Writing the perfect Facebook post is more important than ever. With the launch of Promoted Posts, Facebook has been reducing the reach that Page posts get in order to create incentives for using the new feature. Which means that, unless you want to pay for fans to see your posts, it’s getting harder and harder for fans to see your content in the News Feed.
Knowing how to write engaging Facebook posts that get ranked high by Facebook’s EdgeRank is key.
First, What is EdgeRank?
EdgeRank is the algorithm Facebook uses to determine what posts your fans see. It’s a formula that determines the visibility of your content.
EdgeRank’s algorithm is based on the person’s relationship with your page (i.e do they like or comment on your Page often?), type of content (Facebook scores photos and videos higher than links or text-only posts) and how recent your post is.
The more fans that interact with the post, the more fans will see it, which means that you want to post content that will get lots of likes and comments. You also should post photos and videos whenever possible. Not only do these get ranked higher in EdgeRank, but they’re more engaging and tend to get more likes and comments than links or text-only posts.
Read more about EdgeRank: The Art of Being Seen (on Facebook).
9 Steps to the Perfect Facebook Post
Based on what we know about EdgeRank’s algorithm as well as our own experience posting to Facebook, here are the steps to creating the perfect Facebook post:
1. Use a photo. Photos will give your post more visibility and people like and share photos (especially ones that include quotes or sayings).
2. If you’re posting a link, instead of using the pre-populated image, upload a photo and include the URL to the link in your text.
3. When posting a link, don’t use a URL shortener. People on Facebook want to see that a link is legit before they click on it.
4. Include a Call to Action: “Like this,” “Fill in the blank,” “Tell us,” “Click Like if you agree.” Ask a question to encourage comments.
5. Keep it simple and only include one Call to Action. You want to make it clear what you want fans to do.
6. Keep the text under 250 characters. According to Facebook, posts that are 100-250 characters get about 60% more likes, comments and shares.
7. Don’t use hashtags. Hashtags are for Twitter, not Facebook.
8. Keep your tone friendly. Obviously this is dependent on your brand but, overall, the atmosphere on Facebook tends to be much more fun than on Twitter or LinkedIn, for example.
9. Post when your fans are on Facebook. To determine the best times to post to Facebook, look at your Insights to find out what times get the most engagement. If the prime times to post are outside of business hours, use Facebook’s scheduling feature to schedule your posts. For more on when to post, watch How often should you post to Facebook?
For more information read Buddymedia’s report Strategies for Effective Facebook Wall Posts.
