A Deep Dive into the LinkedIn Algorithm: Updates, Ranking Factors & Growth Tactics

If you’ve noticed your LinkedIn posts sometimes take off and other times barely move, you’re not alone.

While most creators and business professionals think it’s random, the truth is—it’s the LinkedIn algorithm at work.

In recent years, this system has become smarter, more personalized, and more conversation-driven than ever. LinkedIn’s algorithm determines what to show and to whom based on relevance, consistency, and genuine interaction over quick growth hacks.

Whether you’re a creator, marketer, or brand trying to boost visibility, understanding how LinkedIn’s algorithm works is key. In this guide, we’ll break down what drives reach, the latest algorithm updates, and proven strategies to help your posts perform better.

How Does the LinkedIn Algorithm Work?

LinkedIn’s algorithm is designed to personalize each user’s feed by prioritizing relevant content and fostering meaningful engagement. It operates through a sequence of filtering, testing, and ranking stages that decide which posts make it to the top of your feed.

Here’s a breakdown of how LinkedIn’s feed algorithm processes organic posts from personal profiles and company pages so you can optimize your LinkedIn posts to maximize reach and engagement.

Step 1: Candidate sourcing and initial filtering

When you post on LinkedIn, your content enters the algorithm pipeline as a candidate, where it undergoes initial scrutiny:

• Spam and low-quality filters: LinkedIn first asks if your post signals spammy behavior. For example, it checks for too many irrelevant hashtags, engagement bait, low-quality or overly promotional content, or content that violates community standards.
• Audience consideration: The algorithm assesses who might see your post—your connections, followers, and perhaps a select group from outside your immediate network [Hootsuite].
• Content classification: It determines the post’s topic, hashtags, type (text, image, video), and relevance to industries or professional niches.

Key takeaway: Make sure your LinkedIn post has a clear topic and 3-5 relevant LinkedIn hashtags. Avoid spammy language or formatting, because early classification as low-quality content may restrict your post’s initial visibility to your first-degree connections.

Step 2: Early engagement testing

Once your posts pass through the initial filter, they go on a test run with a small section of your network. This is often called the “golden hour” of LinkedIn, that is, the first 60 minutes after your post goes live.  

Within this hour, the algorithm evaluates:

• How quickly and meaningfully your post receives likes, comments, and shares.
• Dwell time, which is the amount of time people spend reading your post or watching your video.
• The quality of engagement, where LinkedIn considers meaningful comments more than generic ones like “Great post!.”
• Whether your audience sample consists of people who typically engage with your content.

Key takeaway: Schedule posts when your audience is the most active on LinkedIn and craft content that sparks meaningful conversation. Use questions, mini-polls, or calls for opinion that drive deeper engagement early on.

Step 3: Scoring and reach expansion

If the post performs well during the golden hour, LinkedIn’s algorithm scores it and decides whether to broaden its audience beyond your first-degree connections. So, here are the things you should know:

• Comment engagement weighs heavier than likes; shares and saves further amplify scoring.
• Relationship with your network matters. A like or comment from someone who regularly interacts with your content impacts reach more than from a distant connection.
• Relevance to the viewer is evaluated using hashtags, industries, and past behavior to predict interest.
• High-quality signals like long dwell time and user saves help push your content further.

Key takeaway: Focus on fostering meaningful comments, shares, and saves rather than chasing likes. Build strong network relationships to encourage early and relevant interactions.

Step 4: Broader distribution and ongoing review

After scoring, your post is distributed to wider audiences, such as second- and third-degree connections, followers of brand pages, and sometimes out-of-network professionals. At this level:

• The algorithm continues monitoring engagement quality, watch time, and comment depth.
• Different user segments, industries, and geographies are tested to find the best-performing clusters.
• Content that loses traction gradually gets deprioritized as posts age based on decay logic.  

Key takeaway: Keep engaging—reply to comments, encourage discussion, and post follow-up content to keep momentum. Use rich media like LinkedIn videos or LinkedIn carousels, as native content formats are often preferred over other formats.

Step 5: Long-term value and content retirement

LinkedIn prioritizes relevance over recency. High-quality, evergreen content can continue gaining traction weeks or months later if they remain professionally relevant.

