Algorithms on search engines like Google and social media platforms like Facebook and Instagram decide how your organic content is discovered. This means that algorithms have a huge impact on your brand’s organic digital marketing efforts. Are you unsure of what algorithms are and how they work? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. We’re a full-service digital marketing agency and we’re here to break down the mystery behind Google, Facebook, Instagram, and other search engine and social media platforms’ algorithms for you.
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What is a Search Engine or Social Media Platform Algorithm?
In short, a search engine or social media platform algorithm is a set of rules, based on calculations, that the individual search engine or social media platform is following in order to determine what content to display, and what content to display first, second, third, and so on. Search engines and social media platforms use algorithms for similar, but different reasons.
How Do Search Engine Algorithms Work?
There are 5.6 billion Google searches a day and there are an estimated 4.45 billion websites on Google. That’s a lot of websites to rank for more search engine results. That’s why search engines like Google strive to bring web searchers the most relevant content related to their search terms. As such, the Google algorithm is configured to rank search engine results in order of relevancy per entered search term.
Google’s algorithm ranks search results based on a variety of factors, including:
- Whether or not a webpage includes the exact keywords or phrases entered into the Google search bar.
- The density of search term keywords. This is an aspect of the Google algorithm that is constantly changing, so there’s no right answer to give you about how often a keyword should be included in your content. If you’re searching for a “backpack” for example, Google wants to make sure it sends you to a webpage that includes the word “backpack” what it considers a reasonable amount of time. But if the word “backpack” is included on a 750-word webpage 100 times, Google is going to decide the webpage is of low quality and was likely just created with the hopes to be found when people search for that keyword. So don’t keyword stuff!
- The number of other websites that are linking to a webpage. Google considers these links – which are called backlinks, inbound links, or incoming links by digital marketers – important because it has decided that the more websites linking to a piece of content, the higher its quality is.
- Anonymized interaction data. Boy, how we wish we had more insight into this Google algorithm factor. Basically, Google tracks how users interact with search results and their associated websites, and based on those interactions, ranks a particular piece of web content higher or lower on related keyword searches.
- Website usability, including how a website displays on multiple browsers and on mobile devices. Google wants its search results to look great on all browsers and devices.
How Social Media Platforms Use Algorithms
Social media platforms want to be engaged. The more interesting and engaging you find the content in your feed to be, the more likely you are to stay on the platform, which increases the likelihood you’ll see and click on an ad. And when you do that, you make the social media platform money.
As such, social media platform algorithms are all designed to determine which users post content that other users find engaging. And to do this, Facebook, Instagram, and other social media platforms have their algorithms set to see things such as:
- The number of reactions, shares, and comments a post receives.
- How many people click on a post to view it in its entirety.
- Amount of people viewing content like videos and live feeds, and the average duration for which they view that content.
To boost your organic reach on social media, we recommend you create content that encourages interactions, such as:
- An “#AMA” (ask me anything) post, which lets users know that if you post a question in the comments section – which encourages user interaction – you’re likely to respond to them.
- Polls and quizzes.
- Social media promotions that require users to like, comment, and share a post to enter for a chance to win a prize.
- Photo captioning contests, which both encourages users to comment and others to react to the captions they like or dislike.
Algorithms are Constantly Changing, But We Can Help
As web users’ online habits change, and they change all the time, so do search engine and social media platform algorithms. In fact, Google, Facebook, Instagram, and other algorithms are constantly changing, which means that optimizing your content for search and creating new engaging content for social media is an ongoing process you’ll need to tweak at several points in the future.
That’s where our digital marketing agency comes in. We’re constantly studying algorithm trends to determine what content will rank on search engines and which social media posts will achieve engagements. If you need help putting together a digital marketing strategy for organic search or social media marketing, we can help. Simply call us today at (949) 484-9104 to get started.
