Seven Questions For People “Not Getting Enough Views” On LinkedIn™

f you are (still) inexplicably getting fewer impressions than you think your content warrants, I suggest you ask yourself these seven questions.

Am I explicit in my profile about my area of expertise?

Just using your title and leaving this section otherwise blank is shooting yourself in the foot. You have two thousand characters in each Experience section and you should be making good use of them. Talk about what products of services you work with. Explain them in detail. Talk about the different facets of your job. LinkedIn™ wants evidence that you are an expert at what you do. A complete job description is part of that.

Am I explicit in my profile about proof of my expertise?

The next step is offering proof. You’re good at sales? Great. How much more did you sell last year than the year before? How long have you been doing this? What additional responsibilities were you rewarded with? There are a lot of ways to show that you are as good as you say you are. 

Am I explicit in my profile about who my ideal customers are? 

I am hearing of lots of instances where LinkedIn™ appears to be putting content in front of people like the writer. I think this is likely because LinkedIn™ can’t tell exactly who the writer’s content is for. I think you need to explicitly say who your ideal customer is and you should do it all over your profile. You specifically work with government agencies? Say so, in your Experience section, your About section, and consider it in the title for your Experience section and in your Headline under your name. 

Do I make good use of the space available in my Experience and About sections to cover these bases?

The more detail you can add, the better. If you run out of space, split your job in two. You sell to the Government and to the Defense industry? Great. Make those two jobs running concurrently. The more you tell LinkedIn™, the better it will be able to match your content with the right readers.

Do the topics I post about fit with my expertise?

Talk about what you are an expert on. I don’t care what the weather is like where you live, don’t talk about it in your post or you will start confusing the algos, and make them want to match your content to people interested in the weather (the algos are very smart, but can also be kind of dumb in a “too literal” way).

Do I interact with posts on topics covered by my core expertise?

This is where you can really trip yourself up. Leave politics alone. Heck, leave discussions where people complain about the algos alone. I think LinkedIn™  will get better over time, and “understand” when we digress away from our core competencies in commenting on other people’s posts, but for now, it might be better to stick to your lane.

Do I offer opinions, advice and points of view in line with my core expertise?

Don’t just agree or disagree, comment in light of your unique vantage point. Starting a comment with something like “What I have seen over the past x years is” will practically force you to render an opinion or piece of information based on your expertise and background. This is what LinkedIn™  wants to see: unique opinions and perspectives based on your knowledge and experience. 

If you ask yourself these seven questions, my bet is that you will see holes in your profile, your content direction or commenting strategy that is currently leading LinkedIn™ astray, or favoring other people over you when it comes time to share your content.