Ways to Customize and Improve your LinkedIn Newsfeed
LinkedIn has provided us the ability to customize to an extent what we see in the LinkedIn Mobile newsfeed from the HOME page.
This means that you can offer amazing relevant content that gets found easier and elevate your brand on LinkedIn. What is important to know about the LinkedIn desktop – mobile newsfeed is that they are NOT the same. I have noticed that content I see when viewing my mobile device is not identical to what I am seeing on my desktop. Mobile is showing more content than the desktop version.
Managing the updates you see in the LinkedIn newsfeed
I have noticed that with the desktop version, I don’t see the newfeed content change as frequently as I do on my mobile. For example, sometimes the top post when I click on the home page could be something posted hours before. The reason it rises back to the top is because someone just added a comment to the post. Now this is great if you posted the original LinkedIn status update, but if not you may continue seeing the same post over and over again.
If you don’t want to see the same post over and over again, click the 3 dots in the upper right corner until you get the drop down menu and choose “RECENT POSTS” and you newsfeed will populate in order of the most recently posted status updates.
LinkedIn Newsfeed – Desktop vs. Mobile
It has been reported that well over 50% of LinkedIn users are now using mobile vs desktop. The mobile app is very robust and it appears LinkedIn has invested in this technology to provide a better user experience – very smart on their part to capitalize on the growth of mobile.
I have experienced a big difference in the content I am shown from the HOME page on the LinkedIn mobile app in terms of content changing more frequently. In the example above that same post was hard for me to locate on my mobile device, in fact, I scrolled and scrolled to even locate it.
So the content is changing more frequently on mobile vs. desktop which stands to reason if more people are using mobile. The other interesting thing I think that you should know, on desktop the options you have for changing the newsfeed by changing specific posts.
If you do not care for the type of content a person posts, simply click “I don’t want to see this” or you could ‘unfollow’ the person altogether if you don’t like what they post. (see example below)
1st degree connections show up in your LinkedIn Mobile Newsfeed
I have noticed on LinkedIn mobile from the HOME page, all the posts are from 1st degree connections and advertisers. So if there are people’s content you want to see but don’t necessarily want to connect with the person, you can always FOLLOW them to see their posts.
According to Wikipedia, “LinkedIn Pulse was a news aggregation app for Android, iOS and HTML5 browsers, originally released in 2010. The app, in its original incarnation, was deprecated in 2015 and integrated into LinkedIn.”
How to add video to your LinkedIn posts
Have you noticed more video appearing in the newsfeed? Video has taken over on other social sites as live streaming has on Facebook and now on LinkedIn. Video attracts attention and if done well it can convey a brand message better than any other media. It can be used effectively to drive leads on LinkedIn.
Did you know that when you scroll your news feed that you can turn on or off the autoplay feature in your settings? If the YES toggle is on, then when you scroll directly over a video it will auto play. To adjust this go to PRIVACY & SETTINGS – under ACCOUNT – look about half way down on the page for AUTOPLAY VIDEOS.
Stop Displaying a Company Updates on LinkedIn
If you don’t want to see updates from companies you may have been following, you can do that in three simple steps:
1. Move your cursor over Interests at the top of your homepage and select Companies.
2. Click the Following tab near the top of the page.
3. Hover over the Following link beneath the company you’d like to stop following and click on the Unfollow.
How to Get Your Published Post Shown in the Newsfeed
No one outside of LinkedIn knows the exact algorithm of how a post shows up in the newsfeed. When you initially publish your post your network ‘may’ be notified but it is unlikely that it shows up in the newsfeed of all of your followers. With millions of people now publishing content, competition is fierce. It appears that LinkedIn gives preference to their ‘Influencers’ throughout the Pulse network.
Published posts (or articles) & all other posts are searchable from the top navigation bar by keyword and topic and then clicking the POSTS filter. It is also important to know that your posts will show up in a Google search based on keyword.
To elevate your chances of having your published post show up both in the newsfeed and get found by search here are some tips:
4 Tips on How to Use the LinkedIn Newsfeed
1. Avoid cutesy or clever titles. Always include your primary keyword in the title.
2. Include your keyword in the first paragraph and throughout your post.
3. Include a strong image that enhances the point of your post. Be sure you have added your key word to your photo.
4. Promote your post on other social channels and if it is evergreen content, re-post from time to time.
Buying ads to promote posts can spread your content far and wide and build a new audience quickly. If you do buy advertising I encourage you to have a strong call to action in the footer of all your posts letting people know how they can get more of your content. This could be in the form of a subscriber opt-in or link to your website.
How to Elevate Content into the LinkedIn Newsfeed
Be sure you always reply to any comment you receive. Comments and likes will elevate your content into the newsfeed because LinkedIn believes it to be credible and relevant. Post with consistency both in terms of frequency and topic. Write about what you want to be known for until you are an ‘Influencer’ and you can write your opinions about anything you want. Request my specialized LinkedIn training for as individuals to learn more.
Customizing your LinkedIn desktop and mobile newsfeed does take some intentional actions so the more you comment and like on posts, LinkedIn will show you more of that type of content. Taking the time to hide updates and unfollow people whose updates you don’t like will get you a cleaner newsfeed. The LinkedIn newsfeed can offer a great place for news from your LinkedIn contacts, companies, Influencers and LinkedIn themselves.
For more tips to get the most out of LinkedIn read 6 Daily Things to Do on LinkedIn.
