Facebook relaunches business pages to counter declining news feed reach

Facebook has announced a line of new in-page features designed to connect more users with local business owners.

Updates including a greater events presence, local recommendations and even job applications have seen the tech giant respond to declining news feed reach of its business pages over the last two years.

Algorithm shifts

In late-2016, Facebook adjusted its algorithim to reintroduce posts by friends and family onto news feeds. As a result, business pages saw organic reach plummet. In the first half of that year alone, business pages saw a 52% decline in reach.

The platform faced criticism from some who claimed it was a ploy to draw more cash from business owners to sponsor their posts. In 2018, the trend towards meaningful interactions? continued and content from users? friends and family was prioritised over business pages.

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Facebook claims its updated business pages will highlight more local companies to users and generate more business for entrepreneurs.

In an official blog post, Alex Himel, Facebook’s local vice president, said: Over 1.6bn people around the world are connected to a small business on Facebook. People and businesses alike have told us they want even easier ways to connect.

4 important changes to Facebook’s business pages

1. Actions

Action buttons have been made more prominent on pages, with different page templates available to business owners. From mobile, users can now book appointments, order food and write recommendations.

2. Community recommendations

Facebook has made it easier for users to recommend businesses to a friend via the mobile app.

3. Events

Business owners can use their page to sell tickets to events. According to Facebook, events that sell tickets directly on the platform have seen attendance double.

4. Job application tool

To help more local business owners recruit staff, Facebook’s Jobs feature is being rolled-out across the world.