LinkedIn post best practices, as a checklist you can score

Score your draft before it goes up, the way an editor would score a client's. Give one point for each check it passes, and be strict: a check you have to argue for is a check it fails. It takes a few minutes, and it's quicker than finding out from a quiet week of comments.

Then read your total. Eleven or twelve: post it. Eight to ten: fix the lowest checks and score it again. Under eight: the problem is usually the idea, so go back to it before you edit a sentence ^[2].

Those bands match the three verdicts an editor would give: PASS, REVISE or RETHINK ^[3]. A RETHINK can't be fixed with line edits ^[3], which is why the checks start with the idea.

Score this LinkedIn post draft against the 12 checks below. For each, answer yes or no and give one line of reasoning. Be strict.

1. Sharing it would make the reader look good to their network.
2. The reader could act on it today.
3. It has something worth saving: a list, a process or a framework.
4. It takes on a broad topic people argue about, or promises a very practical result.
5. It answers the obvious objection inside the post.
6. The media makes the hook stronger.
7. The hook leaves the reader no choice but to press see more.
8. It's only as long as it's useful.
9. A stranger with no context could understand it and get value from it.
10. Every sentence uses simple words.
11. It's laid out for skimming.
12. Each sentence connects to the next.

Give the total out of 12. Then a verdict: PASS (11-12), REVISE (8-10) or RETHINK (under 8). Name the single highest-impact fix. Don't add facts, figures or stories that aren't in my draft.

Draft: [paste]

Postmosis's post writer runs eleven of these checks on a LinkedIn draft for you, with a reminder about the picture in place of the media check, and answers Ready to post or Revise first, with the one fix to make first.

Half the checks depend on knowing your reader. Check one asks whether they'd look good sharing the post, check five needs their objections, and check nine needs to know what a stranger in their job already knows.

So before you score anything, write a one-page brief and keep it where you draft. A LinkedIn writing system built for Claude starts every new person with a short interview that produces exactly this, two to four questions at a time ^[3]. Its first reply explains the process in a couple of sentences and asks the first questions straight away ^[3], so you can have the brief done before your next client call.

MY LINKEDIN BRIEF
Business and offer:
My buyer, and what makes them decide to buy:
Their problems, the outcome they want, their objections:
What makes me different (facts a competitor couldn't copy):
My history, beliefs and experience:
Proof I'm allowed to share:
The business result I want from LinkedIn:
How I'll measure progress (enquiries, calls, not just likes):
Voice: two or three things I've written:
Topics to avoid:
Open questions:

The fields follow that system's onboarding document ^[3], and it ends with open questions for a reason: anything you're unsure of goes there, and you answer it before you post on that topic. Fill the rest in from your own week: the last three enquiries you got, the objection you heard on your last call, the client you'd clone if you could.

For the longer version, with three files an AI reads before every draft and a table for tracking replies, see the LinkedIn content strategy.

The first five checks are about what the post says. If these fail, better sentences won't save it ^[2].

Check one is whether the post makes the reader look good for sharing it ^[1]. People repost things that make them look informed or generous to their own network. A manager shares a post that helps their team. A founder shares one that warns other founders about a mistake.

Check two is whether the reader could act on it today ^[1]. Give them one step they can take before lunch, with the detail they'd need to take it.

Check three is whether there's something worth coming back to, like a list, a process or a framework ^[1]. Those are the posts people save and open again the week they need them.

Check four is about the size of the topic. The post either covers a broad topic people argue about, or promises a very practical result ^[1]. A small, safe topic with a vague result fails both halves.

Check five is whether the post answers the obvious objection ^[1]. Every reader has a "yes, but" ready. Answer it in the post and they stop arguing with you in their head.

Check six is whether the media strengthens the hook ^[1]. A stock photo of a handshake adds nothing. A photo of the real thing does: the marked-up contract clause, the offer sheet with the names blurred, the whiteboard after a workshop.

LinkedIn takes up to 20 photos in one post ^[4], documents up to 100MB and 300 pages ^[5], and video up to 15 minutes ^[6]. In Socialinsider's study of brand pages, document posts were the best-performing format, averaging a 7.00% engagement rate, with multi-image posts second ^[7]. That study measured company pages, so treat it as a hint for a personal profile and check your own analytics.

Check seven is the hook. It has to leave the reader no choice but to press see more ^[1]. The rules that make that work: the first line makes a specific promise the post keeps, and orients someone who's never heard of you ^[3]. It leaves something useful unresolved for the body ^[8], with no false suspense ^[8].

The free hook generator gives you first lines to start from. Video hooks covers openings for short video.

The last five checks are about the sentences, which are the easiest part of a post to fix, so they come last.

Check eight is length: the post is only as long as it's useful ^[1]. A post can run long when the idea needs the detail, and shouldn't run longer than that ^[8]. LinkedIn allows up to 3,000 characters ^[9], and most posts need far fewer.

