If you're someone who has a Facebook fanpage and you wonder why it doesn't seem to be getting much visibility among the fans that you have, then this post is for you.
If you don't have a fanpage yet, then you may wish to read my previous post on A rough organic growth plan for niche websites and perhaps consider setting one up as part of your overall organic growth strategy.
Remember that when people have you as a fan and see your facebook posts showing up on their newsfeed, they are not only more likely to build a stronger relationship with you - they will help you gain more followers, because if they comment, then your post shows up on their friends' newsfeeds and in turn may get them liking your page and/or commenting.
What is Edge Rank?
Edge rank is the major factor that affects the visibility of your posts to a number of audiences.
This newsfeed filtering algorithm by Facebook determines the significance of updates to users. Posts that are important to users are shown, while insignificant ones are ignored.
This means you need to boost your edge rank, so you can maximize your posts' visibility in your fans' newsfeeds.
Edge Rank Features
Before you can have a thorough understanding of edge rank, you should first try to know what an edge is. An edge is the interaction or activity you have in Facebook such as uploading videos, liking a status or photo, or editing your profile information.
The newsfeed in your Facebook home page features a collection of edges. Simply put, edge rank decides the edge that should appear in the news feed. When you have a high edge rank, there is a great possibility that your posts will show in the news feed of your followers.
Affinity, recency, and edge weight are the different factors that determine and affect edge rank.
If you consistently like a picture or video that someone uploads, this will give you a chance to view his updates.
This factor is called affinity, or the frequency of your interaction with a brand or person. Recency, on the other hand, means that your most recent updates are likely to appear in your fans' news feed. Lastly, edge weight is the significance given to specific interactions.
Typically, videos or photos that are uploaded have more weight than a comment.
How to Boost Your Edge Rank
If you own an online business or you are a Facebook page marketer, it is not enough to have a basic understanding of edge rank. Your goal is to improve your rank, so you can gain more profits. Your visibility will lead to brand recognition, so you can obtain a large customer base.
The following are some of the effective techniques that you can do to boost your Facebook edge rank.
1. Be consistent in posting on your Facebook page.
This is a very simple and practical tip, yet several page owners tend to fail at doing this. You should keep in mind that when you do not post anything on your page, you would never reach your followers. Moreover, a huge percentage of your fans will never get to view your page after they have "liked" a single post.
You should also make sure that you do not post insignificant items too often that would cause annoyance to your followers.
In addition, this action may end up cannibalizing your better posts in the past.
The best thing you should do is by posting at least three times a day with intervals of 4 hours for each post.
If you think your busy schedule will get in the way of posting frequently, then you should post at least thrice a week, so you could improve your page's edge rank. Also see point #7 below, as posting simple questions only takes a minute or two but can be very helpful to boosting your Edgerank.
2. Try to post relevant and interesting content instead of focusing only on promoting your brand.
Aside from posting consistently and regularly, you should ensure the relevance and quality of your posts. While you may be too eager to post updates, try to pause and visualize your fans' reaction to your posts.
Make sure that the topic is engaging, relevant and significant to them. Do not simply post anything just because you feel like it. Consider your viewers, so you will not end up having a poor edge rank.
You should use your Facebook page not merely to promote your brand. Your goal is to create a community of followers, and not just for the sake of glorifying yourself. Try to strengthen your relationship with your fans by catering to their needs and posting inspiring content.
3. Always use brief and meaningful words.
The last thing you want to do is to bore your fans as they read a long content that you post. In fact, many people do not have the time to read essays because of their busy schedule. Each time you decide to post an update, make sure you limit it to a few words. Be concise in expressing your thoughts, and go for catchy words that will appeal to your fans.
It will also be helpful to you and your fans if you post an update or content with 90 characters or less. A short, yet catchy post will intrigue your fans and cause them to click on your link. Do yourself and your followers a favor by providing interesting and brief content that will not waste their time or yours.
4. Use calls-to-action in your posts.
When you want recognition, then do your best to post attention-grabbing content that will entice others to hear what you have to say. Think of effective calls-to-action that work well even on Facebook.
You may post a photo, and encourage your followers to express their thoughts on what you have posted. Moreover, you can invite them to "like" your post if they find it agreeable, or they may post a comment when they think otherwise.
Not only will your posts appeal to your fans; they will also feel that their thoughts matter to you. Just make sure that the photos or videos your post are significant to them, so you can obtain as many responses as you expect.
5. Offer exclusives, and freebies that your followers will appreciate.
A vast majority of people decide to click the "like" button when they see a special offer that is useful to them. Everyone appreciates freebies or sometimes even discounts (though don't post these too often as you don't want your Facebook posts to be seen as product pitches too often), so you should make sure that you provide your followers what they want.
