For those new to LinkedIn or even seasoned writers, we may not be aware of this. Knowing the difference can be a deal-breaker.

I'll list them into key points for easy reference.

For a more detailed explanation, can refer to the subsequent section.

A Post

Advantages

• Greater organic reach
• Stays on the same page
• Tend to receive more engagements

Disadvantages

• Not search engine-friendly
• Limited to 1300 characters
• Shorter life-span

An Article

Advantages

• Indexed by search engines
• Builds authority
• No cap to written words

Disadvantages

• Lower organic reach in the beginning
• Loads another page
• Lesser engagements

Writing a Post

If we're starting anew on LinkedIn, consider writing a post first.

A post has a greater organic reach. We may amass a lot of views if someone with a big network interacts with our posts. We'll likely be able to grow our network from it.

Also, a post tends to stay on the feed without leading the user away to another page. It makes it easy for that person to give a "like" or to comment on it. With the engagement, LinkedIn takes note of it and boosts the post further. Hence, the reason for the greater reach earlier.

The problem is, writing a post is a short-term gain. It loses its effectiveness after a week or two. Beyond that, it's likely to be gone forever. However, don't be sad. We've traded it for something better. Connections and followers.

It's also challenging to create a post. With a cap of 1300 characters, we got to make it sweet and on-point. Write in simple language. No jargons. To have the copywriting skillset is an added advantage here.

Writing an Article

Articles are on the other end of the spectrum. We get less reach at the beginning. But, I'll explain why it gets better after this.

Unlike post, search engines like Google or Yahoo will index our articles.

What does this mean?

It means our articles will show up in the search engine results when someone searches for something. We won't get the massive organic reach within LinkedIn initially unless it's a jackpot. Once Google picks up our article, it will show to its searchers. However, this only happens between 6 to 12 months.

As a result, it will add credibility to our profile. People will know us by reading our articles. That's the reason why it gets better later. We're investing for the future.

As of now, we won't get that instant reach. Therefore, we may end up disappointed. The lacklustre engagement is real. Partly, a LinkedIn user has to load another page to read our articles. That's a drawback. Having a big network helps at this point.

More importantly, people need to know you enough to want to read your article. Therefore, we will need to continue to write a post regularly.

That said, we're free to flex our writing skills. There's no limitation to how much we can write. You can write a book if you want to.

In Summary

Write a post if you have just started your LinkedIn journey. Or your network is relatively small.

Write an article is you want to build authority online, the expert in a subject. Be it on LinkedIn or the world wide web.

Would you want to write an article?