Facebook Algorithm Change Of 2017 / 2018

The Complete Guide To Understanding The Facebook Algorithm Change Of 2017 / 2018

Like Robin Hood: Taking From The Rich & Giving To The Poor

For branded pages: you might see a drop in reach for one significant reason… Facebook is making the playing field more even – “taking from the rich & giving to the poor”. Now, instead of only a few brands having active business pages, in order to stand out everyone must play by a definite set of rules.
Why?
For one reason.
Facebook is drastically overcrowded. Every minute 300 new accounts are created, 293k posts are published, 136k photos are uploaded, & 510k comments are left. In layman’s terms… We’re creating more content than people can consume. Making it harder for businesses to gain organic exposure.

The Drop Of Organic Reach

In a study from Edgerank Checker (now acquired by Socialbaker) it was found that the organic reach for the average Facebook page has dropped from 16% to 6.5% dating back from February 2012 to March 2014. Meanwhile, for pages holding over 500,000 likes, the chances of posts appearing in the news feed could be as low as 2%.

The New Facebook News feed Algorithm of 2017

If you aren’t considered a friend or family member by facebook’s standards then expect a decline in your organic reach. Facebook prioritizes relevant content & designs its news feed algorithms based on individual user experience in accordance with this set of News Feed core values, as stated by the social media platform.

“Our success is built on getting people the stories that matter to them most. If you could look through thousands of stories every day and choose the 10 that were most important to you, which would they be? The answer should be your News Feed. It is subjective, personal, and unique — and defines the spirit of what we hope to achieve”.

 For regular users of the social platform, this means that they will continue to see content posted by those listed as family members on their profile, and users they regularly interact with. Pushing a decline on content posted by users they rarely interact with. Allowing for posts from relevant users that matter the most to be seen.

What Does The News Feed Algorithm Mean For Your Business page?

On the business side of things this just means you have to work for what you want. As stated, facebook is showing relevant content to each user as defined by their actions. Those who show an interest in your page after the algorithm push will continue to see the content you put out. Simply put: through varying levels of interaction facebook will deem your business page as relevant to the user that interacts with it – retaining your presence in their news feed.

Below are the governing rules of the new facebook algorithm change.

To Hold Your Ground You Must Know The Rules.

The Basics

 As Stated 

  • Friends and family come first:Posts from users’ friends and family appear higher in your feed.
  • Your news feed should inform:Content that is interesting, timely relevant, and informative to users appear higher in their feed.
  • Your news feed should entertain:Content that Facebook finds entertaining to users appear higher in their feed.
  • Facebook is a platform for all ideas:Facebook doesn’t favor any one source or idea. instead, it delivers content that is meaningful.
  • Authentic communication:Facebook will only show content that is genuine, not “misleading, sensational and spammy.”
  • You control your experience:Post features such as “see first,” “unfollow” and “hide” let users choose what they want to see.
  • Constant iteration:Facebook is dedicated to continued improvement.
  • Links in posts:Facebook prioritizes content that holds a link, deeming it as more informative
  • Native video content reigns:Compared to both text & image content combined facebook video content acquires 1,200% more shares. In terms of uploading, instead of sharing videos from other platforms (such as youtube) upload them to both. Native videos hold 10x more reach than videos shared from YouTube.

Diving Deeper: How Interaction Is Ranked

 

  • Video Content: longer videos with higher completion rates will be ranked higher on the news feed algorithm.
    Facebook evaluates varying factors to determine a videos ranking such as, live video status, engagement vs. length of time spent watching, and avg. percentage of video watched. A video that is watched halfway through on avg. will be considered as a “compelling” piece of content. Facebook’s comments on the topic.
  • Authenticity: authentic posts rank higher on the news feed.
    Authenticity is based on user behavior. Negative feedback such as, dislikes, unsubscribes, hiding your posts, etc., show that your page is less authentic.
  • Stop Asking For Engagement: encourage engagement in unique ways.
    You can’t ask your followers to like, share, or comment on your posts. Facebook identifies these phrases as spam and will likely penalize you based on whether or not your content is authentic.
    Try new methods for engagement. For example, a hotel could post a video or image of a gorgeous beach front with a caption that reads, “Who would you want to enjoy this view with?”. Initiating an ongoing flow of comments and increasing overall reach. Similarly, you could say ”What are your top travel destinations for this year?” – boosting engagement and giving you the chance to connect directly with consumers and inform them of your locations in their desired destinations.
  • Timing: Facebook Prioritizes Time Relevant Posts.
    Putting a higher rank on posts that hold immediate interest at a given moment – Facebook will temporarily upgrade content relating to trending topics, content receiving an influx of likes & comments over posts that received high engagement a couple hours ago. People expect to see posts reflecting what’s going on that very moment. Know Your Audience – stay up to date on the trending stories, events and holidays your audience is most interested in and create content on those topics. Here are the new signals to identify time relevant content as stated by Facebook.
  • Make Them Stop: grab their attention.
    Therefore, Share content your audience cares about — content that makes them stop scrolling and delivers on the catch in its headline. One highly relevant, shareable and visually appealing piece of content is worth more than a couple of ordinary posts. Don’t just post more, post smart.

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