How to Make a Good LinkedIn Post

Crafting a LinkedIn post that actually gets traction can feel like a complete puzzle. You aren’t just sharing an update, you’re building your professional brand, one post at a time. This guide will walk you through the key elements of writing posts that get seen, spark conversations, and help you build meaningful connections.

Understand Your Goal: What Are You Trying to Achieve?

Before you write a single word, take a moment to define your post's purpose. Every great piece of content starts with a clear goal. Are you trying to:

• Build thought leadership? Share your unique perspective, a contrarian opinion, or an insightful analysis on an industry trend.
• Drive traffic? Your goal is to get people to click a link to your blog, portfolio, or a new product page.
• Generate leads? Encourage potential clients to book a call, download a resource, or get in touch.
• Announce something new? Share company news, a personal achievement, or a team update with the world.
• Attract talent? Showcase your company culture and why your company is a great place to work.

Your goal shapes the entire post. A story meant to build your personal brand will feel very different from an announcement post designed to attract job applicants. Knowing your "why" from the beginning keeps your message clear and effective.

The Anatomy of a Compelling LinkedIn Post

While topics and tones will vary, successful LinkedIn posts almost always share a similar structure. Think of it as a simple three-part formula: the hook, the body, and the call to action.

1. The Hook: Capture Attention in the First Two Lines

On LinkedIn, you see about two lines of a post before being prompted to click "...see more." If those first two lines don’t instantly grab a reader's attention, you've already lost them. Your hook is everything.

Here are a few powerful techniques to write a compelling hook:

• Start with a bold or unpopular opinion: "Unpopular opinion: Hustle culture is a trap."
• Ask a provocative question: "What if everything you've learned about leadership is wrong?"
• State a surprising statistic: "90% of startups fail, but not for the reason you think."
• Get personal and vulnerable: "The biggest professional mistake I ever made taught me one simple lesson."
• Address a common pain point: "Feeling burnt out? You’re not alone, and it’s not your fault."

Make your opening line impossible to ignore. A great hook makes clicking that "...see more" button an immediate, thoughtless action for the reader.

2. The Body: Deliver Value and Tell a Story

Once you’ve hooked your reader, the body of your post needs to deliver on that opening promise. This is where you provide real value, and the best way to do that is often through storytelling. Humans are wired for stories, not for corporate jargon.

Frame your content around a relatable narrative: a personal experience, a client success story, a lesson learned from failure, or an observation from your daily work. Then, structure that story for maximum readability.

Tips for a Reader-Friendly Body:

• Use plenty of white space. No one wants to read a giant wall of text on their phone. Keep paragraphs extremely short - often just one or two sentences per line. The "enter" key is your best friend.
• Make it scannable. Use bullet points, numbered lists, or emojis to break up your text and highlight key takeaways. This allows readers to skim your post and still extract the core value.
• Be authentic. Write like you talk. Ditch the overly formal language and let your personality shine through. Relatability builds trust far better than trying to sound important.

A good story follows a simple arc: it presents a problem or challenge, explores the struggle, and reveals a solution or lesson. This structure keeps readers engaged from the hook to the final word.

3. The Call to Action (CTA): Tell People What to Do Next

You’ve grabbed their attention and provided value. Now what? Don't leave your readers hanging. Every single post should end with a clear Call to Action that tells them precisely what to do next. Your CTA should align directly with the goal you set at the beginning.

Examples of Effective CTAs:

• To encourage conversation: "What's the best career advice you've ever received? Share it in the comments below!"
• To generate deeper discussion: "Do you agree or disagree? Let me know your thoughts."
• To drive traffic: "I wrote a full guide on this topic. You can find the link in the first comment!" (Note: Many creators post links in the first comment, believing it helps reach. While the LinkedIn algorithm's official stance is neutral, this practice is common and keeps the main post clean.)
• To build community: "Follow me for more daily tips on marketing and personal branding."

A post without a CTA is a missed opportunity. It ends the experience instead of inviting your reader to become part of the conversation or your professional circle.

4. Hashtags: Extend Your Reach Wisely

Hashtags help people discover your content, but using them correctly is key. Think of them as topic-based keywords for your post.

• Stick to 3-5 hashtags. Overloading your post with dozens of hashtags looks spammy and can dilute your message.
• Use a mix of broad and niche tags. For example, a post about creating a brand might use a broad tag like #Marketing, a more focused one like #BrandingStrategy, and a niche one like #PersonalBrandBuilding.
• Avoid generic or useless tags. Something like #success or #work is too broad to attract a relevant audience. Be as specific as you can.

