Today’s topic… social share buttons. You know, those little Facebook, Twitter and Google+ icons you see at the top of posts? Well, I’m going to show you why they’re awesome and why they’re a mandatory component to any successful blog.
What Are Social Share Buttons
They come in many forms, but no matter how they appear, they all serve the same function – to make it super easy for you to share a post with your friends. Social share buttons are those little buttons/icons you see on posts that almost always include the Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ logos. You click on one of the icons, and almost instantly you’re sharing the post on whichever social outlet you choose.
Why Are Social Share Buttons Important
Social share buttons give your readers an easy way to share your post with their friends. It’s literally as simple as clicking on an icon – and boom, your message has been sent to possibly thousands of people – most of who are genuinely interested in what you have to say.
Think about it like this – your readers are reading your blog for a reason. In some way or another they have an interest in your blog’s niche. These readers have friends. Friends that they share content with on social networks (Facebook, Twitter, Google+). Now, what are the chances their friends share some of the same interests as your reader? I’d say pretty good.
That means, when your reader blasts that message to all of his friends, some of those friends will follow the link, thus leading them to your blog, giving you the chance to develop a relationship with them. And bloggers are only as successful as they’re ability to add new readers and build relationships with them.
Social share buttons ultimately bring us like-minded readers and an open invitation to turn these readers into lifelong followers.
How Do You Use Social Share Buttons
Social share buttons can be installed on your blog via a WordPress plugin. It’s one of the easiest installations you’ll ever have the privilege of doing.
The real “challenge” lies in deciding which social sharing plugin to download.
But don’t worry; I already have some suggestions listed below…
Digg Digg
Digg Digg lets you place a floating share bar on your posts. Which means that as your readers scroll through your post, the share bar scrolls along with it. What’s the advantage of this feature? When your reader comes across a section that really moves them, the social share buttons are already there, waiting to be used.
Sexy Bookmarks by Shareaholic
Let’s be honest, share buttons aren’t sexy. But they can definitely be functional. And that’s what the guys at Shareaholic had in mind when they were creating these buttons. Simple to set up and let’s you customize your share message. These guys know their stuff.
AddThis
Another classic in the social share button niche, AddThis gives you a wide variety of buttons to choose from, but most importantly, gives you the confidence that you’re working with a team that knows how to create top-notch plugins. These guys have been around for a while, and they’re not going anywhere any time soon.
Tips on Adding Social Share Buttons
Don’t’ get caught up in design. At least not at the start. Design can suck you in, and have you trying out new design styles for hours on end. For right now, keep the design of your social share buttons basic and make sure they’re functional.
Place your buttons at multiple locations. Try adding your buttons to different locations – at the top and bottom of each post, at the top only, bottom only, or at the top of the post in conjunction with a floating side bar (if you’re using a floating sidebar). Experiment and see what encourages the most sharing between your readers.
Make sure you include the “big three”. Always, ALWAYS have Facebook, Twitter, and Google+ in your social share buttons. They’re by far the most popular networks.
Show on multiple content types. Social share buttons can be placed on your pages as well. Put them on your About page, your email opt-in landing page, your archives page, and any other pages where you can see the content being shared.
Stay positive. Not every post is going to get hundreds of shares. Don’t let that get you down. Keeping churning out awesome content and you’ll see results. It only takes one epic post for it to go viral and drive in tons of traffic. But there needs to be social share buttons on it, if you want this to happen.
That’s all for now. Next time, we’ll look at how to develop your blog for your target market.
The post Add Social Share Buttons To Your Posts appeared first on War Horse Marketing.