Check nine is whether a stranger could follow it. Write for a cold audience: someone who doesn't know you should understand the post and get value from it ^[1]. Cut in-jokes, references to your last post and initials nobody outside your field knows.

Check ten is plain language: simple enough that anyone can understand it ^[1]. Use the word your client would use. If they say "price", don't write "valuation methodology".

Check eleven is layout. Format the post on purpose for easy skimming ^[1]: short paragraphs, one idea each, a numbered list when the order matters, and white space a thumb can scroll through.

Check twelve is flow. Each sentence should lead naturally to the next ^[1]. Read the post aloud. Wherever you have to stop and think about how two sentences connect, the reader will too.

For the full method of writing the post, from the first line to the ask at the end, see how to write a LinkedIn post. Use the twelve checks once you have a draft.

Here's a first draft from a made-up buyer's agent, scored check by check.

Four out of twelve is a RETHINK. Line edits won't fix it ^[3], so the agent goes back to the idea and picks one buyer question from this week. Here's the second draft:

That version scores eleven: it's usable today, worth saving, answers the objection and has media that carries the hook. The one miss is check one, because a reader wouldn't look especially clever sharing it. That's fine for a middle-of-funnel post, so the agent posts it.

The checklist is a quick way to apply the standard an editor would use on your posts: a strong post offers a distinctive, credible idea with specific stakes, earns a cold reader's attention, delivers on its hook and leaves the intended reader better informed ^[3].

Strong execution usually includes a clear process, verified numbers, direct examples, strong media or a thoughtful reaction to a recognizable event ^[2]. You don't need all of them, and a coach with one real client example and a clear process already has enough.

Two rules sit under the bar. Challenge a weak idea before you polish its sentences ^[2]. And never mistake big engagement for business results ^[3]: a post that gets two hundred likes from other coaches has done less for a coach than one that gets three comments from people who could hire them.

LinkedIn's own guidance points the same way. Content that feels generic, repetitive or lacks a clear point of view is less likely to be widely distributed ^[10], and members can flag posts they think are low-effort AI content ^[10].

A good editor also checks for a few patterns that make a post read as filler. They creep into posts written late on a Sunday and into most AI drafts. Keep this list next to your drafts, or paste it into the AI that writes them.

Check my LinkedIn draft for these and fix each one you find:

Phrases to cut: "Here's the thing", "The best part?", "The secret?", "But here's", "What if I told you", "In today's fast-paced world", "Gone are the days", "Let me explain", "Here's why", "Let me tell you", "The truth is", "The reality is".

Patterns to rewrite:
- Reversal framing: "It's not X, it's Y" and "Most people think X. The truth is Y."
- Rhetorical questions. Every question should expect a real answer.
- Repeated openings for rhythm, like "More X. More Y. More Z."
- Stacked fragments, like "Strategy. Taste. Judgment."
- Sentences that start with "Most" to make a broad claim about a group.
- Abstract comparisons where a concrete effect would do.
- Buzzwords, filler adverbs, fake suspense and cliffhangers.
- A closing summary that repeats the point.
- A generic call to action like "Thoughts?" or "Agree?"
- Bold or underlined text for emphasis.

Never invent results, figures, quotes or client stories. If a claim needs evidence I didn't give, mark it instead.

These come from the editorial rules in a LinkedIn writing system built for Claude ^[3]. The reasons are simple. Reversal framing and rhetorical questions are the most common tells of a post written to a formula ^[8]. A summary at the end repeats what the reader just read ^[8]. Bold text for emphasis is banned outright ^[3]: put the important words first in the sentence instead.

The rules about evidence matter most. Never make yourself sound more certain or successful than you are ^[3], and keep an approximate figure approximate ^[8]. Your clients can check, and the ones who do are the ones you most want.

If your drafts come from AI and still read like it, how to make AI writing sound human has the full cleanup method and a voice file built from your own posts.

Each draft in the Postmosis post writer shows a sounds-human check before you post, next to a predicted engagement score out of 10, fact flags and the character count for every network.

The checklist works on any format, but check six goes easier when the format fits the idea. Here's what each one suits, how to do it well and LinkedIn's limit:

Inside a text post there are other shapes again: a post written for one tagged person, a prediction, a teardown of a well-known name, a reaction to a headline. LinkedIn post ideas has nine of them, each with an example for your kind of work.

A post that scores eleven starts as a good idea, and good ideas run out unless you refill them. Between posts, the same system takes on four jobs you can hand to Claude or ChatGPT:

• Make about twenty ideas a month and put only as many on the calendar as you'll post, keeping roughly 40% reach, 40% teaching and 20% proof ^[11].
• Run a weekly check-in on your client conversations, surprising requests, decisions, wins and failures, and turn the answers into five to eight new ideas ^[12].
• Find timely topics from recent primary sources with dates, and never post a trend nobody can show you ^[13].
• Once a month, review a CSV of your posts: the sample size, the outliers and the limits, with no claims about causes you can't measure ^[3].

