How Many Words Should A LinkedIn Post Be?

On LinkedIn, posts with around 100 to 300 words get the most engagement. But even as a writer, knowing how many words to use feels arbitrary. How can I decide how many words to use for my LinkedIn post? Should I aim for the average or the word count? What if I have an interesting idea that takes more or less than the target? LinkedIn content creation can feel overwhelming. The good news is that this article will break down exactly how many words a LinkedIn post should have and offer tips for crafting a great post.

If you want to write a LinkedIn post that gets attention, Bluecast’s AI content tool for LinkedIn can help. It will help you get started on your post so you can customize it to fit your voice and style.

How Many Words Should A LinkedIn Post Be?

When crafting LinkedIn posts, the ideal word count depends on your goals, audience, and the type of content you're sharing. LinkedIn allows up to 3,000 characters per post, but not all that space needs to be filled. Here’s the breakdown:

Short vs. Long LinkedIn Posts: What Works Best?
If you’re aiming for engagement and conversations, short and snappy posts between 150 and 300 characters often perform well. These posts are perfect for making quick points, asking questions, or sharing concise insights that invite immediate reactions.

Conversely, longer posts between 1,300 and 2,000 characters (roughly 200 to 400 words) are great for:

Storytelling
Detailed explanations
Thought leadership content

These posts allow you to explore your ideas, share personal experiences, or provide in-depth value to your audience.

Interestingly, research suggests that both short and long posts can succeed. What doesn’t work as well is the "middle ground," where posts aren’t concise enough to be punchy or detailed enough to be meaningful.

Finding What Engages Your Audience

The key? Experiment. Test varying lengths to see what resonates with your audience. Longer posts may be necessary for technical or complex topics, while lighter or action-oriented content often shines with brevity.

Keep in mind that LinkedIn displays a “See More…” button after about 140 characters, so make your opening line count—it’s your chance to hook readers and encourage them to engage with the full post.

Types of LinkedIn Posts and Their Ideal Length

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LinkedIn feed posts are the bread and butter of the platform. Short feed posts are quick and punchy, usually one to three sentences or about 150–300 characters. They’re great for:

Posing questions
Sharing quick insights
Delivering a concise call to action

Longer feed posts range from 200 to 400 words (around 1,300–2,000 characters). These are perfect for:

Storytelling
Sharing a professional journey
Diving deeper into topics

When done well, these posts can build trust, showcase expertise, and even generate leads.

LinkedIn Carousel Posts: The Engaging Visual Option

Carousel posts are an interactive way to share multiple ideas or points visually, often using slides. Keep the accompanying text under 100 characters to set the stage for your audience. The carousel should be the star, guiding readers through bite-sized slides' main story or information. These posts are excellent for:

Tips
Tutorials
Case studies

LinkedIn Articles: The Long-Form Option

LinkedIn articles function like blog posts and allow for more in-depth content. The sweet spot is around 1,900 to 2,200 words, but the focus should be quality over quantity. Use these to establish authority in your field, share detailed how-tos, or express thought leadership.

Bonus: Articles are searchable and linkable, making them great for long-term visibility.

LinkedIn Newsletters: The Email-Like Option

These work similarly to email newsletters but are hosted on LinkedIn. Aim for 1,900 to 2,200 words here as well. Newsletters are an excellent way to deliver detailed, valuable content to a subscribed audience consistently. They’re ideal for thought leaders looking to build a loyal community.

Video and Visual Posts: Highly Engaging Options

Visual posts, including videos, are highly engaging and algorithm-friendly. For best results, keep videos 30–90 seconds long, though longer videos (up to 10 minutes) can work if they’re compelling. Use short captions (under 150 characters) to provide context or hook viewers.

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5 Best Practices for LinkedIn Post Length

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1. Master the “See more…” Cutoff

Think of the first 200 characters of your LinkedIn post as your front-row seat in a movie theater. This is your prime real estate, and it needs to grab attention. LinkedIn shows only the first couple of lines before the “See more…” button appears whether you're writing on:

Mobile
Desktop
Tablet

Why does this matter? That click on “See more…” signals interest in LinkedIn’s algorithm, boosting your visibility. This cutoff is even shorter for carousel posts or posts with images, so you’ve got to pack a punch in that first line. Start with a bold statement, a question, or a hook that makes people curious.

