Why You Should Preview LinkedIn Posts Before Publishing (And How to Do It)

Your perfectly crafted LinkedIn post looks broken on 43% of mobile devices.

That stat comes from testing how desktop-designed content renders on phones. Images get cropped. Text gets cut off. Your carefully written hook disappears behind "see more" before anyone reads it.

And here's the problem: over 70% of LinkedIn users browse on mobile. If you're not previewing how your post looks on a phone screen, you're publishing blind to your largest audience.

This guide shows you exactly what to check before posting, the common mistakes that kill engagement, and how to preview your content like a pro.

LinkedIn Has No Native Preview

Here's something most people don't realize: LinkedIn doesn't have a built-in preview feature.

When you write a post in LinkedIn's composer, you see your text. But you don't see:

• How it appears in someone's feed
• Where the "see more" cutoff hits
• How your image renders on mobile
• Whether your formatting actually works

You're essentially publishing and hoping for the best. Most creators discover problems after the post is live—when it's already too late.

This is why third-party preview tools exist. And why smart creators use them before every post.

The "See More" Problem

The most important thing to preview is your hook—the text visible before LinkedIn hides the rest.

Here's how the cutoff works:

On Desktop: 3 lines visible before "see more" appears

On Mobile: 2 lines visible (roughly 65-85 characters depending on formatting)

With Media Attached: Only 3 lines show on desktop, 2 on mobile

The exact character count varies based on your line breaks. A two-line hook can contain up to 85 characters with strategic formatting—but if your second line exceeds 33 characters, it gets cut off by the "see more" button.

This is why previewing matters. You might think your hook is visible. But on mobile, half of it could be hidden.

What Happens If Your Hook Is Cut Off

If your most compelling line is hidden behind "see more," your post is dead on arrival.

People scroll fast. They don't click "see more" on posts that don't hook them immediately. According to LinkedIn algorithm research, the first 90 minutes determine whether your post gets shown to more people. If nobody clicks through in that window, the algorithm buries it.

Your hook needs to be fully visible on mobile. Not partially visible. Not "close enough." Fully visible.

Preview your post on a mobile view before publishing. If your hook is cut off, rewrite it shorter.

The Mobile-Desktop Gap

Here's what renders differently between devices:

Text Display

• Desktop shows more characters per line
• Mobile wraps text earlier
• Line breaks appear at different points
• Emojis render at different sizes

Images

• Desktop: Full-width display with consistent aspect ratios
• Mobile: Aggressive cropping, especially on banners and wide images
• Different devices crop differently—there are 47 different mobile display types for LinkedIn

Formatted Text

Unicode bold and italic characters (the kind you create with text formatters) don't always render the same across devices. Some phones display them correctly. Others show empty boxes or strange symbols.

The only way to know is to preview.

Image Dimensions That Work

Wrong image sizes get cropped, stretched, or pixelated. Here are the specs that work:

Single Image Posts

Portrait (1080 x 1350) takes up the most screen real estate on mobile feeds—which means more visibility.

Carousel Posts

For carousels, use PDF format. LinkedIn accepts up to 300 pages, but optimal engagement happens with 8-12 slides. Keep total file size under 100MB.

For more on carousel best practices, see our complete LinkedIn carousel guide.

Video Posts

• Resolution: 1920 x 1080 px (16:9) or 1080 x 1920 px (9:16 for vertical)
• File size: 75KB to 200MB
• Upload natively—YouTube links get 50% less reach

The Safe Zone Rule

For any image with text or important elements, keep critical content within the center 80% of the image. Mobile cropping cuts edges unpredictably.

Link Preview Issues

When you share a link, LinkedIn generates a preview with:

• Title (from og:title tag)
• Description (from og:description tag)
• Thumbnail image (from og:image tag)

If any of these look wrong, here's why:

Wrong or Missing Image: The og:image tag is missing, broken, or the image is smaller than 1200 x 627 pixels.

Old Information Showing: LinkedIn caches link previews for 7 days. If you updated your page recently, the old version might still show.

"Cannot Display Preview" Error: Your site might be blocking LinkedIn's crawler, missing SSL certificate, or have broken meta tags.

How to Fix It

Use LinkedIn's Post Inspector tool:

1. Paste your URL
2. Click "Inspect"
3. See what LinkedIn will display
4. If it's wrong, fix your site's OG tags and re-inspect

After fixing, LinkedIn may take several hours to update the cached preview. Plan link posts ahead of time so you can verify previews before publishing.

