LinkedIn Study Finds Adding Links Boosts Engagement By 13%

A recent LinkedIn & Metricool analysis of 577,000+ LinkedIn posts (from ~48,000 company pages over 3 years) has upended some widely held beliefs in social media marketing. Contrary to typical advice that “adding links reduces reach,” the data shows links actually increase engagement.

Key Findings

Metric

With Links vs. Without

What That Means

Interactions

+13.57%

Posts with links get significantly more reactions, comments, and shares than those without. 

Views

+4.90%

Slight but consistent lift in visibility. 

Usage

~31% of posts included external links

So while many are avoiding links, a large minority do use them and are seeing benefits.

Source: Search Engine Journal

Performance by Content Format

Some formats outperform others, and the study offers useful comparisons.

Content Format

Relative Performance

Notes

Carousels (document posts)

Highest engagement (~45.85%)

Users like clicking through multiple slides. 

Polls

Huge reach (>200% above average)

Rarely used: only ~0.00034% of posts, but big upside when used correctly.

Text-only posts

Worst performers

Lowest interaction rates. 

Video content

Growing fast – up 53% posting; engagement up ~87%

Video is being rewarded by the LinkedIn algorithm more than before.

Source: Search Engine Journal

Industry Insights & Other Surprises

  • Smaller, niche industries: Companies in manufacturing, utilities, etc., with fewer followers, often get more engagement per post than big-name industries like retail or education.
  • Follower growth is hard: Only about 17.68% of company pages saw follower growth in 2024. Having more followers doesn’t guarantee better performance. 

What Marketers Should Do

Given these findings, here are practical recommendations for LinkedIn strategy:

  1. Don’t shy away from links. Use them when relevant; it seems they help, not hurt.
  2. Mix up content formats. Use carousels, polls, and videos rather than heavy reliance on text.
  3. Focus on quality over follower count. Engagement per post matters more.
  4. Test and measure. What worked in past years or what advice you’ve followed blindly should be re-examined in light of up-to-date analytics.

     

Bottom Line

A belief many marketers hold, that LinkedIn penalizes posts with links, is not supported by this large recent study. In fact, adding links can deliver more interactions and visibility. For agencies like CyberXStudio, that means refining our LinkedIn content tactics: mixing formats, valuing engagement, and using data to discard outdated assumptions.