Each job feeds the checklist. The weekly check-in gives you the real client detail that passes check two. Timely topics give you the recognizable event behind a strong news post ^[2]. The monthly review tells you which checks your best posts passed, so you know which ones to be strictest about.

LinkedIn post ideas has the idea card and the prompts for the first three. LinkedIn ghostwriting with Claude runs all four as one weekly routine.

A post that scores well still has to reach your buyers. There's no setting that sends a post to everyone. LinkedIn shows each post to a subset of your connections and followers, and who sees it comes down to your connection strength and their notification settings ^[14]. People outside your network can follow you to see your posts ^[14].

LinkedIn's own tips for wider distribution are plain ^[14]:

• Write content your audience can relate to ^[14].
• Focus on what matters to professionals because of the news, deep industry insight, lessons you've learned or ideas ^[14].
• Keep promotion light, since LinkedIn's advice is to avoid being overly promotional ^[14].
• Complete and verify your profile where you can ^[14].
• Share often, and react to and comment on other members' posts ^[14].

Two things limit reach. LinkedIn may limit the visibility of posts when it sees excessive post creation or an automation tool ^[9]. And its user agreement rules out bots or other automated ways to comment, like or share to drive inauthentic engagement ^[15], which covers most "engagement pod" tools.

So the honest route to more reach is a post that passes the twelve checks, posted often enough to stay in your buyers' feeds, plus time in other people's comments. For a property agent, that means the homeowners in their area seeing Thursday's post, and that matters more than any count of likes.

Attention on LinkedIn comes from three places: your first line, your comments on other people's posts and the people you tag.

Your first line does most of it. Name a problem your buyer has this week, in their words, and make a promise the post keeps (check seven).

Comments come next. Spend ten minutes a day writing comments on posts your buyers read, each one adding a fact, a question or the step the author left out. LinkedIn lists reacting to and commenting on other members' posts as a way to build your reputation and your followers ^[14].

Tagging is the third, and the easiest to overdo. A person you mention gets notified, and they don't need to be your connection ^[16]. Tag only someone the post is written for: a process you'd give that person, written so they'd want to reply ^[17]. LinkedIn may limit how often you can mention people you're not connected to ^[16].

For more on the formats that get attention, from tagging to news reactions, see LinkedIn post ideas.

Followers are the people who'll see your next post, so the checklist decides whether they stay. For someone who sells their own work, the count matters less than who's in it. A thousand followers who are local business owners is a lot for an accountant. A thousand who are other accountants won't bring much work.

LinkedIn has one useful threshold: members with more than 150 followers or connections can be considered for LinkedIn Live ^[18], with an account at least 30 days old ^[18]. Past that, who's following matters more than how many.

Your first-degree connections follow your posts automatically, and anyone else can follow you without connecting ^[19]. If you'd rather strangers follow than send connection requests, turn on the setting that shows Follow as the main button on your profile ^[19]. It's under Settings & Privacy, then Visibility, then Followers ^[19].

To grow faster without breaking anything:

• Connect with people you've really worked with: past clients, suppliers and referrers.
• Post at a pace you can keep, and score each post before it goes up.
• Comment on the posts your buyers read, every weekday.
• Complete and verify your profile ^[14].
• Skip anything that buys followers or automates engagement, which the user agreement rules out ^[15].

Avoid growing a big audience that won't ever hire you ^[11]. It makes your analytics look better and your enquiries no better.

A run of posts that all score well can still feel like a sales pitch if every one ends with an ask. Most of your posts should help, and a few should ask for the work. Two common splits say roughly the same thing.

The 4-1-1 rule comes from LinkedIn's tips for company pages: for every post about you with a call to action, share one post that points to another source and four posts written by other people ^[20]. It was written for brands, so for a person, read it as a ratio of helping to asking.

The funnel split is closer to how a professional posts: about 40% of posts that reach new people, 40% that teach, and 20% that show proof and ask for the work ^[11]. Either way, the post that asks lands better after a run of posts that helped.

The LinkedIn content strategy turns that split into a weekly calendar, with a resource each post can offer and a table for tracking replies.

The checklist covers the post itself. Here are the other basics, with LinkedIn's own figures where there are any:

• Length: up to 3,000 characters ^[9]. Write as much as the idea needs and no more.
• Long answers: over 3,000 characters, LinkedIn suggests an article instead ^[9].
• Drafts: save a post as a draft and keep editing later, even from another device ^[9].
• Timing: see the best time to post on LinkedIn, then check it against your own analytics.
• Hashtags: a couple that name your field, at the end.
• Frequency: two or three posts a week suits most people working on their own, kept up for months. Score every one; posting more drafts that score six doesn't help.
• Measuring: post analytics show discovery, profile activity and social engagement, and only you can see them ^[21]. Count enquiries and booked calls alongside them, because big engagement and business results aren't the same thing ^[22].

Formatting tools, the post template and the character counter live in the LinkedIn post template and the character counter.