How to Post on LinkedIn

Posting on LinkedIn can feel like the single best way to build your personal brand, find new clients, or connect with your industry - and it absolutely can be. This guide will walk you through exactly how to post on LinkedIn, moving beyond just clicking the Post button. We’ll cover the nuts and bolts of creating a post, the types of content that get real engagement, and the lesser-known strategies that turn your feed into a powerful growth tool.

First, Know Your Goal: Why Are You Posting?

Before you write a single word, ask yourself: what am I trying to achieve with this post? The most effective LinkedIn content is created with a clear purpose. Your goal doesn't need to be complex, it just needs to be defined. A clear goal sharpens your message and guides your call-to-action.

Common goals for LinkedIn posts include:

• Building Your Personal Brand: Sharing insights, expertise, and personal stories to establish your authority in your field.
• Generating Leads: Nudging potential clients toward your services by highlighting problems you solve or results you’ve delivered.
• Driving Traffic: Directing your audience to a blog post, a webinar registration, a portfolio, or a product page.
• Networking: Starting conversations with industry peers, potential mentors, or future collaborators.
• Recruiting: Showcasing your company culture and attracting top talent for open roles.

Keep your goal in mind as you move through an idea. A post for generating leads will sound very different from one designed purely to network.

The Basics: A Step-by-Step Guide to Publishing Your Post

Let's walk through the "how" of creating and publishing a post on LinkedIn. The interface is straightforward, but its features have hidden depths that most users miss.

1. Start a New Post

At the top of your LinkedIn homepage, you'll see a box that says "Start a post." Click it. This opens the post composer, your canvas for creating content.

2. Write Your Copy

This is where the magic happens. A strong LinkedIn post is built on compelling writing. Forget clunky corporate jargon and write like a human. Structure your copy like this for maximum impact:

• The Hook (First 1-2 Lines): These opening lines are all anyone will see before they have to click "...see more." Your hook needs to be powerful enough to earn that click. Start with a contrarian opinion, a surprising statistic, a relatable problem, or a personal story. Example: "I turned down my dream job offer. Here's why."
• The Body (The Middle Part): This is the substance of your post. Provide context for your hook, tell your story, share your advice, or explain your perspective. Break up your text into short paragraphs - even single-sentence paragraphs. Wall-of-text posts are kryptonite to a user scrolling their feed on a phone. Use bullet points or numbered lists to make information digestible.
• The Call-to-Action (CTA): End every post by telling your audience what to do next. The easiest CTA is a question. Encouraging conversation in the comments is one of the best ways to signal to the LinkedIn algorithm that your post is valuable. Example: "What's the best career advice you've ever received? Drop it in the comments below!"

3. Add a Visual Element (Highly Recommended)

Posts with visual components - like an image, video, document, or poll - vastly outperform text-only posts. Below the text box in the composer, you'll see icons for different media types:

• Image: Add a photo. This could be a picture from an event, a custom graphic, a behind-the-scenes shot, or even a professional headshot if it's relevant to the story.
• Video: Upload a video file directly. Native video (video uploaded straight to LinkedIn) performs significantly better than linking to a YouTube video. Keep it short - ideally between 30 and 90 seconds. Don’t forget to add captions, as most users watch videos with the sound off.
• Document (Carousel Post): This is a secret weapon. You can upload a PDF, which LinkedIn displays as a slick, scrollable carousel. Use this to share presentation slides, industry reports, or visual breakdowns of a concept. Carousels work amazingly well because they get people to stop scrolling and actively engage with your content.
• Poll: A quick and easy way to create engagement. Polls give your audience a low-effort way to participate in a conversation. Keep the topic relevant to your industry.

4. Include Well-Placed Hashtags

Hashtags help LinkedIn categorize your content and show it to users who are interested in those topics, even if they don't follow you. Don't go crazy here. A good rule of thumb is to use 3 to 5 relevant hashtags at the end of your post.

Combine broad hashtags (like #marketing or #leadership) with more niche ones (like #contentstrategy or #personalbranding) to cover your bases.

5. Tag Relevant People and Pages

Are you mentioning a person or a company in your post? Tag them by typing '@' followed by their name and selecting them from the dropdown list. Tagging does two things: it notifies the person/company that you mentioned them (inviting them to engage) and it makes your post visible to some of their audience, expanding your reach. Only tag people who are genuinely relevant to the post, spam-tagging is a quick way to lose credibility.

