STRATEGIES FOR INTEGRATING SOCIAL MEDIA WITH WORDPRESS @sarahwefald
Published on Nov 19, 2015
Presented at WordCamp Orange County 2014
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PRESENTATION OUTLINE
ABOUT ME
- I handle digital marketing for bands and brands
- I host the OC WordPress Web Designer's meetup
- Amateur photographer and musician
Photo by kevin dooley
your blog
Your best tool for social media is
I hear a lot from business owners who want to know how to get a bigger network on social media and get more traffic/sell more products from it.
Many times, this is because their friend or neighbor or well-meaning acquaintance has said something to the tune of "You're not on Facebook?! You HAVE to be on Facebook if you have a business. And you have to have THOUSANDS of Likes!" This sort of thinking leads people to buy thousands of fake Likes from a black hat company (which you should never, ever do).
Social media is not the key that will unlock some sort of internet cash machine. You have to solidify your foundation first, and then use social media to build upon that. Your foundation is:
- Having a great product / service
- Creating trust
Everything else comes from there. A blog is just a tool that will help you forge the relationships grounded in trust that will grow your fantastic product / service business. Social media gets layered on top of all of this.
This presentation is going to sort through some of the many considerations when integrating your WordPress site with social media, and dig into some basic tactics you can use.
Many times, this is because their friend or neighbor or well-meaning acquaintance has said something to the tune of "You're not on Facebook?! You HAVE to be on Facebook if you have a business. And you have to have THOUSANDS of Likes!" This sort of thinking leads people to buy thousands of fake Likes from a black hat company (which you should never, ever do).
Social media is not the key that will unlock some sort of internet cash machine. You have to solidify your foundation first, and then use social media to build upon that. Your foundation is:
- Having a great product / service
- Creating trust
Everything else comes from there. A blog is just a tool that will help you forge the relationships grounded in trust that will grow your fantastic product / service business. Social media gets layered on top of all of this.
This presentation is going to sort through some of the many considerations when integrating your WordPress site with social media, and dig into some basic tactics you can use.
Photo by Robert S. Donovan
HUB AND SPOKE
Your website should always be the center of your online universe
Your website should always be the center of your online universe. It’s not enough just to have a Facebook page - look at all the bands who never built a website and only had a Myspace page...even in 2011, before the relaunch.
Most of your social media efforts should be focused on driving traffic back to your website. You should also make sure you're community-minded on social media and reshare relevant content from trusted friends, but your own content should link back to your website.
Most of your social media efforts should be focused on driving traffic back to your website. You should also make sure you're community-minded on social media and reshare relevant content from trusted friends, but your own content should link back to your website.
Photo by it's d-lo
only things you own
Of all the online tools and platforms, your site & email list are the
Focusing on social media as your main content repository is a bad idea because, besides being beholden to the social platform to allow you continued access to your customers (hi Facebook), there is also the notion of content ownership. Some of the terms of service of these platforms have some squirrelly language about when and how they can use your content.
Some people don't care about this, but I think those people should reconsider. You'll never have more control over your content than when it's on your own site.
The only property you own online is your website and your email list. That's it. Not your Facebook posts. Not your tweets.
Some people don't care about this, but I think those people should reconsider. You'll never have more control over your content than when it's on your own site.
The only property you own online is your website and your email list. That's it. Not your Facebook posts. Not your tweets.
Photo by Joybot
WHY SOCIAL MEDIA?
Engage or Die
If you don’t have a solid product / service offering, no amount of social media will save you. That said, social media matters because it allows you the privilege of engaging your peers, colleagues, clients, and customers directly. It allows you to demonstrate your knowledge and earn trust for being a leader in your community.
Social media is not a broadcast medium. Engage or die.
Social media is not a broadcast medium. Engage or die.
Photo by webtreats
The Hub
(Your website)
This is the center of your universe. Everything comes from and is driven back here.
Photo by d_hillphoto
Social media integration
Design and Functionality
Everyone has their own opinion on how social media should be and do on your website, and I'm not going to say my personal style to do this is the ultimate best option for all situations.
