Facebook Reach on Post Just Spiked!
-
Yesterday I put a post with a photo on our company Facebook page Normally our reach on a post is 500-600 out of a list of 77,000 followers. However, since posting this one yesterday afternoon, our reach has hit almost 9,000!
The only thing different with this post vs. any others we've done is that I put a text link for the company name back to the same Facebook page that the post was put on. I didn't intend to do this, it's just that when I started typing in our company name, Facebook suggested making it a link, so I thought, why not? I'm thinking somehow that made it appear in more people's timelines than usual. We posted it the same time in the day as every other post, and this was the only thing unique about it.
Any thoughts?
-
Ah, that's about what I suspected. Tagging back to our FB page was the ONLY thing we did differently in that particular post. I just ran another post with similar content and also tagging our page, but the reach on that one was about what we expected. It's nice when you occasionally find yourself on the right side of the algorithm.
-
So as you probably noticed, Facebook's algo has been hitting brand's pretty hard when it comes to post reach recently. The only thing I'm seeing across the board that actually works is paying for your post to be promoted, and then usually the organic rate goes up.
Ignite did a big study where they found an exact equation for how much you pay and how it increases, not only ad views, but organic reach too. Despite what Facebook says.That said, there are "tricks" that some people have noticed that help you more reach. I'd equate these tricks to SEO tricks back in the day, like keyword stuffing, only they're perhaps less annoying.
These tricks will help you see a little increase, but eventually Facebook changes the algo to get rid of them or essentially fix a bug in their algo. One of these tricks is tagging your band in your post. My theory behind why this works is because Facebook finds a post with others tagged it more valuable (brands can only tag other pages). We tried this trick with Moz's account, and we saw only a negligible difference, much less than yours! -
I dug into the post metrics and they haven't shed much more light on why this one has so much more reach than any others. Its a photo post, as are many of our others, without the photo being that much more interesting. It's also a contest, which we've run many, many times before with less reach, so I'm still scratching my head. The only variable is that there was a link in the post BACK to the FB page it was posted from. Still don't know why that would have an impact, though.
-
Edgerank doesn't exist anymore.
This is why I don't do Social Media any more. There is enough to contend with SEO hehe...
-Andy
-
Edgerank doesn't exist anymore. Its much more complex now and without a catchy name. (I still catch myself calling it Edgerank when trying to explain Facebook feeds to people though) http://marketingland.com/edgerank-is-dead-facebooks-news-feed-algorithm-now-has-close-to-100k-weight-factors-55908
Check the post metrics in your Facebook insights for a deeper understanding of that post. Might help you glean more ideas as to what specifically was different about this post and maybe it can be replicated in future posts. Much of Facebook is trying to determine when to post those things that should be seen right away, when to post the interesting stuff that can sit all day, when to tag who & how, varying of images & links & shares, and determining what your community appreciates so you can deliver more of that to them.
-
I think that what you are seeing here, is an aspects of Edge Rank. This is Facebook's own algorithm that determines how a post is promoted, by looking at various factors.
Have a read of: http://www.whatisedgerank.com/
If you understand how Edge Rank works and how it ties in with visitor interaction, you can do a lot more with your Facebook pages.
I probably don't spend enough time on SM than I should do (due to amount of work), but it is definitely something you should look in to more.
-Andy
Got a burning SEO question?
Subscribe to Moz Pro to gain full access to Q&A, answer questions, and ask your own.
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
QUESTION! Does anyone have any information about using an API to create Google Posts?
We have a client that has over 150 locations. They are using a software to post to all of their accounts at once with an API for different platforms. We are wondering if there is anyway to do this to post to their Google My Business Page.
Social Media | | Brie.E.Anderson0 -
Facebook: reaching audience who have liked / shared my content
Hi, I am new to social, so the question might be a bit beginner. If I put a like / share / recommend button on my site, or maybe a comment box, how can I reach audiences at a later time, who have interacted with my plugins (liked/shared/commented)? Paid ads would be one solution, but for now I am interested in organic (free) targeting. So if people who share my content do not become fans at the same time, how can I engage them in new updates about my page? Thanks for thoughts.
Social Media | | Valdo22220 -
Can you redirect old abandoned Twitter/Facebook accounts?
My client has a Facebook profile and a Twitter account that they have abandoned. These pages also have old branding and we would like to redirect these pages in some way to the current Facebook and Twitter accounts. I did find this article but it's 3 years old and not sure this is works: http://www.thesearchagents.com/2011/12/how-to-do-a-301-redirect-on-twitter-even-though-twitter-doesnt-allow-it/ What's the best way to do this?
Social Media | | RosemaryB0 -
Facebook Like Button vs Like Box
We want to add the Facebook Like and Google Plus One functionality to our website but had a question. Is it better for SEO and usability to use a global Facebook Like Button for people to Like the home page of our website or a Facebook Like Box to Like our Facebook page from our website? I know that we can specify the URL in the Like Button but I wanted to get some feedback. Thanks!
Social Media | | Prager0 -
Why cant i connect to my Facebook account?
Hi - i have tried connecting my Facebook account to our SEO Moz account - but it will not let me. Does anyone know why?
Social Media | | TenAlpsSEO0 -
Post Privacy Settings
Facebook says roughly 12% of your friends see your posts. Facebook has privacy settings. Naturally the setting is "public." If you change the setting from public to "Selected List," do you think more of that group of people will get the message? If your public setting has 1,000 friends, and the list contains 200 people, do you think it will generate the post to 12% of the list? Is there anyone interested in testing this? It would make a GREAT blog post! I would certainly read it. If you have any tips to help hit more people on Facebook let me hear it please!
Social Media | | JML11790 -
Google plus, Twitter and Facebook link - does it help?
Hello, I was wondering, does it help if I publish a link to a new page on my website on my Facebook-, Google + and Twitter-Account - even if noone reposts it? Thanks Polyniki
Social Media | | polyniki0 -
Facebook comments and seo
hi everyone i wondered if googlebot explores facebook comments and if not, what are the seo benefits of facebook comments module? As you can see below, techcrunch has added facebook comments in pages http://techcrunch.com/2011/04/04/facebook-iphone-event-check-ins So is it useful for SEO purposes?
Social Media | | FranckNlemba0