Sunday, December 29, 2019


Social sharing buttons allow visitors to share your site/blog content on popular social networks. Therefore, it is a very handy medium for promoting your blog’s content. However, Finding a WordPress social sharing plugin is harder than it should be. Don't you agree? Well, there are thousands of plugins in the WordPress repository, however, I have been installing and uninstalling social media plugins since long.

Although there are a host of social WordPress plugins made for you, it’s not always an easy task to choose the right one. However, for your convenience, I have made a list comprising the best WordPress social sharing plugins to allow sharing content on social networks.

4 Best Free Social Sharing Plugins for WordPress

How to Choose a Plugin to Share on Social Networks?

When I started to try the different social sharing plugins available for WordPress, I immediately found that it was very hard to get a plugin that met all the features that I wanted. Therefore, before choosing a plugin, please consider the following factors:
  1. The loading time of the plugin should not be too sloth : You already know that if your blog takes long time to load, on the one hand, you can lose “impatient” users that do not support a website taking too long to load, and on the other hand, you can be penalized by Google.
  2. To be able to choose the desired social networks in the “social sharing buttons”: You should have the freedom to choose the social networks that interest you most. Do not use a plugin that allows only a generic list of social networks.
  3. Freedom to choose the location of social buttons: Generally social sharing buttons are placed at the beginning of an article, at the end of an article, or on the side of an article. A good plugin should, however, also give us the opportunity to place the social sharing buttons on other elements of our WordPress blog, such as pages or categories.
  4. The URL of the article that is shared should not be modified by the plugin: Be careful, some plugins directly modify the content URL with a shortener. In my case, I always prefer that the original or full URL is shared on the social networks. Because shortened URLs are not easily traceable.
  5. Adaptable to any mobile device: It means that the plugin must be capable of adapting its size and its visual appearance to the smaller screens of mobile devices. This is important, because I think that the mobile Internet traffic is always remarkable, and that it is very likely that a large number of visits to your blog are made from mobile devices.
  6. With a design that fits your blog: The social sharing buttons must have to be very visual and matching with the design of your blog. The more beautiful and striking the buttons on your blog, the easier it will be for your readers to share your posts on their preferred social networks by clicking on them.

Best WordPress Plugins to Add Social Buttons

# 1 AddThis

It is perhaps one of the trusted names in the arena of social sharing plugins. It is a complete suite of website tools including share buttons, list builder, link promotion, and recommended posts. In addition to the multiple positions in which they can be displayed, the most important thing is the amount of networks and services that can be activated, which is over 200.

AddThis

Features:
  • Clean and modern design.
  • Multiple positions for the buttons.
  • Different styles: Floating, Inline, Expanding, Image Sharing, Popup, Banner, and Slider.
  • Multiple social networks to add.
  • Multiple CMS support.
  • Content Recommendation.
  • Quick loading.
  • Shortcodes.
  • Analytics.
Price:Free

Rating:


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# 2 Shareaholic

Shareaholic is more than just a WordPress plugin to share content on social networks. It is a complete suite of tools to get traffic, to get discovered in the search engines and social networks, and to grow your followers. Shareaholic social network plugin will give you access to a variety of different styles for social buttons, which are more eye-catching than the native buttons.

Note: You will have to register an account to access all the features that Shareaholic can offer, but it is free, which is impressive.

Shareaholic

Features:
  • Easily controllable.
  • Different styles: In-Page Share Buttons, Share Buttons for Images, and Floated Share Buttons
  • You can determine whether you want to show share counters or not.
  • Support for all websites.
  • Shortcodes.
  • Analytics.
Price:Free

Rating:


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# 3 WP Socializer

The WP Socializer plugin includes native social media buttons, icons, floating sharebar, follow us buttons, profile icons, mobile sharebar and selected text share popups. One of its main features is that it has been designed to minimize the resources it uses. Frequently these types of plugins require high resources, which results in an increase in the loading speed of the web page. Another best part is that if any social media button is missing in the plugin, you can still add it through “custom HTML” feature.

However, this plugin loads the code only once or when it is necessary. For example, it will run the script only if the visitor clicks on a button. In this way your web page loads faster.

WP Socializer

Features:
  • Easily customizable.
  • It consumes less resources.
  • Controllable display position.
  • Share counts.
  • Sidebar widgets.
  • Shortcodes.
Price: Free

Rating:


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# 4 Sumo

Sumo is a real toolbox that will open a huge world of possibilities with which your blog could be taken to a new level. It is connected to +65 popular social media networks.

Note: It is freemium, that is, almost all the features are free to use and then there are certain more advanced options for which you have to pay.

Sumo

Features:
  • A plugin to control them all: Social media, user experience, email marketing, etc.
  • A perfect free version: The free version is great. You may spend $ 100/ year to remove the advertisement, but it is not even necessary.
  • It does not use too many resources: Despite having lots of features, Sumo will not slow down your blog’s loading time.
  • Works on all platforms: The social buttons are suitable for both desktop and mobile devices.
  • Easy to implement: The setup is very simple since you don’t need to edit complex codes.
Price: Free

Rating:


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The decision is up to you. You may choose any of the above plugin since all of them will do basically the same thing: to let your visitors to share your content comfortably on their favorite social networks.

Have you already installed any social media plugin in your WordPress? Do you use any of the plugins mentioned in this article? Anything to add? I'd love to hear your thoughts. Just leave your comments below with your experience, doubt or question.

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