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Is LinkedIn Publishers’s Friend ? 9 Communication Pitfalls

Algorithms, Behavioral Design, Branding Strategies, Conversion Rate, Customer Experience, Customer Journey Mapping, Digital Marketing, Performance Tracking, User experience (UX)

Ever wonder why LI publishers were writing “link is in the first comment” ? Read on.

LinkedIn has spent the last three years perfecting a trap that looks like an opportunity. For publishers who built audiences on the promise of organic reach, the platform now operates on a simple principle: your content builds LinkedIn’s retention, and LinkedIn’s algorithm decides whether you get anything back. The latest Depth Score update made this explicit — posts containing external links lose roughly 60% of their distribution, the “link in first comment” workaround has been quietly buried, and company pages reach five times fewer people than personal profiles by design. None of this is accidental. It is the deliberate architecture of a platform that monetizes attention it did not create.

What makes this particularly costly for established publishers is the compounding nature of the trap: every carousel you publish natively trains your audience to consume your editorial work without ever visiting your site. Every newsletter subscriber you gain belongs to LinkedIn’s servers, not yours. Every high-performing post that keeps readers scrolling on-platform registers as a success by LinkedIn’s metrics and a failure by yours.

The platform does not penalize bad content — it penalizes content that works exactly as a publisher intends it to.
Understanding this distinction is not a reason to abandon LinkedIn entirely. It is a reason to use it with surgical precision: the Newsletter feature to build a subscriber base you will migrate elsewhere, and nothing else.

Important Notes & Disclaimer:

These observations and comments may apply for publishers only. Direct sells, influencer marketing, job offers there can be very different.
No LinkedIn algorithm is public, and very likely evolve over time.
Many of these may apply to other online platforms also.

So take these as educated guesses only and update with your own experiences and observations.

Complementary readings (with Brit’s humor):

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1. External links cut your reach by ~60%

Any post containing a link to your site — or anywhere outside LinkedIn — is algorithmically deprioritized to roughly 40% of its potential audience. LinkedIn’s entire business model depends on keeping users on-platform. Every click you earn to your site is a lost LinkedIn session. The algorithm treats your link as an exit sign and punishes you for it immediately and automatically.

Critical — affects every post

Partial fix: post the link in the first comment instead of the body — reduces penalty to ~5–10%

2. The “link in first comment” workaround is also now penalized

For years, publishers used the trick of posting clean content, then adding the URL in the first comment. In early 2026, LinkedIn began collapsing and burying the author’s first comment, meaning your audience often never even sees your call to action. The loophole that protected publishers for 3+ years is largely closed.

Critical — kills the main workaround

Partial fix: publish with no link, wait 20–30 min, then edit the post to add it — smaller algorithmic footprint

Now you know why “link is in the first comment” ?

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Topics covered: organic reach, algorithm, Depth Score, user retention, engagement, external links, company pages, personal profiles, newsletters, Zero-Click content, dwell time, topic authority, content strategy, audience migration, structural disadvantage, behavioral traps, click bounce, and content lane..

Historical Context

Exclusive Dealing

An arrangement where a retailer or wholesaler is contractually obligated to purchase most or all of its requirements for a product from a single supplier. It becomes anti-competitive if it forecloses a substantial share of the market from rival suppliers, preventing them from reaching customers and effectively competing, thereby creating or enhancing barriers to entry for new competitors.

Marketing professionals collaborating on customer-centric strategies in a modern office.

The Marketing Concept

The marketing concept is a business philosophy holding that achieving organizational goals depends on knowing the needs and wants of target markets and delivering the desired satisfactions more effectively and efficiently than competitors. It represents a shift from a product-centric ("make and sell") approach to a customer-centric ("sense and respond") one, placing the customer at the core of all business decisions.

Work Breakdown Structure

A Work Breakdown Structure (sometimes abbreviated WBS) is a key project deliverable that organizes the team's work into manageable sections. It is a hierarchical and incremental decomposition of the project into phases, deliverables, and work packages. The WBS is a tree structure that shows a subdivision of effort required to achieve an objective, such as a program, project, or contract.

Marketing team analyzing the 4Ps framework in a modern office setting.

The Marketing Mix (4P framework)

A foundational model in marketing, the 4Ps framework classifies the key elements a business uses to promote its brand or product. It consists of Product (the item or service), Price (the cost to the consumer), Place (where it's sold), and Promotion (the advertising and sales activities). These four variables are controlled by the company to influence consumer demand.

Self-healing materials in a laboratory setting, demonstrating innovative repair mechanisms.