Try to understand your audience well, so you will know how you can reach out to them.
6. Post at ideal times
It is also important that you find the ideal time to post for your target audience.
Get to know more about their interests, location, and other insights that will help you deliver the right message to these people.
7. *Ask Questions*
This is key to doing really well with Facebook Edgerank. I've put asterisks around this one as it is a really vital one.
If you can get your Facebook readers to interact with you, even if it's just once ever, it'll make sure that your future posts show up much higher in their newsfeeds from then onwards.
Asking questions is the best way of doing that. You can either ask questions in a written form, or sometimes you'll achieve a better result by posting an image that contains a question, as images stick out more and poeple are more likely to look at it and then want to comment. Make it easy, A or B?
Open ended questions are good, but they don't get the same level of response as a simple A or B question does.
Can't think of questions? Try searching through Yahoo Answers for ideas. :)
8. If you have a mailing list, send people via email to your Facebook page periodically.
I don't mean that you should be emailing them to your FB page every time you do an update, but if you email out one of your questions to your list and they answer it, from then on your FB posts will appear higher in their newsfeeds.
If you only use FB for getting people to read your FB posts, you may find that many people don't see your posts as they are buried low in their newsfeeds, and you need to get them to interact with you at least once (and preferably more often), in order to boost your Edgerank so that in future you show up higher in their newsfeed.
9. Allow people to comment on your blog posts using facebook
There are WordPress plugins that allow you to use the FBook commenting plugin to enable people to post comments on your blog posts using Facebook.
I haven't utilized this much yet personally, though I've seen other friends of mine do this very effectively so I'll probably get on the bandwagon and do it myself too for some of my niche sites shortly.
The great thing about getting people to comment using Facebook is that their comments may show up on their newsfeeds, thus giving more exposure to your blog content and Facebook fanpage, not to mention helping your Edgerank as once they've commented they now have a Facebook 'Affinity' score with you.
Bottom Line
By applying these simple and effective strategies, you will discover positive effects to your Facebook page Edgerank.
Your followers will also appreciate the amount of time and quality content that you provide them on a regular basis.
With a high edge rank, you can obtain a profitable business, satisfied fans, and loyal followers to your brand.
Mark Ling
P.S. If you liked this post, please post a comment or a question below!
If you don't have a fanpage yet, then you may wish to read my previous post on A rough organic growth plan for niche websites and perhaps consider setting one up as part of your overall organic growth strategy.
Remember that when people have you as a fan and see your facebook posts showing up on their newsfeed, they are not only more likely to build a stronger relationship with you - they will help you gain more followers, because if they comment, then your post shows up on their friends' newsfeeds and in turn may get them liking your page and/or commenting.
What is Edge Rank?
Edge rank is the major factor that affects the visibility of your posts to a number of audiences.
This newsfeed filtering algorithm by Facebook determines the significance of updates to users. Posts that are important to users are shown, while insignificant ones are ignored.
This means you need to boost your edge rank, so you can maximize your posts' visibility in your fans' newsfeeds.
Edge Rank Features
Before you can have a thorough understanding of edge rank, you should first try to know what an edge is. An edge is the interaction or activity you have in Facebook such as uploading videos, liking a status or photo, or editing your profile information.
The newsfeed in your Facebook home page features a collection of edges. Simply put, edge rank decides the edge that should appear in the news feed. When you have a high edge rank, there is a great possibility that your posts will show in the news feed of your followers.
Affinity, recency, and edge weight are the different factors that determine and affect edge rank.
If you consistently like a picture or video that someone uploads, this will give you a chance to view his updates.
This factor is called affinity, or the frequency of your interaction with a brand or person. Recency, on the other hand, means that your most recent updates are likely to appear in your fans' news feed. Lastly, edge weight is the significance given to specific interactions.
Typically, videos or photos that are uploaded have more weight than a comment.
How to Boost Your Edge Rank
If you own an online business or you are a Facebook page marketer, it is not enough to have a basic understanding of edge rank. Your goal is to improve your rank, so you can gain more profits. Your visibility will lead to brand recognition, so you can obtain a large customer base.
The following are some of the effective techniques that you can do to boost your Facebook edge rank.
1. Be consistent in posting on your Facebook page.
This is a very simple and practical tip, yet several page owners tend to fail at doing this. You should keep in mind that when you do not post anything on your page, you would never reach your followers. Moreover, a huge percentage of your fans will never get to view your page after they have "liked" a single post.
You should also make sure that you do not post insignificant items too often that would cause annoyance to your followers.
