Why and How to integrate Social Network Buttons?

In addition to facilitating the sharing of your content, did you know that the social network buttons could significantly increase the traffic of your website?

If not, you should know that the statistics Webmarketing indicate that most news organizations receive 20 % of their Twitter traffic from the social sharing buttons that are embedded on their website.

This is because these buttons allow your site visitors to share content they find interesting on their favorite social networks

And when people from their network click on these links, you have new visitors on your website :). At the same time, you are likely to have a growing number of followers on social networks.

If you haven’t integrated social network buttons on your website yet, it might be time to think about doing so.

In this article, I will take on the task of showing you the process of integrating your social network buttons on your website.

But before we get to know this process, let’s start with some basics.

Chapter 1: Why do you need to be present on the main social networks?

Before integrating buttons on social networks, it is important to know the reasons why it is important to be present on them.

1.1. Why should your business have a presence on social networks?

Even though social networks have as their main objective the communication of users, they offer many tools for businesses. These tools are very effective, because they allow companies to make a lot of profit:

This is precisely what the study conducted by the Mckinsey Global Institute institute, which reveals that, on a global scale, 90% of companies that use social networks make more profits than those that do not.

In view of these figures, it is obvious that developing a presence on social networks is a necessity for companies.

Here are some other reasons that will definitely push you to develop your presence on social networks:

1.1.1. Important source of traffic for your website or blog

According to the study on the use of internet, mobile and social networks in the world published by e-works.comthe number of users of social networks is 3.8 billion in 2020

Regarding the daily use, the site Oberlo has established that each user spends an average of 3 hours per day on social networks.

This observation reinforces the idea that social networks are real marketing levers for companies. It is an opportunity to seize for those who want to reach new customers

To achieve this, companies must :

• Choose a social network adapted to their profile: If you are involved in B2B for example, Linkedin is the platform that suits you. On the other hand, if you sell a product or service, social networks like Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, YouTube and Pinterest will be more suitable to develop your marketing strategy. However, it’s not a matter of favoring one social network, but rather making sure that there is a match between what you post on social networks and the needs of users.
• Offer communications and content that reflect your target audience: Different social networks work in different ways. So, if you hope to attract visitors to your site, you must not only publish quality content, but also adapt each piece of content to the social network that is to serve as a channel. While Facebook gives you the ability to write long texts, add images and videos, you only have the ability to post images on Instagram and Pinterest. Twitter on the other hand does not allow you to exceed a certain number of characters for your tweets.

Putting together the two points above will allow you to work on your visibility and create content that will encourage Internet users to visit your website. This interest will be a determining factor in the Google referencing and will contribute to the increase of the traffic of your site.

1.1.2. Improve the relationship with your customers

It is easier for customers to use social networks to communicate. They therefore expect you to be present on them and willing to address some of their concerns

Oberlo shows that the more responsive brands were to customer requests on social networks, the more willing the customer was to spend money on these brands.

Indeed, it is important to know that Internet users easily tend to disengage from a brand if it is not reactive.

According to an estimate of Gartner, companies not responding to their customers’ messages on social networks can have up to 15% of unsubscribing

Avoiding that your customers unsubscribe from your social account requires a real communication strategy

You must communicate with your customers, respond to their messages, whether they are positive or negative comments. You must also personalize your communications with them to show them that they are important to you

To make it easier, consider hiring a community manager. With a background in digital marketing and communication, the community manager has the tools to take care of your image on social networks.

1.1.3. Make a targeted and less expensive advertising

Since 2017, advertising through social networks has surpassed that of television

The presence on social networks offers you the opportunity to make advertisements by targeting your audiences. Today, you can launch advertising campaigns by choosing:

• Age;

• Gender;
• And the interests of your audience.

Advertising on social networks reaches your targets quickly and allows you to get in touch with them directly

Contrary to the traditional media advertising (TV, radio, press) which is very expensive, you have the possibility to see the evolution of the interactions generated by your messages on social networks.

Thus, you will know how the Internet users react to your messages. You will also be able to determine the strong points of your marketing strategy and improve the weak points

The advantages of social network advertising are the reasons why social networks are more preferred by advertisers.

This is what the the Magna IPG Brands study for 2017according to the Magna IPG Brands study for 2017, advertising spending on digital reached $209 billion worldwide, or 41% of the market

TV, on the other hand, accounted for $178 billion, or 35% of the market

1.1.4. Solicit influencers

Your presence on social networks also allows you to set up partnerships with influencers and take advantage of their resources

Influencers are people who, because of their position, the number of people who follow them or their media exposure, have the ability to quickly capture the attention of Internet users

By proposing viral content, they talk about you to their communities and push them to come towards you.

