Are you looking for a job? To kick your career up a notch? Or to widen the horizon of your professional network? LinkedIn is the answer!
But what are the odds that your LinkedIn content will stand out in a sea of digital competition? That’s where search engine optimization (SEO) enters the scene. And when it comes to this, consider leveraging LinkedIn hashtag analytics.
Don’t worry—This page covers everything you should know about LinkedIn hashtag analytics. Read on to learn the following:
- What LinkedIn SEO entails;
- What LinkedIn hashtag analytics is and how it works; and,
- How to leverage hashtag analytics for LinkedIn SEO.
Ready? Let’s dive right in!
Table of Contents
An overview of LinkedIn SEO
LinkedIn has over one billion users worldwide from about 200 countries and regions. It has 67 million companies, 133 thousand schools, and over 40 thousand skills listed. So, the chance to connect with businesses, employers, clients, and other professionals on the platform is boundless.
But how do you ensure your profile discoverability and content visibility on the platform? LinkedIn SEO is the answer!
SEO is the process of optimizing a site and content for online visibility and website traffic. It aims to rank high on the search engine results pages (SERP). There are many sources with tips on how to improve a website’s SEO and get higher in ranking. The same SEO intent applies to the LinkedIn platform.
As such, LinkedIn SEO involves optimizing your profile and content for their discoverability and visibility on the platform. The goal is to increase the LinkedIn views on your profile and posts, hoping to gain more and more connections.
Whether you are looking for a job, promoting your business, or expanding your network, you want to appear prominently for relevant searches and get discovered for more networking opportunities.
For example, you can share an article about how auto loans work on LinkedIn as a car financing company. Optimizing your content using relevant keywords and popular hashtags will attract the right clients who might be interested in your auto financial services.
Learn how using hashtag analytics becomes crucial to LinkedIn SEO in the next section.
LinkedIn hashtag analytics as an integral part of SEO
Following the LinkedIn analytics guide is crucial to examining and improving your platform performance. However, let’s be more specific by focusing on hashtags.
See how a CEO of a BPO company uses hashtags for his LinkedIn post as an example:
You can use hashtags for your LinkedIn profile and posts. They serve as a means for labeling and categorizing your content. That way, they appear in relevant searches on the platform.
Learn more about LinkedIn hashtag analytics below.
What is LinkedIn hashtag analytics?
LinkedIn hashtag analytics entails measuring and evaluating the hashtag impact incorporated in your LinkedIn profile, business page, posts, and other content.
This tool lets you see if the hashtags used help boost your discoverability and visibility on the platform. Hence, you can make the necessary adjustments by using the right hashtags.
Suppose your business offers freight factoring for trucking companies. In this case, you must use the following hashtags on LinkedIn to attract business-to-business (B2B) clients:
- #FreightFactoring
- #TruckingFinance
- #InvoiceFactoring
- #TruckingIndustry
- #FreightPayment
LinkedIn hashtag analytics typically include metrics such as:
- Impressions measure the number of times your posts with particular hashtags have been displayed.
- Engagement includes the number of likes, comments, and shares on posts with specific hashtags.
- Clicks refer to the number of clicks on the posts that contain the hashtag showing user interest.
- Follows measures the number of new followers gained through posts with particular hashtags.
- Reach is the total number of unique users who have seen your posts with specific hashtags.
How does LinkedIn hashtag analytics work?
LinkedIn hashtag analytics work by researching and using the right hashtags. You then incorporate these words or phrases (like keywords) on the following:
- LinkedIn profile
- Business page
- Posts
- Comments
- Other content pieces
You can use some of the best social media analytics tools for your LinkedIn hashtags. LinkedIn algorithms factor in hashtags as a way to categorize content. With these keywords in place, they allow profiles, posts, and content pieces to appear to relevant people or related searches.
If you are selling pre-owned Rolex, for instance, you can use popular and relevant hashtags like:
#PreOwnedRolex
- #LuxuryWatches
- #WatchCollectors
- #RolexForSale
- #VintageRolex
- #SecondHandWatches
- #TimepieceCollector
That allows your content to appear right before the eyes of Rolex watch users or collectors who are on the LinkedIn platform. That’s the beauty of leveraging LinkedIn hashtag analytics to improve your discoverability and visibility on the platform.
