With the unveiling of Edgerank, newsfeed optimization (NFO) is SEO for Facebook. As much as brands work to drive traffic back to their business page, the real golden nugget is in learning to write for the newsfeed. The #1 place that fans will FIRST see your post is in their newsfeed, but because of the Edgerank algorithm, where and how often the post shows up is determined by its popularity score.
Edgerank is determined by 3 things: Afiinity, weight, and recency.
Affinity means the relationship between the viewing user and edge creator, or the relationship you have with a person or page. Weight refers to the type of content you post: comment, like, tag, etc. Recency is the time decay factor that is based on how long ago the content was posted.
With this in mind, I have 5 tips that will help you learn to post updates with attention to NFO.
1.) Headlines, headlines, headlines
A strong headline will get a reader’s attention when they are reading the front page of the newspaper. This works the same way for readers scanning their newsfeed. You’ve got to sell your post from the get-go. Writing in caps and using attention-grabbing words will spark interest. Jim Connolly has some great tips for more practice in writing headlines.
2.) Focus on manual posts vs. automated.
Posting your blog manually to your Facebook page creates a higher edgerank than using an app like Networkedblogs to automatically post to your page. Mari Smith encourages posting your blog in the Notes section of your business page as a way to receive higher NFO. I also recommend not linking your Twitter feed to your Facebook feed. Because Facebook gives automated posts a lower edgerank score, it’s better to post your blog separately on Twitter and Facebook. No harm is done in taking a few extra minutes to post manually.
Extra tip: Use longer URLs instead of a bit.ly or ow.ly links. Users tend to trust the longer links because of the amount of Facebook spammers.
3.) Use the share button.
The “Share” button is 3 times more likely to go viral than the “Like” button. Encouraging viral content engages fans and creates an immediate call to action. Viral content will also increase your brand’s NFO.
4.) Mix up the content: Videos, and photos
As described above, one of the factors to the edgerank score is weight. Different types of content have a higher score. Mixing up the types of content you post on your business page will increase your NFO. As it stands, photos currently hold the highest engagement level/weight on Facebook.
5.) Engage with attention to time.
Everyone is busy, and although the amount of time spent on Facebook suggests otherwise, never assume that fans and followers want to spend more than a few short minutes on your page. With this in mind, create posts that are short enough to read quickly, and that require a quick call to action.
According to BuddyMedia, posts that have 80 characters or less in length have a 27% higher engagement rate.
Ask questions that require one-word answers. Engage fans by simply asking them to “Like” a status. Ecnourage your fans to talk about themselves without having to type out their life story.
Speaking of time frames, discover the time of day that your fan page gets the most action. This may take some monitoring and careful tracking, but posting during your high-traffic hours will dramatically increase your engagement.
Increasing your Facebook traffic doesn’t have to be rocket science. Put into practice writing for the newsfeed, and continue to plan and implement your social media strategy. Here are some more great tips for running a Facebook page from SimplyZesty.
Have you found other ways to engage your fans through Newsfeed Optimization? What are some other strategies that you have found helpful to your Facebook fan page?