1.1.5. Humanize your brand

A British study by Trinity Mirror Solutions found that more than half of adults don’t trust a brand until they see “concrete proof” that the brand delivers on its promises.

A presence on social networks is an opportunity to show Internet users that you share certain values and that people are at the center of your objectives.

Social networks offer you the opportunity to show your customers that you are close to them. That you are listening to them

Sharing your achievements with them on social networks is a way to let them know that you are at their side.

1.1.6 Generate contacts

Lead generation is such an important benefit of social networks for businesses that many social networks offer ad formats specifically designed to collect leads.

According to the website Vaka.commany B2B companies have acquired 77% of leads from LinkedIn, 43% from Facebook and 40% from Twitter.

Social networks therefore offer potential customers a simple and low-commitment way to express their interest in your company and products.

1.1.7 Get to know what people are saying about your brand

Another advantage of your presence on social networks is that you can listen to your customers, you have access to the discussions they have about your products.

Collecting and analyzing this data can help you refine your marketing strategy and understand what is not working with your products, etc.

To help you, tools like sinthèsio or linkfluence exist and allow you to scan social networks

Thanks to advanced search filters, they scan social networks and give you an idea of how your company is perceived

From the data, you not only get an idea of how you are perceived on social networks, but you can also consider solutions to improve your image.

1.1.8. Keep an eye on the competition

Your presence on social networks is not only about advertising and keeping in touch with your customers

They also offer you the opportunity to be aware of the news, innovations that take place in your sector of activity

You also have the possibility to subscribe to the user account of your competitors, in order to learn from their strategy. How it works, what is the secret of their success and how you can use it to make your strategy even better

1.1.9. Easily do your reporting and analysis

Social networks have several built-in analysis tools that allow you to generate several analyses regarding the follow-up of your different marketing actions:

• Twitter analytics ;
• Facebook insights ;
• Pinterest analytics
• Instagram insights ;
• YouTube analytics.

These analytics tools allow different companies to track and evaluate their marketing strategy and understand:

• The importance of your messages ;
• How potential customers interact with your organization;
• Your ability to convince them to follow you.

They also help to:

• Identify shortcomings in your strategy
• Prove your results and see what needs to be done to improve it.

Apart from these different tools, there are others such as Hootsuite impact which allows you to determine what you have gained by adopting a given marketing strategy

There is also Google analytics which allows you to track the traffic coming from your social accounts for free.

These are the different reasons why it is very relevant to have a presence on social networks. Let’s see how to take advantage of it.

1.2. how to use social networks in your different digital marketing strategies?

As you can see, it is important to be present on social networks because they provide many benefits to your organization. However, this presence can only be really fruitful if you have a knowledge of how they work

1.2.1. Using Facebook in your strategy

Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg, Facebook is for many, the best social network in the world. It allows its users to

• Share all types of content (videos, images, audio);
• Follow the lives of their friends and family;
• To chat
• And so on.

Facebook provides companies with excellent proposals to reach their customers. According to the journal du netfacebook gets since the beginning of the first quarter of the year 2020

• 2.6 billion visits each month;
• 1.7 billion daily active users worldwide.

Source : JDN

To start a marketing strategy on this network, the first thing you need to do is to develop your fan club.

Then, use Facebook’s paid advertising to promote your content to a large number of people. It will allow you to target your audience

Since people are more attracted to images and videos, focus your content on quality photos and videos and opt for responsiveness when people try to get in touch with you by using chatbots

Chatbots allow you to give the impression of speed and accessibility to potential customers According to the website webotit.aithe global chatbot market is expected to reach $1.2 billion by 2025, growing at a CAGR of 24%.

1.2.2. Using Twitter in your strategy

Twitter is a microblogging social network created since 2006 and managed by the company of the same name

Twitter allows its users to send short messages called tweets over the Internet via instant messaging or SMS for free.

According to theagencedesmediassociaux.comthis social network has :

• 330 million people in 2020;
• 145 million daily users.

Since 2015, Google indexes tweets. This means that tweets could be displayed in Google search results, if Google judges their relevance to a query

So take advantage of this information by improving your marketing strategy with Twitter

To take advantage of the benefits of Twitter, you need to publish quality tweets. To do this, make sure that your tweets:

• Do not include links Tweets that don’t include links identify users who are actively interacting with the network and not just driving traffic to another site.
• Follow the recommended format: On Twitter, you can post text, images and videos. However, you must make sure you respect the publication format recommended by Twitter
• Include hashtags Using hashtags allows you to classify tweets by keywords and to list them in a given category.

