Get Noticed on Facebook Using Facebook’s Edgerank
Like Google, who has their own algorithm which determines where to place sites in their search results, Facebook 
has their own algorithm as well called Edgerank.
Now, you might not have heard of Edgerank before but it is incredibly important to understand if you want your content to rank well on Facebook.
First of all, what exactly is Edgerank? Well, in a nutshell, it determines what you see when you log in to Facebook. You may have noticed (at least I have), that sometimes you’ll be sitting there on Facebook and think “Hey, you know what? I haven’t heard from Joe recently! Wonder where he’s been?” Actually, Facebook is determining how important Joe’s updates are to me. If I haven’t visited his Facebook page in a while or interacted with him, then Facebook may not think that Joe is very important to me and thus won’t show me his updates that often.
On the flip side of this, Joe may not be updating very often and so Edgerank hasn’t given him a very high priority.
Essentially, if Joe posted photos, brief updates, changed his relationship status, updated his profile, or had done a multitude of other things then he would have a higher Edgerank.
So what exactly does this algorithm take into account when determining what to show? Well, there are actually three factors; Affinity, Edge Weight, and Frequency.
Affinity
Affinity is Facebook’s way of determining who should show up in your news feed. If you tend to “like” someone’s status a lot, comment on their photos, write on their wall, etc., then the likelihood of them showing up in your own news feed is pretty good.
However, this does not mean that you will show up in their news feed. Not exactly wonderful if you’re trying to a business or website noticed on Facebook is it?
But keep in mind that if you do all of the aforementioned things, “like” a status, comment on a photo, etc., the likelihood of them responding is pretty good. And if they respond in some way, either liking your comment or writing on your wall, then this in turn, will increase the likelihood of you showing up in their news feed.
Weight
Weight is something that Facebook uses to decide what to place in your news feed. For example, videos tend to get a higher Weight than does “liking” a users post; in essence, it’s how popular one kind of item is over another. The problem with this is that the weight of something differs greatly upon the individual. If you tend to view photos more than you do videos, then photos will be given a higher weight than videos will.
Overall however, photos, videos and links tend to get a higher weight than does liking a status update. Something to keep in mind as your posting content on your wall.
Recency
Recency is a big factor. The more recent something is, the bigger the factor in where it appears within Facebook.
So how do you work with all of this to help make sure that you’re Facebook page is important to your followers?
- Post interesting content frequently (but don’t spam). If you have something you want to share, statistics show that videos, photos and links will play a larger factor in “audience participation” than will simple likes.
- Use open-ended questions. This is a time-tested sales strategy; you never want to give someone the option of saying “yes” or “no”. By starting off a post using who, what, where, when, or why will encourage more feedback than a question that elicits only a yes or no response.
- Ask for interaction. I’ve noticed that Bing in particular will post updates on Facebook that contain a photo and ask you to “caption this”. Just be creative.
Overall, the Edgerank algorithm isn’t very sophisticated but unlike Google’s algorithm which tends to be static in nature, Facebook’s is largely determined by the interaction of people; and therefore is a flowing, non-static entity.
The take-aways from all of this? Use photos, videos and links when updating your page and status, encourage interaction, and ask open-ended questions.