Standing out on LinkedIn isn't just about what you say - it's about how you present it. While LinkedIn's native editor doesn't offer traditional formatting buttons, there's a powerful workaround that top creators use to make their content impossible to ignore: LinkedIn text formatting.

According to recent 2025 LinkedIn benchmarks, multi-image posts achieve engagement rates of 6.60%, while well-formatted posts with strategic text styling consistently outperform plain text alternatives.

The difference? Visual hierarchy and strategic emphasis that guide readers through your message.

In this comprehensive guide, you'll discover everything you need to know about formatting text on LinkedIn - from basic bold and italic formatting to advanced techniques that make your posts, profile sections, and messages stand out in a crowded feed.

What is LinkedIn Text Formatting?

LinkedIn text formatting refers to the practice of applying visual styles to your text - including bold, italic, underlined, and other decorative fonts - to create emphasis, improve readability, and capture attention on the platform.

Here's the challenge: LinkedIn doesn't natively allow for text formatting in the traditional sense. You can't simply highlight text and click a "bold" button like you would in Microsoft Word or Google Docs.

The solution? Unicode characters.

By using Unicode symbols that look like formatted text, creators can trick LinkedIn and viewers into thinking what they're seeing is bold, italics, or underlined text. These special characters exist in the broader Unicode character set and display as styled text across most devices and platforms.

Why Text Formatting Matters on LinkedIn

The professional social network has evolved far beyond a digital resume platform. With LinkedIn generating 9 billion content impressions in feeds every week, competition for attention is fierce.

Well-formatted content delivers measurable advantages:

Increased Visibility - Well-formatted posts catch people's attention while scrolling through busy feeds, leading to increased visibility for your content. When everything in the feed looks identical, formatted text creates pattern interruption that stops the scroll.

Better Readability - Strategic use of bold text and spacing makes content easier to read and digest. Research on web readability shows that text with clear visual hierarchy is processed 47% faster than dense, uniform blocks of text (Nielsen Norman Group).

Professional Appearance - Consistent formatting reflects attention to detail, leading to more credibility. In a professional context, how you present information signals how seriously you take your work.

Higher Engagement - Structured posts typically receive more likes, comments, and reposts. Data from 2025 LinkedIn benchmarks shows that posts with clear formatting and visual structure achieve significantly higher engagement rates.

Enhanced Message Clarity - Different formatting styles help emphasize key points, making it easier for readers to grasp your main message even during a quick scroll.