Since 1999
Incorporating too many buttons at times can do more harm than good. Image Courtesy: jwloh.deviantart.com
Here’s why:
Incorporating too many social media sharing buttons can slow down your site significantly. Social media sharing buttons use JavaScript to move back and forth from your site to the social network. The more the buttons, the more JavaScript and naturally longer the time your site will take to load. Audiences have short attention span. You hardly have a few seconds to capture their attention and hold it. When users have millions of other options on the World Wide Wide to read what you have to offer, it is unlikely they are going to wait for your site to load. Fast loading sites attract maximum visitors, a high percentage of returning visitors and high page rankings. If you want to retain visitors, give them a fast site. That means keep your social media sharing buttons to only those that actually make your content reach out to users.
If your social media sharing buttons display negligible or worse zero shares, it may actually give out a negative impression. It is like sending a loud and clear message to your visitors that nobody is interested in what you have to offer and your site is not worthwhile. The whole purpose of adding buttons on the site is to show the extent of your social online presence. When visitors see your blog posts attracting likes and shares, their curiosity is aroused and other visitors are encouraged to read and share your content.
Less is More It is a human tendency that the more options you have, the more confusing it is to make a decision. The more, is not always the better. Remove the clutter, and keep only selected buttons. This will make it easier for your readers to share your content on their preferred social networking site. Now the question is which social buttons to retain and what to delete. You need to do a comparative analysis and find out which social networking sites are bringing your visitors and most shares. In the next blog post, we will discuss the top social media sharing buttons which you should add on your website.