Learn how to use one for your LinkedIn SEO in the next section.
How to leverage hashtag analytics for LinkedIn SEO
Earlier, you learned much about LinkedIn hashtag analytics and how it works. Now, it’s time to leverage it for your LinkedIn SEO.
The biggest question is:
How can you use LinkedIn hashtag analytics to increase your visibility, boost your discoverability, and improve your connections or engagement?
Here’s how:
1. Study your audience
The first thing to consider is your target audience on LinkedIn. But, of course, it depends on your professional or business goals on the platform.
If you’re in real estate specializing in house flipping, research on the demographics, psychographics, and attributes of individuals interested in buying and selling properties. Your target audiences are most likely real estate investors or homeowners renting or leasing multiple properties.
To identify your target audience on LinkedIn, ask the following questions:
- Are you looking for a job? Your target audiences are employers related to your profession.
- Do you plan to advance your career? Your target audiences are employers, industry experts, and other professionals who can help you grow professionally.
- Are you seeking to expand your network? Your target audiences are other professionals in your niche or industry.
- Do you plan to grow your business? Your target audiences are potential and regular customers thriving on the platform.
Understanding your target audience helps you use the hashtags relevant to them for visibility on the platform.
After studying your target audience, it’s time to look for relevant hashtags that resonate with them. Of course, it takes LinkedIn research and competitor analysis to unpack a goldmine of potential keywords.
To find the right hashtags, follow one or all of the three methods below:
- Manual search: As the name suggests, this method involves manually looking for relevant hashtags on the platform. All it takes is navigating to your LinkedIn account and typing in the hashtags you want to search. Then, you can see posts with hashtags that individuals and businesses use. Finally, you can see how many people follow those keywords and decide whether to use them.
- Using Chrome extension: This extension allows you to perform your hashtag analysis. Simply add the Hashtag Analytics Chrome extension and connect your account to your LinkedIn account. Finally, click the Google Extensions icon to access the Hashtag Analytics search tab.
- Leveraging analytics tools: Various tools for hashtag analysis are readily available in the market. However, they vary from one social media analytics to another. Keyhole is a perfect example of a tool capable of tracking LinkedIn hashtags, scheduling posts, monitoring profiles, and more. Look at the hashtag ‘#shopify’ below and see what the analytics tool reveals:
At this point, you have a list of potential hashtags you can use for your LinkedIn content. Of course, they vary from one niche or business to another. However, these keywords must be relevant to your target audience and platform goals.
ChatGPT provides a list of the most popular hashtags used on the LinkedIn platform:
With a list of relevant hashtags, you can now produce and publish content pieces on the platform. But even after your hashtag analysis, use these keywords appropriately. You can incorporate some on your LinkedIn profile, posts, comments, and other content pieces.
4. Track your hashtag analytics
After incorporating hashtags into your content pieces, it’s best to monitor and measure your performance. You can base your performance on the abovementioned metrics: impressions, engagement, clicks, follows, and reach. Have you seen an increase in the number of these metrics?
Of course, you can utilize hashtag analytics and tracking tools to monitor, measure, and analyze your performance. From there, you can see which keywords make a difference in your platform visibility. Then, you can decide what hashtags to use and what to ditch out.
Finally, you can optimize your hashtag strategies to yield the desired results, whether connections (here are extra connection tips on how to handle them), engagements, or networking opportunities. Remember, it takes constant monitoring and necessary adjustments to achieve your goals on the platform.
5. Best practices for LinkedIn SEO
Leveraging hashtags is just part of the overall equation. As such, this blog won’t be complete without sharing some best practices for your LinkedIn SEO. Take the following steps to optimize your LinkedIn profile and content:
- Use relevant keywords in your profile. Turning them into hashtags can further boost your discoverability on the platform. Consider incorporating the keywords in the Headline, About section, Experience, and Education.
- Optimize images for your profile and background. You might have heard of how pictures launch a thousand words. Make your photos as professional as possible and ensure high-quality resolutions.
