If you increase your visibility on LinkedIn, then when clients are looking for freelancers, you’ll rank high in search results. You increase your visibility by being active, which is #4 in LinkedIn’s search algorithm criteria.
Being active, also called engagement, is sharing content and engaging with other people on your content and their content. The more active you are, the more people who will see your content. Along withranking high in search results, this will help you build your network and enhance your professional reputation.
Whether you’re posting your own content, responding to comments on your posts and articles, or commenting on other people’s posts and articles, always be professional and helpful.
“On LinkedIn, and on social media in general, the ideal way to increase engagement is to provide value by sharing actionable, practical and insightful content. And perhaps, more importantly, make sure you treat everyone in your network how you would like to be treated by responding promptly to comments, feedback, and questions.” says Dr. Flo Falayi from The Hybrid Leadership Institute in 15 Techniques For Boosting Engagement On LinkedIn.
Spend 1 hour a week on LinkedIn
Once you get used to sharing and engaging, it only takes about 10 minutes a day (Monday through Friday) on LinkedIn to increase your visibility. And you don’t have to do this every day. If you’re super busy, it’s okay to skip a day or two.
Review your LinkedIn feed 2-3 times a day. About once a week, do your own posts.
Increase Your Visibility by Being Active
If you’re just starting to be active on LinkedIn, increase your visibility by reviewing your feed and commenting on other people’s posts. Your feed is the content that shows up when you click on your LinkedIn home page. LinkedIn decides what’s most relevant and shows this to you.
There are 3 ways to engage with other people’s posts:
- Like
- Comment
- Share.
Commenting is the “gold standard” of engagement.
Here’s an example of one of my posts and one comment on it.
This example is one of my comments on another person’s post.
Liking is, frankly, lazy. The person who wrote the post isn’t likely to notice your Like and this won’t help you build a relationship with that person. But you can click Like and then add a comment.
Sharing seems to be a good way to engage others. But LinkedIn’s algorithm doesn’t like shares so they won’t get many views.
If you’re just starting to be active on LinkedIn, review your feed and comment on other people’s posts. Your feed is the content that shows up when you click on your LinkedIn home page. LinkedIn decides what’s most relevant and shows this to you.
Commenting on other people’s posts
Growing your network also increases your visibility. Add new connections build relationships with connections by commenting on other people’s posts. Look for people, especially other freelancers, and posts that are relevant to you so you don’t waste your time.
Commenting is easy to do. And every comment is a mini-ad for your business, because your name and the beginning of your headline show before your comment, along with your photo. Read the post and write a meaningful comment.
Make sure you tag the poster, so he/she gets a notice from LinkedIn about your comment.
How to tag the poster
- Type the @symbol.
- Start to type the poster’s name.
- Choose the poster’s name from the list LinkedIn gives you.
Build your network through comments
Someone who replies to your comment is likely to accept your invite to connect if you decide the person would be a good connection for you.
And read the comments of other people. Commenting on their comments is an easy way to find more relevant people to invite to be part of your network.
Increase Your Visibility by Sharing Your Own Content
Once you’re comfortable on LinkedIn, share relevant content once or twice a week. Every post is a mini-ad for your freelance business. Like comments, posts show your name, the beginning of your headline, and your photo.
Consistency is key. “Be consistent with posting and writing articles. In order to engage followers on any platform, you must have a solid presence and post regularly,” says Dr. Sharon H. Porter, Perfect Time SHP LLC, Coaching, Consulting and Book Publishing Firm in 15 Techniques For Boosting Engagement On LinkedIn.
Along with posts and articles, you can also share videos. I focus here on how to write posts and articles. I’m not covering videos because I think it’s just way too much work to do the high-quality videos that should be shared on social media. But if videos would benefit your specific freelance business and you know how to produce high-quality videos, by all means use them.
Write Engaging, Relevant Posts to Increase YourVisibility
Posts, also called status updates, are the easiest and most effective way to share content. “The best engagement on LinkedIn is likely to come from your posts,” says John Espirian inHow to improve LinkedIn engagement.
