If Facebook is part of your community’s social media strategy, you probably know that all of your fans don’t necessarily see all of your updates. That’s because Facebook has developed a detailed algorithm to determine if, when and where your updates appear in the feeds of people who follow your page. The algorithm basically “scores” content based on a number of factors, like how often a particular person interacts with your page and how many likes, shares and comments your posts receive.

Facebook is constantly making tweaks to the algorithm in order to deliver content that is most relevant to each user, and the company has recently announced a change to the way company updates are distributed. Facebook has found that while people frequently interact with text-only status updates from other people, they interact less with this type of content when it comes from a company page. For that reason, text updates from companies will start to “score” lower and will appear less frequently in news feeds, while other types of content, such as “link-shares,” may result in more interactions.

What’s the difference between a text update and a link-share?

Text Updates

A text status update is just as it sounds. It's a Facebook update that is text-based. The update could include a link, but there are no images. Here’s an example of a text-only status from The Wall Street Journal’s Facebook page.

Link-Shares

A link-share, on the other hand, includes a preview of the linked webpage. When a user clicks on the webpage preview, the linked page opens up. Here’s an example of a link-share, also from The Wall Street Journal. 

What can you do?

According to a blog from Facebook, the best way for companies to share links on their Facebook pages is by using a link-share. Since link-shares are more visually appealing, your audience is more likely to interact with this type of update. So, if you plan to share a link on Facebook, consider using a link-share. Link-shares are the default way of sharing links on Facebook, so they are easy to use. When you include a link in a status update, a preview of the linked page will appear, as long as you don’t click on the “x” in the upper right corner.

Do you use link-shares on your community’s Facebook page? Do you find that your audience interacts with them more than simple text updates?