When is the best time to post on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn is one of the easiest social platforms to get reach with your content. Compared to the competitive and saturated platforms of Instagram and Tik Tok, you can get impressive reach without too much effort.

So, I’m going to help you out with the best tips for LinkedIn content, including the best time to post on LinkedIn?

How does the algorithm work on LinkedIn?

LinkedIn’s algorithm works a little differently than other platforms. In some senses it’s simpler. Unlike other platforms your content is distributed by a sort of ripple-effect. As people engage with your content, it gains more momentum. This means that the posting time isn’t as important as it might be on other platforms. It’s more important that you gain traction in the first 15-45 minutes. By traction, I mean likes, comments and importantly dwell time.

This makes finding the best time to post on LinkedIn a little trickier, as it’s not just about the time of posting, it’s about the success the post receives in the first few minutes after posting. 

Posts that get engagement early, tend to get momentum and high reach whatever time of the day. I’ve tested this, a post that gets engagement within 30 mins of posting outperforms a post that gets engagement an hour after posting.

LinkedIn is also the easiest algorithm to beat on this basis. Getting engagement in the first 30 mins gives your post some rocket fuel to get off the launchpad. This is why engagement pods are so popular on LinkedIn.

But… There is a catch with engagement pods on LinkedIn. They can be good to get a post going but they can also ruin your visibility too. If you over-use them the algorithm will favour showing your content just to the other pod members. It can harm your reach if you overcook it.

The best use of engagement pods is to use them as a kick start. A few likes and comments from friends and colleagues just to get your post moving. Don’t overcook it. Remember an engagement pod can get a post going but it will grind to a halt after that if your content isn’t helpful.

When is the best time to post on LinkedIn?

I’ve been posting for almost a decade on LinkedIn. I’ve posted around 4,000 posts on LinkedIn since 2013. The best time to post on LinkedIn can be answered in a couple of ways.

First off, what’s the best time to post for you? I find that once my day starts, I don’t have time to jump onto LinkedIn, so I batch prepare my content and then post it early in the morning. I prefer not to schedule posts, I stick around and engage back with anyone who likes and comments on my posts.

So, my preferred time to post is 7am on weekdays. I also post at 2pm, this is a good time and it coincides with the US waking up and starting work. When I’m speaking or training teams to use LinkedIn to generate leads or leverage social selling, I always recommend people post early between 7am and 8am. It is done before the craziness of the day starts and posts seem to do okay at that time.

What days are best to post on LinkedIn?

This is a little easier. Generally LinkedIn is much quieter on Mondays and Fridays and busy on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays. There is no doubt that it is easier to get reach and engagement in the middle of the week. 

I post daily, so I see the speed of my posts growing and they grow faster on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays.

Weekends? I love posting on weekends. It can be hit and miss. I’ve found that when the weather is good, LinkedIn is much quieter, but on a cold rainy weekend my posts do much better.

How often should you post on LinkedIn?

A final thought, be careful about posting more than once per day. I’ve experimented with it and found that overall your post reach suffers if you share multiple posts in a day. I only do this because I have two audiences I am trying to reach. In my case, an average post for me would be 25k views and 155+ reactions/comments. If I post two, I get maybe half of that across two posts. It’s anecdotal, but my experience is that doubling posts doesn’t double your reach, it reduces your reach by 50%.