Content that your connections and followers would find interesting and valuable is relevant. This includes:
- News and updates about your industry or specialty(ies)
- Tips on being more productive
- Other useful free content, like blog posts, podcasts, and webinars.
Most of what you share should be non-promotional. When you do promote something related to your freelance work, make sure it’s relevant to your connections.
Include at least a few sentences about the content, usually with a link to the full content (news, blog post, etc.). I like to include a headline too. You can also ask a question.
Sign up for e-newsletters and you’ll have a steady stream of content ideas coming to your inbox. Professional associations are also a great source of relevant content you can share.
Increase engagement by responding to every comment people make on your posts. Very few people do this, so if you do, you’ll stand out. And people who comment on your posts are likely to accept an invite to connect from you.
How to write a post
- Go to the top of your LinkedIn home page.
- Click on Start a post.
- Character count limit: 1,300 characters
Ask Questions in Your Posts
If people can answer a question, then they’re more likely to engage with you. You can ask questions in a regular post or use a poll. Doing a regular post with a question lets you add details about the question and start a discussion. But polls are a quick and easy way to engage other people. I’d recommend using a combination of questions with details and polls. LinkedIn polls lets you quickly and easily create polls.
Like other posts, if you want to increase your visibility, you have to make the question or poll relevant and engaging.
How to create a poll:
- Clickstart a post
- Clickcreate a poll (the three bars)
- Type in your question and choose the options
- Select thepoll duration
- ClickNext
- In the edit the post section, select who you want to see your post. (Choose “Anyone” to increase the visibility of your poll)
- ClickPost.
Here’s an example of my first poll.
Views of your posts
LinkedIn lets you see the number of views each post gets. A view means that the post was presented in someone’s home feed. It doesn’t mean that the person read it.
When your 1st-degree connections comment or like one of your posts, their 1st-degree connections (who are your 2nd-degree connections) will see your post.
Choose a Few Relevant Topics to Post About
Rank higher in search results when clients are looking for a freelancer, increase the reach of your posts, and build your authority by posting mostly about a few relevant topics.
Focus on the interests and needs of the people in your LinkedIn network and highlight your expertise. You can share:
- Advice and tips about relevant topics and industries
- News and updates about your industry or specialty(ies)
- Other useful free content, like blog posts, industry reports, podcasts, and webinars.
Here are some examples of relevant topics:
Jeremy (Jerm) Day-Storms
Freelance Medical Writer
- Medical writing
- Clinical practice guidelines and recommendations
Núria Negrão, PhD
Freelance CME writer and a speaker on AI strategy & implementation
- AI
- AI in medical writing
- Effective communication and teaching in science and medicine
Kathy Adamson, DVM
Freelance Medical Writer
- Animal health
- Quality of life for freelancers.
Consistently posting about these topics helps Jerm, Núria, and Kathy build their visibility and authority on LinkedIn.
Learn more
How 3 Freelancers Maximize Opportunities by Being Active on LinkedIn
Write Expert Articles to Increase YourVisibility
You can also write your own articles and post them on LinkedIn. In general, posts are just as good as articles, if not better, for ranking in search results and building your network.
But articles can help you highlight your expertise. “Sharing your own content and publishing articles is a great way to build up thought leadership on your topic,” says Marvellous Aham-adi in7 LinkedIn Marketing Tips to Increase Your Visibility.
When you publish an article, it becomes part of your LinkedIn profile. LinkedIn shares it with your connections and followers in their feeds, and sometimes through notifications. And you can send links to your articles to clients, prospective clients, and freelance friends.
Make sure your articles are relevant to your target clients and freelance friends. Think about topics that you know well that they need or want to know more about. Write informally but professionally. Don’t be promotional.
Add an image at the beginning of your post. At the end of your post, include a brief bio with a link to your website (or your LinkedIn profile if you don’t have a website yet).
