How to boost your Facebook Edgerank - 9 Key Tips

By Mark Ling
How to boost your Facebook Edgerank - 9 Key Tips

 

If you're someone who has a Facebook fanpage and you wonder why it doesn't seem to be getting much visibility among the fans that you have, then this post is for you. 

If you don't have a fanpage yet, then you may wish to read my previous post on A rough organic growth plan for niche websites and perhaps consider setting one up as part of your overall organic growth strategy.

Remember that when people have you as a fan and see your facebook posts showing up on their newsfeed, they are not only more likely to build a stronger relationship with you - they will help you gain more followers, because if they comment, then your post shows up on their friends' newsfeeds and in turn may get them liking your page and/or commenting.

What is Edge Rank?

Edge rank is the major factor that affects the visibility of your posts to a number of audiences.  

This newsfeed filtering algorithm by Facebook determines the significance of updates to users. Posts that are important to users are shown, while insignificant ones are ignored. 

This means you need to boost your edge rank, so you can maximize your posts' visibility in your fans' newsfeeds.

Edge Rank Features 

Before you can have a thorough understanding of edge rank, you should first try to know what an edge is. An edge is the interaction or activity you have in Facebook such as uploading videos, liking a status or photo, or editing your profile information. 

The newsfeed in your Facebook home page features a collection of edges. Simply put, edge rank decides the edge that should appear in the news feed. When you have a high edge rank, there is a great possibility that your posts will show in the news feed of your followers.

Affinity, recency, and edge weight are the different factors that determine and affect edge rank. 

If you consistently like a picture or video that someone uploads, this will give you a chance to view his updates. 

This factor is called affinity, or the frequency of your interaction with a brand or person. Recency, on the other hand, means that your most recent updates are likely to appear in your fans' news feed. Lastly, edge weight is the significance given to specific interactions. 

Typically, videos or photos that are uploaded have more weight than a comment.

How to Boost Your Edge Rank 

If you own an online business or you are a Facebook page marketer, it is not enough to have a basic understanding of edge rank. Your goal is to improve your rank, so you can gain more profits. Your visibility will lead to brand recognition, so you can obtain a large customer base.

The following are some of the effective techniques that you can do to boost your Facebook edge rank.

1. Be consistent in posting on your Facebook page. 

This is a very simple and practical tip, yet several page owners tend to fail at doing this. You should keep in mind that when you do not post anything on your page, you would never reach your followers. Moreover, a huge percentage of your fans will never get to view your page after they have "liked" a single post. 

You should also make sure that you do not post insignificant items too often that would cause annoyance to your followers.  

In addition, this action may end up cannibalizing your better posts in the past. 

The best thing you should do is by posting at least three times a day with intervals of 4 hours for each post. 

If you think your busy schedule will get in the way of posting frequently, then you should post at least thrice a week, so you could improve your page's edge rank. Also see point #7 below, as posting simple questions only takes a minute or two but can be very helpful to boosting your Edgerank.

2. Try to post relevant and interesting content instead of focusing only on promoting your brand.

Aside from posting consistently and regularly, you should ensure the relevance and quality of your posts. While you may be too eager to post updates, try to pause and visualize your fans' reaction to your posts. 

Make sure that the topic is engaging, relevant and significant to them. Do not simply post anything just because you feel like it. Consider your viewers, so you will not end up having a poor edge rank.

You should use your Facebook page not merely to promote your brand. Your goal is to create a community of followers, and not just for the sake of glorifying yourself. Try to strengthen your relationship with your fans by catering to their needs and posting inspiring content.

3. Always use brief and meaningful words.

The last thing you want to do is to bore your fans as they read a long content that you post. In fact, many people do not have the time to read essays because of their busy schedule. Each time you decide to post an update, make sure you limit it to a few words. Be concise in expressing your thoughts, and go for catchy words that will appeal to your fans.

It will also be helpful to you and your fans if you post an update or content with 90 characters or less. A short, yet catchy post will intrigue your fans and cause them to click on your link. Do yourself and your followers a favor by providing interesting and brief content that will not waste their time or yours.

4. Use calls-to-action in your posts.

When you want recognition, then do your best to post attention-grabbing content that will entice others to hear what you have to say. Think of effective calls-to-action that work well even on Facebook. 

You may post a photo, and encourage your followers to express their thoughts on what you have posted. Moreover, you can invite them to "like" your post if they find it agreeable, or they may post a comment when they think otherwise.

Not only will your posts appeal to your fans; they will also feel that their thoughts matter to you. Just make sure that the photos or videos your post are significant to them, so you can obtain as many responses as you expect.

5. Offer exclusives, and freebies that your followers will appreciate.

A vast majority of people decide to click the "like" button when they see a special offer that is useful to them. Everyone appreciates freebies or sometimes even discounts (though don't post these too often as you don't want your Facebook posts to be seen as product pitches too often), so you should make sure that you provide your followers what they want.

Try to understand your audience well, so you will know how you can reach out to them. 

6. Post at ideal times

It is also important that you find the ideal time to post for your target audience. 

Get to know more about their interests, location, and other insights that will help you deliver the right message to these people.

7. *Ask Questions*

This is key to doing really well with Facebook Edgerank. I've put asterisks around this one as it is a really vital one. 

If you can get your Facebook readers to interact with you, even if it's just once ever, it'll make sure that your future posts show up much higher in their newsfeeds from then onwards.

