Facebook algorithm – what is it?
Apart from being a real headache for many Community Managers, it’s also how Facebook algorithm is known. So, not only does Google have its own algorithm, the queen of social networks has one too.
EdgeRank algorithm is a collection of math operations with many different variables. It determines which stories will be shown in each user’s newsfeed depending on the content that they are interested in. What does this mean? Through this algorithm, Facebook decides which publications will appear in each of your followers’ newsfeeds.
How Does Facebook Algorithm Know What The Preferences Are For Each User?
The movement of each Facebook user counts, from making a comment on a photo, liking a post or posting a video. All these signs will show the algorithm what you might be interested in or not. At the end of the day, Facebook is a business and the clients are all the profiles and pages. The objective is to keep everybody happy making sure that the clients receive only information that is valuable for them.
If every time you open Facebook, the first thing you do is search for posts of your family, partner, friends or your favorite clothing brand, Facebook will know without a doubt that if these publications appear in your newsfeed, they will receive more interactions than if other content is shown.
How Facebook Algorithm Works
You are probably wondering which factors you should consider to be more appealing to yhe Facebook Algorithm.
If you want to appear on Facebook News Feed and reach more users, you should take note of the following factors:
Affinity: This means that Facebook considers more relevant posts from friends and pages that have more affinity with the user. For example, profiles from relatives, partners, or Facebook pages that users often visit.
Type of content: Facebook algorithm leans toward the quality of the posts. This factor was included recently to fight against the infamous “clickbaiting”. What should you do to increase engagement? You should offer interesting content for your targeted audience without falling into easy clicks.
Amongst the contents with a better acceptance in the social network are:
- Videos (the objective is to compete against YouTube).
- Live Transmissions (to compete against Periscope).
- GIFs
- Images
Interactions: Here you will have to put into practice your originality when you create content. This social network considers those publications that obtain a high percentage of Facebook engagement. The order of relevance is as follows:
1. Number of times that content has been shared.
2. Value of comments received.Interactions: Here you will have to put into practice your originality when you create content. This social network considers those publications that obtain a high percentage of Facebook engagement. The order of relevance is as follows:
3. Number of Likes and Reactions on a post.
Therefore, if you have a low number of followers on your Facebook Page, you’re in luck since the more followers you have, the lower the engagement on your posts should be.
So, for example, if you have 20,000 fans but none of them interact with your content, the impact on the EdgeRank algorithm of your Fan Page will be negative.
Present: Time factor is essential for this social network. That is, the most recent publications will appear in the latest newsfeed on your followers’ page.
Be careful though, this will change when we consider promoted publications with Facebook Ads or when we talk about the memories that Facebook brings with ‘On This Day’.
To be more appealing in this social network, it’s also important that you don’t exceed the maximum of 5 daily publications. What happens if you surpass it? Your Facebook Page could be penalized and it’s not worth the risk after working so hard, right?
Variety: This social network giant loves that Pages get the most of different content types. Try to alternate your content and you will succeed: Photos, videos (including live videos), GIFs, events, link shares, etc.
Links on Facebook score positively
Facebook is not particularly fond of sharing external links. It prefers that users don’t leave the social network. However, for this type of content you should publish updates with a high percentage of sustained engagement and a low bounce rate.
If the social network realizes that you post an article including an external link that has many shares but users don’t spend too much time on them, then Facebook will penalize your page.
One last recommendation – if you want to make sure your Facebook Page goes far, you will have to invest in promoting your posts and carry on ad campaigns with Facebook Ads. In the end, Facebook is a business that also rewards those that invest in its own platform. Facebook is willing to make money out of it.
Now you know how to work with the Facebook Algorithm to be rewarded for your publications and reach a lot of people.
