LinkedIn articles, which can be up to 125,000 characters in length, are intended for longer pieces than LinkedIn posts and are another excellent way to share content. By writing articles on LinkedIn, you can position yourself as a thought leader.
As pointedly stated on Inc.:
“You don’t wait for people to ask. You take the lead. It’s called thought leadership for a reason. One way to be a thought leader is to write about what you know in articles that you publish to LinkedIn.”
Articles appear in the “Activity” section of your LinkedIn profile, and they can be shared with your connections and followers in their news feeds. They can also be shared on other platforms, including Facebook and Twitter. Importantly, if you set your public profile visibility so everyone can see it, your articles will be searchable both on and off LinkedIn.
Below are five tips for writing compelling LinkedIn articles that your audience will want to read.
- Create interesting and clear titles.
As with most forms of written content, the article’s title is the first thing your audience will read. It is what draws people in and entices them to begin reading what you wrote. Therefore, your title should be both interesting and clear – the topic of your article should not be a mystery. In line with this, include key words in your title.
- Write about newsworthy or trending topics
Write about things people are talking about. “Readers on LinkedIn prefer to read and share content that address a trending topic in the news. Posts on current topics get more noticed, rank higher in search engines and quickly go viral.” To identify trending topics, you can monitor social media platforms, media outlets, and industry publications. For instance, I get a weekly newsletter from PR News with timely information about the public relations industry. You can also find inspiration from conversations with colleagues, experts, and clients. Did a client recently ask a thought-provoking question? A LinkedIn article is a great place to answer it.
- Include catchy visuals
Add images to your LinkedIn articles that will immediately grab readers’ eyes and inspire them to consider reading the article. Of course, the image should be relevant to the content.
- Always create quality content
As with LinkedIn posts, amazing titles, topics, and visuals can only go so far. Readers will only continue reading (and hopefully read future articles) if your content is of a high quality, accurate, informative, and adds value. Therefore, the actual writing process is not something to breeze past. Take time to plan out what you want to write about and think through the different components of the piece. I am a big fan of outlining, especially for longer pieces.
- Engage in conversation
Respond to readers’ comments. Even if their comment doesn’t call for a response, it is best to like comments and thank people for reading the article. This will help to foster a sense of connection and shows that there is a person on the other side of the screen.