User engagement even more critical with Facebook's algorithm tweaks

Many Facebook pages have experienced declining reach in recent weeks.

Think we were kidding during the newsroom Facebook seminars this summer when we said engagement was critical to getting our content to appear in users' newsfeeds? Well, we weren't then  -- and we definitely aren't now.

Those of us who regularly manage pages have noticed a decline in our posts' reach over the past several weeks. We're in good company: A recent study surveying 3,00 Facebook pages have confirmed that they are also experiencing a decline in reach.

What's happened? It seems clear -- and Facebook seems to have confirmed -- that the company has tweaked it's algorithm to make engagement even more important in determining what appears in users' feeds, with pages' less engaging posts less likely than ever to appear, and more engaging posts more likely to appear.

The bottom line: Continuing to make each post as engaging as possible is more critical than ever. Need to refresh your member on best practices for engagement? Check out these guidelines.