Should you put links in posts? Does the LinkedIn algorithm dislike it? I get asked this a lot and most of the time the answer is no - don't put links in posts.

I say that with a caveat, because there are times when it is a great idea. So let me explain.

All social platforms hate people leaving the platform - LinkedIn included. The only time a social platform likes people leaving is when you've paid them to let you.

Platforms build algorithms to protect their business model - keeping users consuming. It's very much like the terrestrial TV business model. They don't want people changing channels.

Anytime you help people change channels - they limit your reach. 

Links are one of those things that help people change channels.

I worked in TV for many years, so I understand the social business model really well. I worked on a number of live TV campaigns over the years. One in particular I remember over a month made $11.2m in revenue. But it came with a cost - audience fatigue. 

We saw noticeable fall in viewer engagement as we pushed to get people off the platform.

This is true on LinkedIn too.

Yes, LinkedIn doesn't really want people leaving and when they spot it, it's likely that they'll reduce your visibility for that reason.

But secondly, people want to consume things immediately, so if your links are driving people off platform, you'll notice they tire of that too. 

I've noticed this with my own LinkedIn account, when I push people off platform, the visibility is lower, engagement is lower.

The average session is 7 minutes 28 seconds on LinkedIn, the majority of your effort should be giving them something useful in the seconds of that they spend with you - then when you do run a campaign to drive people off platform - you'll get better traffic.

When I do send people off platform, I make sure I sandwich my content - so there is easy engagement content before and after - so I can recover from the negative impact of sharing a link.

So, my answer is this...

• The default should be to deliver inside the platform for the majority.
• Drive traffic off platform when it is strategically important.

How I help you

I help experts to win clients on LinkedIn without waiting for referrals. I teach people how to leverage social selling to build a predictable pipeline.

I do this through 3 vehicles

• Social Selling Accelerator - A six month implementation programme with 1:1 coaching.
• One Day Strategy - I work with you and your team 1:1 at your offices.
• Public classes - I host OVER 150 public workshops across the US and UK.

No paid ads. No pushy tactics. No posting every day.

Most of my clients launch within 30 days (depending on your bandwidth) and start seeing leads in the first 60.

If you'd like to know more schedule a call here.

Who is Dean?

If you're new here, I'm Dean Seddon, a global social selling expert, founder of Maverrik, and a 15-year practitioner who has trained over 25,000 salespeople and business owners. If you enjoyed this content, please follow and subscribe to see more.