Tactfully integrating social media onto your website is an art. Connect with users on your site without sacrificing your website’s aesthetic or UX design through social media buttons or links. A thumbnail-icon link is a popular tool used to connect your social networks to your website — and it’s both easy and effective. There are a lot of ways to integrate social media into your website, many that go beyond social buttons. Here are three examples of social media integration in websites:
Streams on Footer or Sidebar
Website design is a technique companies implore to bolster the social-media friendliness of their site. WebsiteBuilder.com is an excellent resource to set up your site with an integrated social media stream footer or sidebar plugin to showcase your up-to-date social statuses and feeds. This is a great way to easily entice your site’s visitors to become involved with your site through their own social profiles. A number of useful widgets and plugins exist for social media integration on websites that won’t sacrifice the UX design of your site. Jetpack, for example, is the provider of social media widgets for WordPress. Display your “Twitter Timeline” or “Facebook Like Box” in the sidebar of your site. According to the BrightLocal’s 2013 Local Customer Review Survey, 79 percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. If your site is managed through Drupal, include an “Activity Stream” of your social media streams on your site.
Social Sign-In
E-commerce websites allow visitors the option to sign into their site through one of their social media platforms. Research conducted by LoginRadius shows that 73 percent of users would rather bypass creating a specific account for a website and instead sign in using a social login. By reducing the registration process, companies can quickly engage their customers and capture information.
Facebook is one of the most commonly used social sign-in integration, as it allows users to quickly sign on to the site and easily share content to their social profiles. ShoeDazzle has profited from its integrated social media sign in, Facebook-connected users were more likely to make repeat purchases, according to Search Engine Land.
User-Generated Content & Comments
If you invest in the right commenting tools for your site, you can create a platform for real-time interaction among your company and its community. Livefyre is a top-of-the-line marketing and engagement platform that allows its subscribers to discover and collect the best user-generated content to display. Livefyre’s research shows brands that use real-time social media have increased engagement.
Integrate a social account sign in for users who want to comment on your site. It makes it easier for them and you can create a prompt reply. You should include the user-generated content you find through Livefyre on your website . Create a page where you can display user-generated Instagram photos that are related to your company or brand. When you engage with people, they are more likely to stay in touch and remain connected with your brand.