Facebook EdgeRank Algorithm: Definition, Ranking Factors, Tips

EdgeRank is the algorithm of Facebook using which it sorts the posts in the news feed of users. It is essential to understand for marketers and businesses to make the most of their Facebook page and posts. 

EdgeRank is calculated using three factors- affinity, weight, and time decay. 

• Affinity 

Affinity is determined by how often users engage with your posts. If some followers hit like or leave comments on your posts, Facebook will show more of your posts to those users. The posts will rarely appear to the followers who don’t show any interest. 

• Weight

Not all post types hold the same importance for Facebook. The platform gives high weightage to photos and videos, then links and status updates. The other things that affect the weight of a post are likes and comments. Facebook gives more weightage to comments than likes. So, if your photo has more likes and comments, it will show up in more users’ news feeds.

• Time decay

Facebook is very likely to show fresh posts to the users, rather than old posts. This part of the EdgeRank algorithm is called time decay. However, in certain cases when people browse Facebook once a week or month, the old posts can also appear based on their past interactions with the page or profile. 

You can engage more users and improve your EdgeRank on Facebook using the following tips:

1. Regular posting

When you share content regularly, the time decay part works positively for you by replacing the old posts with newer ones in the user news feed. 

2. Share self-explanatory images

It is highly recommended to share photos and videos because they impact the affinity and are more likely to appear in the news feed than status updates.

To improve engagement on images, include some text that can explain the intent of the post. 

3. Drive comments

Since comments hold more weight than likes, you must encourage users to comment by adding proper CTAs in the images or captions. You can ask simple questions or conduct contests to improve your engagement rate and boost your posts’ reach. 

4. Quality content

Quality should be maintained for captions, graphics, and hashtags used. Your content should be valuable, informative, user-friendly, and appealing. Use the right hashtags relevant to your post. Don’t overuse the hashtags that the post looks spammy. 

1. Likes and comments on the post

2. Number of times others share a post

3. Time taken by a post to receive the volume of likes, comments, and shares

4. Preference of posts: Photo/video > Status update

5. Engagement rate

6. Views and watch time of videos

7. The topic of the post

8. Completeness of page information