Did you know that the news feed that you see when you log in to your personal Facebook profile has been conveniently pre-sorted for you by Facebook? That scrolling feed does not represent every status update, new photo, and video that your friends have published in the past few hours. Let’s take a look at what Facebook’s EdgeRank is, what it means for you, and some specific things you can do to boost yours—think of it like SEO for Facebook.
The Facebook news feed has its own algorithm that uses a series of factors to determine what relevant content shows up in the news feed that you see. The Techcrunch blog calls EdgeRank the, “Secret Sauce,” of Facebook’s news feed. Here are the specifics of EdgeRank:
On Facebook, everything that you add such as status updates, photos, videos, links that you share, these are all called, "objects."
When you create a new object it has an, "edge." Now, each time someone interacts with your object--by 'liking' it, commenting on it, tagging it, they are each adding another edge to the object.
Facebook has shared this basic formula, although not exactly how it is used: EdgeRank= u * w * d
Where u= the affinity score between viewing user and edge creator, w= weight for this edge type (create, comment, like, tag, etc.) and d= time decay factor based on how long ago the edge was created.
So, the basics of EdgeRank are affinity, weight and time.
Affinity is a one way measure of one user toward another--not vice versa. Weight is applied to each object to determine its EdgeRank. The type of content you post matters when it comes to weight. Photos and videos have greater weight than links and status updates, but engagement--actually taking the time to comment adds tremendous value because it does not take much thought or effort to click the 'Like' button. Timing is key because we all want to read what's fresh and up-to-the-minute rather than looking at old news.
Now that we’re clear on what makes up EdgeRank, let’s look at some practical ways you can boost yours and get more visibility for what you post on Facebook:
1. Post photos and videos
Eyeballs equal revenue on Facebook; photos and videos draw users in and get likes and comments
2. Encourage interaction with friends
Ask open-ended questions. Solicit a response other than the “Like” button
3. Post content throughout the day include links in your posts
Slapping up a status update in the morning and calling it good is not going to cut it if our goal is to increase exposure and results on Facebook.
4. Stir up controversy
As long as it is in keeping with your brand image, start something and get your people talking about it. Be thoughtful and be prepared to deal with the consequences.
5. Create surveys that ask relevant, compelling questions
No on wants to answer a lame survey. Ask questions that your audience cares about and wants to get answers to in your polls.
Don’t miss out on the power of Facebook by not showing up in your audience’s news feeds. Use these tips to boost your EdgeRank and get a better return for the time you invest on Facebook.
The Facebook news feed has its own algorithm that uses a series of factors to determine what relevant content shows up in the news feed that you see. The Techcrunch blog calls EdgeRank the, “Secret Sauce,” of Facebook’s news feed. Here are the specifics of EdgeRank:
On Facebook, everything that you add such as status updates, photos, videos, links that you share, these are all called, "objects."
When you create a new object it has an, "edge." Now, each time someone interacts with your object--by 'liking' it, commenting on it, tagging it, they are each adding another edge to the object.
Facebook has shared this basic formula, although not exactly how it is used: EdgeRank= u * w * d
Where u= the affinity score between viewing user and edge creator, w= weight for this edge type (create, comment, like, tag, etc.) and d= time decay factor based on how long ago the edge was created.
So, the basics of EdgeRank are affinity, weight and time.
Affinity is a one way measure of one user toward another--not vice versa. Weight is applied to each object to determine its EdgeRank. The type of content you post matters when it comes to weight. Photos and videos have greater weight than links and status updates, but engagement--actually taking the time to comment adds tremendous value because it does not take much thought or effort to click the 'Like' button. Timing is key because we all want to read what's fresh and up-to-the-minute rather than looking at old news.
Now that we’re clear on what makes up EdgeRank, let’s look at some practical ways you can boost yours and get more visibility for what you post on Facebook:
1. Post photos and videos
Eyeballs equal revenue on Facebook; photos and videos draw users in and get likes and comments
2. Encourage interaction with friends
Ask open-ended questions. Solicit a response other than the “Like” button
3. Post content throughout the day include links in your posts
Slapping up a status update in the morning and calling it good is not going to cut it if our goal is to increase exposure and results on Facebook.
4. Stir up controversy
As long as it is in keeping with your brand image, start something and get your people talking about it. Be thoughtful and be prepared to deal with the consequences.
5. Create surveys that ask relevant, compelling questions
No on wants to answer a lame survey. Ask questions that your audience cares about and wants to get answers to in your polls.
Don’t miss out on the power of Facebook by not showing up in your audience’s news feeds. Use these tips to boost your EdgeRank and get a better return for the time you invest on Facebook.
