Social media is now almost a necessity for all online businesses to interact with readers, build relationships and attract social shares. While building social media profiles is quite easy, informing readers about your pages can be a daunting task if done manually. This is where social media plugins come to the rescue, making it easier for readers to discover social media pages and subscribe to them.
If you use WordPress as your choice of blogging platform, there are plenty of social plugins to choose from. However, you should keep in mind that plugins aren’t the magic bullet to increase engagement and build a community. They are meant to support your efforts (content creation, promotion, networking etc.) of driving traffic and act as a part of an overall integrated strategy.
Some of the plugins are free while premium ones are available at a cost. Most stores and developers offering premium plugins have a standard of accepting credit card payments.
You may be able to save money on premium plugin purchases if your credit card company offers cash back rewards. On the other hand, if you’re currently dealing with credit card debt, a balance transfer credit card like this can be an ideal option for purchasing a premium plugin without having to worry about debt accumulation. This is because there is usually a 0% period for 2 years or more–ideal for freelancers.
Best social media plugins for WordPress in 2013
1. Social Network Tabs For WordPress
Social Network Tabs is a premium plugin that accumulates all your social media profiles and makes them into static tabs or a slide out. The feed of every social network is backed up by AJAX, but only when required. The loading time is pretty fast, which is a blessing as there’s only a small window of opportunity to catch attention of visitors when they land on your website.
The latest version of the plugin includes links for Google+, Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn. That’s not all as there are options to include Pinterest, Tumblr, YouTube, StumbleUpon, Vimeo, Flickr and more networks as well. This plugin is available for $12.
2. Dig Dig
Dig Dig brings a floating bar on either left or right of the post that includes share buttons. This is one of the plugins that WordPress website owners have adapted to on a large scale.
The floating bar stays in one position, or can be set to move up or down as the reader scrolls the page to read more content. It’s also important to note that floating bars may not work well on smaller displays. This plugin is available from WordPress.org and is free to download.
3. Flare
Flare is also as popular as Dig Dig and adds that extra bit of spark to your website. It’s one of the simplest plugins to install and has buttons for almost every social network out there. It gives you the ability to customize the type of posts that should appear in Flare, and the color and layout of the buttons can be customized as well.
Flare can also include an option to allow visitors to hide the plugin so it doesn’t distract them from reading the post. This plugin is also available on WordPress.org and has minimal flaws. The customer support of the plugin is excellent.
Social signals are going to have a great impact on website rankings in the future years, perhaps even more than backlinks. Not only will the social plugin help in increasing social media visibility, but will also play a major role in increasing search engine rankings and protecting your website from algorithm updates.