Are social media widgets good to have on a website?

[Zack]

I was wondering if social media widgets are good to have on websites or if they are really not needed. I was thinking that they might be a good idea so that people can more easily follow me or my websites but I don't know if they are wise to use or not.

Anyone have any thoughts?

 

[skullofskill]

Hey Zack.. Definitely use social media links. Both ways! Ones that lead to your Social Media main pages, plus ones that have sharing capabilities to share your pages. I can truly say that Twitter alone is SUPER AMAZING traffic anytime I need it.

These days the social media sites have grown to allow pretty much anything. Even if you have an adult site, they are accepted all over social media. It's crazy! Just a few years ago, people were more likely to become offended checking their social media accounts. Now, most of today's Internet users are prepared for the crazy internet encounters.

To answer your question, add the 'social widgets', and also look into adding a social login to your website that allows people to log in to a members area using their social media accounts. List build!

What niche is your website based around? And when you say widgets, are you referring to WordPress widgets? Most themes, not all, but most have the social linkage as part of the theme, but not have the sharing capabilities. What type of content do you have on your website?

 

[Zack]

Zack

I have a couple that I am working on and one will be about tech and the other about entertainment. They will be wordpress based but I am not sure if the themes I have been looking at have dedicated widgets or not. Is it better to have a theme that comes with social media widgets or does that matter?

 

[SEOPub]

It depends on the type of site and what you are relying on for traffic.

From an SEO perspective, most of them are horrible. Take a Facebook widget that shows a few recent posts for example. You are adding another 5-10 links or more to every page it is on. That makes every link on your page weaker.

 

[Zack]

Zack

They are just basically blogs and one is tech and one is entertainment related. I am not sure about the traffic though.

From the sound of it I might not want them if they are going to be bad for my SEO.

 

[SEOPub]

SEOPub

If you don't rely on SEO traffic, I wouldn't worry about it. If you do, they can weaken your whole internal link structure.

Now if it is just a "follow me on Twitter" type of link, no big deal. If it is your twitter feed with your last 10 tweets... that's a lot of extra links on the page. It doesn't mean you cannot still rank your pages just fine with a widget like that, but you are likely making it harder.

 

[Zack]

Zack

Alright. I might just do a "Follow Me/Us" link then.

So basically is it the best practice to just not use any kind of feeds in widgets also? Meaning feeds from other sites in a widget.

 

[Chancer]

There was some talk a while ago that google will penalize sites with sharing buttons. I'm not sure if they really implemented it or not, but i deactivated them just to be safe. They didn't bring me any backlinks/traffic anyway.

Why link to other sites? link to your own sites or add a 'related posts' strip. As i see it, it's more benefficial than diverting traffic to someone else.

 

[SEOPub]

SEOPub

I'm sorry, but Google never said any such thing. That would be silly.

 

[Zack]

Zack

Well I was thinking of doing it to have some other sources of topics or posts but I think that I will just do "related posts" as you say. That way I can not be sending traffic away from my sites. Thanks

 

[Chancer]

As i said, i'm not sure where i picked up that rumour, but since i had no use of those buttons i deactivated them without doublechecking.

 

[Vowels]

Hello Zack,

I am hoping that by reading all above intelligent and helpful answers you are well aware from importance of social media widgets on website. I am just adding something small but efficient tips.
Social media is more effective platform, if you use it more regularly.
So because of using regularly, you have to need quick widget to saving your time as well as sharing your content in easy way.

 

[Zack]

Zack

How do I get the widget to save me time? You mean like something that posts to social media site automatically?

 

[kim16]

More than just a trend these days, putting social media widget on your website is a marketing necessity. It will act as a tool to boost engagement. This will help potential audience to go through other people's testimonials about a certain product/service.

 

[Zack]

Zack

What if I don't have any kind of product of service yet?

 

[Website Design Ltd]

Chiming in a bit late in the game here, but I'd say that having a widget (if it's visually engaging or clinically interesting enough) then is a huge engagement tool and will help to drive traffic to your social platforms. We've built a few websites in the past for clients with really strong Instagram feeds which has had a profound effect on social audience building. It's definitely worth capitalising on the strength of your social activity in order to help provide additional insight & communication platforms for your users.

 

[Zack]

Zack

Is it better to show your latest social posts in the widgets or just follow me buttons?

 

[kim16]

What do you need a website for if there isn't anything you want a certain market to know of?

 

[Website Design Ltd]

if you're confident in the strength of a particular feeds (e.g. Instagram/Twitter) then I don't see the harm in putting an in-line feed in your website footer. If you're also confident your website users are going to be interested in following along with your social media platforms then by all means include follow me buttons. Just try not to clutter up the site too much with social media vacuums. Keep it cool

 

[Zack]

Zack

Is the footer the best place or would the sidebar area be better? Many people don't read things down to the footer section of a web page.

 

[HostaPolis]

I think in this day and age, when social media is heavily used by all sorts of people - it is important to use them. Sharing buttons a lone can generate good targeted traffic sources when the right people share them. Make sure to use Pinterest as well. That is a heavy sharing network that works wonders for blogs and general sites.

 

[Zack]

Zack

I've seen a lot of people saying that Pinterest is only good for some niches that rely heavily on images, is that true or will it work for others as well?

 

[HostaPolis]

HostaPolis

Not necessarily. Images are what gain the attention on the site itself. I have used Pinterest for all kinds of things, even promoting my forums.

 

[Ava Sagel]

Its good to have social media widgets online, more people will be aware more the product will get promoted. To promote the product you need quality leads. You can get leads through many ways such as content marketing, Direct mailing, Customer referrals, SEO etc.
Despite the fact that these methodologies require arranging and managing at the miniaturized scale level, there are some specific Lead Generation sites/tools regardless your practical area such as,
Leadlake
Growbots
Hoover’s
Relpro