What is Facebook Edgerank? (all you must know)
Facebook helps many businesses with advertising. As a result, many businesses rely heavily on Facebook. However, to use it properly, you must understand how to use it.
However, Facebook has changed dramatically over the past few years. So it can be difficult to keep up with all the different changes.
What is the Facebook Edgerank in 2022?
EdgeRank used to be Facebook’s algorithm that helped determine which posts appeared on users’ newsfeeds. The algorithm takes many factors into consideration, but engagement is the main driver. However, Facebook did change its algorithm a few years ago, meaning it no longer relies on EdgeRank.
EdgeRank, though, can give us an idea of what Facebook thinks is important, so let’s take a deeper look.
What does Facebook EdgeRank take into account?
EdgeRank mainly considers three aspects. In a nutshell, these are affinity, weight and decay. However, these require more explanations to be understood in depth.
Affinity is the relationship between the publisher and the user. If users interact more with a page, their affinity increases.
Therefore, the ranking takes into account the likelihood of the user interacting with the post.
Therefore, the affinity of a post is related to how often users interact with the page. Affinity does change over time.
If the user stops interacting with the page, then the affinity will decrease.
Weight is how much priority is given to a post based on the post type. Certain posts are considered more “important” than others, depending on their type.
Photos and videos have the highest priority. So if you want your post to be seen above others, it should be in one of these forms.
However, how many interactions a post has already received is also taken into account. If a post has already received a lot of likes and comments, it is more likely to appear on the newsfeed.
Finally, we have time decay. In short, it’s the age of the post. If the post has been out for a while, it is unlikely to appear on the newsfeed. Therefore, newer positions are given higher priority and receive higher rankings.
However, this is not set in stone. If users don’t visit Facebook often, your post may appear in their newsfeed, even if it’s older.
Also, if users are paying a lot of attention to your page, time decay may not matter. If they tend to comment or like posts frequently, time decay is less of a problem.
So while the rankings take into account all of these factors, not all are considered equally.
In many cases, the frequency with which users interact with your post is the most important thing. Other factors are also taken into account, but less so than affinity.
What does Facebook EdgeRank consider?
While the three main areas are affinity, weight, and time decay, it also takes into account a number of other factors.
Every time you post, Facebook EdgeRank considers four things to rank.
First, it checks how often users interact with your posts. The more users interact with your page, the more likely they are to see your post.
Second, it checks which posts the user interacts with most often. If the user prefers pictures, then the algorithm will display more pictures than the other options.
Third, if the post already has interactions, take that into account. Posts that receive a lot of interaction will spread further through the algorithm. If someone’s friends interact with the post, they’re more likely to see it.
Finally, complaints and similar interactions are also taken into account. If a post receives a lot of negative feedback, they are less likely to be seen.
How can I improve my EdgeRank on Facebook?
You can increase your EdgeRank on Facebook in a number of ways. Generally speaking, getting more engagement on your page increases the likelihood that users will see your content. So aim to increase engagement as much as possible.
You should post visually appealing content such as photos and videos. These are more likely to be seen because Facebook prioritizes these types of content over plain text.
You should also reply to messages and comments. Often, this interaction increases engagement. Therefore, they can also improve your rankings.
Generally speaking, anything you can do to increase engagement will improve your rankings and the odds of your post getting full engagement.
When will Facebook stop using EdgeRank?
Facebook has used Edgerank for years. However, in 2011, this algorithm fell out of practice. Facebook implements machine learning algorithms, not a suite of algorithms.
After several years of implementation, the system took into account 100,000 different factors.
However, the same general idea behind EdgeRank still works. The more engaged you are on the page, the more likely the post will pop up.
If users frequently comment on or like your page, the algorithm will place posts specifically on their newsfeed. However, if many users engage with your post, it will also push it to other people’s newsfeeds.
So participation is the main driver. The more users who interact with your post, the more likely it is that it will pop up. While many factors are considered, engagement is an underlying factor.
To learn more, you can also read our posts on Facebook Pay, Facebook Impressum and Facebook Inbox.
in conclusion
Once upon a time, EdgeRank was Facebook’s primary algorithmic system. The system mainly considers weight, affinity and time decay. However, other factors were added later.
Before long, however, Facebook moved to a new algorithm that focuses primarily on machine learning. Still, engagement drives most of the algorithm. So the more engagement you drive, the better.