Adding Social Media to Your Website
More and more organizations are turning to social media to stay connected and promote communication within and around their ministry. Integrating social media elements into your website is one way to directly connect your site to Facebook, Twitter, Google+, YouTube, and more. This integration ranges from Facebook 'Like' buttons, to twitter feeds, to posting videos or posting comments on your organizations Facebook or Google+ pages.
Adding items from any of these social media outlets can enhance your visibility and connectivity within the community you serve—and it can instantly be added to your site! Here are some easy steps to integrating social media to your website.
Login to Social Media
If you haven't already, choose and create a social media account for your ministry or organization.
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/
Twitter: https://twitter.com/signup
Google+: https://plus.google.com/
YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/
Vimeo: http://www.vimeo.com/
ShareThis: http://sharethis.com/
AddThis: http://www.addthis.com/
Choose A Media Plugin
Determine what type of media you want to integrate and where you will place it on your website. Here are some of the most common:
Facebook:
Like Button (allows people to 'Like' your ministry's Facebook page), Comments (scrolling list of comments on your wall or option to have visitors comment directly on your site), & Activity Feed (scrolling list of all activity).
For detailed instructions on how to place Facebook Plugins on your website, click here.
Twitter:
Follow Button (allows users to follow you on twitter), Tweet Button (allows users to tweet content from your website), or Search Widget (shows all tweets in reference to your organization).
For detailed instructions on how to place Twitter Plugins on your website, click here.
Google+:
+1 button (lets people who love your content recommend it on Google search)
For detailed instructions on how to place a Google+ button on your website, click here.
YouTube & Vimeo:
Make it easy to upload and share videos online.
For detailed instructions on how to place videos from YouTube or Vimeo on your website, click here.
ShareThis & AddThis:
Make it easy to share content online.
For detailed instructions on how make your website content available for sharing through ShareThis or AddThis, click here.
*Note that your website's homepage is usually the best location for social media integration because of its high visibility. The more pages on your site that have social media links, the more empty and/or repetative they will appear.