5 LinkedIn Insights Worth Stealing: What My Latest Training Taught Me

I recently spent some time on a LinkedIn training course. Whenever I do refresher training, I’m always hoping for a mix of things: validation for what I’m already doing, a few handy reminders and maybe one or two brand-new ideas that make me go, "Ahh, of course!"

So I thought I’d share five practical takeaways that you might find helpful.

1. The Algorithm Rewards Real Conversations (And Patience)

LinkedIn loves to talk about "knowledge sharing" ie: posts that teach, inspire or offer a genuine insight. But it’s still social media. You can spend two hours writing a thought-leadership piece that goes absolutely nowhere, only for a light-hearted, relatable observation to take off.

At the end of the day, LinkedIn wants people to stick around and chat. That means posts that spark a proper conversation get rewarded.

The patience rule: There used to be a common piece of advice saying you should delete a post if it hadn't performed in its first half-hour. Forget that. Posts have a much longer shelf life now. I’ve seen posts sit quietly for a full day and then suddenly pick up two weeks later. Leave them where they are and give them some time before you evaluate the engagement.

2. Comments As Content

A huge amount of visibility happens in the comment section.

Since LinkedIn started showing impressions on comments, it’s been really interesting to see how much reach they actually bring. When you leave a thoughtful, helpful comment on someone else’s post, you aren't just being supportive, you are actively putting your name in front of new eyes and starting conversations where people can see your expertise (or even just get a feel for your personality).

3. LinkedIn is a Tool for AI Search

This was one of the most eye-opening stats from the course. Did you know LinkedIn is one of the most cited professional domains across major AI platforms? For B2B categories, it ranks as the number two domain overall for AI search visibility.

If you want your know-how to show up when people (or AI tools) are searching for your industry, here is what works:

• Write articles: Roughly 65% of that cited AI content comes from LinkedIn articles rather than standard feed posts.

• Keep lengths sensible: For best results with AI citations, articles of around 800 to 1,200 words and feed posts of 200 to 300 words work best.

4. Your Post Copy Still Counts

PDF carousels and videos are brilliant for grabbing attention. But a trap a lot of us fall into is trying to cram our entire message onto the slides themselves.

Treat your carousel like a teaser trailer, just a few main points and clean images on the slides, with the proper detail and context sitting in the post caption (or website link – see point number 5!)

Remember: LinkedIn can’t read the text inside your carousels or videos when it's figuring out who to show your post to. If you want to be found for specific keywords and topics, those words need to live in your written post. Every visual post needs a proper write-up alongside it.

5. To Link or Not to Link?

There’s a myth that putting a website link in your post will impact your reach.

The truth is much simpler: LinkedIn says including web links doesn't hurt performance. What matters is whether the link actually makes sense. For example if you're sharing a breakdown of a new industry report, linking directly to that report is helpful and completely natural. But if you're dropping a sales blurb pointing straight to your homepage (rather than a topic-specific page) just for the sake of it, the post is going to struggle link or no link. Focus on giving value first.

If you want help putting together a LinkedIn copy plan for the next few months, get in touch for a chat.