Hajra Naz
We’ve heard the same advice for years: Don’t add links to LinkedIn posts. It kills your reach.
Well, turns out that might not be true.
A new study looked at over half a million posts on LinkedIn — and here’s the surprise: posts with links got 13.57% more engagement and nearly 5% more views than posts without them.
So if you’ve been leaving out links to keep the algorithm happy, you might be missing out.
Who Did the Study?
The data comes from Metricool. They analyzed 577,000+ posts from almost 48,000 LinkedIn company pages, collecting data over three years. This isn’t guesswork — it’s real numbers, over time.
Links Perform Better (Despite What You’ve Heard)
It’s been common advice to avoid links. The idea was that LinkedIn doesn’t want users leaving the platform, so it “hides” posts with outbound links.
But that doesn’t seem to be the case anymore.
Around 31% of all posts had links. And those consistently outperformed posts without them.
Read More = LinkedIn Drops New Mini-Site ”Create on LinkedIn” to Help You Post Better in 2025
Best Performing Content Types
Some post formats are killing it more than others:
- Carousels (multi-slide documents) have the highest engagement rate at 45.85%. People are clearly into swiping through them.
- Polls are super underused but powerful. They made up less than 0.001% of posts but delivered 206% more reach than average.
- Text-only posts? They’re everywhere, but they don’t do great. They got the fewest interactions of all.
Video Is Blowing Up
Video content on LinkedIn is exploding. It grew by 53% last year, and engagement shot up by 87%.
That’s faster growth than what we’re seeing on TikTok, Reels, or YouTube Shorts.
The real story is this: video posts saw 73% more impressions and 52% more views. LinkedIn is pushing video harder in its feed.
Industry Surprises
Here’s something interesting—industries with smaller followings often get better results.
Sectors like manufacturing and utilities had fewer followers than, say, retail or education.
But they pulled in more engagement per post. So it’s not just about big numbers. Smaller, more focused audiences are showing up and interacting.
What Should Marketers Do With This Info?
Let’s keep it simple:
- Use links when they add value. They’re helping more than hurting.
- Try more carousels and polls. These formats get people to stop scrolling and engage.
- Send traffic from LinkedIn. Click-throughs are up 28% year-over-year. It’s a real driver now.
- Don’t stress about follower count. Only 17% of company pages gained followers in 2024. Focus on quality, not just quantity.
The Bottom Line
This new data flips some old advice on its head. Links? They’re not killing your reach. Carousels? Underrated goldmines. Polls? A hidden weapon. And video? It’s becoming the top format fast.
If you’re still marketing on LinkedIn like it’s 2020, it might be time for a strategy refresh.
