There are different ways to integrate social media into your website. It depends on what platform you are using, whether it is a website builder, WordPress, or a custom-coded site. Usually, a web hosting service such as Hostinger, will provide simple to use tools to get your website started, with the help of a one-click CMS installer, website builder, or HTML template.
In this article, I’ll share how people usually integrate their social media into their websites and explain the three ways to do so through a website builder, WordPress, and a custom-site.
If you want to create an easier way to spread your content to other users, social sharing buttons need to be included on your website. These share buttons allow your readers to share your website through a social platform of their choice to reach their circle of friends and followers. By doing this, you broaden the reach of your brand and perhaps can attract potential customers.
Here’s a general idea of how to add these buttons to different website platforms:
- WordPress site – You’ll need to install a plugin that’ll help you integrate the social share buttons to your site. Some relevant WordPress plugins for this are Jetpack and Orbit Fox.
- Website builder – Most website builders will have the social share buttons already included inside the website as you’re building it. You can go to their elements menu, and there, it will show the social media buttons you can add. Some of their templates might also have these buttons already readily built for you.
- Custom-coded sites – Typically, social media platforms offer extensive APIs for developers to integrate their posts, feeds, comments, etc. on websites. So a developer would just search “Facebook comments API” or “Instagram API” or other social media API and go over the documentation to “hard-code it.”
Social media feed
Another way to integrate social media is to have a live social feed that inserts contents from your social media accounts into your website. You’ll get continuously updated content, which will make your website look fresher, active, and inviting. Though, you have also to be consistent in updating your social media.
The best way to do this is by blending your social media feeds seamlessly with your website’s content. This means they should have the same background color, font style, and layout.
The general idea to add these feeds to different website platforms –for reference:
- WordPress site – Install plugins to help you insert social media feeds. Some great WordPress plugins for this are Juicer.io and Walls.io.
- Website builder – Usually, it will already have an option to add social media feeds to your website. Check when you add elements to whether the option is available or not. If not, then you should get an add-on that the website builder will usually provide.
- Custom-coded site – Look for social media extensive APIs and integrate them into your site.
Like having a social media feed on your website, embed your social media posts means integrating the images, videos, or links from your posts into the website. Unlike placing an entire live social media feed, here you only embed one certain post at a time to your website, and users who click on it will be redirected to your social media. This can increase the time your visitors spend on your site.
The main ways to embed social media posts into your website are as follows:
- WordPress site – Links to social media posts tend to turn into embedded posts automatically. All you need to do is paste the link directly into your website as you design the content.
- Website builder – The option will most likely be included in the website builder, or it will embed the shared links automatically as WordPress does, or you can install an add-on to help you. Check with your web hosting provider.
- Custom-coded site – The social media websites usually provide JavaScript and HTML code that all
The easiest way you can integrate links to your site is by simply linking to posts. For example, like “if you want to see a video about it, click here” or “to get to know me more, follow my Instagram.”
Another way to encourage visitors to interact with you through social media is by utilizing the ever-so-popular hashtags (#). It can be a way for your customers to interact with each other and also yourself and indirectly created a hub for discussion and sharing of your business.
It very simple if you want to link your social media through text, all you have to do is highlight the words you want to be connected by pressing and holding your left mouse button across the texts, then right-click on your mouse button, and you should be able to see an option to link. Lastly, just place the link there, and you’re done.
For hashtags, just type # + the word you want to promote, for example, #food, #beverages, etc.
Social media logins
Image is taken from symbiotics.co.za
A lot of eCommerce websites use this type of login. The reason is that visitors won’t need to go through the hassle of signing up and creating a new account just to explore your website, plus visitors can also comment on your blog easily.
By doing this, you eliminate the waiting time before they can view your website and that you can immediately start interacting with your visitors as soon as they sign-in.
The ways to add these sign-in functionalities to different website platforms are like:
- WordPress site – install plugins to help you create the buttons or call-to-action for social media logins. Some of the available plugins can be found here, though each plugin has different purposes, so check each of them.
- Website builder – you would most likely need to have an add-on to your site, but consult with your web hosting provider on whether they have this pre-installed or not.
- For custom-coded sites – look for the social media login APIs and pick the right ones for you.
Comments and discussion boxes
Commenting is a great platform to gain direct feedback from your visitors. Websites usually have Facebook and other social media comments already embedded in them. This makes it harder for irrelevant and spam comments from entering the site by asking them to sign-in to their Facebook accounts first before commenting.
By having comment and discussion boxes and with you actively responding to every word and discussion made, it will make your website look and feel authentic and trustworthy.
The general idea to embed comment/discussion boxes on the powerful website platforms, for example, are as follows:
- WordPress site – WordPress has an already comment system, but you can also install comment and discussion box plugins like Disqus or Thrive Comments for a better interface.
- Website builder – check with your web hosting provider whether they have it pre-installed or not. If not, then you will need to install an add-on to the website builder.
- Custom-coded site – Look for social media comment and discussion boxes API and pick the best one for you.
Conclusion
Now you know the few ways to integrate your social media into your website. Most of them function to give you better communication and engagement with your visitors. Let’s recap on the ways to integrate them:
- Social sharing buttons
- Social media feed
- Embedded social media posts
- Links to social media profiles, channels, and hashtags
- Social media logins
- Comments and discussion boxes
All that’s left to do is to start integrating them to your website, it can boost traffic a lot, and you can gain more attention faster through some of the features available above.