What Social Media Share Buttons Should I Use?
Posted on Jul 2, 2011 in Social Media, Web Design | 0 comments
I’m sure that, when you read a blog post, you have often noticed buttons underneath the blog post (or sometimes on top or beside) saying things like “share and enjoy!” or “get social” or “pass it on” or “tell your friends” or something similar.
They may provide convenient buttons to save you a click or two in sharing the link of that website to literally dozens of services. Facebook, Twitter, Google +1, Bebo, Digg, Del.ico.us, email, MySpace, StumbleUpon, Reddit, Orkut… the list goes on and on.
Which ones do you really need?
I’ve noticed that major social media gurus–those who seem to be the most successful or authoritative on the subject–frequently use very, very few. Typically Facebook and Twitter. Sometimes only Facebook. Sometimes Facebook, Twitter and Google +1. They do not, as a rule, try to provide all the possible options.
Take a look at these examples. Look at one of their blog posts and see what buttons they are using.
(Of course, I’m sure there are many examples of sites of successful social media gurus that use different sharing buttons… feel free to put those links in the comments!)
Why so few share buttons?
For one, think about the value. For example, getting a Digg vote does not have much value. Getting a huge pile of Digg votes results in a tremendous amount of value–but without excellent material, a firm focus on getting everyone, and I mean everyone, to click “Digg,” and a lot of luck, it would never happen. Why add that in when it would just distract people from the other buttons?
Also, typically the plugins or sharing buttons themselves rely on JavaScript or other processing. The more you have, the more of an impact it can have on your site’s load time.
The other problem is overwhelm. Imagine these two situations:
One: the waiter approaches your table. “Might I suggest the ‘death by chocolate’ cake? It is absolutely mouth-watering tonight, I just had some on my break.”
Two: the waiter approaches your table. “Might I suggest the ‘death by chocolate’ cake?” Before you can open your mouth to respond, he continues “or the creme brulee? Or the cheesecake? Or the brownies? Or the peach pie? Or the ice cream cake? Or the pudding? Or the scones? Or the cupcakes? Or the cookies? Or…”
You get the picture. It’s a bit overwhelming. I’ve experienced this myself; I signed up for a mailing list for a site, which suggested that I sign up for another list… and showed me over 20 options! I immediately clicked out of there. If they had presented me with one, then it’s a simple decision, and I feel it’s something they really recommend and get behind. If they bombard me with so many calls to action, I just feel like I’m being marketed to death.
Try to keep down the number of calls to action. Just use a few that provide value and that you can focus your marketing strategies on. It’s not as if you’re actually preventing people from sharing your posts elsewhere… you’re simply focusing on the people who would not share your post if you did not explicitly ask them to.