Facebook's algorithms are one of the most important puzzles that users of this platform seek to solve. It may not exhaust the thinking of the average user of the platform as much as it exhausts marketers and content makers who rely on this platform as one of their sources of income where they market and make money through it.
Facebook's algorithms control the display and reach of posts to users, which in turn affects the popularity of pages and, consequently, their performance.
Content creators' pages, the more famous they are, the greater their chance of getting views and profits from ads.
Even worse, for brand pages or those selling products on Facebook, posts from these pages reach fewer users than expected affecting their revenue and sales.
In this article, we explain to you the Facebook algorithms, and how you can deal with them in ways that contribute to the popularity of your page and increase its profits.
What are Facebook's algorithms
To understand the nature of Facebook algorithms, we first need to understand the meaning of the word algorithms. Algorithms are a set of procedures used to solve a problem or perform a specific calculation.
Algorithms act as a precise list of instructions that perform specific actions step by step. This list exists within the sequence of operations based on the operation of electronic hardware and software.
Algorithms are widely used in all areas of technology. For Facebook, algorithms rely on machine learning to manage this platform and organize the posts on it.
But why was it necessary for Facebook's algorithms to appear in users' profiles?
The answer in short: Facebook's algorithms emerged due to the increase in the number of its users and hence the increase in the number of posts being published.
Of course, there is a limitation in the users' time spent browsing Facebook compared to the number of potential posts.
So Facebook had to choose among these posts to show you as a user, and this of course is not random, but based on a large set of criteria called Facebook algorithms to show posts.
Important note: Algorithms or algorithms are named after the Persian scientist Muhammad ibn Musa al-Khwarizmi. Ibn Musa invented algorithms in the ninth century AD, and over time they developed to be the cornerstone of many applications in our time.
Facebook's algorithms are important
Facebook's algorithms determine which posts people see each time they view any section of the platform.
Any Facebook user usually participates in many groups and pages and has a large number of friends on this platform, and the posts of all the previous sections of this user are supposed to appear, but due to the large number of them, they cannot all appear to him.
Facebook's algorithms control the order in which these posts appear and evaluate each post, collecting posts and then ranking them according to the interest of each user. Algorithms also control the appearance of individuals in the list of suggested friends.
Digital marketers and brand owners feel the biggest impact of Facebook's algorithms. This group of users uses Facebook for various purposes such as; Advertising, selling, profiting from services, and even attracting visitors to this platform to their sites, and much more.
Imagine spending hours creating visual or written content to promote your site or getting customers to buy one of your products, and finding a low engagement rate from your Page audience. A frustrating feeling isn't it?
The losses of not reaching a large number of visitors are more than just feeling frustrated or sad, digital marketers and promoters on Facebook use this platform to maximize their profits, and not achieving this may lead to huge financial losses.
Finally, advertising on Facebook helps to achieve profits for your online store or site better than regular publishing, however, even advertising without understanding Facebook's algorithms may negatively affect the results of advertising campaigns on it.
In the worst circumstances, the category of users finds that they spend a lot of money on advertising and achieve modest returns or poor profits from it.
All this alerts us to the importance of understanding Facebook's algorithms and their impact on the profits that digital marketers and promoters earn through this platform.
In 2007, a software engineer at Facebook stated that "only 0.2% of the news of interest to each user's account will appear on their profile."
This means that each story or news is compared with 499 other stories to be eligible to appear on your page.
This is in 2007, so how about 2023?!
How do Facebook's algorithms arrange the display of posts
The stages of the Facebook algorithm work can be broken down, as mentioned in an article on the Facebook Meta platform titled How Facebook distributes content.
a) Collecting Publications
Facebook's algorithms collect posts that can appear in users' news or feed. This includes friends' posts, ads served by the Facebook platform, and finally posts from Pages, groups, and events they follow.
Lately, of course, stories and short videos (Facebook Reels) have come into the equation.
