Did you know that not all of the messages that you post to your Facebook business page may be observed by the people who have “liked” your page? Even if you have a lot of fans, your posts may be seen by only a portion of your fans in their newsfeeds. Why? Because the default setting for the newsfeed on your fans’ personal profiles displays “Top News”. If users want to see “Most Recent” posts, they have to manually change the setting. Most people just use the default setting.
So, what does Facebook consider to be “Top News”? We don’t know exactly- Facebook isn’t divulging its secret formula called Edgerank- but we do have some tips we have compiled after research and observation.
Encourage conversations: Facebook likes to see strong bonds between users (they call if Affinity). When one of your fans likes or comments on your posts, there’s a higher chance that your fan will continue to see your posts in their newsfeed. To help encourage “affinity”, post items that spark conversations. Use questions. Say something controversial or share something funny. And if your fans like or comment on your post, acknowledge them with a comment of your own, making it a two-way conversation.
Facebook also seems to give more weight to posts that get comments rather than merely “likes”, so asking questions seems to be a better strategy that just posting something that people enjoy but don’t encourage comments.
Post links, videos and photos: Facebook seems to like some content more than others. Maybe links, videos and photos tend to get more reactions from people, so that’s why they get better visibility. But it is believed that some kinds of content are weighted more heavily and are more likely to be considered “Top News”.
Time your posts well: As you know, unless you have only two inactive friends and have liked only one page, your own newsfeed is constantly changing. So, after you post something to your business page, the clock is ticking and it will have less chance to appear in your fans’ newsfeeds as time goes on. Your post will stay around longer if there’s a lot of interaction on it, but most updates don’t have a lot of staying power as “Top News”. You can experiment with posting at different times of the day or week and see if that has any effect. You can also use your Page Insights to see when something you posted got the most comments and likes. Has Wednesday been the best day? Evenings versus mornings? Weekdays versus weekends? If you haven’t taken the time to look at your Page Insights, put it on your to-do list.
We don’t claim to have the inside track with Facebook, but if you’re using Facebook as a major part of your overall marketing strategy, these tips should help you increase your visibility. Also, doing some of your own research into Facebook’s Edgerank and your own Page Insights is a smart idea.