I read a lot of blog content. I link up to 75+ linky parties and blog hops every week, a separate blog post or two about that will be coming up in the near future. This means I visit at least 150 blog posts a week, not including all the stuff in my Feedly and Bloglovin’ streams plus what I see on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter, G+ and StumbleUpon. Often I want to share what I read on my social channels and a lot of bloggers make social sharing very difficult.
Why would anyone go to all the work to craft a great blog post, recipe, craft or tutorial and then not make it easy for your readers to share what you’ve written? Why spend the time and energy to link up to lots of linkys and then not have an easy way for visitors to share your content? If your awesome blog post doesn’t have any social sharing buttons on it, I won’t share it.
In blogging the #1 rule is Create Great Content #2 is Create Pinnable Images and #3 is Make Your Content Easy to Share. When I visit a site and read a post that I want to share I want to be able to click a button, write a brief comment and hit send. I like helping you amplify your awesome content, just like I hope you will help amplify mine. The easiest way to help your readers share your content is by using social sharing buttons.
Some of your Social Sharing Options
There are tons of different social sharing options available for both WordPress and Blogger blogs. Of course, WordPress has more options and IMHO you should first get off of Blogger and move to WordPress with the Total Blogger to WordPress Transfer Package, but that is also another blog post.
WordPress and Blogger Social Sharing Options
ShareThis is a very easy to configure and add to your site social sharing option. As you can see in the above picture, you have multiple choices as to how you want the buttons to look on your site. If you want to show the numbers or not is totally personal preference but I have read studies that show that, posts with large sharing numbers tend to get shared even more because the numbers give it more validity as an important post.
AddThis offers 4 styles of social sharing buttons for Blogger and WordPress blogs. WordPress users just need to download and configure the AddThis plugin.
Shareaholic is a very popular social sharing tool as of late with their signature “sharing is caring” tag to help encourage readers to share your content.
WordPress Only Social Sharing Options
Recently I changed my social sharing buttons to Digg Digg. I figure if it is good enough for Mashable it is good enough for me, right? Actually, I like the floating bar on the side of each post and having the buttons on the bottom of the post as well. I have tested button location and for me, side and bottom get more clicks than top but your blog and readers may respond differently.
Simple Share is another easy to configure WordPress social sharing plugin.
Jetpack is a powerful multi-faceted plugin for WordPress that can actually take the place of several of your other plugins. One of the many things Jetpack can do is add social sharing buttons to your posts. If you are on WordPress and you aren’t using Jetpack, I suggest you look into it.
Flare is the newest kid on the block and I like the way it looks. It is a bit more involved to install compared to the others I have listed here. If you are comfortable working in WordPress, more than just installing and configuring a plugin, then you should be able to install Flare to your site no problem.
These are just a few of the social sharing buttons available for WordPress and/or blogger. If none of these float your boat just Google Search “social sharing buttons for___” (insert your blogging platform) and you will find many more options available.
Which social media sites should I offer buttons for?
Unless you are a news site you don’t need to offer every social network known to man. I feel you need to offer the basic 5:
- G+
- StumbleUpon
I also like having Buffer as an option because if I am sharing a lot of posts I like to be able to schedule them so my stream doesn’t look spammy.
I hope you have found this post helpful. If you have, please use my social sharing buttons below to share it with your friends and followers :-).
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I have been to some blogs where I wanted to share their post but there’s no social sharing buttons. Not cool. I mean it’s okay but it makes sharing very difficult especially when I’m on mobile and it’s hard to copy and paste links!
Great info you have here!
Jhanis recently posted..Crème Caramel (Leche Flan) Recipe
Jhanis, I agree. It just doesn’t make sense to me why people don’t do this.
Fabulous tips Cindy! Thanks for such an in depth post. BTW- I need time management tips.. I’d love to know how you manage your time to visit that many blog posts. I need that super power! 🙂
Candy, I’ll be doing at least 1 time management post in there maybe two so make sure you follow along.
Agree. I look forward to your article on blog hops and link parties, too.
Thanks Dionna. Make sure you subscribe so you don’t miss those other posts!
Thank you for the tips – I was having an issue with one of my plugins and this really helped!! Tweeted!
Jamie recently posted..Find Out About JenJenHouse!
I am going to look into jetpack! I know I added the plugin, but never really did anything with it because I did not understand it. Good to know I now have a resource in case I want to look elsewhere!
Meeghan recently posted..What is a word ladder? How can it help your beginning reader?
Meeghan, If you need any help with JetPack just send me a message, I’m happy to help.
Great tips. I agree sharring buttons are a must for blogs to grow
tara pittman recently posted..Ozeri Earth Pan Review Update
First of all, I can’t believe you have time to do that many link ups! This is great advice for all bloggers because the best way to get your content out there is to share and be shared.
Holly H recently posted..The Boy Behind the Blog: Valentine’s Edition
Holly, Make sure you are following me. I’ll be writing a post soon on how I accomplish what I do with a VA.
Great tips, Thanks!!
I love all the plugins. I have addtoany on my main blog as it lets you “like” a post for facebook, +1 a post, plus share them. Don’t ask me how that works–but the buttons are there, so I hope it does! I did flare for my new blog–and I love how customizable it is, but my problems have been that when I pin, it only pulls one image from the post. When I try to share to facebook–it won’t let me pick a page. It will just share to my profile. So I added the main buttons from Jetpack to the bottom too. All the other sharing buttons are great, and I love how I can make it match my website. Thanks for sharing!
Tammy recently posted..Review and Giveaway of Subway Art Puzzles for Multiplication Facts #giveaway
I use Buffer when I want to share to my fan page instead of my personal profile. That might work for you.
