How to Become a LinkedIn Top Voice

Earning that coveted blue Top Voice badge on your LinkedIn profile is more than just a vanity metric, it's a powerful signal of your expertise and a proven way to stand out in a crowded field. This guide provides a clear, actionable roadmap to earning that badge. We'll cover everything from optimizing your profile and defining your niche to mastering the art of high-impact contributions that get you noticed.

What Exactly is a LinkedIn Top Voice?

First, let's clear up a common point of confusion. There are actually two main types of "Top Voice" designations on LinkedIn, and the one we're focused on today is the more accessible and community-driven version.

• LinkedIn Top Voice (Gold Badge): This is an invitation-only program for senior-level experts and leaders, often referred to as LinkedIn Influencers. You can't apply for this, LinkedIn selects them based on their influence and thought leadership on and off the platform.
• Community Top Voice (Blue Badge): This is the badge you see on profiles recognizing contributions to specific skills. It’s earned by making consistent, high-quality contributions to LinkedIn's Collaborative Articles. This is the badge that’s attainable through dedicated effort, and it’s what this guide will help you achieve.

The blue badge signals to anyone visiting your profile that you are a go-to expert in specific areas like "Brand Strategy," "Content Marketing," or "Software Development." When you show up in someone’s feed or in a comment thread with that badge, it immediately adds weight to what you have to say.

Step 1: Laying the Groundwork for Credibility

Before you write a single contribution, you need to make sure your professional storefront - your LinkedIn profile - is ready for visitors. Think of it this way: the Top Voice badge is the sign above the door, but your profile is the experience inside. If it’s empty or confusing, people won’t stick around.

Optimize Your LinkedIn Profile

Your profile is the foundation of your personal brand on LinkedIn. When people see a quality contribution from you and click on your name, your profile needs to instantly communicate your expertise. Here’s a quick checklist:

• Professional Headshot: Use a clear, high-quality photo where you look approachable and professional. No blurry vacation photos or company logos.
• Compelling Headline: Don't just list your job title. Your headline is a mini-pitch. Use keywords related to your target skills. Instead of just "Marketing Manager," try something like "Marketing Manager | B2B SaaS Growth & Demand Generation | Top Brand Strategy Voice."
• The "About" Section: This is your chance to tell your story. Don't just list skills, explain your philosophy, your passion, and the value you bring. Write it in the first person and show some personality.
• The "Featured" Section: Pin your best work here. This could be a link to your portfolio, a high-performing post you wrote, a keynote presentation you gave, or a published article. It's your personal highlight reel.
• Skill Endorsements: Ensure the skills you want to be recognized for are listed prominently in your skills section and have endorsements from your network.

Define Your Niche and Content Pillars

You can't be a Top Voice in everything. The key to success is getting very specific. When the algorithm and viewers see a consistent theme across your content and contributions, they quickly learn what you’re all about.

Instead of a broad topic like "business," focus on a niche like "startup fundraising for pre-seed founders" or "operations management for e-commerce brands." This specificity makes you more memorable and builds your authority much faster.

Once you have your niche, define 3-5 content pillars. These are the main themes you'll talk about repeatedly. For a social media marketer, the pillars might be:

• Organic Community Building
• Short-Form Video Strategy
• Social Media Analytics & Reporting
• Creator Economy Trends

These pillars will guide not only your collaborative article contributions but also the content you post on your own feed, creating a cohesive and powerful personal brand.

Step 2: The Core Strategy - Mastering Collaborative Articles

This is where the magic happens. The direct path to a blue Community Top Voice badge is through consistent, valuable contributions to Collaborative Articles.

What are Collaborative Articles?

Think of them as articles-in-progress, started by LinkedIn using AI prompts and powered by the insights of human experts - like you. LinkedIn poses a question, such as "What are the most effective ways to build a community around a new product?" and then community members contribute their perspectives in different sub-sections.

The contributions are then rated by other community members. Providing some of the most helpful and insightful answers gets your contribution featured, often with a "Top Contribution" mention. Rack up enough of these, and you’ll earn the Top Voice badge for that skill.

How to Find and Contribute

Finding relevant articles is simple once you know where to look. The best way is to go directly to the skill pages for your areas of expertise. Here's how:

1. Navigate to a skill page directly by typing its URL: https://www.linkedin.com/skill/[skill-name]/. For example, for brand strategy, you would visit https://www.linkedin.com/skill/brand-strategy/.
2. Scroll down a bit, and you will see a large section dedicated to "Contribute your experience to collaborative articles about [Skill Name]."
3. Click on the questions that interest you and find sections where you can add a meaningful perspective.

