For the last couple of weeks, we’ve been putting on a series entitled ‘Everything Facebook’ (http://bit.ly/jYEk6U) which has covered topics ranging from remedial Facebook know-how to more advanced tips and tricks. There are several topics that are so critical that we wanted to make extra mention of it, your EdgeRank score being one of them.

Do you know the difference between Top News and Most Recent on your Facebook home page? More importantly, do you understand why it is so important to show up in someone’s top news?

Top News is a snapshot of the statuses that Facebook determines to be from your better friends (or pages) based off an algorithm that is referred to as your EdgeRank (explanation to come). Most Recent is status updates of all your friends and pages you like. Top News is the default setting when you log into your Facebook on a computer (most recent on mobile apps) and most people (over 50%) just view these updates without even knowing that there are other views, such as by videos or by photos.

Obviously, you want to show up on the people in your community’s top news so your messagse can be seen. Since social media is branding in its purest form, ultimately we are trying to keep people’s attention for an extended period of time to have a long term effect of their perception of your brand.

What exactly is EdgeRank? Most simply, EdgeRank is the algorithm Facebook uses to determine which of your statuses your online community sees in their top news. This is the mathematical formula:

Affinity * Weight * Time Decay = EdgeRank

Here is the explanation of each term:

First, there’s an affinity score between the viewing user and the item’s creator — if you send your friend a lot of Facebook messages and check their profile often, then you’ll have a higher affinity score for that user than you would, say, an old acquaintance you haven’t spoken to in years.

Second, there’s a weight given to each type of interaction. A comment has more importance than a Like, for example and pictures carry the highest weight!

And finally there’s the most obvious factor — time. The older an interaction is, the less important it becomes.

This is the magical formula to increasing your status views or as Facebook calls it impressions. What does it all boil down to? Engagement! The higher your engagement is, the higher your EdgeRank score will be.

Score Break Down:

• 0-6 is below average.
• 7-13 is average.
• 14-19 is above average.
• Scores above 20 are excellent.

How familiar are you with your Facebook insights? How many active monthly users do you have in relation to your overall likes? If this figure isn’t above 70%, you’re failing on Facebook! There isn’t a curve like there wase back in high school; this is business and the difference between being the dealership in town people talk about or the one they forget about.

Do you understand why engagement is the most important aspect for a business to succeed on Facebook?

If you would like to know what your EdgeRank score is, along with a few things you can do to increase it, then contact us HERE, there is no charge, its just our way of giving back.