I recently published an analysis on OkDork, breaking down successful LinkedIn Publishing posts.
This analysis was mainly focused on how many view each post obtained.
I have a lot more data about these posts, A LOT MORE (even beyond this post).
This post will follow a similar structure as the previous post, but instead focus on the SEO value of these posts by looking at the likelyhood of them ranking in the Google SERP–looking at external backlinks.
The results end up looking very different than looking at just the views.
Let’s jump in…
1) Write for a High School Senior or College Audience
For those of you that are unaware, the Flesch-Kincaid Reading Ease test is a means of assessing the comprehension difficult of English text. Readers Digest for example, is know to be written in a Flesch-Kincaid Readability Score of around 65, which is considered “Standard” difficult, easily read by 13-15 year olds and by 80% of adults.
| Flesch Reading Ease Score | Readability Level | Education Level | Percentage Adults That Can Read |
| 0-29 | Very Confusing | College Graduates | 5% |
| 30-49 | Difficult | College | 30% |
| 50-59 | Fairly Difficult | High School Senior | 50% |
| 60-69 | Standard | 13 to 15 year-olds | 80% |
| 70-79 | Fairly Easy | 12 year-olds | 90% |
| 80-89 | Easy | 11 year-olds | 90% |
| 90-100 | Very Easy | 10 year-olds | 90% |
Posts that were very easy to read may have gotten the most post views, but they seemed to have attracted the fewest number of external backlinks.
Difficult (College audience) and Fairly Difficult (High School Senior audience) to read posts attracted the greatest number of backlinks, albeit not many.
2) You need some images in your post
You should have at least one image in your post. I highly recommend you include one in the beginning to act as a feature image. You can easily use Canva or another service to help you out with this.
Like views, 8 images are also associated with the greatest number of average backlinks.
3) Embed 2 Pieces of Multimedia into Your Post
LinkedIn also allows you to include YouTube, SlideShare, TED, Getty, Vimeo, or Lifestream embeds.
If we were analyzing view, like in the previous post, the data would tell us not to include them in our posts, but the backlink data in this case favors 2 embeds.
4) No to How-to Posts or Question Posts!
Question Posts–LinkedIn posts where the headline poses a question perform poorly when we are looking to get views; similarly, they don’t attract backlinks.
How and How-to posts–These posts get fewer backlinks than posts that don’t start with “How” or “How to”.
Listicle posts–These posts are the only segment that seems to attract more backlinks than the typical post, but again, it isn’t many.
5) Break your post into 5 different sections
5 headings attracts the greatest number of post views AND backlinks.
6) The Optimal Word Count is…
Posts between 1900 and 2000 words got the greatest number of post view, but posts between 1100 and 1200 words got more backlinks.
7) Don’t worry; be happy
Neutral language posts tend to see more comments and post views but there isn’t much of difference between sentiment and backlink acquisition. Positive posts got slightly more backlinks on average.
8) How long do I make my title?
80-89 character length titles receive the most backlinks on average, but I would steet myself toward shorter titles to avoid truncation in the SERPS. LinkedIn also appends “| LinkedIn” in the title tag.
In Conclusion
I’d say on average, none of these factors are great predictors of backlinks for LinkedIn Publishing posts. I’d strongly consider an outreach plan when writing on LinkedIn for SEO purposes, and linking to your main website somewhere.
Oh if you missed the original post on OkDork and want a quick run-down, check out this great infographic:
Data compiled by Search Wilderness and originally posted on OkDork.com
Wonderful research Paul. Saving this for the future 🙂
Hi Paul,
Neat note on images. That many specifically seems to draw in folks. Good to remember.
I so vibe with the 11 year old reading level thingee too. Einstein’s quote about something being simple enough to explain to a 5 year old is brilliant, and although we add a few more years here, the idea rings true. Write for a wide audience, comprehension-wise.
Some LinkedIn, business-speak posts turn me off immediately, but when professionals stop being professionals, and talk like people, I warm up to LI published posts. I’ve moved away from the network because some users go a bit heavy on biz-speak but knowing that folks are writing in simpler terms I’m ready to give it a whirl again.
Keep those images flowing, write simply and keep titles brief. All make sense, and I’ll use each tip if I start publishing frequently on the network.
Thanks Paul, super smart post and IG. I’ll tweet it through Triberr.
Signing off from Savusavu, Fiji.
Enjoy your weekend.
Ryan
I have published about 35 articles so far. This was extremely helpful insight on how can do a better job on my future posts.
great post! it’s interesting that neutral language performs better
Noticed that Linkedin articles and people profiles appear more often for me now. Will try your tips to maximize the exposure for my posts.