It can be quite a game to find who has the right social media button. Good thing there is plenty of buttons and easy ways to add the social media buttons to your site.
Making it easy to connect with you socially is part of a your landing pages best practices.
How Do You Find The Right Button?
- What do you like? When you go to other sites observe what buttons you like and how they fit into their set up.
- What do you click on? Now choose the buttons you click on the most. Do you use the social media buttons that are located in the tool bars? Or do you most often use the sliders that go down the page? Or maybe you are a combo person.
What Social Media Buttons Do You Need?
Follow Me: Now decide what social media buttons you want on your site. Get those accounts lined up and save all of the URL’s in one place: FaceBook, Twitter.
Post To: You will also need to set up accounts with the sites you would like your readers to send your post to. Google Buzz, Serped, Stumble Upon, etc.
Subscriber Options: What subscribe options would you like to offer? (This is a quick explanation of your options.)
Subscribe by RSS:
RSS (Really Simple Syndication technology for bloggers and podcasters to distribute their content.)
Web feeds benefit publishers by letting them syndicate content automatically. They benefit readers who want to subscribe to timely updates from favored websites or to aggregate feeds from many sites into one place. RSS feeds are found through what is called an “RSS reader.”
Feedburner is the WordPress plugin that I see most often recommend for setting up your RSS feed.
RSS feed to Email:
You visitors can choose to subscribe by email. Once they have filled out the subscription box they will get an email every time you write a blog post.
Feedburner does have the advantage of adding a subscribe by email option. First of all it is free and most widely used. Google does give your basic instructions for setting your email system up.
Because I do not use Feedburner I have been looking for RSS to Email options.
- FeedBlitz: Has the most interesting alternative to FeedBurner. It has a small monthly fee.
- Feed My Inbox: Another paid RSS feed to email alternative looks promising.
- Free Alternatives: MakeUseOf. com gives a list of 5 free feed syndication sites.
ReTweet My Post
Give your readers the chance to tweet your post. This is so simple and yet it is often over looked. Make it easy for those who like your great content to share it with others.
WordPress Plugins Make Social Media Buttons Easy
WordPress has made it easy to upload and use plugins to share your social media buttons.
When choosing a plugin for buttons for your site, consider:
- Look – How will it look on your site. Does it match your design and layout?
- Easy to use – Can you quickly install the plugin and add your social URLs?
- Load time – Do the buttons slow down the time it takes for your site to load when a visitor comes to your site? You may also consider using fewer buttons to increase your load time.
I have tested the following buttons and found that they were easy to install and to add your social sites URL’s. The also have good load time which makes it possible to use more than one button. The great thing is that these buttons can expand to as many URLs as you would like to use.
FollowMe: You can see this button in the right had side of site. I like how this button slides up and down as you read my posts.
ShareBar: This is another share button that also moves as you read posts. Mike Patezold uses this WordPress plugin on his site:
Cute Profiles: The slider you see on the left side of my site is called “Cute Profiles.” I liked how this plugin shows up on small computer screens.
Social Media Widget: You can see this how I have used this plugin in the top right hand of my sidebar. Once you have installed this plugin the options bar shows up in your widget.
Then it is just a matter dragging and dropping the widget into you side bar. Just fill in the blanks and you are done. There are tons of choices with this plugin. Not only do they list the usual social sites but you can add new ones.
TweetMeme Retweet Button: This plugin is easy to upload and configure to your liking. Once you have installed this WordPress plugin you will find access to your plugin right at the bottom of your menu bar.
Below is a picture of how I have configured my Tweetmeme. Note that I have added my name so I can tell who has retweeted me. I do not like to use those ReTweet buttons that do not notify them that I have retweeted. Besides those tweets look like they could be my blog posts.
Button Button, do you have your buttons? I hope this helps.
Sheila
P.S. What social media buttons do you like? Do you have an RSS feed to email alternative to FeedBurner you would recommend?
Related posts:
Its good to have buttons that are quite easy to find and that are placed on a design in a respectful place.
For my old design I used the ShareDaddy plugin which displays the buttons just below every article. But with my new design I use the green re-tweet buttons along with Facebook share on the side of my articles so when you scroll down they move down too.
For Feedburner and LinkedIn they are displayed at the very top of my design.
Thanks for sharing the importance of these buttons Sheila!
Phil recently posted..Do You Skype Chat With Other Bloggers
Phil,
I do like ShareDaddy, it looks great on your site. Placing the buttons right under your post is smart. Your reader has just read your post and if they like it they very likely to share it.
Thanks.
Hi Sheilla,
I never give button or add media social button on my blog. Do you think it’s not annoying when there is someone visit your blog?
Often time, I feel disturbed with media social button which added by the owner of the blog.
I think the size and location of the button must be really attended by the bloggers.
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I think anything can be over done. Even social media buttons. Most people do expect to find some way to bloggers and blogs in a social way. It can be tastefully done.
Hi Sheila
Buttons are very important for automation. So if used with an artistic logic, on sites, they create a good visual effect. It is a necessity as it saves time, and takes away wee bit of stress.
So, I think I do not mind them. How do you feel about it Sheila? I like the site word press made easy, in your examples. Good discussions.
See you again
Fran A
Fran Aslam From Onlinewriter recently posted..Women’s International Day Centenary 1911 – 2011
Fran,
I think of the Internet as the World Wide Web and you have to have ways to weave that web. Social media is a good way to reach out and to be reached.
I like Mikes slider too. I tried it out but didn’t like the way it came up against the text on my blog.
Good to see you again.