- Craft a compelling headline and detailed summary. The headline is one of the first few details people see on your LinkedIn profile, while the About section summarizes your professional life or business. Make them as compelling as possible!
- Produce and publish relevant content. Content is king in the digital realm as it has the power to connect with others. What better way to proceed with this than creating and posting relevant and valuable content on your LinkedIn profile?
- Consider different formats. If you prefer posts and are great at writing, it does not mean you should limit yourself. Some people have less time to read. Consider sharing your information in videos. If you don’t want to feature there, you may write a script and find a voiceover and a video editor. There is a format your audience likes, and you will find it.
- Engage with others on the platform. Your activities on the platform influence the algorithm decisions and determine your connections. As a third-party logistics (3PL) service provider, you should like, comment, and share the content of retail and e-commerce businesses for engagement. Likewise, ask for endorsements and recommendations from former B2B clients to boost your LinkedIn SEO.
- Regularly review and update your profile. Remember, you’re changing, growing, and evolving as a professional. You switch jobs, assume new roles, and expand your business. Therefore, perform a LinkedIn audit by constantly reviewing and updating your profile.
Conclusion
LinkedIn is the perfect platform for professionals and businesses looking to build and establish their network. However, the platform has become overcrowded, making the competition stiffer than ever. You’ve got to stand out in a sea of digital competition to achieve your networking objectives!
LinkedIn SEO is key to boosting your discoverability and visibility on the platform. When it comes to this, leverage hashtag analytics.
That said, understand what it is and how it works. More importantly, follow our crucial steps for leveraging hashtag analytics for your LinkedIn SEO. Keyhole’s Free Trial can be immensely helpful; try it out for free. With these in mind, you’ll boost your platform visibility, increase your connections, expand your professional network, or achieve business success!
Author Bio
Jesse is a professional writer whose aim is to make complex concepts easy to understand. He strives to provide quality content that assists people in everyday life.
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Frequently Asked Questions
1. What are the key factors affecting LinkedIn SEO ranking?
When it comes to LinkedIn SEO, one should understand how the algorithm works. Its algorithm considers the following LinkedIn metrics for ranking on the platform:
-Relevance: Your profile most likely becomes visible to those related to your niche, same profession, and similar interests. This idea makes sense as you want your digital marketing agency, for instance, to appear right before the eyes of online marketers.
-Engagement: Your platform interactions also determine the people appearing in your sphere. Notice how those you frequently comment on, like their posts, and share their content pieces often appear on your LinkedIn newsfeed? That's precisely how the algorithm works!
-Connections: Your connections will tell where you'll most likely appear on the platform. CTA: Go to 'My Network' and see how most of the suggested LinkedIn profiles are related to your connections. It works the same way for your profile!
-Keywords: Keywords are words or phrases that tell the LinkedIn algorithms the relevancy of various profiles. If you use the right keywords, your profile will appear before the eyes of your target connections.
-Regular Activities: Like the engagement factor, your activities influence the LinkedIn algorithms' decision-making. What you do on the platform tells the algorithms that you want to deal with or work with.
2. What are the elements of a well-optimized LinkedIn profile?
For LinkedIn optimization, your profile is the first to prioritize. Then, you can optimize your content pieces and even hashtags for every post. Below are the critical elements of a well-optimized profile to keep in mind:
-Professional profile picture
-Striking profile headline
-Relevant keyword integration
-Compelling summary
-Valuable content pieces
-Highlighted skills
-More endorsements
3. What are the top benefits of LinkedIn SEO?
Now, you might ask why there’s a need to employ LinkedIn SEO. Its benefits are multifold, as follows:
-Platform visibility: Your profile and content will be more visible to LinkedIn users for relevant searches.
-Increased connections: The more your profile and post become visible, the higher your chance of connecting with other professionals and businesses.
-Enhanced engagement: With more connections, you’ll have more opportunities to interact with other professionals and build relationships with them.
-Career opportunities: LinkedIn SEO enables you to connect with businesses offering relevant jobs and help you advance your career.
-Business partnerships: Optimizing your LinkedIn profile and content allows you to connect with B2B clients and pursue business partnerships with various stakeholders.