Thanks for all the helpful information! I’ll pin this to my blogging board.
You’re welcome Jenn, thanks for pinning!
Thanks for these tips! I just added share buttons on my blog! I didn’t realize how important it was. This was a great and informative post!!
Anna Holloway recently posted..Triple Decker S’mores Bars
Anna, you are welcome, glad I could help.
I totally agree with this post! Bloggers miss out on so many promotional/traffic opportunities if they don’t have a way for their readers to easily share their posts on social media. My favorite plugins for sharing are Shareaholic and Flare.
Kecia recently posted..8 Tips to Growing your Instagram Following
Great list of options. I tried the floating buttons but got complaints. I have no idea how Jet Pack works. I have it but never set it up. Need to investigage it again.
If you need help with JetPack just let me know!
Great tips! I think bloggers should also make sure they have the Twitter button configured with their Twitter handle so I don’t need to search elsewhere on their site to share their content.
Yes, it is just silly to not make it easy for others to amplify our content.
I really appreciate this post. I plan on doing one like it in the near future. I run two blog hops and I don’t have a lot of time to search for share buttons or find the information to load into them. Visiting from Triberr.
April recently posted..#AskAwayFriday with Sarah
Thanks April, I refuse to share posts if they don’t make it easy for me.
Thanks for sharing this. We were just thinking about how and when to start doing this. This breaks it down into very easy-to-follow directions. Just what we needed! See you at the Linky parties 😉
Renae
Renae recently posted..Visual Stimuli in the Classroom
Renae, I’m glad I could help. If you have any questions, please don’t hesitate to ask.
Yes, I get irritated when I come across a site with a great post that I want to share but it lacks sharing buttons. Thanks for highlighting some good options.
Lindsay recently posted..Letter to My Future Self to Get Back on Track
These are some really great tips. Thank you for sharing them! It is so important to make our blogs easy for readers to use.
Pam Margolis recently posted..Celebrate Black History Month with Kadir Nelson Day 20
Great tips. Thank you. I need to add more sharing buttons to the bottom of my posts.
Korilynn recently posted..Crockpot Leek and Potato Soup
Korilynn, I’m glad I could help.
I hate when I want to pin something and there isn’t an easy way to do it…thanks for spelling out all the options! Thanks for linking up to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Party. I have pinned your post to the Bloggers Brags Pinterest Board.
Rachel recently posted..First Impressions: Bratislava
Thanks, Rachel.
Digg Digg used to give some of my readers trouble on mobile devices. Might have just been a problem with my old theme, but I switched because the readers were complaining. Haven’t checked it in a while, but I did like it.
Jack recently posted..You Seem A Decent Fellow. I Hate To Kill You.
Jack, thanks for the heads up. I’ll check it on different devices.
AMEN! Amen amen amen! Drives me nuts when I see something awesome and can’t find a way to share it.
Sharing *this* post now! 🙂
And, thanks for linking up at Wordy Wednesday!
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Great post, Cindy! I have buttons at the bottom and have wondered if the one on the side bar is worth it. I’ll have to look into it more. And I’m really looking forward to your linky party post…I only link to a couple per post because it takes so long to visit other sites, read and comment. I really need to know how to use them better.
I’ll have to follow you now so I don’t miss it, and find the time to read some more of your information!
Thank you for sharing, I saw you linking at Project Inspire{d} and saw this post on Pinterest.
Debbie 🙂
Debbie recently posted..Tufted Ottoman Workshop
Debbie, I don’t know if the side bar is worth it or not, but I’m using it for now. Thanks for subscribing.
Thank you for this! I quickly went and added some share buttons on my blog. I may tweak them in the future, but for now, that was a big step for me!
you are welcome, Barb. I’m glad I could help.
Great article! Thank you very much. I am a big fan of social media sharing buttons as an encouragement for people to share. I also think the higher the numbers the more likely the article is to be shared. The reader feels they are onto something popular and worthwhile. I have shared via my Twitter and LinkedIn accounts.
Lindsay, I agree I think showing the share numbers helps get more shares.
As much as I love FB and Twitter, the best ones for sharing (with the most return) in my experience are Pinterest and Stumbleupon. I have a “Pin it” button on my toolbar, so I can still pin easily (because when I pin, it’s usually something I want to keep for myself.) If it’s something I want to share because it’s awesome, yes, I pin, but I also like to Stumble. I’ve recently started using it and my traffic has really spiked, so I like to “pass it on.” I LOVE when folks have a stumble button (or even a “Share this” with Stumbleupon as an option) because it almost guarantees I’m going to stumble it.
If you’d like one more party to share with, I host a weekly Pinterest party at Adventures with Jude (new party every Sunday) – I’d love to have you join in!
Meg recently posted..Sunday Sharing Pinterest Party – Week 31
Great post! It’s good to know all the options for the social sharing buttons, especially the floating bar one, I feel like that will get more use as if a reader sees something mid-post that speaks to them, they can take immediate action and share it, as opposed to the buttons at the bottom (like I have) that may be passed over. And WOW on the 75+ link ups, I was trying to come up with a weekly goal for how many, I will take that as the goal!
Great tips. I have used many of these social sharing options too. I have one that is built into my theme now. I like it a lot.
Crystal Green recently posted..Mom in the Mirror–The Life Starter!
I think I may have Share This but I have definitely found that since adding share buttons to my posts I have seen an increase in my shares. Definitely a must for every Blog.
Tiffany recently posted..#AskAwayFriday – Run On, Risk It & Laugh…
Great tip. Thanks for sharing this in Turn It Up Tuesday. I hope you join the party again tomorrow.
ranjani recently posted..Banana Strawberry Shake
Great post! Thank you for linking up to “On Display Thursday”.
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