You can find a whole lot of button at iconspedia.They are free to use depending on the license.
I have found a blog where it explains adding floating share buttons.so thought of sharing http://preview.tinyurl.com/5vqkg46 there are also some set of button available for download.
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Thanks Hernery.
The codes on the site you referred us to is great for putting all the stylish buttons that are being created.
Hi Sheila,
Thanks for the breakdown. There are several options here I’ll have to explore further. I noticed you didn’t talk about Sexy Bookmarks. Is that passe now that these new buttons have come out?
One thing I’ve noticed on sites that use the sliding sharebar is that in IE, the bar covers part of the text. So they would have to manually go in a tweek it.
Thanks and take care, my friend!
Peggy
Peggy Baron recently posted..Internet Marketing Milestones – My Results Writing and Selling PLR
Peggy,
Load time is an important part of picking any plugin. When I searched out SexyBookmarks there was concern about the load time. They do have a lot of choices and I like the look. You can even get SexyBookmarks for your sidebar.
I liked the sliding sharebar a lot and wanted to use it. But like you said it tends to run up against the text. It did it even on my big screen Mac and Firefox.
Thank you Peggy. Enjoyed your post, I really liked hearing how well you are doing with your business.
Hi Sheila
I like tweetmeme and have it top and bottom of my post. That makes it easier for readers to RT. Often I have to search for a tweet button.
Because I like to RT posts I have found helpful, I will go searching for it. Lots of people wouldn’t so I feel it is important to have it where we can easily locate it.
Patricia Perth Australia
Patricia@lavender oil recently posted..Comments Do Not Equal Sales!
Patricia,
I like the TweetMeme button too. They upgrade a few months ago and made it easy to add comments to your RTs, which is very nice feature.
Yes, making it easy to use is the key.
Hey Sheila
Extensive collection of share buttons! Nice one! I’ve followed you on Twitter AND retweeted the post. I’ve bookmarked it and will be coming back to add some buttons to my blog!
Thanks for a great reference.
Paul
paul wolfe recently posted..How To Write An eBook – The Outline and Bundle Method
Paul,
I am glad you found this helpful. Although there are lots of ways to put on share buttons I found these the easiest and the best for keeping you blog load times down.
Sheila, wow, I’m serious when I say every new blogger (and some veterans as well) need to be reading this post, as you’ve really broken down the essentials that are a ‘must’ in 2011, and you’ve done it in such a way that anyone can follow along and apply. Well done.
Super post, super value.
Have a wonderful weekend.
Marcus
PS:Let me know when you get your email worked out, as I don’t use a feed for all my blogs. Thanks!
Marcus Sheridan-The Sales Lion recently posted..How to Will Success into Your Life…One Blog Article at a Time
Marcus,
Thanks I appreciate the kudos.
I do use a feed for my blog. I just don’t use Feedburner. A while back I was having problems with Comment Luv, during my investigation I found that I had tons of error if my feed. My WordPress expert had me take of Feedburner because it is way to picky about code. It worked!
You can check your feed validation at http://validator.w3.org/feed/
Now I am using the feed built into WordPress.
Also I noticed that your comments on this site are going through Feedburner, check out this post over at FamousBloggers to fix it.
http://www.famousbloggers.net/commentluv-backlinks-feedburner-rss-feed.html
I will let you know what I find. I would like my subscribe by email to work.
Hi Sheila,
This is terrific information. I’m definitely going to look into these. I also have the Onlywire share but I don’t care for it because it “pops out” whenever your mouse gets near it, even if you’re not intending to open it. Very distracting! And if it annoys me, it must annoy my visitors, right? LOL. Definitely need to fix that (change it out) but the reason I have it is one of my “tribes” that I belong to ask that you have it on your blog.
Anyway, thanks for the resources! Great job!
Deb Augur recently posted..How many “Gurus” does it take to screw in a light bulb
Deb,
I have Onlywire too. I don’t find it too sensitive on my site. I like all the choices it offers. Most of all I like the automatic submission for my posts.
Thanks for your input, others may find it too sensitive too.
Hey Sheila,
Thanks for the awesome article!
I love wordpress for all the awesome plugins they offer. There is no other blogging platform that will allow you to customize your site like wordpress. There are countless plugins that will help you make your site social media ready. You really give me some good ideas with this post. I need to install some new plugins and clean things up a bit.
Thanks again!
God bless,
William Veasley
William Tha Great recently posted..My Trusty Pen and Paper!
William,
So glad you have some new ideas. I noticed that you are using Feedburner which makes it easy to make your email button work.
Your yellow subscribe box at he bottom of your posts is very nice! I like how you have connected it to you about page. I gives your readers more reason to connect with you.
Wishing you success.
Sheila, as always I love your blog. The information is always outstanding. Glad to see you are still offering so much needed information in such an easy to absorb style.. The information you offer is so valuable for those of us looking to the future with internet marketing.
Sheila,
I like the RSS feed button, but I must say, the Follow Me button is grabbing my attention more and more. I like to keep things simple and clean. My advice would be to experiment with different buttons and find about 3 that works best for you.
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Hey Sheila,
You covered quite a bit here about which buttons most have on their sites. Personally, I don’t like the buttons on the side of the page. I find them annoying, but that’s just my personal preference. I prefer just having the icons in my side bar where they are easily accessible and out of the way.
I’m with Peggy, I use Sexy Bookmarks. Found that one to be much more appealing then the Share This buttons. Kind of dresses up the look a little I think!
Thanks for this post, you made some interesting points here and showed people how to get theirs easily placed on their sites.
Adrienne
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