1.2.3. Using Instagram in your strategy

Instagram is a social network where you share photos and videos. It was created in October 2010 by the American Kevin Systrom and the Brazilian Michel Mike Krieger.

According to the information collected on Hootsuite :

• 1 billion people use it every month;
• Instagram users spend an average of 28 minutes per day in this year 2020;
• 200 million users visit at least one business profile per day;
• 130 million users press a purchase post each month.

Instagram statistics show us that its users engage faster than those of other social networks

In fact, we notice that

• 33% of internet users are on Instagram,

• 60% of Instagram users log in daily,
• Approximately 80 million of Instagram users reside in the United States
• The number of people who engage on Instagram is 10 times more than the number of people who engage on Facebook and 84 times more than Twitter.

So you need to look into this network if you want to reach a large number of visitors who are likely to be easy to convert

Start by signing up for a business account to get access to the various features of Instagram, i.e., advertising tools, analytics, contact button. Also, use hashtags and post high quality photos and videos.

1.2.4. Using YouTube in your strategy

YouTube is a video hosting website and social network where you can upload, watch, comment, rate and share streaming videos. It was founded in 2005 and acquired by Google in 2006.

According to the blogdumoderateur.comyouTube is

• 2 billion users each month;
• 80,000 videos viewed every second
• 1 billion hours of videos viewed every day.

Since videos are much more attractive than other types of content, you should also focus your marketing strategy on YouTube. Offer your subscribers good quality videos and make sure the audio is crisp and enjoyable to listen to.

Also, take advantage of YouTube’s teachability by making videos available to your subscribers that teach them something. For example, you can make webinars available.

1.2.5. Using Pinterest in your strategy

Pinterest is an American social network whose concept is mainly focused on sharing photographs. It was launched in 2010 by three people: Paul Sciarra, Evan Sharp and Ben Silbermann

Pinterest is a site where users share their passions and interests through photos.

According to figures published this year by thesocial media agency322 million users are active on this social network at the end of 2019 and 75% of them are brands.

Pinterest is dedicated to images, so use it to share good quality images of your business and products

Organize your Pinterest page to reflect your websites and make sure each image has a link to your site.

Fill in your caption with keywords. Use the Pinterest analytics tool to see what’s working and what’s not and come up with new solutions.

1.2.6. Using Linkedin in your strategy

LinkedIn is a social network for online professionals. It was created in 2002 in Mountain View.

According to theagencedesmediassociaux.comlinkedin

• It will have 660 million members worldwide in 2020;
• More than 30 million companies are registered

Users go to LinkedIn primarily to share their professional experience and thoughts, making it one of the most widely used B2B sites.

LinkedIn offers features such as

• LinkedIn Pulse,
• Company Pages,
• InMail,
• Groups,
• Being featured
• And the ability to see who has viewed your personal profile

LinkedIn is a valuable tool not only for generating traffic, but also for prospecting and recruiting

You can also use groups to showcase your industry expertise.

By now, it’s clear that your presence on social networks can be not only beneficial, but also necessary for success. Social media buttons contribute to that success, and it’s precisely their importance that we’ll discuss in the next chapter.

Chapter 2: Why integrate social network buttons and where should they be placed?

In addition to seeing how buttons can help you with your strategy, I’ll end with tips on how they can be positioned on your website for greater effectiveness.

2.1. Why create Buttons for social networks?

Social network buttons promote your presence on social networks and help attract followers to your various accounts

By placing social network buttons on your different web contents, especially on your website, you invite more people to follow you on the different social accounts you use, which develops your audience.

These buttons can be classified into two categories.

They are the

• Share button these buttons allow your different visitors to share the publications (articles, videos, photos, etc.) of your website with other users of the social network to which your button links. This increases their reach and makes you gain several other visitors;
• Follow button/follow button: The role of the follow button is to promote your presence on social networks and invite users to follow you to keep up with your news.

According to a study conducted by TrackMaven of the 2 billion shares, Twitter and Facebook share buttons represent 72.4% of social shares.

So integrating them into your web content will be beneficial because

• They promote interactions with your website. Indeed, thanks to the social sharing buttons, your content is more likely to be seen on other platforms. This will generate more comments, likes, etc.
• They provide social proof of your website. This is made possible by their counting feature which allows other users to see that other people have had to share your content and do the same in turn. The more people press the social share buttons, the more positive social proof you will be said to have. Whereas if few people use your share buttons, you will be said to have negative social proof.

2.3) Where to place the social network buttons on your website?

There is no set place to place the social network buttons. They are indeed placed anywhere, depending on the goodwill of the site promoters themselves. However, it should be noted that it is preferable to position the button so that the user can see it and click on it easily.

