Are you an online marketer, blogger or an IT specialist searching for the best WordPress social media plugin? With so many plugins available in the market, it can be quite overwhelming to identify the one that suits your needs. Over recent past, social networking has gained prominence as a critical element of the internet experience, something that has been spurred by the growth of social media. In fact, according to data available on Statista.com, 71% of internet users are active on social media, presenting a huge marketing opportunity that businesses and IT specialists cannot afford to ignore. The number of social network users is expected to grow tremendously from 2.46 billion in 2017 to 2.77 billion in 2019. For marketers, social sharing is more efficient than conventional than traditional print and television platforms, given its two-way nature. Social media plugins provide a variety of functionalities and benefits, including:
- Social share buttons, which enhance your online exposure as users locate posts and pages they enjoy, before sharing those posts and pages on social media.
- WordPress social media icons with links, which show clients that you have social business pages, and permit customers to follow you by clicking on the links. This is one of the easiest strategies for building a strong social media following.
- A social locking tool, which your business can use to restrict content. In case the users want to read your article, they need to share it on their social networks pages before they’re allowed to view it. It’s a win-win—you get your content shared, and the users get to read valuable content at no real charge.
With all this in mind, let us look at ten of best WordPress plugins, which you can install right away.
The Stunningly Fast EA Share Count
The EA Share Count is arguably the fastest plugin mentioned here and fascinatingly easy to use. While the number of social networks that come with the plugin is limited to those that are most popular, including LinkedIn, Stumbleupon, Twitter, Google+, Facebook and Pinterest, the functionality is impressive. The plugin comes with three social media button types, with the user given the option of choosing where to show the button, whether manually, before, or after the content. Another key benefit of using the plugin is that you can opt for showing the total number of shares on each network. Most importantly, performance is optimized, and the plugin does not slow down your site.
The Incredible Monarch Plugin for Social Sharing
Monarch is another amazing sharing plugin with numerous options and supporting more than 20 social networks. The settings for this plugin can be managed from the WordPress dashboard in the custom panel. It is also possible to export and import settings from one WordPress to another, meaning that plugin can be easily set up by those who have multiple websites. To promote media sharing, the plugin comes with several placements and display alternatives, making it quite versatile. You can also alter the shapes, colors, and orientation of the icons to suit your taste. There is also the option of picking a sharing icon or various icons, and arranging them in your preferred order, and even display media share counts. When using this plugin, you could monitor and track likes and shares through its highly extensive and impressive interface. The only downside to this plugin appears to be the high price of purchasing the application, which, at an annual fee of 89 USD, could be costly for some users.
Easy Social Share Plugin for WordPress
This sharing plugin is an absolute steal, priced at only $19. One of the reasons that make this plugin ideal for IT specialists and marketers is the fact that it does not slow down your site, yet you get to receive multiple tools for social sharing, email subscription, and counting the number of follows. In other words, with the Easy Social Share plugin, you get to build an email list as well as social following.
The Fully Responsive Social Warfare Plugin
Social Warfare is definitely one of best plugins for WordPress. The plugin is visually appealing and offers access to incredible features. The application supports most popular social sites and works amazingly with most well-built themes. Another added advantage is that the plugin supports images from Pinterest, a site that increases traffic for most businesses. There is also the added bonus of tweetable quote boxes, which you could add in various designs in your content box. For IT specialists, the plugin is developer-friendly, with a functionality that can be extended using add-ons.
AddtoAny Share Buttons
AddtoAny is another incredible plugin for WordPress, which offers numerous social networking platforms, standard and floating social media bars, and a unified sharing menu. The plugin lets you trace social share count without having to create an account, besides offering the advantage of Google Analytics integration. However, the application shows a smaller footprint in terms of performance when compared to similar tools.
The Customizable and Easy-To-Use Ultimate Social Deux
This is another attractive plugin that has numerous applications including functional WP share buttons. The Ultimate Social Deux, being a relatively new plugin, is not quite popular yet, though it is compatible with most WP plugins, including WordPress social media widget, Visual Composer, Jigoshop and Easy Digital Download. The application supports approximately ten social media sites and boasts sleek social media buttons that can be modified regarding size color, size, position, and appearance. Since the app uses CSS and lightweight JavaScript, there is the added advantage that buttons tend to load faster. In terms of cost, you will be required only to make a one-time payment of 15 USD.
Super Socializer, the Champ
For those interested in getting solutions to all their social sharing needs in one place, you could also try the Super Socializer plugin, which comes with a functional social media bar. This application is completely free, though it comes with the option of installing some add-ons to improve its performance. These add-ons are paid for. For instance, you would need an add-on of 10 USD to be able to modify Facebook comments. Nonetheless, the add-ons are quite affordable. The only major flaw is that the plugin lacks a feature for linking your various social media accounts. Install this plugin to enjoy the free social media buttons on offer.
The Comprehensive Sumo
It must be reiterated from the onset that Sumo is actually a collection of tools aimed at increasing the traffic to your site, as well as sign-ups and shares. Most of the tools in the collection are free, without the need to fill out any subscribe forms. Although you will have to install the whole package to benefit from the WordPress plugin for Sumo, the setup is quite easy and takes a few minutes to configure. A major strength of this plugin is the fact that you have control over the monitoring shares, and on which counts you choose to display. You can also choose how to arrange the icons, whether you want the most popular icon to come first or last. You will, however, need to buy the premium version of the plugin if you wish to remove Sumo’s own branding.
Revive Old Post for Active Accounts
Revive Old Post is another simple plugin that helps you reach clients and keep them engaged on social media platforms by allowing you to post regularly on all your social networking accounts. This plugin permits the auto-posting of old posts to social networking sites, thus keeping the accounts active. The plugin also allows users the opportunity to engage with and locate popular material from your page, besides being able to share using the WP share buttons.
Flow-Flow, the Incredible WordPress Social Stream Plugin
Flow-Flow is an amazing premium social stream plugin for WordPress, which allows users to display social media streams from their accounts or the accounts of other on their sites. The plugin supports various feed sources including Twitter, Pinterest, YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. The amazing thing is that you get to integrate these various networks into a unitary stream. Add this plugin, and you also get to enjoy the provision for adding content moderation and keyword filters to ensure that you avoid importing the wrong content.
So, what should you look for in cool WordPress plugins? The primary problem with most sharing WordPress plugins relates to performance. As the plugins are required to load additional scripts and stylesheets, they tend to slow down host websites. As such, when looking for an ideal, but simple sharing plugin, you need to balance between performance and features. In this respect, while a plugin with numerous features may be preferred, more features tend to slow down websites, thus impeding on the experience of the user. You also need to make a decision on whether or not you need the social widgets to be prominently displayed on your web page. Different plugins allow the display of social icons either below article, on the sidebar, or before it. Choose how you wish to display the icons, and whether the plugin chosen permits that option.
About the author: Alice Berg is a blogger and a career advisor at Skillroads, who is strongly interested in progressive technologies and how they revolutionize recruiting process and simplify job search. Now she helps people to find their own way in life, gives career advice and guidance, helps young people to prepare for their careers. You can find Alice on Twitter.
