How to Play the Algorithm Game with Your LinkedIn Page
While there are debates on if social media impacts a website’s rankings, there is something to be said about a high engagement company page. Just like any website, Google and the general public do not view them all the same. Therefore, while your company’s page is on a credible platform, that does not mean it is optimized for high visibility, and that does not mean that any links going back to your website will be considered quality.
Appreciating TrustRank when it comes to quality
Google TrustRank is an algorithm by the search engine that measures trust signals. It tells Google what users consider to be trustworthy content. Many in the digital marketing world believe links that come from social media do not impact your website’s rankings. And while that may be true, there is still a correlation.
When a user considers your social media content quality, he or she engages with it in the form of a like, share or comment. As a result, that content is then seen as valuable content by Google. Therefore, while social media does not directly impact your website’s rankings, there is value with using the platforms to highlight your credible content.
Understanding LinkedIn and user engagement
Unfortunately, a lot of social media platforms are pay to play games. But, is that true of LinkedIn? Like Facebook, LinkedIn decides what shows up in your followers’ feeds. Here are some of the posts that can be found in feeds:
· Likes, shares and commented posts
· Hashtags and influencers
· Trending posts
Do you notice a trend? This is all content that the user cares about, which can make it hard for a company’s post to show up in his or hers feed if there is not an obvious level of interest. By using things like meaningful interactions and popular hashtags, you can make sure followers are exposed to your company’s content.
It is obvious that you need to create sharable content that starts conversations. You have heard this repeatedly. So, how are you going to get creative while LinkedIn’s algorithm continues to evolve? The answer is simple — storytelling.
Building a powerful message
Storytelling is nothing new, but it is necessary if your company is going to stand out on a platform like LinkedIn. The posts that get the most engagement are the ones that have a strong meaning. LinkedIn is a platform for business. The stories need to establish authority and trust by showcasing your knowledge and expertise.
Targeting a market and meeting their needs takes more work today because of all the messages being heard across the many available channels. To get heard, you are going to need a unique approach to your storytelling. The message you create will either get you heard or lost in the noise. This message should be uniquely inspired to gather the attention of your audience.
Mapping content according to the buyer’s journey
Once you know the message you want to get heard, you then need to think of the experience you are going to give your audience. The story needs to be presented in a way that will not turn off your audience, but it will rather engage them to interact and want more.
Where is your story going to live? It is a great idea to have your story live on your website in the form of a blog. This is a good idea as it creates a place for you to capture leads and increase user behavior on your website, thereby helping your rankings.
Then, decide how you are going to leverage LinkedIn to spread the word about your story. This needs to be done in a way that will increase conversation, avoiding the temptation to be promotional. If you look at where your audience is in the buyer’s journey, those on LinkedIn are in the awareness stage. Therefore, your messages need to be extremely high level.
This is true even for content that contains webinars and content downloads. Once a user signs up or downloads the offer, he or she then becomes a lead, moving into the next stage of the buyer’s journey. But, until that happens, the user is still in the awareness stage.
You can use advertising to help increase the probability of your organic, free content showing up in a follower’s feed. By creating ads just for engagement, you are going to show LinkedIn that you are a company profile that is of interest to your followers’ connections.
Storytelling is a great way to do this because people connect with people and their stories. They do not always connect with brands. Therefore, this is a great way to humanize your brand and create relatable, engaging content.