My design aesthetic is fairly minimal. I believe (and have been shown) that it helps focus on what your user really wants from your site (not to mention, what you want your user to take away from your site).
My design aesthetic is fairly minimal. I believe (and have been shown) that it helps focus on what your user really wants from your site (not to mention, what you want your user to take away from your site).
Photo by Melissa Maples
Where should you put your social media icons?
The first step is making sure the people who visit your website know what social media platforms you use. Recognizable social media icons allow users to connect with you if they wish.
Make sure you put them in places that people can easily find. Near the navigation is one such good place to do this.
Make sure you put them in places that people can easily find. Near the navigation is one such good place to do this.
Untitled Slide
The footer also works for this, though it is at the bottom of your page and won't be as visible as the last example.
.
This is helpful when you have a lot of icons to include on a page
I work with a lot of musicians who have profiles on a million platforms that all need to be included in the site somehow. I like using this option so the header or footer doesn't end up looking like a NASCAR car or a character from 'Idiocracy.'
http://chrislema.com/using-icons-in-your-wordpress-menu/
Our friend Chris Lema has a great step-by-step guide to adding icons to your WordPress menu, which can include social media if you like.
HOW DO YOU ADD YOUR SOCIAL ICONS?
- Plugins, such as:
- Wolf Social
- Easy Social Icons
- Simple Social Icons
- Social Icons Widget
These are just a smattering of the ways you can go about adding social icons to your site. Some of them require more technical know-how than others.
Photo by burly-nate
Don't trust the plugin search (Demo)
Make sure the one you use is up to date
These are the pages for two social media icon plugins in the WordPress.com plugin repo: Social Media Icons Widget on the left, and Simple Social Icons on the right. Both could easily come up in a search of the repo from within your WordPress dashboard, but only one of them has been kept up to date - Social Media Icons Widget hasn't been updated at all in over a year and hasn't been tested by the developer for several core updates!
With the increasing frequency of 3.x WordPress core updates, it's even more important that you do the extra work to make sure the plugins you use are compatible with each new core update.
With the increasing frequency of 3.x WordPress core updates, it's even more important that you do the extra work to make sure the plugins you use are compatible with each new core update.
Roll your own
Make your own social icons widget using HTML/CSS
You can upload the icons you want to use (whether you've made them yourself or downloaded them) to your site and then use HTML and CSS in a text widget to add them to your site.
Photo by thunder
Add feeds to your site
But keep them minimal!
Does your homepage really need to have your full Twitter feed on it? Does it have to be in the sidebar on every page?
Photo by Glutnix
Community vs broadcast
Consider a social search widget
A search widget can be a great way to incorporate news your uses actually wants into your website.
Photo by HPUPhotogStudent
social sharing buttons
Do you really need them?
Plugin: Twitter Facebook Social Share
Shareaholic: https://wordpress.org/plugins/shareaholic/
How to track?
Ask yourself: Is this necessary? http://torquemag.io/are-social-sharing-buttons-a-valuable-addition-to-your-...
Aside from potential site performance issues that a sharing plugin could possibly introduce, there are psychological reasons that having a row of share buttons around your content could actually result in *fewer* shares.
Social proof: If your buttons all have zeroes on them, others are less likely to share with their networks. On the other hand, if every network has hundreds or even thousands of shares, people are less likely to share because why post something everyone has already seen?
Shareaholic is nice because it allows you to turn the counter off if you like, and it also displays related content from your site.
Shareaholic: https://wordpress.org/plugins/shareaholic/
How to track?
Ask yourself: Is this necessary? http://torquemag.io/are-social-sharing-buttons-a-valuable-addition-to-your-...
Aside from potential site performance issues that a sharing plugin could possibly introduce, there are psychological reasons that having a row of share buttons around your content could actually result in *fewer* shares.
Social proof: If your buttons all have zeroes on them, others are less likely to share with their networks. On the other hand, if every network has hundreds or even thousands of shares, people are less likely to share because why post something everyone has already seen?
Shareaholic is nice because it allows you to turn the counter off if you like, and it also displays related content from your site.
Photo by kevin dooley
Socializing your content
The spokes of the hub
You can't drive your car on just the rims. You need the extra bits to get somewhere.
