Most marketers have at least heard about Facebook’s EdgeRank algorithm. Few completely understand it. As a marketer, EdgeRank is well worth your time and money to understand, and since this post is free we’ll just need a few minutes of your time!
What Is Facebook EdgeRank?
Facebook EdgeRank is the name of the mighty Facebook algorithm. EdgeRank, in essence, controls when your connections see your posts. It is comprised of some rather complex forumlas, but we can understand the concepts of EdgeRank and how to edge out the competition. Pardon the pun.
EdgeRank keeps track of every interaction that users make on Facebook. Interactions include everything from liking a post to viewing someone’s Facebook profile. The theory is, the more interaction a post receives, the easier it is for it to appear in someone’s news feed. In effect, it is equivalent to having a higher SERP ranking in Google search.
EdgeRank also determines what kinds of content show up in the news feed. Video, pictures, and links are three examples of types of content. If we saw everything our connections posted, our news feed would be an absolute mess. EdgeRank is in place to show users what they are more likely to be interested in.
The more often your posts appear in people’s news feeds, the more likely they are to actually look at your posts! This is why EdgeRank essential to marketing on Facebook. We want everyone to see our posts.
We can the Facebook EdgeRank algorithm down into three main facets: interaction, weight, and time. Let’s take a look at each one of these categories.
Facebook EdgeRank – Interaction
Every interaction on Facebook is considered an Edge. When a visitor interacts with your posts, views your fan page, or shares a link on your fan page’s wall, it triggers the algorithm as showing interest and interaction.
When a visitor uses Edges to interact, it increases the “interaction rating” of that visitor for that page.
The higher the interaction rating, the more likely posts from that source will appear in their news feed! This is huge for businesses. Imagine your pictures and posts showing up in your customer’s news feeds!
There is also a snowball effect that can occur here. If your posts are showing up more frequently in people’s news feeds, chances are they will interact with them and cause the interaction rating to increase!
So, we have established that interaction is a way to get your posts in people’s news feeds. How do we get interaction? Through engagement. Some ways to encourage engagement on your Fan Page are through Facebook Offers, Custom Tabs, or running things like contests. There are many other ways to get interaction, and it all starts with posting engaging material.
Facebook EdgeRank – Weight
Another variable that determines EdgeRank is the type of post a user likes to see.
There are three main kinds of posts that generate engagement and interaction: pictures, videos, and links. If a user interacts with one of these forms of posts, it will be weighted higher than the other types of posts.
The point I am trying to make here is that everyone has a different Edge weight. Some people may prefer to see pictures, while others links. Basically, if they prefer to see one form of media over another, more of that type will appear in their news feed.
The lesson you can learn from this is to diversify your posts. One day post a video. The next, a picture. By varying your posts, you can account for all of the different user’s Edge weights, and making sure that they will be seen in their respective news feeds.
Facebook EdgeRank – Time
Time is a sensitive variable in EdgeRank. You generally do not see posts more than a day old showing up for the first time in your news feed. This is because of a factor called “time decay”.
Time decay is pretty straight forward – as time passes, the odds that the post is shown in the news feed decays.
To counter time decay, the solution is to post often. One to three times a day is ideal. You can even vary your posts using different kinds of media in the same day to account for Edge weight!
How to Boost Visibility
Now that you understand the basics of EdgeRank, let’s talk about some ways that you can incorporate EdgeRank into your Facebook Fan Page business strategy.
When your Fan Page is preparing to launch a product, you are going to want to promote your product. Be sure to start this process long before the product launch. A week to two weeks should suffice. We want as many people to see our posts about the product launch as possible, so start posting and getting a higher EdgeRank before you start promoting your product!
Likes are not enough to cover the interaction requirement of EdgeRank. Be sure to start some conversation. Ask questions. Take polls and surveys. An engaging Fan Page will generate plenty of interaction.
Lastly, when you do promote your product, do it with a variety of media. Film a short video to show off the product. Share some mock-up photos. Write a blog post about it and share the link. This variety will ensure that people in each Rank weight category are seeing your posts.
We hope that this post introduced you to how Facebook EdgeRank works, and wish you success in getting the engagement and interaction required to benefit from it. We know you can do it!