Ideal Final Result (IFR)

The Ideal Final Result (IFR) is a core concept in TRIZ that defines the ultimate, perfect solution to a problem, independent of current constraints or resources. It is typically formulated as "the system (or element) itself performs the required function without its own existence." This mental tool helps problem-solvers overcome psychological inertia and focus on function rather than form.

Project management team discussing the Project Management Triangle in a modern office.

Project Management Triangle (Triple Constraint)

The Project Management Triangle, also known as the Triple Constraint or Iron Triangle, is a model of the constraints inherent in managing a project. It states that the quality of work is constrained by the project's budget (cost), deadlines (time), and scope. A change in one constraint necessitates changes in the others to maintain quality and equilibrium.

Kaizen Continuous Improvement

Kaizen is a Japanese term meaning "change for the better" or "continuous improvement." It is a core philosophy of lean manufacturing that focuses on making small, ongoing, positive changes to improve processes and eliminate waste. Kaizen involves all employees, from senior management to assembly line workers, fostering a culture where everyone is empowered to suggest and implement improvements.

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Tying and Product Bundling

Tying is the practice of making the sale of one good (the tying good) conditional on the purchase of a second, distinct good (the tied good). This leverages market power from the tying product's market to the tied product's market, potentially foreclosing competition. Bundling is the related practice of offering several products for sale as one combined product.

Schumpeter’s Theory of Creative Destruction

Joseph Schumpeter's concept of creative destruction describes the "process of industrial mutation that incessantly revolutionizes the economic structure from within, incessantly destroying the old one, incessantly creating a new one." This dynamic process is driven by innovation and is considered the essential fact about capitalism, where new products, processes, and organizational forms displace existing ones, driving long-term growth.

Project manager analyzing Gantt chart for skyscraper construction using Critical Path Method.

Critical Path Method (projects)

The Critical Path Method (sometimes referred as CPM, confusing in many domains) is a methodology for scheduling project activities. It identifies the longest stretch of dependent tasks (the 'critical path') and measures the time required to complete them from start to finish. Any delay in a task on the critical path directly impacts the project's completion date -targeted parameter here is date, not cost, nor quality, nor resources, although none of these are independent-. It helps consequently in resource allocation and schedule optimization.

Marketing team strategizing product life cycle extension in a modern office.

Product Life Cycle Extension Strategies

Companies can actively manage and extend a product's life cycle, particularly during the maturity and decline stages, to maximize its profitability. Common strategies include market development (finding new markets for existing products), market penetration (increasing share in existing markets), product development (introducing new features or versions), and diversification (developing new products for new markets). These prevent premature decline. Note: this approach is based on the historical sales-oriented Product Life Cycle. Refer to our definition of modern Product Life Cycle so as many posts on this site (including ideation, manufacturing, maintenance, recycling, upcycling ...).

S-Curve Model of Product Sales

The product life cycle is often graphically represented by a so-called "S-curve", also known as a logistic function. This curve plots sales volume against time. It shows a slow initial uptake (introduction), followed by a period of rapid exponential growth, which then slows down as the market approaches saturation (maturity), eventually flattening or declining. The shape reflects market adoption processes.

Marketing professionals analyzing the Four Stages of the Product Life Cycle in a modern office.

The Four Stages of the Product Life Cycle (historical version)

The product life cycle (PLC) model describes the stages a product goes through from its launch to its withdrawal from the market. These four key stages are: Introduction (low sales, high costs), Growth (rapidly rising sales and profits), Maturity (peak sales, declining profit margins), and Decline (falling sales and profits). This framework helps in strategic marketing and management decisions. IMPORTANT NOTE: in more modern approaches, and less Sales or Marketing oriented, the Product Life Cycle must include its Manufacturing, so as its Recycling stages. An even more complete approach, such as the one we strongly advocate on innovation.world, it shall even include a Market Study and an Ideation stage, and depending on the field, Post Market Surveillance also.

Predatory Pricing

A pricing strategy where a dominant firm sets prices for goods or services at an extremely low level, potentially below cost, to eliminate or discipline competitors. Once rivals are driven out of the market, the firm can raise prices to monopoly levels to recoup its losses. This practice is a method to create significant barriers to entry for new market participants.

Organized office workspace demonstrating the 5S framework for efficiency in management.

The 5S Framework for Workplace Organization

5S is a workplace organization method that uses a list of five Japanese words: Seiri (Sort), Seiton (Set in Order), Seisō (Shine), Seiketsu (Standardize), and Shitsuke (Sustain). This system aims to improve efficiency and eliminate waste by organizing a workspace for effectiveness. It is a foundational component of Kaizen and lean manufacturing, creating the stable environment necessary for improvement.

(if date is unknown or not relevant, e.g. "fluid mechanics", a rounded estimation of its notable emergence is provided)