Glossary

LinkedIn & content glossary

The words that get thrown around about LinkedIn and content marketing, explained in plain English. No jargon, no fluff, just what each term actually means and why it matters when you post.

Impressions

The number of times your post appeared on someone's screen. One person can rack up several impressions, so it counts views, not unique people.

Reach

The number of unique people who saw your post at least once. Lower than impressions, and a truer measure of how many humans you actually reached.

Engagement rate

The share of people who reacted, commented, or shared, relative to how many saw the post. A core health metric for any account. Engagement rate calculator →

Dwell time

How long someone lingers on your post before scrolling on. LinkedIn treats a long pause as a strong signal that the post held attention, often more telling than a quick like.

Hook

The first line or two of a post, the only part shown before the 'see more' cutoff. It decides whether anyone reads the rest, so it does most of the work. Hook generator →

See more cutoff

The point (around 210 characters) where LinkedIn truncates a post in the feed and adds a 'see more' link. Everything before it has to earn the click. Character counter →

SSI (Social Selling Index)

A LinkedIn score from 0 to 100 that rates how well you establish a brand, find the right people, engage with insight, and build relationships. A rough gauge, not a goal in itself.

Carousel (document post)

A multi-page PDF or slide deck posted natively to LinkedIn that readers swipe through. Good for step-by-step content because the swiping keeps people on the post.

Reshare

Posting the same content again, usually after a few weeks or months, to reach the followers who missed it the first time. Re-sharing on a schedule is a normal, useful habit.

Creator mode

A LinkedIn profile setting that surfaces your content, adds a follow button, and lets you list the topics you post about. Aimed at people who publish regularly.

Company Page

A business's official presence on LinkedIn, separate from any individual's profile. RightHandMan is built for keeping a Company Page active without the daily grind. Company page post ideas →

Algorithm

The system that decides which posts each person sees and in what order. On LinkedIn it favors posts that hold attention and spark genuine conversation.

Cadence

How often and how regularly you post. A consistent cadence you can sustain beats occasional bursts, because both your habit and your audience's expectations build on rhythm.

Repurposing

Taking content you already made (a web page, a talk, an email) and reshaping it for a new place. Your website is the richest source of LinkedIn material you already own. Turn a page into a post →

Content bank

A running stockpile of post ideas and drafts you build ahead of time, so you never sit down to a blank page. Crawling your site keeps the bank topped up automatically. Post idea generator →

Native content

Content uploaded directly to LinkedIn (text, images, video, documents) rather than linking out. LinkedIn tends to show native posts more, since they keep people on the platform.

External link penalty

The common belief that a post pointing off LinkedIn gets less reach. The honest version is softer: a post has to earn attention on its own, then the link is the next step for interested readers.

Call to action (CTA)

The single thing you ask the reader to do at the end of a post: reply, DM you, read more, or visit a page. One clear ask beats three vague ones.

Headline

On a profile, the short line under your name (up to 220 characters). On a post or article, the title that has to make someone want to read on. Headline analyzer →

Article

A long-form piece published natively on LinkedIn, more like a blog post than a feed update. Good for in-depth topics and evergreen pages you want to live on your profile. Posts and articles →

Brand voice

The consistent tone, vocabulary, and style that make your content recognizably yours. RightHandMan learns it from your site so drafts sound like your business, not a generic bot.

Whole-site crawl

Reading every worthwhile page on a website to understand it in full, rather than working from a single pasted link. It is the starting point for turning a site into a stream of posts. Whole-site crawl →

Best time to post

The windows when your specific audience is most active and likely to see a fresh post early, which helps it gather the early engagement that drives wider reach. Best time to post →

Social proof

Evidence that others trust you (testimonials, results, named customers) woven into a post or page. It makes claims credible instead of just confident.