Facebook got you frustrated?
Wish you could rank higher in the Facebook News Feed?
If you’re marketing your small business on Facebook, I’m sure you do!
Here’s the good news: Adam Mosseri is the “Head of News Feed,” and he’s going to clue you in on how it all works!
How Does the Facebook News Feed Work?
The Facebook News Feed is made up of stories from friends, followed Pages, and groups joined.
Ranking is the process Facebook uses to organize all of those stories so that their users can see the most relevant content at the top, every time they open Facebook.
“Ranking” was formerly called “EdgeRank” – way back in the early 2010’s.
Ranking has four elements:
- the available inventory of stories.
- the signals, or data points that can inform ranking decisions.
- the predictions we make, including how likely we think someone is to comment on a story, share with a friend, etc.
- and a relevancy score for each story.
How the Facebook News Feed Works: Video
In this video, Adam will walk you through how it all comes together.
The Facebook news feed algorithm attempts to figure out which posts people most want to see.
Keep the following in mind when considering your Facebook business Page posting habits, as well as when you try to acquire Fans.
Fans who aren’t really interested in your Page aren’t doing you a favor, because they won’t interact with your posts. So I actually recommend NOT asking friends and family to “Like” your Page – unless you believe they are truly interested and will engage with your posts.
The worst situation is if they Like your page and then “hide” your posts. That sends signals to the algorithm that your content is undesirable.
Posts that Facebook users see first are influenced by their connections and activity on Facebook.
The number of comments, likes and reactions a post receives and what kind of story it is (example: photo, video, status update) can also make it more likely to appear higher up in the News Feed.
Posts that people might see first include:
- A friend or family member commenting on or liking another friend’s photo or status update.
- A person reacting to a post from a publisher that a friend has shared.
- Multiple people replying to each other’s comments on a video they watched or an article they read in News Feed.
Unfortunately, it’s highly unlikely that anyone will see your Page post first!
Keep in mind that if users are missing posts they’d like to see, or seeing posts that they don’t want to see, they can adjust their settings.
Want to know more about how you can change your settings – or how your Page Fans might change theirs to see more or less of your posts?
How to break through the Facebook News Feed
Did you know? Videos and images are the most engaging Facebook posts! Getting more Facebook engagement will help you rank higher in the Facebook News Feed.
Learn more about the best images for FB by reading How to Create Facebook Content Fans Love.
Making video content? Good move. To give yours an extra boost, learn 10 Tips to Make Your Facebook Video Viral.
Whether you post images, videos, or even links on Facebook, your best chance to break through FB’s suppression of Page posts is to get your followers to share your posts. Find out how by reading How to Get Facebook Shares That Go Viral.
These tips will help your Page conquer the Facebook News Feed!
Jason says
Louise
I am grateful for this commentary. Here’s a question that I have for you, an answer of which has been so difficult to find anywhere.
As an admin of a fan page that honors and promotes artists, we a desire to follow their fan pages so that we can curate content and promote their work. There is no NEWS FEED feature for web, but there is a NEWS FEED on the Facebook mobile app. (Hey Facebook: Why? Or better yet, why not, so that there is consistency in the user experience?)
Since this news feed is found in the navbr of the fan page, one would think that this news feed relates to the fan pages that our fan page follows, however, I clearly see missed posts that are not falling into this news feed.
Now, it makes me wonder if this a news feed for my personal profile and not our fan page. I am not a newbie to Facebook, Ad Spend, Page management, etc., and even for me, this is platform is becoming more comprehensive and difficult for the individual, and sole props.
In my opinion, the “user experience” is constantly changing, poorly designed, and unclear.
I’m sure FB is rolling out dozens of iterations of interfaces, measuring for effectiveness, but as a consumer, and a paid advertiser, who also now sees diminished ROI on Ad Spend, the entire platform is growing old.
Too many cooks in their kitchen.
Any suggestions on how to build a News Feed for a Fan Page and to be able to simply visit that feed and discover new content?
Thank you for listening.
Louise Myers says
Hey Jason,
This is a great idea.
I think what you want to do is create a “Facebook interest list.” Google it for the how-to’s. Then you have a dedicated feed of exactly what you put in it.
Good luck!
Mela says
I changed to Classic Facebook but it is gone!
I found it to be a very good b2b tool 🙁
Louise Myers says
Oh dear. So many features are being removed.
Paddy Wright says
the News Feed button on my business page has disappeared. Can’t find it anywhere nor can I find anyone who can help me! Any suggestions? thank you in advance…
Louise Myers says
Click on the far right arrow on desktop and see if you can revert to Classic Facebook. I don’t have the new layout yet so I haven’t had to deal with all the problems it brings.
Mary Jo Roberts says
I just want to know how to cancel this news feed. Please some one help me
Louise Myers says
If you don’t want to see it at all – On desktop you can either go directly to your profile (set a bookmark) or use a browser extension like News Feed Eradicator.
Brian says
So anytime I create or add a new product to my Shopify store Facebook is auto generating an ad or post of that exact product to my news feed!
Has anyone experienced this before? Why is Facebook doing this?
Thanks
Louise Myers says
You must have a setting either in Shopify or FB that’s set to post every time you add a product. Hope you can get it sorted.
Rick W says
I would love the option of reading a news post or a post from a page that I follow only once. If I read a National Geographic article I am done with it. I don’t want to deal with it 22 more times. A read once button would be nice. I am still having difficulty finding the all friends checkbox on what to see. I read that we shouldn’t hide posts so how do we stop them from reappearing? I have the see first boxes checked. I have friends that I never see any of their posts. That’s not fair.
Louise Myers says
If you hide posts, you’re less likely to see more posts from that source in the future. I totally agree with what you’re saying though! Wish FB could help us out here.
Saz says
Okay. So if I unfollow a friend so that I don’t see her posts, will I still end up seeing things of hers when my other friends comment on her posts? And if she tags me, will I see them?
Ideally I don’t want to see my friends’ comments on her page, but I DO want to know if she tags me.
This is hard!
Louise Myers says
In my experience, yes you will see what your friends comment on, even if it’s an unfollowed friend’s post.
Yes, you should see her tags of you.
Saz says
Thanks – that’s helpful
Jon says
Fb says we’re allowed only 30 ‘See first’. I’ve checked my newsfeed preference and it’s showing less than 10 but when I tried to add more, it wouldn’t allow me with the message that I’ve already maxed out. How can this be?
Louise Myers says
Sorry, I couldn’t find an answer to this.
Aiden says
I always see posts or ads related to some topic I mentioned when talking with my friends. So, if I don’t press ‘hide this post’, how long does it take an unwanted post to disappear from my news feed? Thank you.
Louise Myers says
No idea here!
Mike says
Great Video! TY. Who knew ordering dinner was also an algorithm?
Louise Myers says
Yep, it’s a cool analogy. 🙂
Vatsala Shukla says
I find images work best nowadays. Thanks for the updates, Louise.
Louise Myers says
Great, ’cause I love images 🙂
Codrut Turcanu says
I guess this is available for non sponsored posts only, right?
Louise Myers says
This info applies to organic posts, not ads.
Robert Henry says
Thanks Louise. You have really helped me on this topic. I was a little bit worried about Facebook. The video was really so helpful.
Louise Myers says
Great to hear!