By Heather Lutze, CEO
Findability Consulting & Speaking
We’ve recently discussed PageRank and AuthorRank. I hope you’ve had a chance to digest those concepts, because now I’m going to hit you with another one… EdgeRank. This term refers to an algorithm developed by Facebook, which governs what items are displayed and how high they are displayed on the News Feed. So if you’re using Facebook as part of your internet marketing or social media marketing strategy, EdgeRank is something you might want to pay attention to.
EdgeRank defined, as simply as humanly possible
Any action that happens in Facebook is known as an Edge, whether it’s a status update, a comment, a “like,” a share, and more. Facebook assigns a value to every Edge, and shows the ones with the most value at the top of the News Feed.
For example, a comment is more involved and takes a fan more time to create than a simple “like,” so it is ranked higher. A newer Edge has more value than an older one, so it is also ranked higher.
Your overall Edgerank is made up of the rate and frequency with which people comment, share or like your Facebook posts. If you post a photo and no one “likes” it, comments on it, or shares it, it will have a low value and probably will wind up buried in your feed.
This leads back to a point that I’m always trying to stress, that the main thing about effective social media marketing hinges on the word “social.” And both Google and Facebook are taking this social interaction, or “social proof,” into consideration more and more in their rankings.
Want a more detailed explanation?
What does this have to do with my business?
If your brand engages on Facebook but generates mostly low EdgeRank objects, then your status updates and other posts will be seen by fewer people. According to EdgeRankChecker.com, a company that helps you to leverage EdgeRank, “the brands that are succeeding with high EdgeRank objects are leveraging their Facebook budget by multitudes. The difference between leveraging and being punished by EdgeRank is substantial. The difference can result in a 5x difference in exposure.”
Recently, Facebook made what’s being called a significant change to their EdgeRank algorithm. This change substantially increases the value assigned to negative feedback. Because of this change, it’s become important to understand the whole concept of negative feedback, and how to minimize any impact this has.
Facebook’s news feed product manager Will Cathcart says, “Facebook is penalizing “edges” that receive negative feedback.”
It could be important for you to know:
- What is the severity and impact of any negative feedback my pages receive?
- Which topics and/or Edges are generating negative feedback?
- What percentage of our fans are now unreachable as a result of this negative feedback?
Plain and simple, reducing negative feedback on Facebook will improve the EdgeRank of your posts. For the “hows” and “whys”, you might want to take a look at EdgeRankChecker’s Negative Feedback Analyzer.
What’s your take on EdgeRank and minimizing the effects of negative feedback? I’d love to hear your comments.
Warm Regards,
Heather Lutze
Author, Internet Marketing Speaker, Trainer and Consultant