Here are some places where you can position the different social network buttons:

2.3.1. At the top of the page

Source: WP Formation

According to eye tracking data, the top of your site attracts the eye of your visitors. You can therefore place your various social network buttons at this location either following the navigation or by opting for a fixed positioning

2.3.2. In the sidebar

Source yesyouweb

The sidebar is the part found on the left or right side of a blog post. It often includes the categories of articles, the possibility to subscribe to the blog, the archives… Displaying your icons at the top of your sidebar is a good way for your visitors to see them right away

2.3.3. In a floating bar

Source: webmarketing&com

This position consists of the display of a vertical sidebar that rises and falls depending on how you browse the site

2.3.4. At the top or bottom of your article

This position allows your visitors to share your article after reading it

2.4. What are the best practices for placing social network buttons?

Since the social network buttons are not there to be used as an ornament to your website, it is important that you know how to place them to get results.

Here are some practices you should keep in mind when you are about to place social network buttons on your web content.

2.4.1. Use the most popular social network buttons

There will be no benefit in placing the share buttons of a social network that is not well known or that is not very easy to access

So use the buttons of the main social networks and in a way that users can know that it is really them. Do not personalize them too much and if possible, use them in their official format.

2.4.2. Place your buttons near the body of your content

Putting the share buttons in the corners of your site is not ergonomic for your users. The ideal would be to position them close to your content to encourage the reader to share the article without getting in the way and as soon as they feel like it

Floating bars are an example of this layout, however, you must ensure that it does not hinder the user’s navigation.

2.4.3. Highlight content that others like

Take advantage of the metering options that social network buttons have to let new visitors know what content other users like best. By showing them what others have liked, you encourage them to go to that content and share it on social networks.

2.4.4. Limit the number of share buttons

If you want to make your social network buttons more effective, another practice would be to concentrate your efforts on the main ones. That is, those that are useful to your marketing strategy or those on which you have a real presence

2.4.5. Consider how people interact with their screens

It has been shown that, users browse web pages in an F shape The top left is the most viewed part of the web page. There are more eyes there than anywhere else

This supports the idea that left and top are the best choices for social sharing buttons. Proper use of social media buttons will help you grow your business as they help grow your followers

Now you know what social media buttons are and what they do. Now find out how to create them on your different websites.

Chapter 3: How to create buttons for social networks?

In this chapter, I will show you how to create the different buttons for social networks. Let’s start with the share button with a WordPress plugin:

3.1. How to add social sharing buttons with a plugin?

To add social network sharing buttons, you first need to install on your site the plugin Sassy Social Share :

If you are using a WordPress site, install your plugin by going to: “Dashboard” => “Plugin” => “Add new”.

Look for the plugin “WordPress Social Sharing Plugin -” in the list of plugins that appears on your screen and click on “install” and then on “activate”

Once you have activated the social sharing plugin, now choose the social network buttons you would like to display on your site. To do so, go to the plugin settings and click on “Standard interface”.

You will then have in the window that appears the list of different sharing buttons that you can place on your site

Select the ones you are interested in, go to the “location” section still in the plugin settings and choose the place where you want to display the share buttons on your site

Finally click on “save changes” and update your website and update your website. You will see that the different sharing buttons are there. Your visitors will just have to select them to share your content on the different social networks.

Apart from adding the sharing buttons on your website, you can change the shape of your buttons or make them float

To do so, you just have to go back to the plugin settings and choose the “Themes” tab. In the window that will appear, you will see the different customization options you have

Configure your buttons by choosing the shape, size or color you want and then click “Save Changes” to save your changes

If you would like your buttons to float, you need to go to the “Floating Interface” tab also located in the plugin settings

Once there, check “Enable Floating Interface” and choose the social network sharing icons you’d like to float

Then select the location where you want the floating to take place and click “save”. Refresh your site and you will see the result for yourself.

Moreover, if you want to display next to the share buttons the number of people who have shared your content, you must go back to “Standard Interface” in the plugin settings, scroll down and activate “Show total number” by checking the box in front of this option

Once activated, save the changes and refresh your site. You will then see next to the social sharing buttons a new icon with the number 0 this is where the number of shares will be displayed

However, for this feature to work, you must connect your site to Facebook. Indeed, you need to create and fill in the details of a Facebook API to make the share count icon work.

These details will need to be added in the “miscellaneous section” which is also in the plugin settings.

Now go to your facebook developer account and log in using your Facebook account information

Select “Create a new API”, wait for it to load, then go to the settings to choose basic settings

Wait for the new window to load. You will then find your API details (App id and App secret)

Copy and paste them into the different fields in the “Miscellaneous” sectionClick on “save changes” and update your website

That’s it, you will now know the exact number of shares of your content.