In other words, Facebook's algorithms collect and store all the posts that are supposed to appear to users. Collection and storage facility the sorting process of these publications, which will be done in the next step.
b) Review publications information
The second step that Facebook's algorithms take is to look at a set of details and information (also called signals) to determine how relevant these posts are to the user:
The timing of these publications.
- Who published it?
- The number of interactions these posts have received.
- What kind of content is in these posts (eg links, images, or videos)?
- Relationship of these to similar publications.
- What is the appropriate time to show these posts to the user while browsing Facebook?
- The speed of the user's Internet connection.
Facebook's algorithms monitor users' behaviors and discover what they like based on their interaction with posts.
For example, let's say you constantly interact with a friend's Facebook posts and communicate with him constantly, this will alert the Facebook algorithms that you may like to see this friend's posts periodically, which makes them show this content to you.
The same method is followed by Facebook's algorithms for shopping, purchasing products, and the timing of their ads and publications.
If you love digital marketing and constantly interact with brands’ posts and ads during a certain time of the day, Facebook’s algorithms will use that as an indicator to show more brand posts and product purchases during that time.
As humans, our opinions about things change all the time, and so do our purchasing needs, and Facebook's algorithms know that and pay attention to it.
Our changing opinions and preferences cause these algorithms to constantly monitor our behavior and look for information that indicates that change. Based on the information and details it has collected, the algorithms update the way posts appear to us to fit our new preferences.
c) Providing predictions and forecasts
Based on what Facebook's algorithms have understood, and the information and details they have collected about the user, they display the posts they are likely to like and interact with.
Let's say you've interacted with a set of how-to videos that show you how to improve the performance of your mobile phone. Here, Facebook's algorithms use this information to predict and predict content related to this topic that you may be interested in viewing.
Facebook's algorithms will try to figure out how likely you are to engage with posts similar to the previous one in terms of:
- Commenting
- Liking
- Watching a video and how much you enjoy it (watch the entire video or ignore it at a specific time).
The predictions and predictions made by Facebook's algorithms affect all of the posts you see, including ads.
d) Scale of Importance
Facebook's algorithms determine how important each post is to each user through the importance scale. We can liken this scale to a scale that evaluates the importance of a post from 1 to 10, for example.
Let's say you are interested in the travel industry. Facebook's algorithms evaluate each post that appears to you with a degree of importance that suits you.
in simpler terms; The posts that get higher scores on the importance scale appear first in your news section, of course, the importance degrees differ from one user to another, and sometimes even with one user according to his change of interests.
Important note: Facebook’s algorithms are constantly updated, which makes the way they work subject to change as well. In this article, we explain how these algorithms work in a simplified manner according to the latest updates and according to the platform’s explanation of these steps.
Other elements that go into the Facebook algorithm equation
1-The permissions that Facebook gives to the user to obtain the appropriate publications for him
There are some powers that Facebook grants to its users, which, by activating them by the user, force algorithms to respect them and not bypass them, so you, as a marketer through Facebook, have to understand them and deal with them intelligently.
Here is a list of the most important powers that Facebook provides to its users, which are a very important part of the way Facebook's algorithms work:
Note: The permissions or control options shown below can be accessed in one of two ways:
- Click on the three dots next to the post on your feed page, which in turn will show more options to control page follow-up.
- Entering the page itself and then controlling the page's follow-up options.
a) Unfollow feature: This feature allows any user to prevent posts from a friend or a particular page from appearing, without removing that friend from the friends’ list or unsubscribing from this page.
b) Favorites feature: This feature allows any Facebook user to specify a certain number of friends and pages and include them in the favorites list, thus making their publications or news a priority to appear on his personal page.
c) Snooze feature: This feature allows the user to temporarily hide a page, group or friend for only 30 days, which is similar, according to the literal translation, to taking a nap from following a page or friend.
D) Save feature: In this feature, Facebook gives its users the ability to save important publications to view at a later time.
e) Get notifications feature: Through this feature, a Facebook user can get a notification when new content is posted from a friend or a specific page.
f) Report Feature in a publication: This feature allows the user to report any inappropriate content.
