How To Write A Blog On Linkedin

Blogging is not the reserve of the digitally-savvy - with LinkedIn anyone can whip up an attractive (and insightful) blog in mere moments.

This simple guide will help you to publish a professional, shareable and lasting blog that can help build connections and attract clients.

This is not an article about the why of blogging, but the how. I'll give you a quick and dirty run down of the few technicalities you need to master to blog via the desktop site (this blog doesn't apply to mobile users).

1- You have a profile, right?

You don't want your readers to be led to a profile that is out-of-date, incomplete or devoid of useful information. Perfecting a profile could be the subject of a whole other post but before you blog, check the basics:

Good-quality profile pic - check!
Current position correct - check!
Strong description and summary - check!

So let's assume you've spring cleaned your profile and get started...

2 - Getting started

It's easy to create a draft article.

On the front page, where you would normally post an update, simply click the icon 'Write an article'.

This will open up a draft blog (don't be put off by a big empty screen).

I find it easier to have pre-drafted my blog in Word or similar. I can then copy/paste it into the LinkedIn template. This could be seen as a little old-school, but provides me with peace of mind.

If you want to save your draft to work on later, just close your screen. Your blog will autosave.

3 - A word on headlines

You can get caught up in trying to create a clever headline. Don't.

Just keep it simple, descriptive and to the point.

Yes, you can get creative with alliteration or word-play but not at the expense of telling your reader what your blog is, and why they should read it.

Some quick tips:

Keep headlines under ten words
List-style articles with associated headings perform well
Leave your headline until the end - it's often easier to reverse engineer your headline after you've written your blog

Also think about using subheaders to break up your text into easily digestible portions. More on subheaders below.

And remember to add an eye-catching header image to front your blog. Just drag and drop into the template above your headline - which brings me on to...

4 - Getting creative with complementary content

You hopefully don't need convincing that reams of plain text is unattractive, and difficult to read.

Use creative media to break up your text, and add personality to your blog.

You can find strong images on rights-free sites such as Unsplash to help your blog come alive

To add media click the rectangular + icon to the left of the template and choose what kind of media you would like to add. Slides allow you to display a presentation from an appropriate platform (Slideshare works best). Links allows you to hyperlink to other pages. Or use the hyperlink icon on the right hand on the top menu to link to another page.

Snippets is another way of displaying text and media which I'll ignore for now. The best way to get to grips with adding content is to play around. For now, stick to simple.

Links pasted from YouTube will appear like this:

5 - Finishing touches that make all the difference

Once you have finalised your copy - and proofed it - you can add the finishing touches that will make your blog easier to read, and more attractive.

For example, you can pull out key points using the " icon on the top tool bar

You can also format your subheaders using the formatting tool:

This is Heading 1

This is Heading 2

Use this tool rather than simply bolding or underlining - this helps with search engine optimisation.

Ready to publish? Just hit 'Publish'!

Having added finishing touches you're ready to publish. So just hit the big blue 'Publish' button on the top right of your screen.

And you're done... almost.

Just one last thing!

Ok this takes me to step six... but remember - you need people to find your blog. So once you've published make sure you:

Accompany your post with an update to your feed - hitting publish will prompt you to do this so don't ignore this step
Share to your other social networks such as Twitter or Facebook
Email the link to clients, contacts or colleagues that might be interested
Respond to others' posts on similar subjects and include a link to your blog
Remind people you've blogged - you can post a status update more than once in relation to a blog. Just make sure you don't veer into spamming!

I hope you've found this useful - and do let me know if you have any tips of your own. I've shared what I've picked up simply by doing - I am sure there is more to learn!

Amy