Hey there! If you‘re looking to skyrocket your WordPress site‘s traffic and engagement, you‘ve come to the right place. Today, we‘re diving deep into the world of social share buttons – those magical little icons that make it super easy for your visitors to spread your content far and wide.
But before we get into the nitty-gritty of how to actually add these buttons to your site, let‘s take a step back and consider why social sharing is so darn important in the first place.
Picture this: you‘ve just published an epic blog post packed with insights, humor, and value. You know your target audience is going to love it. But there‘s just one problem – you‘re not quite sure how to get it in front of them.
That‘s where social media comes in. By leveraging the power of platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn, you can tap into a massive network of potential readers and customers. But here‘s the kicker – you need to make it as easy as possible for people to actually share your content on these sites.
That‘s the beauty of social share buttons. With just a click or tap, your visitors can instantly broadcast your post to their entire social network. No copying and pasting links, no navigating to other tabs or apps. Just seamless, frictionless sharing.
Still not convinced? Check out these eye-popping stats:
- Blog posts with social sharing buttons generate 7x more mentions than those without. (Source: BrightEdge)
- Adding social sharing buttons can boost a page‘s traffic by up to 2x. (Source: AddThis)
- 81% of consumers‘ purchase decisions are influenced by their friends‘ social media posts. (Source: Forbes)
In other words, if you‘re not making it dead-simple for visitors to share your content, you‘re leaving a ton of potential traffic, leads, and sales on the table. Social share buttons are a must-have weapon in any smart marketer‘s arsenal.
Alright, now that we‘re on the same page about why social sharing is so crucial, let‘s roll up our sleeves and get those buttons installed on your site, pronto.
For this guide, we‘ll be using the Social Snap plugin. It‘s a powerful, user-friendly option with tons of customization features and built-in analytics. Plus, it‘s free to get started with!
Step 1: Install and Activate Social Snap
First things first, head over to your WordPress dashboard and navigate to Plugins > Add New. Search for "Social Snap" in the plugin repository, then click Install Now followed by Activate.
[Screenshot: Installing Social Snap Plugin]Step 2: Configure Your Sharing Buttons
Once the plugin is up and running, you‘ll see a new Social Snap menu item in your WordPress sidebar. Give that a click and select the Social Sharing Buttons tab.
This is where the real fun begins. Social Snap offers a ton of different placement options for your share buttons, including:
- Inline (before/after post content)
- Floating sidebar
- On media (images and videos)
- Pop-up and fly-in
- And more!
For this example, let‘s go with an inline placement that shows the buttons at the bottom of your blog posts. Scroll down to the Inline Buttons section and toggle the Enabled switch to the on position.
Now you can customize the look and feel of your buttons to match your site‘s branding. Play around with the settings for:
- Button shape (rounded or square)
- Button size
- Alignment (left, center, right)
- Labels (network name and/or share count)
- And more!
Social Snap makes it easy to preview your changes in real-time, so don‘t be afraid to experiment until you find a style that feels just right.
[Screenshot: Customizing Share Button Appearance]Next, scroll down to the Display On section and choose which parts of your site should include the inline share buttons. For most bloggers, the default Posts option is a good choice – this will automatically add the buttons to all of your published blog posts.
[Screenshot: Configuring Share Button Visibility]Step 3: Select and Customize Your Social Networks
Now it‘s time to choose which specific social networks you want to include in your sharing buttons. Navigate to the Networks tab in your Social Snap settings.
By default, Social Snap includes the most popular networks like Facebook, Twitter, and LinkedIn. But you can easily add or remove options to match your audience‘s preferences. Just click the Add Network button and select from the available choices.
You can also customize the labels, hover effects, and other settings for individual networks by clicking on them in the list. For example, you might want to change the default Twitter sharing text to include your handle or a branded hashtag.
[Screenshot: Customizing Network-Specific Settings]One of the most powerful features of Social Snap is the ability to display share counts next to your buttons. This acts as powerful social proof, showing visitors that your content is popular and worth checking out.
To enable share counts, head back to the Social Sharing Buttons tab and scroll down to the Share Count section. Toggle the Enabled switch to turn on this feature.
[Screenshot: Enabling Share Counts]By default, Social Snap will pull in share counts from most major networks like Facebook, LinkedIn, and Pinterest. But if you want to show Twitter share counts, you‘ll need to create a free account with TwitCount and paste in your API key.
[Screenshot: Configuring TwitCount API Key]Step 5: Save Your Changes and Test!
