Social Share Button
What is a social share button?
A social share button is a clickable icon placed on a website or webpage that allows users to easily share content on their social media profiles with just one click. Although it’s small, a social share button can be an essential tool for businesses to promote their online presence and build their social media marketing strategy. Social share buttons make it easy for website visitors to share the content they love, making it an effective way to drive traffic to a website, reach a wider audience and increase brand awareness and engagement.
The first social share icon was created in 2006 by developer Alex King. Since then, social share buttons have become ubiquitous in the online world, evolving to include various social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, Instagram, and more—each using their own unique icon and design.
How does a social share button work?
Adding social share buttons to your website is a simple way to make it easier for visitors to spread the word about your business. It also helps you build relationships with other users on those platforms, as well as increasing brand awareness and driving more traffic back to your site. When you create a website, a social share button can be added to any page in order to make its content shareable.
Once the social share button is added to the webpage, users integrate it with multiple social media platforms. Instagram, Twitter, Facebook and more—this integration allows website visitors to share the brand’s content to multiple platforms. When clicked, the button will open a window where the user can log in to their chosen platform and post the content. The buttons use JavaScript to communicate between your website and the respective social networking sites.
Website creators and business owners should keep engagement in mind when designing their site and social media buttons. These days, most website builders offer different variations of social share icons and button designs, allowing users to customize a size, shape and color that reflects their website’s branding. Most importantly, it should be placed in a spot where visitors will notice it and intuitively know what it’s there for—clear calls-to-action and animated hover effects are other elements that will help it stand out in website design.
Benefits of using social share buttons effectively
Effective social share buttons have potential marketing benefits for your business. Among these, adding a social share button to your site can:
· Increase website traffic and the potential to reach a wider audience.
· Boost brand awareness and engagement.
· Promote content in a cost-effective way compared to paid advertising.
· Facilitate word-of-mouth marketing and user-generated content (UGC).
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Best practices for using social share buttons
To make sure your social share buttons are effective in supporting your business’s overall marketing strategies, be sure to:
Place social share buttons in a visible and accessible location on your website
Include only relevant social media platforms based on your target audience
Use clear and concise CTA messages to encourage clicks and sharing
Customize the design and placement of social share buttons to match the website's branding and layout
Regularly test and optimize social share button performance
Challenges of using social share buttons to be aware of
One potential challenge of using social share buttons is that they can slow down website speed when they’re not optimized properly. This just means paying attention to performance when you use an especially complex design, for example having an animated button over a still design. Another challenge is that visitors may overlook or ignore social share buttons, but that can be avoided if they’re in a visible and accessible location.
Social share button FAQ
What social media platforms should I include in my social share buttons?
You should include only relevant social media platforms based on your target audience’s preferences and marketing goals. For example, if your target audience is primarily business professionals, LinkedIn may be a more effective platform to include than Instagram.