LinkedIn's Algorithm: What you need to know

If you’ve noticed your organisation’s LinkedIn posts aren’t reaching as many people as they used to, you’re not alone.

The platform has undergone significant changes  and understanding how the algorithm now works can help you create more impact with your content.

LinkedIn’s organic performance has taken a considerable hit:

• Views down 50%
• Engagement down 25%
• Follower growth down 59%.

Whilst this might sound discouraging, the algorithmic focus is smart and actually presents an opportunity for organisations that focus on quality and authenticity.

The algorithm is getting smarter at recognising genuine value. LinkedIn is now better at detecting engagement bait and prioritising meaningful conversations instead, with posts that generate thoughtful discussions more likely to reach a wider audience.

What LinkedIn’s algorithm prioritises now

These are three newly prioritised ranking signals – all designed to keep people on platform:

• Dwell time: How long people actually spend reading your content
• Saves: A strong signal that your content has lasting value
• Authentic dialogue: Real conversations in the comments, not just emojis and one-word responses

Story-driven carousels

Carousels remain the most powerful content format on LinkedIn, delivering four times more reach than standard posts. But there’s a crucial shift: simple tip lists and generic slideshows no longer cut through. The carousels that perform are those that tell a compelling story or reveal something genuinely useful.

For non-profits, this is a great opportunity to tell stories and reveal insight. You could walk through a project or beneficiary journey, show the before-and-after of your intervention, or break down a complex issue into an engaging infographic or narrative. Think of each slide as a chapter that pulls people forward, not just bullet points on a screen.

People connect with people

Personal stories and human experiences now outperform statistics, data dumps, and abstract facts.

Share your beneficiaries’ journeys. Feature your team members’ insights and why they’re passionate about the cause. Show the real faces behind your impact. A post about “Sarah, who found stable housing after 18 months in our programme” will always perform better than “We housed 127 people this quarter.”

The algorithm recognises when content generates emotional engagement—the comments that say “this moved me” or “I had no idea”—and prioritises it.

State your position

Rather than asking questions, share bold perspectives about the issues you’re working on. Posts that make people feel something—hope, urgency, solidarity—perform significantly better than neutral queries.

Don’t ask “What do you think about climate change?” Instead, declare “Here are three things most people misunderstand about climate change, and why it matters.”

Take a position. Your expertise on your cause is valuable; the algorithm now rewards you for demonstrating it.

Embrace depth over brevity

Longer posts (between 1,300-3,000 characters) perform 38% better. If you’ve got something meaningful to say about your cause, don’t be afraid to take the space to say it properly. Just ensure it’s genuinely worth reading.

The days of “short and snappy wins” are over. LinkedIn users are actively seeking substance. They want depth, to learn something, understand something, or feel something.

Structure matters

Posts with fewer than seven paragraphs perform 74% worse. Break up your content with white space, use short paragraphs, and create a natural rhythm that’s easy to scan on mobile.

Think of structure as breathing room for your readers. Even if your content is 2,000 characters long, proper paragraph breaks, clear line spacing, and a logical flow make it feel accessible rather than daunting.

External links are back

This is a significant shift: useful links can now increase performance by 236%. If you’re sharing resources, reports, or campaign pages that genuinely help your audience, include them. Posts with three valuable links perform best. Relevance trumps keeping people on the platform.

For non-profits, this is particularly valuable. Link to your impact reports, campaign sign-up pages, and resource hubs without worrying about algorithmic penalties. If the links serve your audience, the algorithm rewards it.

Post timing has evolved

In mid-June 2025, LinkedIn implemented an algorithm adjustment designed to prioritise relevance over strict recency in user feeds, meaning posts can now appear at the top of feeds days or even weeks after publication. Good content that gets saved, shared, or meaningfully discussed will keep resurfacing. Whilst early engagement still helps, sustained relevance is what truly matters now.

This is excellent news for mission-driven organisations. Your evergreen content about your cause, your values, and your impact can have a much longer lifespan. Focus on creating content that remains valuable beyond the first 24 hours.

Plus, weekends work.

Sundays now reach more people than any weekday. With less competition for attention, it’s an ideal time to share thoughtful, reflective content about your mission.

Consider using Sunday for your most story-driven content—the posts that require people to slow down and engage deeply. Your audience is more likely to be in that mindset at the weekend.

Moving away from old tactics

Hashtags have lost their power as a reach driver. Whilst they still help organise content, they won’t significantly boost your visibility anymore.

Generic engagement tactics like “Comment below if you agree” are being actively deprioritised. The platform wants authentic dialogue, not artificial interaction.

LinkedIn is moving towards rewarding organisations that demonstrate genuine expertise and share content that truly serves their audience. For non-profits, this is encouraging news. You’re not competing on budget or viral tactics—you’re competing on the strength of your mission, the authenticity of your voice, and the real-world impact you’re creating.

Lead with human stories. Use carousels to tell those stories compellingly. Don’t be afraid to take a clear position on the issues you’re tackling and give your insights the depth they deserve. The algorithm is finally catching up to what humans have always valued: substance, clarity, and genuine connection.

Video has not been at the forefront of these algorithmic updates, but the latest stats suggest video is still the best performing format for LinkedIn, with 1.4x more interactions and 20x more shares than other formats.

Interestingly this video on LinkedIn Marketing is pushing some of the same themes as above regarding human stories.