The 'link in the first comment' trick is mostly folklore

The 'link in the first comment' trick is mostly folklore

Everyone says: "Never put a link in the post — bury it in the first comment so the algorithm doesn't suppress you."

The claim: LinkedIn demotes outbound links to keep you on-platform, so hide them.

What's actually true: external links do get less reach, but the comment workaround barely helps — LinkedIn parses your first comment too, and editing a link in later doesn't retroactively boost a post the model already scored. Multiple side-by-side tests show the comment-link post and the in-post-link post landing within noise of each other.

The penalty isn't the link's location. It's that link-out posts get fewer dwell-and-engage signals because people leave.

Tested alternative: post the value natively, link only when the click is the point, and accept lower reach as the cost of a conversion.

It's not where you hid the link. It's that the link sends people away.