A guide to crafting LinkedIn articles (With examples)

LinkedIn articles might initially appear superfluous, yet they can be an invaluable tool that goes beyond simply filling your profile. Indeed, a well-crafted LinkedIn article brings manifold benefits to the author, making creating such pieces a valuable investment of your time. Are you curious why this strategy is still a favourite amongst professionals? Let's delve into the world of LinkedIn articles and reveal their potential.

Table of Contents:

• Defining a LinkedIn Article
• Advantages of Publishing LinkedIn Articles
• Crafting a LinkedIn Article
• Exemplary LinkedIn Articles

Defining a LinkedIn article

LinkedIn articles differ from regular updates. They are in-depth compositions which offer a platform to share business-related content, including but not limited to:

• Your knowledge and expertise
• Personal experiences
• Enlightening anecdotes
• Insightful pieces of advice
• Thoughts and opinions

Advantages of publishing LinkedIn articles

As I see it, there are three key benefits of crafting and publishing LinkedIn articles:

Establishes your credibility

In most sectors, it's crucial to establish oneself as an authority and reliable source of information. Clients and prospects seek individuals with expertise in their fields. I'd like to point out that an article that outlines or shows your expertise enables you to position yourself as such.

People possess similar levels of expertise on many topics. However, from a client's perspective, those who have shared their expertise in a public article have validated their knowledge, giving them an edge over others.

Articles spark interest

LinkedIn's main purpose is cultivating relevant connections, enabling you to build a professional network. Therefore, an appropriate article will resonate with industry insiders and encourage you to keep in touch with your network.

Furthermore, LinkedIn articles rank on Google. Hence, if your articles are well-received, they will reach those searching for specific topics you've previously written about. If a potential client is searching for a solution or method to resolve a problem, finding your article increases the likelihood of them reaching out to you. 

Enhances your learning

LinkedIn provides insightful analytics to all authors. You'll see how many people viewed your article, what aspects sparked the most interest, the roles of those who read it, and more.

This can help you understand the audience interested in your topics, helping you prioritise and shape your future articles. Detailed analytics also serve as a compass, letting you know if you're heading in the right direction or your approach needs recalibration.

Crafting a LinkedIn article

When creating a LinkedIn article, relevancy is paramount.

Not all of us generate content for a living. Writing a piece for all your connections might feel intimidating, especially if you must be better versed in article creation.

LinkedIn articles are not solely penned by professional writers or content creators. Whilst it may feel daunting, rest assured that you can create an article that any professional would be proud of with some effort.

Choosing the topic 

Selecting a topic is a critical step in crafting a LinkedIn article. At this stage of the process, you must balance three essential factors:

First, please ensure your content revolves around a familiar subject. This will significantly simplify the process of creating your article, as you'll feel more comfortable discussing it and will require less research before commencing.

Next, create content about a topic your target audience will find engaging. Consider the vital and relevant themes if you're writing for B2B decision-makers.

Lastly, I would like you to explore as unique a topic as possible. This could mean finding a fresh angle on a popular theme, discovering engaging new ideas, delving into niche subjects, or any topic you believe will captivate your target audience.

These factors might seem at odds with each other. Balancing them requires strategy, and the most effective approach is thorough research. What are your target audience's interests? What content are they interacting with? Identifying engaging topics will be easier with these insights.

Selecting your article headline

As mentioned above, your article headline captures the reader's attention. It should accurately reflect the content—readers won't appreciate being led to an article with a misleading, 'clickbait' headline.

Ensure your article headlines are concise and direct. Communicate the article's purpose without overexplaining. Small alterations like this can greatly influence the reader's perception.

Facilitate easy reading

Professional writers employ techniques to increase engagement in their articles. Whilst this could be a separate article in itself, here are three common methods:

• Please keep your introduction, paragraphs and sentences brief and clear. When writing for a business-oriented audience, reaching the point as quickly as possible is best.
• Incorporate images to break up the text. Please pay particular attention to the banner image, as it and the headline make the first impression of your article.
• LinkedIn articles allow up to 125,000 characters, but I recommend keeping articles between 500-750 words to maintain reader engagement. If your article exceeds 1,000 words, consider a reduction.

Examples of LinkedIn articles 

For the last section of this article, I show six examples of excellent LinkedIn articles, and I have written a short explanation of why I believe they are effective. I hope you can get a direction using these articles as inspiration.

• Is John F. Kennedy's quote a vision or an objective? - An article I wrote might have yet to fit here on The Onlinification Hub. However, LinkedIn is a great place to try out quick ideas like this that might have a different home on your usual channels.
• Why digital transformation fails - My colleague Martin Ray's article about the potential pitfalls of large-scale change projects was also published here on our site. However, posting it separately on LinkedIn allows it to reach a different audience who may need to be aware of Zooma's other channels.
• Gated content: The gated vs ungated debate - Stellan has great knowledge about this topic, making a LinkedIn article easy. Importantly, it's straightforward for readers to contact the author via a LinkedIn article if they're interested in learning more about the topic.

Are you ready to create an article? 

You can try LinkedIn articles to see any traction on your topics and content. 

For more insights into using social media for business, please look at our in-depth guide on the topic, and download the accompanying presentation below to use in your organisation.