2- User preferences and link to the source of the post
a) The type of posts that each user prefers: Facebook's algorithms are sensitive to the type of posts that each account prefers, whether they are images, videos, links to sites or text posts.
For example, the more you interact with posts that contain photos, the more photo posts appear in front of you.
b) Time spent perusing each post: It is normal that the more interested you are, the more time you will spend on this post.
It is assumed that the real user will click on the link and read the article before interacting by liking or adding a comment.
d) The nature of the relationship between the user and the source of the publication, whether a page or a friend
The relationship is monitored here through some indicators such as:
- interaction in the past.
- Communication through messages.
- Browse the publications by entering the same page, the friend's account, or opening his photos.
Tips to take advantage of Facebook's algorithms
Whether you have a Facebook page or a page you rely on to sell and promote products, you will be interested in improving its performance.
Understanding how to deal with Facebook's algorithms to manage a page on this platform helps to advertise it, which is also more important if you use this platform as a source of income or sell certain products through it.
The following tips are intended to help you get your posts to a larger number of followers and easily achieve your goals on this platform.
1- Create exclusive content
In previous years, duplicate content became filling the news page of most users on Facebook, this of course causing them a lot of inconveniences, not to mention wasting the effort of the original content owner.
Facebook's algorithms are now dealing firmly with duplicate or stolen content, unlike deletion, Facebook's algorithms are now ignoring this type of post and giving priority to emerging and new posts, which provide exclusive content to users.
Facebook's algorithms have become aware of the exclusive written content and even the images attached to it as well, as well as stolen content of any kind, causing the pages to be closed on Facebook.
In other words, if you want the Facebook algorithms to evaluate the content of your page well, make sure to create high-quality written content, also if you use images or videos, make sure that you design them yourself.
For videos and photos, it is important to pay attention to their property rights before adding them to your page, sometimes you may create a video or photos based on other photos or videos, and this may be acceptable with some visual materials while not with others.
2- Pay attention to the timing of publication
Facebook's algorithms rely heavily on users' interaction with posts and on which the strategy to show them to users is built. The most important factor that greatly affects the rate of users' interaction with posts is the timing of publishing.
Of course, there is no publication timing that suits all users, not even a specific segment of them. The appropriate timing for publication changes according to several factors specific to followers, such as:
- Users' geographical location.
- other user interests.
- Recurring and non-recurring events that may be of interest to users over a certain period of time.
- Holidays and public holidays.
- age group of users.
Each of the previous factors needs a lot of study and observation to reach the appropriate publication timing for followers, some of these factors overlap with each other and this must be paid attention to as well.
Reaching the most appropriate time to post to your followers can be determined easily through your Facebook page statistics tools. The statistics of this platform provide you with accurate information about the interaction rates of your followers with the content you publish, so be sure to study it carefully.
You can also ask your followers and ask polls that contain several dates that you think suit them.
3- Exploit the success of videos and visual content
Have you noticed an increase in visual content or videos on Facebook lately? Have you noticed how this platform motivates you to spend hours watching videos? Of course, you noticed the amazing ability of the platform to nominate videos on topics that interest you.
All of this comes from the importance of videos and the interaction of users with them in relation to Facebook's algorithms. Visual content is currently very popular with users, which makes reliance on it a successful strategy in more than one direction.
The first trend is the extent to which users are interested in this type of video, especially short ones. Videos provide information easier and faster than publications that contain written content, even if you add an image to it.
The second trend relates to Facebook's own algorithms, which now prefer videos more than written content. This stems from the desire of the Facebook platform to compete with the famous Tik Tok platform in the field of videos, which requires the presence of huge visual content on Facebook.
I think you have noticed the popularity and interaction that short videos have received on Facebook, although some do not prefer them, Facebook sees it as the future of visual content, so be sure to rely on it to publish your content from time to time.
4- Stay away from posting content that aims to engage followers only
This may sound strange, but Facebook's algorithms are now penalizing people who promote content that asks for comments or likes.
