When you are an avid blogger, your blog becomes the hub of your existence in the internet world. And an even more integral part of your online presence is social media.
Thus, it is vital to integrate social media into your blog. To make your life easier as a WordPress blog administrator, you get the opportunity of using WordPress plugins.
WordPress provides a plethora of great and free plugins which can easily integrate social media features and social networking sites into your blog. These help visitors share your content within their own social networks and communities.
Your traffic increases and you get more exposure. This can help make your content or you brand viral through small online circles, and help you reach a global horizon.
Popular WordPress Plugins for Multiple Social Media Sites
To integrate social media into your blog, WordPress gives you the opportunity to select from a ton of options. Needless to say, the most popular plugins are those which allow you to integrate multiple social networks at a time.
Social Media Widget, a multi-social plugin, allows you to put icons in your sidebar linking to various social networking profiles. It is just like copying and pasting your profile URL into your blog.
DiggDigg, is another plugin that adds social sharing buttons to your WordPress posts, boosting social media sharing. It allows you to customize placement and does not interfere with your content.
The Sociable plugin enables visitors to instantly share your web content in their respective networks, and helps you reach new audiences.
BuddyPress is a powerful plugin with over 300 add-ons and plugins inside the plugin. With BuddyPress, users can register on your blog, transforming your blog into a social community in itself.
Lifestream displays feed from over 50 networks, and keeps a complete history of all activity from social media sites like Facebook and Twitter.
Shareaholic plugin enables Facebook likes, shares and re-tweets, and adds bookmarks to posts, pages, and RSS feed.
WordPress Plugins for Specific Social Networks
Countering the variety of multi-social plugins, plugins for individual networks specialize to give you better exposure and presence on a particular social network. These plugins are available for integrating all the social networks with your WordPress blogs.
For Facebook, plugins like the Fan Box or Like Box directly connect your blog and content to Facebook, providing an instant connection to the largest social media network.
The WordPress Facebook plugin integrates Facebook on your site by using a simple Facebook application identification code (totally free). This allows you to add comments on your posts, track the likes, and also suggest other pages to your visitors.
For Twitter, useful plugins are WP to Twitter, Tweetable and Twitter Tools. These enable you to post a Twitter update whenever your WordPress blog is updated. You can also post tweets from your sidebar, and get followers.
Other single network plugins are the WordPress Google+ Button, WP LinkedIn, WP YouTube Lyte and StumbleUpon WordPress plugins among others.
Other Noteworthy Social Plugins for WordPress
The WordPress plugins allow you to track your most popular content, with counters showing the number of likes, comments, or follows.
The Feed Wrangler plugin creates a custom file on your site to structure RSS feeds. Light Social WP plugin is a light-weight yet effective plugin.
A few plugins help to save space without blocking your content by having the drop-down interface, like ILoveSocialBookmaking, Social DropDown etc. Sharebar, a popular plugin, is in constant view of visitors on the left of your page, thus urging people to share.
However, if comments are what you want, then CommenLuv is a great plugin.
For bloggers without Facebook, Disqus comment system is a great alternative.
Pinterest is a new social network, and WordPress Pinterest enables you to display your Pinterest board in your blog’s sidebar – and you can choose the number of columns and pins.
WP Social is a simple, user-friendly counter, while Social Toolbar gives your page a unique touch. Social Popup and Drag2Share Extended are two plugins with a drag-and-drop interface, making them very user-friendly and interactive.
WordPress Plugins for Adding Social Networks to Your Blog – Conclusion
WordPress gives you the chance to select from a wide variety of plugins for social media integration with your blog. So, take advantage of it to bolster your traffic and enhance your popularity and presence.
It may be true that there is no perfect plugin for everybody, so it is best to explore the options and even experiment with a few plugins. That way, it is possible to find the one that suits you, your blog and your content – not to mention it’s compatibility with the social networks of your choice.
Social media is a great way to get internet exposure and become a web success. Someone visiting your website, enjoying the content and passing it on to their top friends instantly is the stuff made of dreams. And social media makes it possible.
Integrating social media into your site will help you widen your reach. If you ignore social media, you are designing your own failure.
It is true that with WordPress, the sky is the limit when it comes to your blog. But social media allows you to extend your reach beyond the ordinary. You can get recognition on a world-wide level and become a viral success by using WordPress plugins for social media integration.
My blogs are hosted reliably at HostGator | |
I run 20+ blogs, and each of these is hosted at HostGator. I have been using their service for a long time, and have never experienced any downtime. They also have a very responsive customer service team. HostGator provides the most reliable and fully featured WordPress hosting service. Their plans start as low as $3.96 per month for unlimited hosting - try out HostGator now! |
Speak Your Mind