Facebook™ is changing – that is the news item you’ve been reading for a couple of weeks now. The biggest social media platform does not want to lose its dominant position. However, this position has been threatened by several major scandals – the most recent one being a very crude and unsafe manner of storing the users’ passwords in a text document.
To counteract the negative voices raised against its practices and policies, the Facebook™ Team decided to completely rethink its main social platform and the ancillary ones: Messenger and WhatsApp. We have already written about the major changes we may expect to the design and functionalities of Facebook™. Today we will discuss a recent change that is already rolling out: a new ranking algorithm for videos.
What Will Be Different in the Way Videos Are Ranked on Facebook™?
Writing in a blog post about this new change, David Miller, Product Management Director at Facebook™, stated: “We want to help talented video creators find their audience and build profitable video businesses on Facebook. We want to help media companies — whether large, small, global, or local — continue their invaluable work.”
And how will Facebook™ achieve these goals? The answer is, by setting three new factors for ranking videos. These factors are:
- Loyalty and intent: this means that videos that get repeated views from many users will get a higher ranking according to the new algorithm. The intent is also important and it is measured by positive reactions by users who found it interesting and useful;
- Video and viewing duration: here, we see that Facebook™ is trying to promote longer videos. At the same time, a video will get a higher ranking if it manages to keep people engaged for as much as possible (ideally, for the entire duration);
- Originality: this one is pretty obvious – Facebook™ wants to purge its platform of misleading and rehashed videos with low quality and interest for viewers.
Although not mentioned in the new list of ranking factors, we want to add engagement. This is a key factor in the new Facebook™ policy for ranking all kinds of posts and content across its platform.
Key Takeaways from These Video Ranking Changes
Looking at the three factors above, they are not really as hard to meet as you would think. The biggest hit will come to pages that promote sharing schemes and black hat marketing strategies. And this is a good thing. With less low-quality content visible, your videos will have a greater chance to reach more viewers and help your lead generation efforts.
So, what should you do to ensure your videos will get a good ranking on Facebook™? Here are a few ideas:
1. Keep Creating Original Branded Content
As you have discovered by reading our articles, these days anyone can create a great looking video with minimum effort and knowledge. Instead of repurposing old videos, or sharing from other sources, post fresh video content and keep your followers engaged.
2. A/B Test Various Video Lengths
Since video duration is a new ranking factor, you should step out of your comfort zone of creating videos of a specific length. Although some best practices you’ve read recommend sharing short videos, this may not be true anymore in the future. As fast and reliable mobile internet becomes more affordable all over the world, people are willing to spend more time looking at interesting videos on Facebook™.
3. Encourage Engagement on Your Video Posts
Be smart in creating captions and headlines for your videos that get people talking. Ask a question, be intriguing and provoke your viewers to share their opinion about what they’ve seen. Good engagement equals intent. And, if your videos are really great, viewers will come back to watch them again. This will definitely boost the ranking of your video according to the new rules set by Facebook™.
And remember: whenever Facebook™ is changing the rules of the game, the Adchief team is here to let you know about them and explain how they will affect you in your marketing efforts.