How the Facebook Algorithm Works and How to Make it Work for You

Top ranking factors for the Facebook algorithm

1. Comments

In his announcement, Zuckerberg wrote, “Pages making posts that people generally don’t react to or comment on could see the biggest decreases in distribution. Pages whose posts prompt conversations between friends will see less of an effect.”

This means brands should create quality content focused on sparking conversations between users. Try including questions in your posts, or writing about timely, relevant topics that users are sure to have an opinion on.

The point is, users will be more likely to see your Facebook posts if their friends and family are commenting on it.

2. Reactions

If a user takes the time to hit the “love” icon vs. the “like” icon, your content will receive a minor boost in the News Feed. Just as in life, “loving” is a more valued emotional signal than “liking.”

The same goes for all Facebook’s reactions: Haha, Wow, Sad, and Angry. Facebook wants to see those “active” emotions.

3. Comment replies

The algorithm not only favors comments, but also replies to comments. These signal that a piece of content is inspiring conversation between users. (Remember, Zuckerberg deems “conversation” the most important outcome of this algorithm update). That means you want to be publishing content that inspires users to tag their friends in comments and start a conversation.

4. Sharing links over Messenger to a group of friends

If a user shares a piece of content to their wall, that’s great. But what’s even better is if they take the time to send it to a friend (or a group of friends) over Facebook messenger.

Of all the “meaningful interactions” listed here, this is the one that makes the most sense to me because — think about it — what’s more meaningful? A friend posting an article to their wall? Or a friend sending an article to you with a note that says, “Hey, just read this and I think you would really enjoy it too”? Yeah. That’s what I thought.

5. Engagement on shares

While sharing a post is a pretty “active” interaction compared to most, Facebook is going one step further. Simply getting shares is not enough. Your post must be shared and get engagement on that share to be prioritized in the algorithm.

Other Facebook News Feed ranking signals

According to Facebook’s News Feed webinar, the five “meaningful interactions” listed above are priority signals. But that doesn’t mean they’re the only actions the algorithm cares about. The following ranking signals are less important, but still worth noting:

• Average time spent on content. This is just what it sounds like — the average amount of time a user spends engaging with or viewing a post. Presumably longer is better, but Facebook hasn’t released any clear info on that since the update.
• When it’s posted. This is an indirect signal because it means that your post is more likely to get engagement if you post it at a time that users are likely to be online.
• Story type. Is your post a status update, photo, link, video, or live video? (Facebook’s press release specifically mentioned live video as often “leading to discussion among viewers.” But that is the only clue about what story types the algorithm might prioritize.)
• Completeness of page profile. The more fields you fill out on your Facebook business page, the better. This is so that Facebook and potential followers can get a clear idea of who you are and the legitimacy of your business.
• How informative the post is. Facebook tweaked its algorithm to highlight “informative posts” back in 2016. But, the term “informative” was based on a survey of users’ personal interpretation. For some users “informative” could mean “news”, while for others it could mean recipes or celebrity gossip. It’s not clear whether that definition has changed since the 2018 update.

There are likely many more signals that contribute to a post’s News Feed ranking, but these are the only ones we have information on at the time of writing.

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Source of content: facebook algorithm

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