Save this: The 2026 LinkedIn Posting System that earns reach!
- David Sheret
- Dec 22, 2025
- 4 min read
Updated: Dec 23, 2025
As part of our work on Voxwheel and Finn Moray, we're constantly researching how to engage correctly with social media platforms. This never stays the same.
Enjoy and hope you find it useful.
You will get the best results in 2026 by treating LinkedIn as a relevance engine, not a popularity contest. LinkedIn’s feed is a multi-stage system: it first selects a shortlist of candidate posts, then ranks them by predicting what a specific member is likely to do with each post. Those predictions include actions such as clicking, reacting, commenting, sharing, and forms of “dwell” that reflect time spent consuming a post.
That design creates a hard truth: sustainable reach is a by-product of member satisfaction. If your post triggers quick scrolling, low-value comments, or repeated “samey” patterns, distribution tends to decay. If your post causes people to slow down, read, save, and respond thoughtfully, distribution tends to expand.
1) Win the matching problem: topical clarity beats volume
The feed has to answer one question fast: “Who is this for?” If you write for everyone, the system cannot confidently route your content. The practical fix is boring but powerful: choose two or three themes you can defend with experience, evidence, and repeatable points of view. Stay inside those themes long enough to build a recognisable signature. This is not about frequency. It is about semantic consistency, so the system can learn which professionals consistently find your posts worthwhile.
Stress test: if a stranger saw your last ten posts, could they describe, in one sentence, what you are known for. If not, the feed will struggle to place you.
2) Optimise for reading, not applause
Modern ranking models use dwell related signals to detect passive but positive consumption. In plain terms, a silent reader who stops and reads can matter as much as a loud liker.
So structure becomes a distribution lever. Use short paragraphs, one idea per post, and a first screen that makes the payoff obvious. Avoid ambiguous openings. Clarity is not dull. It is considerate.
Stress test: remove every adjective and buzzword. If the post still has a sharp claim, a practical insight, and a reader benefit, it is strong. If it collapses, it was fluff.
3) The first hour is a relevance test, not a superstition
Early engagement helps the system decide whether to broaden distribution beyond the most obvious connections. But the goal is not “more engagement”. The goal is “right engagement”: comments from people plausibly interested in the topic, plus signals that they actually read. Strong posts can also resurface later when relevance is high, because ranking is not purely chronological.
Stress test: if you swapped the names on the comments, would you still feel pleased. If the replies are generic praise, your post invited noise, not thought.
4) Comments are quality-weighted in practice
Not all comments are equal. A meaningful comment contains information: a counterpoint, an example, a question that advances the idea. Those comments suggest genuine professional value. Engagement bait tends to produce low-information replies, which are easy to detect at scale.
A better pattern is to end with a judgement question that requires expertise to answer. Then reply quickly, and reply with substance. The author’s replies are part of the experience, and they can extend the life of a post by keeping the conversation fresh and valuable.
Stress test: if you did not reply to any comments, would the post still feel complete. If not, you are relying on the thread to supply value you did not provide.
5) Choose formats that change behaviour
Format matters because it changes how people consume. Text is best for crisp thinking. Document carousels are best for step-by-step teaching and save-worthy checklists. Short video works when it is specific, captioned, and delivers a clear point quickly.
Do not rotate formats randomly. Standardise a small set that suits your themes. Consistency improves audience expectations and improves the system’s ability to predict satisfaction.
6) Links are fine, but exits are expensive
Outbound links are not a simple “penalty”. The issue is behavioural: if the value is locked behind a click, many people disengage early.
Better: deliver the full point in the post, then add a link only as optional evidence or depth. If you must include a link, ensure the post stands on its own.
7) Network signals are earned through participation
The feed is a social graph, not a broadcast tower. Regular, thoughtful comments on other people’s posts inside your themes create contextual credibility. You are effectively teaching the system, and your audience, what you are interested in and what you contribute.
Stress test: if you stopped posting for a month but kept commenting intelligently, would people still notice you. If yes, you are building real professional presence.
8) Respect session-level diversity
Ranking systems often include re-rankers that enforce diversity constraints across a session, such as gaps between repeated authors and limits on certain types of content. This reduces monotony and improves satisfaction.
Practical implication: even great posts compete with variety. Do not interpret every dip as failure. Judge performance over a run of posts, not one.
9) A pre-post checklist that survives stress testing
Before you publish, answer these five questions in writing:
Who is this for, defined by role and context.
What problem does it help them solve or see more clearly.
What proof do I have, data, lived pattern, or hard-won lesson.
What is the takeaway in one sentence.
Does the first screen deliver that takeaway, or promise it clearly.
If you cannot answer all five, keep drafting.
10) Treat LinkedIn like a product: iterate with ratios
Ignore vanity totals. Use ratios that reveal quality and audience fit. Ten posts are a better sample than one.
Ten key metrics to track
Topic focus score: 8 of your last 10 posts sit within your two or three themes.
First-hour velocity: reactions plus comments per 1,000 impressions in 60 minutes.
Meaningful comment rate: percentage of comments that add substance.
Commenter relevance: percentage of comments from your target roles or industries.
Conversation depth: your substantive replies per commenter.
Save rate: saves per 1,000 impressions.
Share quality: shares by credible peers, not only close connections.
Profile action rate: profile views and follows per 1,000 impressions.
Follower conversion: new followers per 1,000 impressions.
Business outcomes: qualified DMs, intros, calls booked, or leads per month attributed to posts.
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