The Editing Penalty

Here's why getting it right before publishing matters: editing posts can hurt your reach.

LinkedIn used to heavily penalize edited posts—essentially resetting them to zero visibility. That strict penalty has been reduced, but editing more than twice can still reduce your reach.

More importantly, any edit during the first hour after posting can disrupt momentum. That first hour is when LinkedIn's algorithm decides whether to show your post to more people. Interrupting that window with edits signals instability.

Best practice: Preview thoroughly. Post correctly the first time. If you must edit, wait at least an hour and limit yourself to one edit.

Typos Kill Credibility

A study by Website Planet found that pages with typos see an 85% higher bounce rate compared to error-free pages. Visitors leave faster and in greater numbers.

On LinkedIn, the effect is similar. Typos and grammatical errors make you look careless at best, incompetent at worst. According to research shared on LinkedIn, professionals often judge credibility based on writing quality—rightly or wrongly.

One typo in a casual post? Probably fine. But consistent errors erode trust over time.

What to Check

• Spelling (obvious typos like "teh" or "adn")
• Grammar (subject-verb agreement, tense consistency)
• Names (misspelling a person's or company's name is embarrassing)
• Numbers (wrong stats undermine your credibility)
• Links (broken links waste the reader's click)

Reading your post out loud catches most errors. Your brain auto-corrects when reading silently. Speaking forces you to process every word.

The Complete Preview Checklist

Before you hit publish, verify:

Hook & Text

• Hook fully visible on mobile (under 85 characters for 2 lines)
• Hook creates curiosity or promises value
• No typos or grammatical errors
• Formatting renders correctly (bold, italics, line breaks)
• Post length is 900-1,200 characters (optimal range)

Visual Content

• Image dimensions are correct (1080x1350 for portrait, 1200x627 for landscape)
• Important elements within center 80% safe zone
• Image isn't pixelated or stretched
• Carousel slides are consistent and readable
• Video uploads natively (not YouTube link)

Links & Tags

• Link preview shows correct title, description, and image
• All links work (test them)
• Hashtags are 3-5, relevant, and at the end
• Tagged people are relevant (max 2-3)

Platform Check

• Previewed on mobile view
• Previewed on desktop view
• Formatted text renders on both

How to Preview Your Posts

Since LinkedIn doesn't offer native preview, use these options:

Option 1: Third-Party Preview Tools

Several free tools simulate how your post will look:

• Postking's Post Preview - Desktop and mobile views with character counting
• LinkedIn Post Inspector - For checking link previews specifically
• AuthoredUp, Typegrow, MagicPost - Browser extensions with preview features

These tools show your post as it would appear in someone's feed, including where "see more" cuts off.

Option 2: Test Account

Some creators maintain a secondary LinkedIn account set to private. They post there first, check how it looks on mobile, then delete and repost from their main account.

This works but adds friction. Preview tools are faster.

Option 3: Phone Preview

Write your post on desktop. Before posting, open LinkedIn on your phone and paste the text into a draft. See exactly how it renders on your actual device.

This catches device-specific issues that simulators might miss.

The 2-Minute Preview Routine

Here's a quick routine before every post:

30 seconds: Run through text preview on mobile view. Is the hook visible? Any typos?

30 seconds: Check image/carousel rendering. Correct dimensions? Nothing cropped badly?

30 seconds: Test any links. Do they work? Does the preview look right?

30 seconds: Final read-through out loud. Does it flow? Anything awkward?

Two minutes of checking can save you from a post that underperforms—or embarrasses you.

Start Previewing

Publishing without previewing is like sending an email without proofreading. Sometimes you get lucky. Often you don't.

The data is clear:

• 70%+ of your audience is on mobile
• 43% of desktop content breaks on mobile
• 85% higher bounce rate on content with errors
• Editing penalties punish posts you have to fix

Two minutes of preview work protects the hours you spent creating content.

Ready to see how your posts actually look? Postking's free post preview tool shows you exactly what your audience sees—on mobile and desktop—before you publish.

Preview first. Post with confidence. Let your content do its job without formatting failures getting in the way.

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Sources: Data from John Espirian's LinkedIn research, AuthoredUp algorithm analysis, Website Planet bounce rate study, and PostNitro carousel research.

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