LinkedIn algorithm changes: how to win the feed

If your LinkedIn reach has felt... selective lately, you're not imagining it. The feed now rewards creators who teach, spark real discussion, and stay in their lane. Spray-and-pray "inspirational" posts? The algorithm shrugs.

This is good news if you actually do the work and share it. It's rough if you chase empty engagement.

What happened

LinkedIn has shifted its distribution to prioritize content from your connections and followers first, then broaden out based on topic relevance and demonstrated expertise. The platform's public guidance and leadership interviews over the past year all point to the same direction: less random virality, more useful knowledge for specific audiences.

Under the hood, three things decide whether your post flies or flops: relevance to a defined topic/audience, signals of your expertise on that topic, and the depth of engagement (especially thoughtful comments from people who regularly engage with that topic). Lightweight likes are fine; rich comments and shares move mountains.

The platform has more than a billion members and continues to report double‑digit session growth in Microsoft earnings calls. To keep the feed valuable at that scale, LinkedIn has cracked down on engagement bait, spam tagging, and low‑effort polls, while elevating features that signal real knowledge (newsletters, long‑form articles, collaborative articles, "Top Voice" badges) and letting companies boost individuals' posts via Thought Leader Ads. The throughline: expertise over stunts.

Format matters, too. Third‑party data analyses across 2024-2025 consistently show PDF carousels outperform other formats on engagement by a wide margin, with native video next, then images, then text‑only. Links aren't "penalized," but link posts typically underperform unless the post itself delivers strong standalone value. Hashtags help a bit for discovery but aren't a primary ranking lever; 1-3 relevant tags are plenty. Scheduling is fine. Baiting for comments or mass‑tagging strangers is not.

Why creators should care

Attention: Distribution now starts with the people who chose you. If your network is packed with the wrong folks, your reach is capped before you hit "post." Curate your audience as aggressively as you craft the post.

Distribution: Tight niches win. When you publish repeatedly on one domain, the system gets confident about who should see you beyond your followers. That's how you break out - by being specific, not broader.

Monetization: LinkedIn is still the best social platform for B2B intent. Posts that teach and trigger substantive comments drive profile visits, follows, DMs, and leads. Viral fluff does not convert here.

Workflow: Frequency trains the model on who you are. Publishing 2-5 times per week is a realistic, high‑return cadence for most solo creators. Timing matters less than it used to, but weekday business hours often deliver a slight edge - test your own data.

Stop chasing virality. Start chasing usefulness. The algorithm is now your strict but fair teacher: show your work, be specific, and participate in the discussion.

The mentor take

Think "conference mode": deliver a mini‑keynote (practical, specific, teachable), then hang around the hallway (reply to every legit comment, and go comment thoughtfully on adjacent posts). That behavior is literally the distribution engine now.

Hooks matter. Lead with the payoff in line one. Add proof (an example, a screenshot, a number). Ask a real question at the end to invite debate - not "thoughts?" but a question that forces a choice.

Links are fine when the post itself stands on its own. If the post only exists to push a click, expect weak reach and weaker trust.

If your mom would scroll past it, your VP will too. Lead with the part people came for, not the throat‑clearing.

What to do next

Narrow your lane and your bio: Rewrite your headline to name your niche and audience ("B2B demand gen for devtools," not "Marketing pro"). Post 80% in that lane for 60 days to train the feed on who should see you.
Ship one carousel per week: Turn a process you actually use into a 7-12‑slide PDF. Slide 1 = payoff. Slides 2-9 = steps/examples. Final slide = one specific question. Expect carousels to carry your growth.
Work the comments like a pro: Block 20 minutes after posting to reply fast and with substance. Aim for replies that add examples or links to resources. Quick, thoughtful back‑and‑forth can lift engagement by roughly a third.
Prune and plant your network: Remove obviously off‑topic connections. Each week, add 15-25 people who care about your topic (buyers, peers, editors). Send a short, topic‑specific note. Quality followers now multiply your reach.
Treat links as dessert, not the meal: Make the post self‑contained. If you include a URL, summarize the key insight inside the post first. Test link‑in‑post vs. link‑in‑first‑comment over four weeks; keep the variant that yields more saves and quality comments.

Keep it steady. Two to five posts weekly, heavy on carousels and bite‑sized video, ruthless about the hook, relentless in the comments. Do that for a quarter and watch your "random" reach become predictable growth.