Facebook Algorithm Updates

Facebook is making updates all the time and it can be hard to keep up with the changes in their algorithms and such. Here is a list comprising the most recent changes regarding Facebook especially for Social Media Managers.

Facebook is regulating link posts; this means that when you are posting material on Facebook that includes a URL link (such as a link to a third party article or to an AI website) – be sure to follow certain guidelines.

1. Do not click-bait.
   1. Click-bait is someone who writes a headline or status for the URL they are posting that has nothing to do with the actual link or has little to no or misleading information about the link. For example: If I were to write “Britney Spears got married again!” and then posting a URL that linking to your unrelated services would be click-baiting. Essentially you are posting a status that encourages click-throughs but is false information.
   2. Facebook regulates click-baited posts
   3. People will begin to report you as spam
2. Facebook monitors how long a user stays on a certain link after they click it
   1. If the user does not spend an adequate amount of time on the link you posted, and does not comment, like or share your post, Facebook could detect it as a click-bait story because the user obviously did not find what they were promised.

Facebook has a new "save" button.

1. When you see an article you like for possible future use or want to read later click the drop down arrow to the right, click “save”
2. To retrieve articles go to the left-side task bar and click on the “Saved” button to see all your articles

Facebook allows page admins to save drafts of posts.

1. When you are logged into your businesses Facebook page, you now have the option to save the post as a draft to work on later. Now you can work on all your posts right within the Facebook platform, versus having a separate Word document or notebook with pre-written post ideas.
2. Also, this tool allows page admins to “backdate” a post. This is an especially powerful feature for businesses who have not been present on their Facebook page as much as they should have been. Say your business posted frequently up until 2013. This feature allows you to take posts and ‘backdate’ them. Essentially you can post things so that they appear on your timeline as being posted in the past. This is a useful tool when trying to fill in your timeline. It is similar to a job interview where an applicant has a large gap in employment and the potential employer questions as to why? Now, there is a way to fill in that gap. Just make sure that when you are backdating posts, you think about the date you are posting the status to. For instance, you would not want to post something in March of 2013 if the article specified recounts an event that didn’t take place until July of 2014.

Facebook is reducing 'overly promotional page posts' in 2015. Facebook’s recent research has revealed that:

1. A lot of the content people see as “too promotional” is from Pages they like, rather than ads
   1. News Feed has controls for the number of ads a person sees and for the quality of those ads, but those same controls haven’t been as closely monitored for promotional page posts
2. Posts that feel too promotional:
   1. Posts that solely push people to buy a product or install an app
   2. Posts that push people to enter promotions and sweepstakes with no real context
   3. Posts that reuse the exact same content from ads
3. Facebook warns that “Pages that post promotional creative should expect their organic distribution to fall significantly overtime.”

Facebook has rolled out a new "Call-To-Action" button.

1. This button is located in the bottom corner of your business page's cover photo and can range from many items including: Book Now, Contact Us, Use App, Play Games, Shop Now, Sign Up, etc.
2. After activating your button you will be able to track how many people click on it in your Insights section where all of your metrics are contained

Facebook is "prioritizing showing links in the link-format, and show fewer links shared in captions or status updates" There are two ways to share a link/photo on Facebook:

1. Upload a picture directly to Facebook and include the link in the caption
2. Paste a link into your Facebook post and let it populate an image with a description from the article (link-format).This is the more preferred way of sharing a link, which results in higher click-through and better priority through Facebook’s news feed algorithms
3. Size your photos appropriately - Uploaded images are cropped and displayed at 504x504 pixels. Make sure when creating images that they are at least 1200x628 pixels so when cropped the photo isn’t distorted or cut off.

For further reading:

http://newsroom.fb.com/news/2014/11/news-feed-fyi-reducing-overly-promotional-page-posts-in-news-feed/

http://sproutsocial.com/insights/facebook-regulates-link-posts-heres-youre-affected/?utm_source=Sprout%20Social&utm_medium=Email&utm_campaign=LN&utm_content=Insights%20090914%202&mkt_tok=3RkMMJWWfF9wsRons6rPZKXonjHpfsX77esuWq6%2FlMI%2F0ER3fOvrPUfGjI4CT8ZqI%2BSLDwEYGJlv6SgFTLLNMahj3rgFXxQ%3D