Photo by eflon
no
Should I automate my blog posts onto my social networks?
Google Reader has gone away, any many people use social media as a way to find curated articles to read, but that doesn't mean it's a good idea for you to blast your blog posts across Twitter, Facebook, etc. just because you can. Social media is not an RSS feed.
Photo by FlySi
http://www.jeffturner.info/
dont-fall-into-an-automation-rabbit-hole/
The great Jeff Turner wrote a blog post that describes why you shouldn't automate everything just because you can.
Photo by kate nev
wordpress seo by yoast (demo)
An SEO plugin that helps your content socialize
Making your content ready to socialize is a major step. Otherwise, someone may go to share your content and find that Facebook won't recognize and include the photos on your site, creating a link post that's just a mess of text. Or, they'll tweet it and leave out a tag to your Twitter account.
This SEO plugin will actually help wrap your content with the necessary HTML tags to tell Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus how to tag and display your content when it's shared.
Facebook
i. Adds Open Graph metadata to content architecture
Twitter
i. Adds Twitter Card metadata to content.
1. Note: Once you add everything in, you still need to run your site through the Twitter Card Validator.
Google Plus
i. The key: Google Authorship
This SEO plugin will actually help wrap your content with the necessary HTML tags to tell Facebook, Twitter, and Google Plus how to tag and display your content when it's shared.
i. Adds Open Graph metadata to content architecture
i. Adds Twitter Card metadata to content.
1. Note: Once you add everything in, you still need to run your site through the Twitter Card Validator.
Google Plus
i. The key: Google Authorship
Photo by Kaysse
Other neat Plugins to use
- CoSchedule (coschedule.com)
- Click to Tweet / Quoteable
- Gravity Forms (with MailChimp add-on)
Which plugins to use depends not only how often you blog and on what topics, but also what social media accounts you post your content to and why.
Click to Tweet: https://wordpress.org/plugins/click-to-tweet-by-todaymade/
Quotable: http://wordpress.org/plugins/quotable/
-- These two plugins help you create pull quotes of key parts of your posts that are pre-formatted with your post link and Twitter username. It streamlines the process of sharing soundbites of your content.
Click to Tweet: https://wordpress.org/plugins/click-to-tweet-by-todaymade/
Quotable: http://wordpress.org/plugins/quotable/
-- These two plugins help you create pull quotes of key parts of your posts that are pre-formatted with your post link and Twitter username. It streamlines the process of sharing soundbites of your content.
Photo by Cat Sidh
- Your posts won't reach as far if you post from an app
- Don't post to your Facebook page from WordPress!
- Join relevant groups and post your articles there
- Give back! Share content from others and engage
Here's a thumbnail sketch of some good strategy for sharing on Facebook.
Photo by Kris Olin
- Not as sensitive to posts from third party apps
- Several plugins will let you tweet from WordPress
- Be smart about automation (IFTTT, Buffer, etc)
- Engage: don't just link to your posts!
Here's good strategy for Twitter.
Photo by ianmunroe
Google plus
- Yes, you do need a profile
- Google+ content gets indexed faster
- Authorship establishes authority (AuthorRank)
- Post in relevant communities as your page
- And yes, engage here too
Google Plus gets a bad rap but it's incredibly useful for community building and blog engagement. Don't underestimate it!
Photo by Wicker Paradise
email list
- MailChimp is free for lists up to 2,000 people
- Connects seamlessly with Gravity Forms and more
- You can plug in your RSS feed and email your posts
I'm glossing over email lists quite a bit, but because it's such an important tool for outreach (not to mention one of the things you own online), make sure you have an email signup integrated.
Chris Lema does a great job of segmenting his email lists by frequency (weekly vs. daily) - his blog posts get populated into the email and he doesn't have to slave over each individual message.
Chris Lema does a great job of segmenting his email lists by frequency (weekly vs. daily) - his blog posts get populated into the email and he doesn't have to slave over each individual message.
Photo by geishaboy500
Hub and spokes
They're only useful together
... You can travel farther on a wheel than on its component parts.
Photo by MightyBoyBrian
