Most LinkedIn posts lose their readers at the first line. The feed shows a few lines, then …more. If the opening doesn't make people click, the rest never gets read. Three things that help: • Start with the point, not the backstory • Keep the first line short • Leave the hashtags for the end What's the best first line you've read this week? #linkedin #writing
Free tool
LinkedIn post preview
See your post the way the feed will show it, on a desktop and on a phone, and where it folds behind “…more”, before you publish.
365 / 3,000 characters
Desktop feed
Phone
Most LinkedIn posts lose their readers at the first line. The feed shows a few lines, then …more. If the opening doesn't make people click, the rest never gets read. Three things that help: • Start with the point, not the backstory • Keep the first line short • Leave the hashtags for the end What's the best first line you've read this week? #linkedin #writing
The preview cuts after three lines. LinkedIn's own cut moves with the screen and the app, so treat it as a guide: what matters goes in the first line. Runs in your browser: your text isn't sent anywhere.
Publishing posts from your product? Lempile's LinkedIn API posts this same text, with mentions, images or a video, from your users' own accounts.
How to use it
Preview a LinkedIn post in three steps.
- 01
Paste your post
Type your post, or paste a draft. Add your name and headline if you want the card to look like yours.
- 02
Check the fold
The desktop and phone cards fold the text after three lines, as the feed does, and show …more when there's more.
- 03
Fix the opening
Rework the first line until it makes you click …more, then copy the post and publish it on LinkedIn.
Write for the fold
The first lines decide who reads the rest.
Put the point first
Only the first lines show before …more, so open with the point: the result, the question or the surprise, not the backstory.
Keep the first line short
A one-line opening followed by a blank line leaves room for a second line under the fold, instead of one long paragraph cut mid-sentence.
Watch the blank lines
Every line break uses a line of the fold. A blank line right after the first sentence can push your second sentence out of sight.
Hashtags last
Hashtags read as noise in the opening lines. Put them at the end, where they don't take up the lines people see first.
Need bold or italics? Style words in the text formatter, then paste the result above. Every limit, from posts to headlines, is in LinkedIn character limits, and how many hashtags to use is in LinkedIn hashtags.
FAQ
Questions, answered.
Where does LinkedIn cut off a long post?
After the first few lines, with …more at the end. Where exactly depends on the screen width, the app and your line breaks, so this tool shows both a desktop and a phone card. It folds after three lines.
How long can a LinkedIn post be?
3,000 characters, according to LinkedIn Help. The counter above turns red past that. Comments allow 1,250, and our character limits guide lists the rest.
Does the preview show bold and italic text?
Yes. Bold and italic text on LinkedIn is made of Unicode letters, so a post styled in our text formatter shows the same here. Paste it in and check it reads well.
What about hashtags, links and mentions?
Hashtags and links are highlighted the way the feed shows them. @mentions show as plain text here.
Is my post sent anywhere?
No. Everything runs in your browser: the text, name and headline you type aren't sent to Lempile, to LinkedIn or anywhere else.
Can I publish or schedule the post from here?
Not from this page. To publish posts from your own product, through your users' LinkedIn accounts, Lempile's API has POST /posts, with mentions, images or a video, and a dry run to check what would be sent.
Publish LinkedIn posts from your product.
Lempile's API publishes posts with mentions, images or a video through your users' own LinkedIn accounts, with a dry run first and a human pace. 7-day free trial, no card needed.