Choosing the Right Format for Your Message

Your message's effectiveness often depends on its format. LinkedIn supports several content types, and rotating between them keeps your feed fresh and engaging.

Text-Only Posts

Don't underestimate "broetry" - the style of short, single-line paragraphs. Text posts are stripped-down and perfect for storytelling, sharing opinions, or asking questions. Because there’s no visual element, your success hinges entirely on your hook and formatting.

Image & Carousel Posts

A strong visual can stop the scroll in a crowded feed. Use high-quality, relevant images - not generic stock photos. Take images of things on your real day, or photos from one day when making content.

Carousels (which are simply PDFs uploaded as a multi-page document) are incredibly powerful. They let you break down complex topics into bite-sized slides, creating an interactive experience that boosts your "dwell time" (how long someone spends on your post). Use free tools like Canva to design clean, professional-looking carousels for how-to guides, lists, and deep-dives.

Native Video

Video is a fantastic way to connect with your audience more personally. "Native" means uploading the video file directly to LinkedIn rather than just sharing a YouTube or Vimeo link. LinkedIn privileges native content over external links.

• Keep it short. Aim for 1-2 minutes. Attention spans are short, so get to the point quickly.
• Add captions. Over 80% of social media videos are watched without sound. Use a tool like Descript to easily generate and add captions so your message isn't lost.

Polls

Want a quick engagement boost? LinkedIn Polls are a low-effort way to interact with your network. Pose a relevant question with 2-4 clear options and watch the votes roll in. Always follow up in the comments with your own thoughts to kickstart the discussion around the results.

Best Practices and Pro-Tips for Maximum Impact

• Time it right. Post when your audience is most likely to be online. This is often during the morning commute (8-10 am), over lunch (12-1 pm), and at the end of the workday (4-6 pm) on weekdays. But test, because your audience might look really different!
• Engage with your comments. Don't just post and ghost. Responding to comments is perhaps the most important thing you can do. It signals to the algorithm that your post is sparking valuable conversation, and it shows your audience you value their input. Try to reply with a question to keep the dialogue flowing.
• Tag thoughtfully. Tagging relevant people or companies in your post can increase its visibility, as it notifies them directly. But don't spam-tag. Only mention those who are legitimately connected to your content, otherwise, it's just poor networking etiquette.

Putting It Together: A Real-World Example

Let's map out a complete LinkedIn post based on all these principles.

Goal: Build thought leadership around a better work culture.

[The Hook]
Unpopular opinion: "Work-life balance" is a myth designed to make you feel bad.

The entire concept suggests work is heavy, stressful, and something you must meticulously counterbalance with life to survive.

[The Body - Story & Value]
For years, I chased it.

I blocked my calendar, said "no" more often, and shut my laptop at 5 PM on the dot.

But I was still exhausted and uninspired.

I realized the problem wasn't the balance. It was that the *work* itself was draining me.

Chasing "balance" is a defensive game.

The goal shouldn't be balance. It should be integration.

Finding work so engrossing, meaningful, and fun that it doesn't feel like something you have to escape from. It just becomes a fulfilling part of your life.

[The CTA]
Have you found work-life integration over balance?

Would love to hear how you approach this in the comments below.

[Hashtags]
#WorkCulture #Leadership #FutureOfWork #MentalHealth

This post works because it has a provocative hook, uses storytelling, is formatted for easy mobile reading, and ends with a clear call to start a conversation.

Final Thoughts

Building a strong personal brand and a large following on LinkedIn depends on consistency. The core principles of an effective post mirror the principles of human connection: start with a strong hook, provide genuine value through storytelling, encourage a response, and choose the right format for your audience. Stick with these fundamentals, and crafting engaging content will become second nature - creating a connection your readers will value.

Staying consistent is often the hardest part, especially when you're balancing content creation with other responsibilities. It can be hard to produce great content every single day. That’s why we built Postbase. Unlike older scheduling platforms with limited features, our tool is designed for the modern content creator. You can plan your Reels, Stories, carousels, and other content across all your platforms in one app and manage all your DMs, comments, and reactions from a single, organized inbox. If you've been wrestling with clunky platforms, see what Postbase can offer you in 2024.