How to write an article:
- Go to the top of your LinkedIn home page.
- Click on Write an article, just below Start a post.
- Character count limit:
- Headline – 100 characters
- Article – 40,000 characters
Views of your articles
LinkedIn also shows you the number of views of your articles. An article view means the person clicked through to your article.
2 More Ways to Increase Your Visibility
Increase your visibility by using images with your posts and articles. Images increase the number of views of a post or article and engagement. Build your network by inviting relevant people to connect with you.
Use images
If you’re linking to content that’s on the web, when you type the URL in your post, then LinkedIn will pick up the image from that content.
If you need to create an image for your posts (or articles), this isn’t hard. And you can do it for free.
Free services like Pixaby have decent images. Then use the free version of Canva to create images in the right size and if you want to, add text. Canva has also some free photos, icons, shapes, etc. And Canva has a free design school to help you learn how to create images.
I created all of the images in this post using Canva.
LinkedIn post image size:
- 1,200 by 628 pixels
LinkedIn article image size:
- 744 x 400 pixels
Invite relevant people to connect with you
When someone comments on your post or article, read his/her title. If the person seems like a good connection for you, click on his/her profile and invite him/her to be part of your LinkedIn network. You can write something like:
“Thanks for commenting on my post on XYZ [name]. Please join my LinkedIn network.”
And, of course, reply to the comment.
Learn more about building your LinkedIn network
10 Ways to Get 500+ Connections on LinkedIn Fast
Your LinkedIn Profile and Your Network
While your LinkedIn activity helps you rank higher in search results, your profile is the #1 thing LinkedIn’s algorithm uses in ranking search results. And your network is #2.
This post is about LinkedIn activity, but here’s quick overview of profiles and networks, with links to more information.
Develop a Complete, Client-Focused Profile
You need to meet LinkedIn’s requirements for a complete profile to be ranked high. And you need to write a compelling client-focused profile. To attract high-paying clients, your profile needs to use the right keywords and you need a strong headline and beginning of your About section. Also, you need to use the right keywords.
A complete profile has the right content:
- Industry and location
- Profile photo
- Current position (under Experience)
- Two past positions
- Education
- At least 3 skills.
You also need to have at least 50 connections.
Learn how to write a complete, client-focused profile
Ultimate LinkedIn Profile Checklist for Freelancers
The Ultimate LinkedIn Profile for Freelance Success This Year
The Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Freelancers
Connect with the Right People
Aim for 500 + relevant connections—people who work in your industry(ies), do similar work, or are related to you and your work in another way. This will give you access to at least 250,000 people, including lots of potential clients.
Getting 500+ LinkedIn connections is easier than you might think. You don’t need to know someone personally to connect with them. But you do need to have something in common.
Always send personal invitations when you invite people to join your LinkedIn network. There are many ways to find people to invite, including:
- Using the member directories of professional associations
- Following up on networking contacts
- Inviting clients and past clients
- Taking advantage of LinkedIn features like People You May Know and People Who Viewed Your Profile
Learn how to build your LinkedIn network
10 Ways to Get 500+ Connections on LinkedIn Fast
Learn More About Being Active on LinkedIn
Mighty Marketer Content
Free tools:
The Ultimate Guide to LinkedIn for Freelancers: How to Get Freelance Work and Grow Your Business
Ultimate LinkedIn Profile Checklist for Freelancers
Blog posts:
How 3 Freelancers Maximize Opportunities by Being Active on LinkedIn
10 Ways to Get 500+ Connections on LinkedIn Fast
The Ultimate LinkedIn Profile for Freelance Success This Year
9 LinkedIn Mistakes that Keep Clients from Finding You
How Clients Find Freelancers Like You on LinkedIn
Other Content
John Espirian, How to improve LinkedIn engagement
Marvellous Aham-adi, 7 LinkedIn Marketing Tips to Increase Your Visibility, Top Dog Social Media,
Expert Panel, 15 Techniques For Boosting Engagement On LinkedIn, Forbes