2. Prioritize Quality Over Quantity

You could write a novel-length post or keep it short and snappy, but none of that matters if your content doesn’t deliver value.

Ask yourself:

Is this useful or interesting for my audience?
Does it provide insights, spark a discussion, or inspire action?

Whether long or short, the focus should always be on quality. Even a detailed 400-word post can fall flat if rambling, while a short 150-character post can pack a punch if engaging and relevant.

3. Match the Length to the Content

Not all posts are created equal, and the ideal length often depends on the type of content:

Informational or storytelling posts: These can go longer—200 to 400 words—because they need room to explain, inspire, or narrate.
Polls or direct questions: Keep them short. You want quick engagement, so don’t overcomplicate it.
Promotional posts: These vary. Experiment with short posts that tease your offering and longer ones that explain its value.

4. Experiment and Measure What Works

The golden rule of LinkedIn posting is to test and learn. What works for one audience or topic might not work for another. Post a mix of short, medium, and extended content to see what resonates. Track engagement metrics like:

Impressions
Likes
Comments
Shares

For instance, a post about your journey might thrive as a longer, emotional story, while a quick tip might work better in a bite-sized format.

5. Balance Engagement With Subtlety

If your goal is lead generation or promotion, remember LinkedIn isn’t about complex sales. Build trust and connections first by sharing content your audience finds valuable. Keep your posts conversational and relatable, and avoid stuffing them with overt commercial messaging.

4 Best Practices for Formatting Your LinkedIn Posts

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1. Maintain Consistent Formatting Across Posts

Creating a cohesive brand identity on LinkedIn starts with establishing a uniform formatting style for your posts. Users who see your posts in their feed should be able to immediately recognize your content based on its visual style and formatting.

For example, if you use a specific font, color scheme, and layout for your posts, your audience will associate those elements with your brand. Consistency helps build trust and familiarity with your followers, making them more likely to engage with your content regularly.

2. Preview Posts Before Publishing

Before hitting the "publish" button on your LinkedIn post, take a moment to preview how it will appear in the feed. This allows you to catch formatting issues, such as:

Awkward line breaks
Cut-off text
Images that don't display correctly

Previewing your post also lets you see how it looks on different devices, such as:

Desktop computers
Tablets
Smartphones

With more users accessing LinkedIn on mobile devices, ensuring your posts are optimized for smaller screens is essential.

3. Test Different Formats and Analyze Engagement

To determine which formatting techniques work best for your audience, test different styles and analyze engagement metrics. See what resonates with your followers, and experiment with:

Various post lengths
Formatting optionssome text
- Bold
- Italics

Multimedia content
Hashtags

Keep track of metrics like views, likes, comments, and shares for each post. Over time, you may notice patterns in which types of posts perform best. Use this data to inform your future formatting decisions and continually refine your approach.

4. Prioritize Accessibility in Your Posts

When formatting your LinkedIn posts, it's crucial to consider accessibility for users with disabilities. This includes adding captions or transcripts for video content, using alt text to describe images, and ensuring sufficient color contrast between text and background.

By making your posts accessible, you expand your potential audience and demonstrate your commitment to inclusivity. This can help build trust and loyalty among your followers, as they appreciate your efforts to create content that everyone can enjoy.

6 Key Strategies for Effective LinkedIn Posts

1. Shake Things Up: Diversify Your Content On LinkedIn

If you post the same boring content repeatedly, your audience will lose interest—and so will the LinkedIn algorithm. To keep things fresh and engaging, mix up your content. Use a variety of formats and approaches. For instance, let's say you're writing about a recent industry study. Instead of defaulting to an article, consider creating a video to explain the findings.

You could also develop an infographic to illustrate the most critical statistics or write a LinkedIn post highlighting a key finding to spark conversation. By varying your content, you'll capture your audience's attention and improve your chances of reaching more people on LinkedIn.

