subheadings, bullet points, and bold type also improves readability, as you can see in the example below.
The formatting toolbar at the top of the page lets you select Normal, Heading 1, and Heading 2 styles; apply bold, italics, and underline to text; create bulleted and numbered lists, and use a quote style.
To link to an external source in the body of the article, first, select the relevant text. Then click the Link icon (at the far right of the toolbar), enter the URL, and click Apply.
#2: Include Images, Video, or Rich Media in Your LinkedIn Article
At the top of the article, you can add a cover image. To do this, click in the area above the headline and upload an image from your computer. LinkedIn recommends using a 744 x 400 pixel image for best results.
After you add a cover image, two positioning options and a Delete button appear on the screen. Below these buttons is a field where you can add a caption and photo credit.
If you don’t have a relevant cover image on hand, check out sites like Unsplash or Pixabay for royalty-free stock photos you can use. Choose an image that will capture your readers’ attention in the LinkedIn feed and make them want to click on the article to read it. Also, make sure that you have permission to use that image.
In addition to the cover image, you’ll also want to embed relevant images and video in the body of your article. To add an image or video, click the icon to the left of the article body.
In the pop-up window, you’ll see options for adding images, video, slides, links, or snippets of code.
To embed an Instagram post, tweet, or another link in your article, click on the Links icon and paste your link into the pop-up box.
#3: Publish and Share Your LinkedIn Article
Once you’ve written your article and added images and links, what’s next? Note that as you create your article, LinkedIn automatically saves it as a draft. When you’re ready to publish it, simply click Publish at the top right of the page.
Click here to read the full article.