• Older content with value, such as industry insights, lessons, and thought leadership stays visible longer.
• Content flagged for spam, automation, or engagement pods risks being downgraded or removed.

Key takeaway: Create content that is evergreen yet timely. Avoid manipulative engagement tactics and prioritize authenticity to maintain long-term visibility.

What are the Key Ranking Signals in the LinkedIn Algorithm?

The LinkedIn algorithm relies on several key groups of ranking signals to decide which posts to boost and how widely to distribute them. Understanding these categories helps you optimize your content and engagement strategy effectively.

Engagement quality signals

• A thoughtful 20+ word comment from someone relevant to your niche signals deeper engagement and adds algorithmic value.
• Dwell time and consumption rate matter. Posts that hold users’ attention longer, like carousels or native videos, perform better than purely text-based or blunt posts.
• Shares and saves demonstrate real interest in spreading your content, especially if shared by influential users with large followings.

Relevance and Personalization Signals

• Posts from people you engage with frequently or who are strong connections in your network are prioritized.
• Your post’s topic, hashtags, and industry relevance determine alignment with audience interests.
• Profile and content authority matter. If you post consistently on your subject area, it boosts perceived expertise and trustworthiness.

Format signals

• Native formats, such as LinkedIn videos, document carousels, and text posts, typically outperform posts linking externally.
• Posting length, readability, and media richness influence performance. A well-structured post with a hook, clean formatting, and media performs better than large text blocks or link-only posts.

Profile and posting history signals

• A complete, relevant profile with defined skills and consistent posting signals credibility.
• Posting regular, high-quality content is better than frequent low-quality posts.
• Past spam flags, engagement pod involvement, or irrelevant tagging can downgrade your content.

Decay and refresh signals

• Older posts that remain relevant continue showing, but posts losing engagement are deprioritized over time.
• Posting new content too soon after a successful post can split attention and reduce reach. 

Recent LinkedIn Algorithm Updates

LinkedIn’s algorithm is evolving. That means you must understand these shifts and plan your social media strategy accordingly. Here are key updates on how the algorithm works in 2025 and beyond, what they mean for your content strategy, and how you should adapt.

Relevance over recency

Unlike Twitter’s algorithm, LinkedIn prioritizes relevant content more than recent ones. A post from days or even weeks ago can still surface if it’s highly relevant and engaging.

Key shifts:

• Evergreen posts get sustained engagement.
• The algorithm looks more at topic fit and user interest history than just when the content was posted.

Pro Tip: Don’t discard your value posts where you shared industry insights or niche expertise. Instead, repurpose these content to expand your post’s reach to a wider audience.

Distribution AI makes repurposing easier. Simply post your content link and generate 4-5 post versions aligned to your brand voice and LinkedIn’s content formats. You can also schedule these posts for publishing and track social media analytics to identify engagement rates, click-throughs, and your top-performing content.

Native formats and off-platform links

LinkedIn continues to favor content native to the platform, such as text posts, carousels/documents, and native video over posts that drive users off-platform.

Key shifts:

• External links (to blogs, websites) tend to receive less boost unless you add strong context.
• Uploading a document or carousel within LinkedIn often triggers better distribution.

Pro Tip: When you must link externally, consider placing the link in comments and use the post to build interest first.

Authority and topic expertise rewarded

LinkedIn is placing higher value on content from creators and brands who steadily publish around a niche or topic, showing them as subject-matter experts.

Key shifts:

• The algorithm now checks your posting history and topic consistency when distributing your content broadly.
• Generic broad content may not receive the same boost as niche topics.

Pro Tip: Have a clear niche and post consistently. You can build a content library of insights, lessons, and case studies in that niche. Also, share original content like your personal stories and experiences to maintain authenticity.

Privacy and data-related updates

Starting November 2025, LinkedIn will train its AI models on member profiles, posts, resumes, and public activity by default (with an opt-out option). 

Key shifts:

• It will use member profiles and public content to improve content suggestions, search, and recommendations.
• This signals a stronger alignment of the LinkedIn feed algorithm with AI-derived signals of expertise, activity, and profile strength.

Pro Tip: Keep your profile up-to-date and aligned with your content niche as your profile activity may feed into algorithmic trust metrics.

Growth Tactics to Maximize Reach & Engagement on LinkedIn

Here’s a list of strategies that you can implement to maximize engagement on LinkedIn.