Pro tip: When you first start, focus on questions that just came out or that have fewer than 10 contributions. This gives you a better chance of your comment being seen, read, and upvoted before the conversation gets too crowded.

Writing Contributions That Get You Noticed

Simply showing up isn’t enough. The quality of your contributions is what separates the badge-earners from everyone else. Here’s a simple framework for writing stand-out answers:

Go Beyond Generic Advice

Anyone can say, "It's important to be authentic." A top contributor will explain how to be authentic and give an example. Share data, a personal experience, a short case study, or a unique point of view.

• Weak example: "You should use good storytelling in your marketing."
• Strong example: "Good storytelling uses a simple framework: hero, obstacle, resolution. We recently launched a campaign where our customer was the hero, their outdated software was the obstacle, and our product provided the resolution. This narrative structure boosted our click-through rates by 35% compared to feature-focused ads."

Structure for Readability

Make your contributions easy to scan. No one wants to read a giant wall of text. Use:

• Short paragraphs (2-3 sentences max)
• Bullet points or numbered lists
• Bold text to emphasize key points

This simple formatting makes your expertise more digestible and accessible, which often leads to more positive reactions from readers.

Keep it Concise and Focused

LinkedIn gives you a character limit for a reason. Your goal is to deliver maximum value in a compact package. Write a clear, focused response that directly answers the specific prompt in its section. Don't try to cover everything. Just make one or two strong points and back them up well. Often, a 75-word paragraph packed with actionable and specific advice is more valuable than a 300-word essay filled with fluff.

Step 3: Amplify Your Efforts with a Consistent Content Strategy

While collaborative articles are the direct mechanism for earning the Top Voice badge, your activity on the rest of the platform helps solidify your authority. LinkedIn’s algorithms favor users who are active and engaged. Having a holistic strategy supports your mission and speeds up the recognition process.

Post Consistently on Your Feed

You should regularly be posting content on your LinkedIn feed that aligns with your niche and content pillars. This builds an audience, reinforces your expertise, and shows LinkedIn that you're a serious creator on the platform. It's one more data point that says, "This person really knows about [your skill]."

Mix up your content formats to keep things interesting:

• Text-only posts: Share stories, a unique point of view, or ask engaging questions.
• Carousels: Use a PDF to create a swipeable slideshow that breaks down a complex topic into simple steps.
• Short-form video: Share quick tips or a behind-the-scenes look at your work.
• Polls: A simple way to generate quick engagement and learn about your audience.

Aim for a minimum of 2-3 posts per week to stay top-of-mind and build momentum.

Engage Authentically with Your Network

Remember, LinkedIn is a social network. Don't just post and ghost. Set aside 15-20 minutes each day to engage thoughtfully with others.

• Leave Substantive Comments: Find other thought leaders in your niche and leave comments on their posts that add value to the conversation. Go beyond just "Great post!" and share your own perspective or ask a follow-up question.
• Respond to Your Own Comments: When people take the time to comment on your content, always reply. This fosters a community around your content and boosts your post's visibility.

Step 4: Tracking Your Progress and Staying Motivated

Getting the Top Voice badge is a marathon, not a sprint. It takes time and consistent effort, so it's a good idea to know how to track your progress to stay motivated.

Check Your Skill Page Rankings

Go back to the same skill page where you find collaborative articles. On the right-hand panel, you’ll see a list of "Top voices in [Skill Name]." As you contribute more and get reactions, you will begin to show up in this ranking, often with a notification like "Top 5% of voices." Seeing yourself climb this ladder is an excellent motivator and shows you that your efforts are paying off long before you receive the final badge.

Patience is Part of the Process

Don't be discouraged if you don't get the badge after a few weeks. The key is to focus on the process of adding genuine value to your community. If you consistently show up and share what you know with the goal of helping others, the recognition will eventually follow. The connections you build and the brand you establish along the way are valuable on their own.

Final Thoughts

Earning a LinkedIn Top Voice badge comes down to consistently providing authentic value within a specific niche. By optimizing your profile, mastering collaborative article contributions, and amplifying your expertise through a solid content and engagement strategy, you can position yourself as a recognized expert in your field.

Building this kind of authority requires a consistent flow of content, not just in collaborative articles but on your main feed too. I've found that using our own tool, Postbase, is a massive help here. We built its visual content calendar specifically to plan out posts weeks ahead, which makes it feel effortless to stay on top of a demanding schedule. When you can schedule your core content reliably, you free up mental space to focus on what really matters - writing those insightful contributions that earn you recognition.