Like all social networks, Facebook also has its own algorithm, called edgerank, which is one of the highest rated algorithms at the moment. Do you want to know how it works? Read on!
Edgerank: Facebook' s algorithm
Like all algorithms, what Edgerank does is to base itself on a series of parameters and metrics to first show some content or others. For example, Google, with its algorithm what it does is to establish which web pages appear in its first search results. In other words, Google's algorithm is in charge of organic positioning in its search engine.
On the other hand, Edgerank could be considered the SEO of Facebook as it fulfils the same function as Google's algorithm. In fact, they are quite similar except that instead of establishing the order of the websites after a search, what EdgeRank determines is the appearance or not of our Facebook publications on the wall of our followers.
Therefore, knowing how this algorithm works will help us a lot if we have positioned ourselves in this social network. As we have commented in some other post, every inbound marketing strategy involves the development of a strategy in social networks. What is not communicated does not exist", and so it happens in the case of marketing strategies. The more we are present where our audience is, the more chances we will have to succeed and grow our business.
For this reason, the strategy in social networks is a very important phase of the marketing process of our company. However, positioning ourselves in social networks does not mean that we must be in each and every one of them, as this will generate a cost of resources and time. It would be enough to appear and have a presence in those used by the target audience, which we have defined in the objectives of our marketing plan .
If we have decided to launch ourselves, therefore, into the world of social network positioning, we will not be surprised to discover that the two most used social networks worldwide are Instragram and Facebook. Therefore, being present in at least one of them will help our brand a lot. In addition, the good thing about social networks like Facebook is that they have a very wide range in the age of its users, which will always have an audience of our target audience in them. But sometimes it is not enough to have a presence on Facebook, we must also know a little of its algorithm. If edgerank is what determines which publications appear on our followers' wall and which do not, we are interested in knowing how it works because we not only want to be part of this social network, but also that users know us through it.
what are the keys to edgerank?
Nobody knows the exact functioning of Facebook EdgeRank, nor what are all the parameters of influence, nor the weight of each of them in the final formula. This makes it somewhat more complex to know how to act with this algorithm, but we do know three basic factors that have been identified over time, from the research of its operation:
- Affinity: One of the most determining aspects is the degree of interaction between the user and the person or company that publishes or creates the content. This is a very common criterion in all social networks, as they try to achieve this ultimate goal. The way to measure this interaction is essentially how many times the user clicks the "Like" button, the comments and whether or not they share their posts. The more times they do this, edgerank will understand that the user is more interested in the page or the user.
- Relevance of the content: This is a valuation of each content published by Facebook itself. What the algorithm does in this case is to give a better valuation to those accounts that have quality, i.e. the variety of formats used. Facebook offers many options to add photos, videos and others to its publications, which means that if these tools are used, they are valued more positively than those that only use text.
- time: As the time of the publication passes, its relevance decreases, which is why it is important to update the content frequently, as Facebook especially values current events, i.e. the most recent information.
Therefore, and taking these three factors into account, you will be thinking about how your company's Facebook can positively influence them and position your brand well, whether you want your content to appear on as many of your contacts' walls as possible, or if you want your posts to appear as often as possible and in the first places.
Some of the things you can do to favour this algorithm are:
- Publish interesting and multimedia content: Our content should have value for the user and not be limited to promotions or offers (which can also be considered spam). It is also very important to include digital content in your posts and not limit yourself to using only text.
- Update frequently: In addition to the quality and variety of the formats, our publications must have a third characteristic: they must be new and updated regularly.
- Interact with the user: It is essential that the user makes comments (and, of course, answer them in the best possible way and the sooner the better) and that they share our content. To do this, we must publish things that catch their attention, as well as encourage them to share their opinions and doubts with us. In this way we ensure interaction with the user, which edgerank will value positively and will continue to show us on the user's wall.
After a series of updates to Edgerank, Facebook has started to place special value on the consistency of the content shown and the time spent by the user reading each post, which shows a certain interest.
So if we want our publications to have the maximum possible prominence in the feeds of our followers, we have no choice but to increase their quality, use many more photos and videos, enhance interaction and dose our content prioritising quality over quantity.
The important thing is to be constant and interactive with the user so that Edgerank shows us and helps us to grow our business.