2. Build Relationships on LinkedIn

To get ahead on LinkedIn, you need to build relationships. The platform thrives on connections; the more you have, the better. As you start posting and getting noticed, you'll attract followers.

These people are interested in your words, but don't stop there. Dig deeper and identify the thought leaders in your industry.

Who inspires you?
What firms or individuals produce content to help you achieve your goals?

Make it a point to regularly check in on these individuals, engage with their posts, and even reach out with genuine questions. You never know where these connections might lead.

3. Curate Your Feed

When creating your content, think about how to work smarter, not harder. The pressure of making three or four ground-breaking new pieces of content every month can be overwhelming. After all, you still have a business outside your social media marketing plan. Instead, look at repurposing where possible or critiquing or responding to posts you’ve read or current events.

These techniques help fill in the gaps of your unique content while keeping your feed interesting for your followers. A few outstanding posts are far better than many average ones. Take the time to craft a quality piece and experiment by boosting it with social media advertising. After some trial and error, you’ll find the right balance of what works for your business.

4. Focus on Video Content on LinkedIn

All this talk of LinkedIn social media marketing can be overwhelming for those just starting—we get it. Knowing some excellent leaders doing things right is a great way to start. Video needs to play a significant part in your strategy, but those unfamiliar with this medium may be lost for inspiration.

String Nguyen: Mastering Authentic LinkedIn Video Content

One member that we love to watch is String Nguyen, and we recommend that you check her out, too. She’s the founder of Content Video Machine and has successfully grown her own LinkedIn audience by over 25,000 in the last year. What we love about video is that it doesn’t have to be polished.

Gone are the days of the studio, and your smartphone has all the software and equipment you need to get started. String regularly takes videos on her phone, and the results are impressive. She creates authentic content for her followers.

5. Be a Thought Leader

What String does well is take charge of a niche area. While she’s a guru on all things content, and she certainly does talk about more general social media strategy, she’s ensured that all her followers know her as the video queen. Why? Because instead of doing what others do, she’s a trailblazer.

She tests things, learns from mistakes, and then tries something new. Following her lets her viewers know they’ll be ahead of the curve. That’s what you should aim to do, too. Be your own thought leader.

Building Thought Leadership Through Authenticity and Learning

It might involve refining your opinion on a particular matter and developing an argument piece. It might include reviewing recent literature and commenting or expressing my views on recent industry trends. You may have the means to research and put that out there. It will probably mean making mistakes, but this is the ground for thought leadership.

We learn through failure and can help others learn from our mistakes. Whatever you choose to focus on with content on LinkedIn, make sure you’re making genuine connections and not looking for a quick fix. You’ll be the one shared and cited, and you can sit back and watch your engagement climb.

6. Understand What Your Target Audience Values

Over half of marketers (57%) find creating content that resonates with their audience is challenging. Like any solid marketing strategy, it all starts with understanding your target audience's values. Generally speaking, LinkedIn users are looking for content that educates, inspires, and addresses their specific challenges.

Here’s how you can find out what to deliver to your LinkedIn audience:

Conduct audience research.
Analyze top-performing posts in your industry using LinkedIn’s analytics tools.
Look at what content gets the most likes, comments, and shares.
Are there recurring themes?
Is the content educational, inspirational, or solution-oriented?
Run audience surveys. LinkedIn polls can help you gather insights on what topics your audience is most interested in.
Questions like “What are your biggest challenges in [industry]?” or “What topics would you like to learn more about?” can provide a great deal of data.
Follow relevant thought leaders.
Find the most popular thought leaders within your niche and look into the topics and post formats they use on the platform.

You can gain a lot of inspiration from what is already engaging your target audience and then put your spin on things.

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LinkedIn posts with fewer than 300 words receive the highest levels of engagement. But that doesn’t mean you should always stick to this word count. Instead, use this number as a guideline and let your angle and creative direction dictate the final length of your post. 300 words can help you communicate your point without overloading readers with information.

But if your post has valuable information past the 300-word mark, don’t hesitate to keep going. LinkedIn allows posts with up to 3,000 words, so you have plenty of room to create engaging content that resonates with your target audience.

How Many Words Should A LinkedIn Post Be?