Once you‘re happy with your social share button setup, make sure to click the big blue Save Changes button at the bottom of the screen. Then open up a recent blog post on the front end of your site and marvel at your handiwork!
Test out the buttons on a few different devices and browsers to make sure they‘re working smoothly. If you run into any hiccups, the Social Snap support documentation is a great place to start troubleshooting.
Having shiny new social share buttons on your WordPress site is an awesome start. But if you really want to get the most bang for your buck, you need to be proactive about encouraging shares from your audience. Here are a few proven strategies:
Add a Clear Call-to-Action
Never assume your readers will automatically share your content, no matter how awesome it is. Sometimes a gentle nudge can make all the difference.
Try adding a brief call-to-action (CTA) at the end of your blog posts, like:
"If you found this post helpful, please consider sharing it on social media!"
Or:
"Know someone who would love this? Give it a quick share on Facebook or Twitter!"
Here‘s a real-world example from the blog at Column Five:
[Screenshot: Share CTA Example From Column Five]Highlight Tweetable Quotes and Stats
Pull out your most compelling or surprising quotes, stats, or one-liners and make them easy to share on Twitter with just a click.
There are several WordPress plugins that can help with this, including Better Click to Tweet and Social Snap‘s built-in Click to Tweet feature.
Check out how the folks at CoSchedule sprinkle tweetable tidbits throughout their posts:
[Screenshot: Click to Tweet Example From CoSchedule]Run a Social Media Contest
People love a good giveaway! Consider running a social media contest where one of the entry methods is sharing your blog post.
You can use a tool like RafflePress to quickly set up and manage your contest right from WordPress. Just be sure to follow each platform‘s rules and guidelines around promotions.
Here‘s a great example of a share-to-win contest from the AWeber blog:
[Screenshot: Social Contest Example From AWeber]Collaborate With Influencers
Partnering with influencers or thought leaders in your niche is an awesome way to extend your content‘s reach and generate more social buzz.
One approach is to co-create a piece of content together, like a joint webinar, interview, or research report. Then you can both promote it to your respective social followings.
BuzzSumo used this strategy to great effect with their blogger outreach study:
[Screenshot: Influencer Collaboration Example from BuzzSumo]Frequently Asked Questions About Social Sharing in WordPress
Before we wrap up, let‘s address some of the most common questions and concerns bloggers have about social sharing buttons:
There‘s no magic number, but aim for quality over quantity. Focus on the networks where your audience is most active, rather than trying to cover every obscure platform out there.
As a general rule, Facebook and Twitter are must-haves for most blogs. LinkedIn is also a good bet if you‘re in the B2B space. Pinterest can work great for visual-heavy niches like food, fashion, or home decor.
Unless you‘re an experienced developer, a plugin is almost always going to be the faster, easier, and more flexible option. Social Snap is a great all-in-one solution, but there are plenty of other awesome social sharing plugins out there like:
Page speed is definitely an important consideration in the age of mobile-first indexing. But a well-coded social sharing plugin like Social Snap shouldn‘t have a major impact on your site‘s performance.
Be sure to follow other WordPress speed best practices like optimizing images, using caching, and choosing a reliable hosting provider. WPBeginner has a great guide on this topic.
If you‘re using Google Analytics, you can set up event tracking to measure clicks on your social share buttons. This will give you valuable insights into which networks are driving the most engagement.
Most social sharing plugins also come with their own built-in analytics and reporting. For instance, Social Snap offers a handy dashboard showing your most shared content and top-performing networks.
[Screenshot: Social Snap Analytics Dashboard]Whew, we‘ve covered a lot of ground today! By now, you should have a crystal-clear understanding of why social share buttons are so essential for your WordPress blog, plus a step-by-step game plan for getting them installed and optimized.
But remember, social sharing is just one piece of the puzzle. To really maximize your impact, you need to focus on creating truly share-worthy content that resonates with your target audience.
Focus on crafting irresistible headlines, formatting your posts for readability, and packing in tons of unique value. Don‘t be afraid to show some personality and have fun with it!
As the wise Neil Patel once said:
"Your content needs to be so good that people would pay for it."
That might sound like a tall order, but trust me – when you nail it, your social share buttons will practically light up on their own.
So what are you waiting for? Get out there and start cranking out that sweet, sweet shareable content. And if you have any other tips or tricks for boosting social engagement, I‘d love to hear about them in the comments below!
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