Leverage the first hour with strategic seeding

Seeding means getting engagement fast so LinkedIn’s algorithm knows your post deserves reach. After posting, reply to comments as soon as they come in, ask follow-up questions, tag people, and keep the thread active. The more you engage, the more engagement you attract.

Some Redditors also suggest posting when the audience is active and using LinkedIn DMs to build stronger connections. Exchange knowledge, comment on their posts, and ask them to engage with your posts in the first hour to boost engagement.

Use native video content with captions and a 5-second hook

Upload short native videos (<60s) directly to LinkedIn, add captions, start with a strong visual or text hook in the first 3–5 seconds, and end with a single question that invites replies. These LinkedIn native formats increase dwell time. Videos keep viewers on the platform, and the algorithm rewards time-on-post and watch-through.

Here’s a post by Samanyou Garg, Founder at Writesonic, on how Linked carousels and videos are gaining more traction in 2025.

Comment where your audience already gathers

Spend 20–40 minutes daily, leaving substantive comments on posts in your niche. Include data, a micro-case study, or a short, provocative question. The aim is to attract profile visits and follow-through, not likes.

Thoughtful comments drive profile visits and often convert to followers. So, most people suggest commenting (more than posting) for discovery because it surfaces you to engaged audiences on other social platforms too. This builds authority without relying solely on your own posts.

Run focused content experiments for 30–90 days 

Test three formats—text, carousel, native video—and three themes, such as case study, how-to, opinion, for 30–90 days. Track engagement rate, which users engaged (1st-degree vs. wider audience), and dwell time. Double down on the one format plus theme combination that gets consistent early engagement.

This disciplined testing helps you identify the content formats that perform the best. Also, since the current LinkedIn algorithm rewards consistent topical signals, the more you repeat a theme in a format that gets early traction, the better your long-term LinkedIn performance.

Distribution AI makes tracking social media performance easier. You can track your content, identify engagement rates, click-throughs, and your top-performing content to refine your social media strategy further.

Use employee advocacy

Personal profiles drive conversation and profile visits more than corporate posts. So, if you’re a company owner or a marketer with a team, ask your team members to share company narratives as their own take. They may share short personal stories or lessons, and even behind-the-scenes videos and workflows.

We found a Reddit thread where many creators backed employee advocacy as one of the best strategies to grow a company page on LinkedIn.

Publish micro-series to increase return visits and authority

Turn a solid post into a mini-series. For example,

• Post #1: An industry insight
• Post #2: Deeper case study
• Post #3: Resources carousel

Promote the next post in the thread’s top comment. This creates a small funnel that brings readers back and improves engagement across multiple posts. Plus, repeat engagement helps LinkedIn’s algorithm recognize you as a topic authority.

With Distribution AI, you can repurpose a YouTube video, blog, or podcast, or to create a mini series where you share the key takeaways in multiple posts instead of one. You can also schedule these posts at a 2-3 days gap so you don’t lose momentum.

Use specific CTAs that prompt thoughtful comments and saves

Swap generic CTAs, such as ‘Like if you agree,’ for specific prompts that invite expertise. For example, ‘Drop one way you solved X in under 50 words’ or ‘Tag a PM who should read this.’ You can also ask people to save or bookmark useful posts.  Such targeted CTAs often convert passive viewers into participants and help your posts reach a wider audience.

Optimize your LinkedIn profile

Give your profile monthly refreshes. Use a clear headline with niche keywords, pin top posts in Featured, and add a short results-oriented ‘About’ that shows outcomes. Profile signals feed into how the algorithm determines topical trust and whether users convert after seeing your content. If you need help optimizing your LinkedIn profile, check out these 33+ AI Prompts for LinkedIn. 

Summing Up

The LinkedIn algorithm considers value, consistency, and intent. Rather than viral posts, content that sparks real discussions, delivers insights, and reflects your niche expertise wins over time. So, keep testing formats, track what drives meaningful engagement, and stay authentic in your storytelling.

And if keeping up with the algorithm feels overwhelming, let Distribution AI do the heavy lifting. With Distribution AI, you can repurpose existing blogs or videos into ready-to-post content, schedule them at peak engagement times, and monitor analytics to refine your LinkedIn strategy.

Want to see how Distribution AI can help you?