You're Doing it Wrong...Click Baiting on Facebook

August 16, 2016

Things have changed in the social sphere, and I’ll give you just one “who’s done it" guess! That’s right folks, Facebook has changed its algorithm (the equation that decides what fans will see your Facebook posts) - AGAIN! But don’t worry, I have the details that you need to be sure that your page continues to flourish! 

Once upon a time, a genius social media manager realized that if she gave away ALL of the details from her blog in her Facebook post, fewer Facebook users would click through to read her blog! But, if she teased the content in her link (something like: You’ll never guess which celeb chopped her hair: LINK!) everyone and her sister would click through.

This phenomenon is called ‘Click Baiting.’ It’s a game really and it’s great when you’re offering fantastic content on your site. Your fans will click through, and find your tips. They are happy, and you’re happy! 

For example:

BUT, Facebook ran a study and found that when fans were clicking on these types of posts, 80% of users were not finding the content they were looking for! Facebook’s fans are not happy, and therefore, Facebook isn’t happy either.

To remedy the situation, Facebook took this information, and changed their algorithm. Posts that include ‘click baits’ will no longer be ranked as high in the news feed, instead Facebook will boost up ‘link shares.’

A link share is a post that includes a link instead of a picture. For instance, if I were to create a post about my social media classes I would include a link to the sign up form, instead of a screen shot of the form.

Here’s an example for you:

Facebook (and Facebook fans) like this post better because they can see exactly what is on the website! (Never fear, if you have a great image that you’d like to post with your link, you can still do it! Part of the new algorithm will track how long fans stay on your site. The longer they do, they higher you rank in the algorithm.)

Takeaway, you have fantastic content that’s providing your guests with the information that they want to see, and as long as you don’t ‘leave them hanging on the line’ with your click bait, it’ll be smooth sailing through this Facebook algorithm change! (Too many fishing puns?)