The biggest social media platform changes this week, including important algorithm updates affecting non-mobile optimized websites.
Last week, we reported that Facebook is introducing Watch, a new video platform where they intend to start creating original content – with advertising opportunities before and during shows.
This week we have seen some important changes to Facebook’s newsfeed algorithm and other big changes to social platforms, including LinkedIn video.
Spotlight Story: Facebook newsfeed will penalize non-mobile optimized sites.
This algorithm update will reduce the reach of websites that are not mobile-friendly and have longer loading times (much like Google algos have in organic search since April 2016). Considering, Facebook showed in their 2017 Q1 earnings that mobile ad revenue was $6.7 billion, up 58% year-over-year and was approximately 85% of total ad revenue, it is no surprise that they are favouring mobile-friendly sites.
They announced that they would like to help businesses leverage the power of marketing on mobile, since many businesses, and users, are making that shift, prioritizing mobile over other devices.
We reported early July that as Facebook hits 2 billion only 6% don’t use a mobile device.
Therefore, it makes sense that an update to their newsfeed algorithm would prioritize mobile optimized sites as users will be clicking through and want fast and responsive sites.
Facebook stated:
This update will roll out gradually over the coming months. We anticipate that most Pages won’t see any significant changes to their distribution in News Feed. Webpages that are particularly slow could see decreases in referral traffic.
Make sure your website is mobile-friendly in order to avoid this Facebook penalty.
LinkedIn video
LinkedIn is great for sharing your professional endeavours and accomplishments. LinkedIn Mentor match was introduced late July, and this is the newest feature to learn from others and start new conversations.
We know that video is a medium that can drive traffic to your site and engage potential customers and other social platforms, like Facebook and Youtube, have been doing this for years. This change leads the way for Linkedin to become more of a social network.
The release of LinkedIn video is a positive step for B2B organizations that would like to feature professional content or work via more personal and connected videos. For example, this type of medium would be great to showcase work projects or product demonstrations that show exactly what to do and how to do it. This gives a more connected feel than reading bios and scrolling through numerous posts to find the content that you want.
But, videos can only be uploaded via the LinkedIn iOS and Android mobile app.
How will LinkedIn take this further in future updates? Facebook and other social platforms offer live videos, being already one-step ahead.
If you are unable to post videos, don’t worry – they will be rolling this feature out globally within the upcoming weeks.
Facebook shows publisher logo in Trending and Search
A relatively small update compared to our others, but this will allow users to see the publisher logo of media in search or trending topics. This is part of Facebook’s efforts to enhance user’s recognition with sources of news/ content.
By showing publisher logos next to results, it helps increase brand identity, allowing users to decide the content they want to read and share.
You need to upload your logo to the Brand Asset library to be eligible to see your logos:
- In trending surfaces (mobile and desktop)
- News links on search results