In addition, this action may end up cannibalizing your better posts in the past.
The best thing you should do is by posting at least three times a day with intervals of 4 hours for each post.
If you think your busy schedule will get in the way of posting frequently, then you should post at least thrice a week, so you could improve your page's edge rank. Also see point #7 below, as posting simple questions only takes a minute or two but can be very helpful to boosting your Edgerank.
2. Try to post relevant and interesting content instead of focusing only on promoting your brand.
Aside from posting consistently and regularly, you should ensure the relevance and quality of your posts. While you may be too eager to post updates, try to pause and visualize your fans' reaction to your posts.
Make sure that the topic is engaging, relevant and significant to them. Do not simply post anything just because you feel like it. Consider your viewers, so you will not end up having a poor edge rank.
You should use your Facebook page not merely to promote your brand. Your goal is to create a community of followers, and not just for the sake of glorifying yourself. Try to strengthen your relationship with your fans by catering to their needs and posting inspiring content.
3. Always use brief and meaningful words.
The last thing you want to do is to bore your fans as they read a long content that you post. In fact, many people do not have the time to read essays because of their busy schedule. Each time you decide to post an update, make sure you limit it to a few words. Be concise in expressing your thoughts, and go for catchy words that will appeal to your fans.
It will also be helpful to you and your fans if you post an update or content with 90 characters or less. A short, yet catchy post will intrigue your fans and cause them to click on your link. Do yourself and your followers a favor by providing interesting and brief content that will not waste their time or yours.
4. Use calls-to-action in your posts.
When you want recognition, then do your best to post attention-grabbing content that will entice others to hear what you have to say. Think of effective calls-to-action that work well even on Facebook.
You may post a photo, and encourage your followers to express their thoughts on what you have posted. Moreover, you can invite them to "like" your post if they find it agreeable, or they may post a comment when they think otherwise.
Not only will your posts appeal to your fans; they will also feel that their thoughts matter to you. Just make sure that the photos or videos your post are significant to them, so you can obtain as many responses as you expect.
5. Offer exclusives, and freebies that your followers will appreciate.
A vast majority of people decide to click the "like" button when they see a special offer that is useful to them. Everyone appreciates freebies or sometimes even discounts (though don't post these too often as you don't want your Facebook posts to be seen as product pitches too often), so you should make sure that you provide your followers what they want.
Try to understand your audience well, so you will know how you can reach out to them.
6. Post at ideal times
It is also important that you find the ideal time to post for your target audience.
Get to know more about their interests, location, and other insights that will help you deliver the right message to these people.
7. *Ask Questions*
This is key to doing really well with Facebook Edgerank. I've put asterisks around this one as it is a really vital one.
If you can get your Facebook readers to interact with you, even if it's just once ever, it'll make sure that your future posts show up much higher in their newsfeeds from then onwards.
Asking questions is the best way of doing that. You can either ask questions in a written form, or sometimes you'll achieve a better result by posting an image that contains a question, as images stick out more and poeple are more likely to look at it and then want to comment. Make it easy, A or B?
Open ended questions are good, but they don't get the same level of response as a simple A or B question does.
Can't think of questions? Try searching through Yahoo Answers for ideas. :)
8. If you have a mailing list, send people via email to your Facebook page periodically.
I don't mean that you should be emailing them to your FB page every time you do an update, but if you email out one of your questions to your list and they answer it, from then on your FB posts will appear higher in their newsfeeds.
If you only use FB for getting people to read your FB posts, you may find that many people don't see your posts as they are buried low in their newsfeeds, and you need to get them to interact with you at least once (and preferably more often), in order to boost your Edgerank so that in future you show up higher in their newsfeed.
9. Allow people to comment on your blog posts using facebook
There are WordPress plugins that allow you to use the FBook commenting plugin to enable people to post comments on your blog posts using Facebook.
I haven't utilized this much yet personally, though I've seen other friends of mine do this very effectively so I'll probably get on the bandwagon and do it myself too for some of my niche sites shortly.
The great thing about getting people to comment using Facebook is that their comments may show up on their newsfeeds, thus giving more exposure to your blog content and Facebook fanpage, not to mention helping your Edgerank as once they've commented they now have a Facebook 'Affinity' score with you.
Bottom Line
By applying these simple and effective strategies, you will discover positive effects to your Facebook page Edgerank.
Your followers will also appreciate the amount of time and quality content that you provide them on a regular basis.
With a high edge rank, you can obtain a profitable business, satisfied fans, and loyal followers to your brand.
Mark Ling
P.S. If you liked this post, please post a comment or a question below!
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