You’ve probably heard about Pulse, LinkedIn’s news aggregation platform. Normally, when you publish a blog post, it is automatically sent to the news feed of your connections and followers. Posts featured on Pulse can be seen by all members, which gives you significantly more exposure.
You may have wondered how to get your blog post picked up by Pulse. Is it completely random? Or are there tricks of the trade that help writers get featured regularly on Pulse?
Pulse is similar to an online magazine. All LinkedIn members see the same content here, divided into 85 channels ranging from the most popular, “Leaders and Management,” to topics like “Software Engineering” and “Productivity.” Outside news articles appear here, along with posts written by LinkedIn Influencers and some regular LinkedIn bloggers – like you.
So how can you get your post featured? Let’s peek behind the curtain. Gericke Potgieter has done so much research he wrote an e-book on the topic. My suggestions below reference his work.
- Choose a Pulse Channel To Target
A good place to start is by reading articles featured on Pulse. Which channels attract your attention? Is there a certain channel on which you can imagine your blog post being featured? Remember that the channel may vary from post to post. By reading blog posts that are picked up, you can get an idea of the kind of posts in that channel that are resonating with editors.
Then consider which channels appeal to your target market. Look at the LinkedIn profiles of your clients and prospects to see which channels they follow. Can you write something appropriate for those channels?
- Identify Keywords
Research suggests that each Pulse channel is associated with a “tag cloud” or group of related keywords, which evolves over time. To target a channel, look at posts in that channel to see if you can identify keywords considered relevant.
- Craft Your Headline
The algorithm appears to give special attention to your post’s title. Use one or more keywords in your headline as well as in the text.
- Publish Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday
There’s more LinkedIn traffic on these days. Posts with more views, comments, likes and shares are likely to be picked up. Why? Those posts have already demonstrated that they attract interest and engagement.
- Attract LinkedIn’s Attention by Tweeting Your Post
The LinkedIn editors encourage bloggers to reach out by tweeting the post to @LinkedInPulse. This by no means guarantees the post being featured on Pulse, but it may get an editor to read it. I wouldn’t suggest doing this for every blog post you write, but when you’ve written something you think will resonate with a lot of readers, go for it.
There’s no way to guarantee that your post will be featured on Pulse. However, if you consistently generate quality content and follow these tips, you will build readership over time.