A social plug-in is a button you can install on your website, blog, or page in order to drive more traffic to your own or outside social networks and sites. Social plug-ins also let you see what your friends have liked, commented on or shared on sites across the web.
The Social Media Examiner says that one of the most important things in increasing traffic and integrating your site into social media is including visible social media buttons.There is an option of creating a rolling box that follows you as you scroll down the page, which is the optimal way to include them. Don’t feel like you need to create a social plug-in for every outlet that you have. Just use the ones you feel are the best representation of what you and your organization are all about taking into account which drive the most traffic, etc. Also, make sure your buttons are up to date. Check for dead links on your site every couple of months and re-install your buttons so that everything is as relevant and updated as possible.
According to SearchEngineLand, the average media site that includes any Facebook plug-in or integration has seen a 300% increase in referral traffic, which is huge.Research done has proven a positive direct correlation between Facebook and website traffic, and there are many plug-ins to choose from in deciding how to get your website connected. Though other social networks have plug-in capability, the focus here is on Facebook social plug-ins you should incorporate in to your website for increase interactivity.
The "Like Button" allows users to share pages, articles, or items they are interested in by clicking the like button. When clicked, the item appears on the user's newsfeed with a link back to the original site. The Like button is a good way to direct traffic to specific items on a site and help see which items and topics are more popular. Another benefit to the Like Button is drawing in a potential new audience based on referral via "likes" on a friend's page.
The send button option allows you to directly send content to a friend (or friends) via a Facebook message, as opposed to the more public option of "liking" something. "Sending" something doesn’t appear publicly, whereas "liking" automatically shows up on the newsfeed.
Installing the plug-in for commenting allows users to leave a comment on any piece of content on your entire site. This is a useful tool if your site doesn’t have comment threads built in, but if it does it’s unnecessary. Comments in general, though, are useful for a variety of reasons. Letting people comment allows for user interaction and helps provide free feedback without having to do market research.
The Activity Feed plug-in allows your site to show users a stream of what their friends are doing or looking at on your site through their likes and comments. What the feed does is provide a list of the most recent activity people have undertaken on your site and it adjusts to people based on their Facebook friends and who is using the applications. This plug-in is only really relevant if you have a heavily trafficked site with a highly interactive user base.
The recommendation plug-in gives users personalized suggestions for pages on your site that they might like, based on the most common activity on the site, which is all compiled within the plug-in. The user’s friends’ activity is taken into higher account, and a personalized list is created for each user. This plug-in, again, is far more useful with a heavily trafficked site in order to keep the recommendations fresh and relevant. Don’t install this if you don’t get enough traffic or you could damage your site’s reputation, creating the notion that it is outdated.
Share buttons enable your visitors to share and recommend products seamlessly. Articles, blogs, and other readable content should be as easy for readers to share on Facebook with others as possible, so that they can be shared quickly, easily, and often. The odds of your content going viral increase when it is easier for your visitors to share something.
Additional reporting provided by Danielle Deschaine.
The Social Media Examiner says that one of the most important things in increasing traffic and integrating your site into social media is including visible social media buttons.There is an option of creating a rolling box that follows you as you scroll down the page, which is the optimal way to include them. Don’t feel like you need to create a social plug-in for every outlet that you have. Just use the ones you feel are the best representation of what you and your organization are all about taking into account which drive the most traffic, etc. Also, make sure your buttons are up to date. Check for dead links on your site every couple of months and re-install your buttons so that everything is as relevant and updated as possible.
According to SearchEngineLand, the average media site that includes any Facebook plug-in or integration has seen a 300% increase in referral traffic, which is huge.Research done has proven a positive direct correlation between Facebook and website traffic, and there are many plug-ins to choose from in deciding how to get your website connected. Though other social networks have plug-in capability, the focus here is on Facebook social plug-ins you should incorporate in to your website for increase interactivity.
1. Like Button
The "Like Button" allows users to share pages, articles, or items they are interested in by clicking the like button. When clicked, the item appears on the user's newsfeed with a link back to the original site. The Like button is a good way to direct traffic to specific items on a site and help see which items and topics are more popular. Another benefit to the Like Button is drawing in a potential new audience based on referral via "likes" on a friend's page.
2. Facebook Send Button
The send button option allows you to directly send content to a friend (or friends) via a Facebook message, as opposed to the more public option of "liking" something. "Sending" something doesn’t appear publicly, whereas "liking" automatically shows up on the newsfeed.
3. Facebook Comment Plug-in
Installing the plug-in for commenting allows users to leave a comment on any piece of content on your entire site. This is a useful tool if your site doesn’t have comment threads built in, but if it does it’s unnecessary. Comments in general, though, are useful for a variety of reasons. Letting people comment allows for user interaction and helps provide free feedback without having to do market research.
4. Activity Feed Plug-in
The Activity Feed plug-in allows your site to show users a stream of what their friends are doing or looking at on your site through their likes and comments. What the feed does is provide a list of the most recent activity people have undertaken on your site and it adjusts to people based on their Facebook friends and who is using the applications. This plug-in is only really relevant if you have a heavily trafficked site with a highly interactive user base.
5. Facebook Recommendations Plug-in
The recommendation plug-in gives users personalized suggestions for pages on your site that they might like, based on the most common activity on the site, which is all compiled within the plug-in. The user’s friends’ activity is taken into higher account, and a personalized list is created for each user. This plug-in, again, is far more useful with a heavily trafficked site in order to keep the recommendations fresh and relevant. Don’t install this if you don’t get enough traffic or you could damage your site’s reputation, creating the notion that it is outdated.
6. Facebook Share Button
Share buttons enable your visitors to share and recommend products seamlessly. Articles, blogs, and other readable content should be as easy for readers to share on Facebook with others as possible, so that they can be shared quickly, easily, and often. The odds of your content going viral increase when it is easier for your visitors to share something.
Additional reporting provided by Danielle Deschaine.