6. Schedule or Publish

Finally, you have two options: post it immediately by clicking the blue "Post" button, or schedule it for later. Next to the "Post" button is a small clock icon. Clicking it lets you pick a future date and time for your content to go live. Scheduling is perfect for staying consistent even when you’re busy.

7 Content Ideas That Resonate on LinkedIn

Okay, now you know how to post. But what should you post? Here are seven types of content that consistently perform well and help build your presence.

1. The Personal Story with a Business Lesson

What it is: A narrative about a personal experience - a failure, a triumph, a challenge - that connects to a professional insight.

Why it works: People connect with other people, not with jargon-filled corporate updates. Vulnerability and authenticity build trust and make your professional advice more memorable.

Example: Detail a time you made a big mistake on a project and share the specific lesson it taught you about taking ownership or communicating with clients.

2. The Informative Carousel (PDF Post)

What it is: A multi-page PDF designed with one key idea per page, creating a "carousel" that users swipe through.

Why it works: Carousels increase "dwell time" - the amount of time a user spends on your post. This is a huge positive signal to the LinkedIn algorithm. They're also an excellent format for breaking down complex topics into bite-sized visuals.

Example: Create a 7-slide PDF on "5 Steps to Better Client Onboarding," with a title slide, one slide for each step, and a final call-to-action slide.

3. The Quick Tip Native Video

What it is: A short, selfie-style video (under 90 seconds) where you share a useful piece of advice directly to the camera.

Why it works: Video grabs attention in a way that text can't. Speaking directly to your audience fosters a sense of personal connection, and raw, less-polished videos often feel more authentic than highly-produced ones.

Example: Record a 60-second video sharing your favorite productivity hack or a tool you use every day.

4. The "Contrarian Take" Post

What it is: A post challenging a common piece of industry advice or a popular belief.

Why it works: It's a pattern interrupt. Healthy debate drives comments. As long as your take is well-reasoned and respectful, it can spark a fantastic conversation and position you as a thought leader who thinks critically.

Example: "Everyone says 'hustle hard.' I say 'work smart' is better. Here’s how I get my work done in 4 hours, not 12."

5. The Engagement-Driving Poll

What it is: A multiple-choice question on a topic relevant to your audience.

Why it works: It’s incredibly easy for your followers to participate with a single click, which boosts your engagement signals. Use the post text to add context to the poll and ask people to expand on their answer in the comments.

Example: A poll asking, "What's the biggest challenge for remote teams right now?" with options like "Communication," "Team Culture," "Productivity," and "Other (comment below)."

6. The Strategic "Share"

What it is: Sharing someone else's content or an interesting article, but with your own insightful commentary added on top.

Why it works: Simply clicking "Repost" doesn't add much value. But using the "Share" function and adding your own unique perspective turns someone else's great content into an insightful post of your own. You add value, position yourself as a curator of good information, and can tag the original author.

Example: Share an industry report with a quote function to add your own 2-3 paragraph analysis of why the findings are important.

7. The "Ask Me Anything" Post

What it is: A text post inviting your audience to ask you questions on a specific area of your expertise.

Why it works: It positions you as an approachable expert and generates a ton of authentic conversation in the comments. It’s also an amazing source of customer research - the questions people ask reveal their biggest pain points.

Example: "I've helped 50+ businesses scale with Google Ads over the last decade. What questions do you have about paid search? Ask me anything in the comments!"

Final Thoughts

Knowing how to post on LinkedIn successfully boils down to a simple formula: pair a clear goal with content that genuinely helps, educates, or entertains your audience. It takes consistency and a willingness to engage, but the time you invest in building your voice on the platform can unlock incredible opportunities for your career and business.

Building that consistency was a huge motivation for us when we started designing Postbase. I often found myself forgetting to post or scrambling last minute, which hurt my momentum. We built our visual content calendar so we could easily plan out our LinkedIn topics for weeks ahead of time, from personal stories to sharing company wins. Having a reliable scheduler means we can craft posts when we're feeling creative and trust that they'll go live at just the right time, so we can focus a lot more on the content itself.