Let’s go a little further with the integration of various types of buttons thanks to the HTML codes.

3.2. how to create social network buttons using embed code?

With HTML codes, you have the possibility to integrate several types of buttons and not only those used for sharing.

3.2.1. Integrate Facebook buttons using embed code

Create the Facebook share button

The Facebook share button allows your website visitors to post content they liked on the most popular social network. By doing so, they make it available to their friends and other people who can read it and eventually visit your site.

To have this button on your web page:

• Visit the site https://developers.facebook.com/docs/plugins/share-button
• Configure the button by filling in the different fields
• Click on get to generate a code that you will then paste on your web page.

Do not hesitate to consult my article on theembed code generator to have more information on how to use these codes.

Create the Facebook “Like” button

Clicking the “Like” button on your website has the same effect as clicking “Like” on one of your Facebook posts. Content with “likes” appears in the user’s Facebook feed and may appear in the newsfeeds of their friends.

To configure it, you have to go to Developers.facebook.

Fill in the information to customize your button and get your integration code.

The most interesting thing is that you can choose for the button to display the “Recommend” inscription instead of “Like”.

3.2.2. Create buttons for Twitter

On Twitter we have :

• The Share button: Displaying this button on your website will expand the audience of your content ;
• The Subscribe Button: This button allows you to not only find new followers, but also alert your followers of your news ;
• The Mention Button the mention button: The mention button allows you to respond quickly to your visitors as it allows them to communicate with you on Twitter;
• The Hashtag button: The Hashtag button allows you to promote a new idea, event or support a movement;
• The Message button: This button allows users to get in touch with you through a private message.

Source Gigazine

To have these different buttons on your website, you must

• Go to the address https://publish.twitter.com/# ;
• Choose the option twitter buttons
• Click on the button you want to install in the dialog box that appears on the screen
• Customize and copy the code in the part where you would like to display this button.

Note that you can customize:

• The appearance of the button;
• The text and URL;
• The language.

We recommend adding your company’s Twitter username to increase the reach of your account and generate new followers. Once customized, enter the HTML code for your new button and place it on your site where you want the button to appear.

3.2.3. Create the Subscription or Follow-up Button for Linkedin

The LinkedIn subscription button also allows your website visitors to follow you and listen to your various updates.

To get this button:

• Go to https://sharethis.com/fr/platform/follow-buttons/linkedin/ ;
• Click on “Get the linkedin follow button”
• When the new page appears, choose the type of code you want for your site

• Register and get your code;
• Copy the code where you would like your button to appear.

3.2.4. Create the subscription button for YouTube

The YouTube subscribe button works in the same way as the follow button. It allows YouTube users to be notified when you post a new video.

To get it:

• Go to Developers.google.com/youtube ;
• Enter the name of your company’s YouTube channel
• Customize the button by selecting a size and color theme
• Define if you will display your logo and if you want to display your number of followers;
• Finally, copy and paste the code on your website where you want the button to appear.

3.2.5. Create buttons for Pinterest using embed code

On Pinterest, you have the ability to create two different buttons. These are the “save” button and the “subscribe” button.

The “save” button on Pinterest allows your visitors to save an image from your site directly to their profile. The “subscribe” button on the other hand, allows visitors to see your upcoming posts on Pinterest.

To get these buttons and put them on your web page, you will need to:

• Go to Developers.pinterest.com/tools/widget-builder/?type=pinit ;
• Then choose in the menu the type of button you want to have;

• Customize by choosing the language and the shape of the button to display;
• Finally, copy and paste the code in the part where you would like to have these buttons on your website.

3.2.6. Create the Instagram buttons

The Instagram button allows you to promote your Instagram account to the users

To add the Instagram button, just go to sharethis.com and :

• Choose the Instagram icon;
• Wait for it to load and press “get the Instagram follow button”

• When the new page appears, tap “choose the type of code” you would like to receive
• Sign up and receive your code;
• Copy the code and paste it where you want it to appear on the website.

These are the different ways to create the buttons of the different social networks on your website.

In summary

To have more visibility on the web, companies must integrate social networks in their marketing strategy. In this article, we had the opportunity to see the different reasons why any business should do so.

For this, different solutions are available to you and one of them is to place social network buttons on your website.

Even if this solution is not unanimous, the social network buttons allow you

• To facilitate the sharing of your contents, which increases considerably their reach
• Get new followers on social networks;
• Attract traffic to your site, which can result in conversions.

With the different chapters, you are now able to integrate the types of buttons you want to have on your website to take advantage of these different benefits.

See you soon!