Alice, you might be wondering, is meant to be interactive in terms of commenting, liking, or sharing. Is Facebook going to punish everyone now? Well, let's make it clear there is a difference between the content posted for interaction and one that is directly requested.
We are talking here about posts such as posting a comment to get the price or clicking on the link to get a prize, this is ridiculous and annoying content Facebook's algorithms are deliberately hiding or ignoring.
Of course, there are some topics that may require this type of posting such as e-store offers posts, but in general, be careful not to use tricks and deceptive tactics to get your followers to interact with his posts.
5- Interact with the audience of your Page
Your interaction with your Facebook page audience is generally necessary to gain their trust and loyalty and of course, to publish the page itself, Facebook algorithms notice this interaction and rate your page positively based on it.
There are two basic types of interaction with your Page's audience and both help Facebook's algorithms recognize their importance to users.
The first type is your responses and comments on the interaction of your Page's audience with the content you added to it.
The second type is posts that aim to entice followers to interact by replying or commenting.
By the other type, we do not mean the posts that we warned you against in the previous point, of course, we are talking here about posts in which you ask for the opinions of your followers on a topic or about a new topic that you want to create content about.
6- Don't forget the importance of groups
Facebook groups provide a good space for interaction between members and as a page owner you can benefit from it in more than one way.
You can create a group for your Facebook page to provide a way to compete with the content you provide through it, you can use the members' posts on this group to be the source of your content ideas.
Also, if you find a post from your group members that contains valuable and distinctive content, you can share this content on the page, Facebook's algorithms monitor the activities of your group members and link it to the importance of your page as a whole.
Finally, it is useful to join famous groups that specialize in the same field of content that you provide on your page.
This will benefit you personally in this area in terms of knowledge, as well as the posts that you will add to these groups will receive a great interaction from an interested audience, which is preferred by Facebook's algorithms.
7- Use Facebook Ads from Time to Time
The most important modifications that have been made to Facebook's algorithms is to give priority to appearing to posts that contain ads, which means that regular posts will be difficult for users to interact with because they do not appear to them at the same rate as ads.
In fact, this update annoyed many Facebook users, whether regular users or page owners, however, there is no solution to overcome this update, at least for the time being.
In other words, you will have to make advertising campaigns for your page to increase the rate of interaction of users with it and its publications. We know that advertising on Facebook may be a little expensive, but it may be necessary sometimes and useful if implemented in a proper way.
8- Monitor Facebook Statistics
The tools that Facebook provides for you to view your page statistics are an important tool for understanding the algorithms of this platform. The information provided by these statistics enables you to know how well your page is in dealing with Facebook's algorithms and updates properly.
The more these statistics show good percentages of users' interaction with your content, the more you know that you are managing your page well. Following these statistics helps you understand the growth rate of your page, which will not happen if you are doing practices that are not compatible with Facebook's algorithms.
Use Facebook statistics to know your page's current level and monitor the impact of your new practices on it. You can easily determine the indicators and percentages you want your page to reach and draw plans to help achieve these percentages.
9- Post your content on Facebook regularly
Continuous posting on Facebook has more than one benefit. Pages that post content constantly Facebook algorithms see that it is an active page and start studying, analyzing and including it within the importance scale of the field in which you specialize.
For followers, they are also interested in reading new (or even old, but important) content related to their field of interest, in other words, Facebook's algorithms and followers prefer that you publish content on your page on a continuous basis.
However, it is important to know several factors regarding posting content at a regular rate. Posting for the sake of posting may result in poor content, which distances followers from it and reduces the rate of their interaction with it, and intensive posting is not recommended all the time because it may cause them to be inconvenienced.
The most appropriate method for publishing in line with Facebook’s algorithms is to understand the nature of your page’s followers and determine the number of times to publish the most appropriate for them, and of course, you must publish valuable content for them… In this way, you satisfied the followers and dealt with Facebook’s algorithms successfully.
