I've Got Algortihm...Who Could Ask for Anything More?

Because I was forced to take math in both high school and college, I know what an algorithm is. But being able to solve a problem with one, that's another thing. So when SEO people throw around the term "algorithm," all I remember is, "I hate math." What I'm really saying is, "I don't get it."

This morning I was catching up on sessions from Social Media Examiner's Facebook Success Summit and I listened to Jay Baer talk about metrics for Facebook. When Jay explained, in basic terms even I could understand, why the "Like" button is a crucial social plug-in for a website, a light bulb went off. If I install the "like" button on stories, blogs, and items above the fold on my home page, chances are my fans will "like" my web content more often. And then, guess what? Those likes show up on their Facebook page. And the "like cycle" is more like-ly to get traction and land us on that all-important news feed.

For a long time, I had been looking at Facebook through my own feed and not through the feeds of our fans. I look at my wall, profile and news feed day in and day out. But, is our message making it on to our fans' news feeds? Baer's session made me start thinking of ways to make that happen.

Facebook uses an "edge rank" to determine what gets on your news feed and it operates basicall on three factors: recency, how many comments and likes an item gets (weight), and an affinity score determined by what you and your friends have liked in the past. According to Baer, the way to "win the newsfeed" is to pay attention to frequency and content. Baer says if you are only posting once a day, you won't win the newsfeed. The other thing he said that really hit me was, "without the 'like' button, you're nothing." Everytime anybody hits a like button on the internet, from your fan page, to your website, to a blog, whatever, that goes into your fan's timeline. Visualize what that looks like.

Like buttons can be easily installed on your website or blog. You can start by going to the bottom of your Facebook page and looking for the link for developers. Click on that site and search "like button." You may have enough coding knowledge to do this one yourself. Start with this article.

Also, the newsfeed is constantly changing as factors change. So Baer says, pay attention to when people are online. If you only post during business hours Monday-Friday, you are missing a possible 65% of the audience that is on at night and on the weekends.

So, even though my SEO wiz-buddy at Future Farm, Sean Golliher, would  tell me I have a lot to learn (and I would agree), I am now more confident that I am starting to get it--even just a little. How 'bout you? Do you get it?

photo from Flickr by tkamenick