Posting Best Practices
Yasmina Akni Ebourki
Last updated: Aug 21, 2024
Have you ever stumbled upon a LinkedIn profile that stands out with a unique badge or special section, and wondered how they achieved it?
If you've been active on LinkedIn for a while, you might start noticing these badges and wonder what they really mean.
More importantly, you’re probably curious about how earning one could elevate your own profile's visibility and credibility.
In this article, I'll explain exactly what these badges signify and how they can benefit you.
TL;DR: LinkedIn badges recognize your expertise; the blue badge lasts a year, and the golden one for 60 days. Both are invitation-only and are awarded for creating valuable content in your industry.
What is a LinkedIn top voice
Before diving in, it's important to understand that LinkedIn offers two distinct types of badges, which you may have noticed by their different colors—blue and yellow.
These badges aren't just for show; each one represents a different level of recognition and serves a unique purpose on the platform.
The difference between blue badges and gold badges
The Blue Badge:
This is awarded to 300 individuals chosen by LinkedIn each year through an invitation-only program.
LinkedIn selects experts across various fields and grants them this badge.
These individuals are recognized as top experts by LinkedIn based on their consistent content creation, value addition, and relatively high engagement, regardless of their specific domain or industry.
The Gold Badge:
On the other hand, this is the "Community Top Voice" badge. This program is also invitation-only and involves collaboration on various articles generated by LinkedIn’s AI on specific topics.
How to become a LinkedIn Top Voice
Both LinkedIn badges—the blue Top Voice badge and the gold Community Top Voice badge—require your profile to meet certain criteria.
Achieving these badges isn't just about posting content; it's about consistently aligning your activity with what LinkedIn values in its most influential members.
By following specific guidelines and best practices, you increase the likelihood that LinkedIn's algorithm will eventually recognize your efforts, making you eligible for either of these prestigious badges.
But let’s start by seeing the difference between these two badges:
Blue badge:
In the case of the blue badge, as previously mentioned, it requires an invitation.
However, the blue badge is particularly challenging to achieve because LinkedIn selects recipients annually.
There's no secret trick to getting it; the key is to consistently produce high-quality, valuable content that establishes your profile as an authority in your field.
To increase your chances:
Focus on quality: share insights, analysis, and expert opinions that offer real value to your audience.
Engage regularly: actively participate in discussions, respond to comments, and build relationships with your network.
Showcase expertise: regularly post content that highlights your deep knowledge and thought leadership in your industry.
Build a strong network: Connect with other influencers and engage with their content to expand your reach and visibility.
In other words, they all maintain a consistent presence on LinkedIn, use various features of the platform, and have highly engaged communities with posts that attract numerous comments, likes, and shares.
Additionally, profiles selected as LinkedIn Top Voices are typically senior professionals and leaders in their fields.
By following these practices and building a strong presence, you can enhance your profile’s visibility and increase your chances of being recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice.
Gold Badge
On the other side, obtaining the gold badge is somewhat easier than the blue badge.
Although it still requires you to establish yourself and showcase your expertise in your field, LinkedIn may extend invitations to some users.
Many newcomers will have to rely on the following approach:
You need to start contributing to different articles to earn your badge.
But you can begin by reacting to other contributions and showing your interest so that you might receive a badge
To qualify for the gold badge, LinkedIn requires you to contribute regularly to its articles, with a minimum of three contributions needed.
For example, if you look at the marketing topic, you'll find numerous contributions from various experts.
The steps to start contributing are:
Access the Collaborative Articles Content Hub and browse through the hub to select a topic of interest.
Once you found an article within that topic where you would like to contribute.
Start contributing, and If you see the button labeled “Start a Contribution” or “Add Your Perspective,” you’re ready to contribute your insights to the article.
Initially, if your account doesn’t have high engagement or if you’re not yet established in a specific topic, you might not see the “Add Your Perspective” option.
Since access is by invitation, start by actively engaging with content related to your interests.
React to articles, participate in discussions, and continue sharing valuable content on your profile to increase your visibility and credibility.
As you can see, contributions with fewer than 10 responses are rare, so I recommend making several contributions to establish yourself on the topic.
However, don’t just respond for the sake of it.
Focus on showcasing your expertise by providing answers that are both concise and comprehensive.
Based on insights from various profiles, you can potentially earn the gold badge relatively quickly—often within a week.
However, the time required may vary depending on your industry and sector.
LinkedIn will notify you about new articles where you can add your perspective by answering questions.
Typically, each article features at least three questions, but this can vary based on the content of the article.
What to do once you receive a notification to collaborate?
When you receive a notification from LinkedIn inviting you to contribute your insights to an article, start by scrolling through the topics to find one that interests you and where you can add meaningful thoughts.
Once you’ve selected a topic, type your responses, making sure to address each question posed in the article. LinkedIn will require you to contribute to at least three articles.
After making your contributions, LinkedIn will notify you when you’ve been recognized as a LinkedIn Top Voice.
You may need to contribute to two additional articles to complete the process and earn your badge.
The process can often be completed in just a few days, but it can vary depending on your sector and the number of contributions each article has.
For example, in this image, the topic is digital marketing, and you can see that no article has fewer than 15 contributions from other content creators.
How long does it last?
Neither badge lasts forever.
The blue badge is valid for a full year, but as we saw achieving it requires consistent content creation and engagement, and it's not on your hands to ask for it, it's based on the team of LinkedIn to think that you are qualified for it.
On the other hand, the gold badge has a shorter duration, lasting only 60 days, but in the same way it is easier to achieve.
And if you’ve earned the gold badge (congratulations on making your contributions stand out!), and you want to keep it, you will need to continue adding valuable contributions, and your posts must receive "insightful" clicks from other users.
The benefits of becoming a LinkedIn top voice
What do you gain after earning one of these badges?
Being recognized by LinkedIn as a Top Voice truly positions you as an expert in your field, which can open the door to new opportunities.
This recognition offers several key benefits:
As a Top Voice, your profile and content gain greater visibility on LinkedIn.
When people click on your contributions, they are directed to your profile, leading to more connections and professional collaborations.
This increased exposure helps you expand your network and reach a wider audience.
The Top Voice badge acts as a certification of your expertise.
It not only validates your knowledge and insights but also builds trust with others.
When people see that LinkedIn has acknowledged your contributions, they are more likely to respect your opinions and seek out your experiences.
And beyond job prospects, enhanced credibility and visibility can lead to speaking engagements, media features, and other opportunities that help you advance in your professional journey.
Once you become a LinkedIn Top Voice, the platform itself may amplify your content.
LinkedIn might promote your posts more often, increasing the chances that they will be seen and engaged with by a larger audience.
This not only helps you reach more people but also strengthens your influence within your industry.
The more your content is shared and interacted with, the more you establish yourself as a leading voice, creating a cycle that can lead to even more recognition and opportunities.
