66,378.

That’s how many times one comment I left on a LinkedIn post last week was seen in just seven days.

Only 1% of all LinkedIn users post regularly. Even fewer comment on other people’s posts. Yet it’s the people who both post and comment who are getting the best out of a platform with around 45 million users in the UK alone.

In this week’s blog, we’re going to explain the six reasons why commenting should be part of your LinkedIn strategy. And then 17 practical dos and don’ts to guarantee you get it right.

6 reasons why commenting should be part of your LinkedIn strategy

#1. It raises your profile with a wider audience and encourages them to follow you.

#2. Your comments are a testing ground for opinions – turn the ones that get the most attention into posts.

#3. Commenting on the posts of clients, prospects, and professional connections is helpful to them and keeps you at the forefront of their minds.

#4. Leaving comments before one of your posts goes live wakes up LinkedIn’s algorithm and should lead to a wider reach for your post.

#5. Comments encourage reciprocity – if you start leaving high-quality comments on other people’s posts, they’re more likely to return the favour.

#6. Commenting positions you as part of the conversation, not someone who is permanently in broadcast mode, using LinkedIn without giving back.

Convinced?

Good. Now let’s share our top tips to help you get started.

17 quick-fire LinkedIn commenting dos and don’ts

Do

#1. Be kind. Don’t start a fight just to boost engagement.

#2. Select 10–15 people whose posts you’ll regularly comment on – clients (to stay front of mind), prospects (to nudge them back to you), professional connections (to maintain visibility), peers (to build relationships) and influencers (for reach).

#3. Follow those people, turn on post notifications (ask me if you don’t know how to do this), and comment early – engaging within the first hour boosts visibility for both of you.

#4. Leave deep, meaningful comments; “great post” helps no one – aim for 50–150 words unless you have something genuinely punchy to say.

#5. Tag others, but only when it’s relevant to the conversation – excessive tags can trigger LinkedIn’s spam filter but, when someone you’ve tagged replies, it boosts the reach of your post.

#6. Use simple structures when writing comments – click here for a great example in this blog.

#7. Ask questions to keep the conversation flowing and reply to replies – when someone responds to you, continue the conversation.

#8. Comment before and after you post – it wakes up the algorithm and helps your own content perform better.

#9. Turn good comments into posts – if a comment performs well, it’ll probably be a popular post.

#10. Mix up who you engage with – don’t just stick to the same people every time.

Don’t

#11. Hijack a post by selling your own stuff in the comments – it looks desperate.

#12. Try to do too much – a handful of thoughtful comments beats 50 shallow ones every time. The sweet spot is around 10 comments per day.

#13. Rely on AI to write comments – humans (and LinkedIn’s algorithm) can spot them a mile off, which reverses the benefits of reciprocity and effort bias.

#14. Copy and paste the same comment everywhere – both humans and the algorithm will notice, and neither will appreciate it.

#15. Comment before reading the full post – you’ll get caught out if you miss the point or misrepresent the author.

#16. Disappear after commenting – if someone replies, reply back.

#17. Disagree purely for attention – debate is healthy, provocation for clicks isn’t.

Start commenting, start seeing the benefits

Marketing, including LinkedIn, is an exercise in delayed gratification. So don’t expect to see immediate results from adding commenting to your strategy. But keep going for long enough, and I guarantee you’ll see the benefits.

For more advice, you can access our free, 10,000-word definitive guide to using LinkedIn effectively. It covers everything from your profile to posting, commenting to engaging.

Of course, if you don’t have the time to do it, you could always outsource the job to us.

To learn more about how we can build your personal brand on LinkedIn, email abi@theyardstickagency.co.uk or call 0115 8965 300. We’d love to have a chat.