Asking questions is the best way of doing that. You can either ask questions in a written form, or sometimes you'll achieve a better result by posting an image that contains a question, as images stick out more and poeple are more likely to look at it and then want to comment. Make it easy, A or B? 

 

Open ended questions are good, but they don't get the same level of response as a simple A or B question does.

Can't think of questions? Try searching through Yahoo Answers for ideas. :)

8. If you have a mailing list, send people via email to your Facebook page periodically. 

I don't mean that you should be emailing them to your FB page every time you do an update, but if you email out one of your questions to your list and they answer it, from then on your FB posts will appear higher in their newsfeeds. 

If you only use FB for getting people to read your FB posts, you may find that many people don't see your posts as they are buried low in their newsfeeds, and you need to get them to interact with you at least once (and preferably more often), in order to boost your Edgerank so that in future you show up higher in their newsfeed.

9. Allow people to comment on your blog posts using facebook

There are WordPress plugins that allow you to use the FBook commenting plugin to enable people to post comments on your blog posts using Facebook.

I haven't utilized this much yet personally, though I've seen other friends of mine do this very effectively so I'll probably get on the bandwagon and do it myself too for some of my niche sites shortly.

The great thing about getting people to comment using Facebook is that their comments may show up on their newsfeeds, thus giving more exposure to your blog content and Facebook fanpage, not to mention helping your Edgerank as once they've commented they now have a Facebook 'Affinity' score with you.

Bottom Line 

By applying these simple and effective strategies, you will discover positive effects to your Facebook page Edgerank. 

Your followers will also appreciate the amount of time and quality content that you provide them on a regular basis. 

With a high edge rank, you can obtain a profitable business, satisfied fans, and loyal followers to your brand.

  

Mark Ling

P.S. If you liked this post, please post a comment or a question below!

 

22 Comments
Chris 12 years ago
Good stuff Mark.. You are the SEO master!
Ritu 12 years ago
Good stuff. Thanks a lot for all that valuable information. :) I won't ask for an Affilorama Account though, as I already have it.
SHock 12 years ago
Fantastic post!!! Very valuable info!!!
Pat Brosnan 12 years ago
Once again great content and info thanks Mark
Darryl H 12 years ago
Awesome post Mark.. which by the way was on time! There alot of questions going around right now about Facebook Edge Rank, which alot of people tend to over think and just keep marketing their products & services.

This was some very helpful insight about posting content to your FanPages on Facebook, which goes back what where suppose to be doing anyway PROVIDING HELPFUL SOLUTIONS TO OUR AUDIANCE which keeps them engaged.

Again thanks for this nice reminder Mark Gob Bless Awsome as Always.

Darryl H
nega obraza 12 years ago
Again and again i learn something new on affilorama. Thank you.
Gary 12 years ago
One of the better ideas to get more interaction is to post something controversial. This works a lot on discussion forums and gets people talking like crazy.
Mark Ling 12 years ago
Good point, yes absolutely.
Nancy Hinkle 12 years ago
OK. So I'm fairly new to this, and was wondering if we could post the link to our website on our FB page. The answer is yes? Any stipulations? Legalities?
Thanks,
NANCY
12 years ago
Great information on facebook and good tips. I am going to go to work now to put some of this information in action. Thanks for the great post!
Norma Magyawi 12 years ago
Super like! Thanks Mark for sharing the valuable information.
Val Leedham 12 years ago
Thank You Mark for this Information & For Sharing
Chris James 12 years ago
Thanks Mark you might have just saved me $750, not to mentioned provided some education.
Ashok Kumar Sinha 12 years ago
I am new & I am an affiliate, my blog is http://techniquesofmeditation.blogspot.com, I not earning as an affiliate, some mistake is there, I've a Facebook account, but I do not know how to make Facebook Edgerank...pl answer
Ashoka
[email protected]
Miko Leon 12 years ago
Great info about Edgerank. I noticed FB is changing the Front Pg. call "Time Line" Can we know more about it. Would it be better for marketers or Not? Can Mark share! Thanks.
Jason Orban 12 years ago
This is a good post I never heard of edgerank before so I learned something new. I will apply your tips to my Facebook fanpage and see if my likes go up, and my edgerank.

Thanks!
MICHAEL K AGBODAZE JR 12 years ago
Still struggling to make first earning from affiliate marketing, I seem to be considering all techniques, including this great one, Mark!
I will give a big consideration.

Thanks.
altuk71 12 years ago
Great tips! Mark, what is the best way to buy Facebook followers for your business page? Let's be honest, to start a conversation on Facebook, you will need at least 500. Somewhere 10% of your friends will "like" your business page and 90% will ignore you.If you have 100 peoples only, nobody would respond to you posts and questions. Am I wrong?
katherin 12 years ago
Excellent tips.
"Ask questions" sounds good..so that people can interact more in your post..thanks for sharing..
Jade Campbell 12 years ago
Absolutely brilliant information Mark, this side of things is totally new to me and fascinating, If I know a 1/4 of what you know in 10 years I will be thrilled - thanks for sharing. Jade C
Sushilkin 12 years ago
Great Post! Thanks.
Posting Motivational quotes with images are also helpful in positive way.


Sushil Kumar 12 years ago
Thanks Mark for a Great Post!
Posting quotes with appealing images or without may also engage your readers.
Jasa like 10 years ago
great post, just want to sure, does edgerank still do matter today?