Including links to your most important social networking sites in the header, sidebar or footer of your website is a must. This invites and makes it easy for not only current clients to become a social fan, but also notifies any potential clients that you are available anywhere they go. In general, each social media site provides a graphical button or profile widget that you can share on your site. You can also simply link text for each community, like we do in our footer below.

Here are links and directions to Twitter and Facebook graphical buttons and widgets for you to display on your site and blogs.

Twitter:

1. Log into your business Twitter Account
2. Choose between a button or a widget here.
3. A button will display an twitter icon with your choice of Tweet, Follow, Hashtag or Mention.
4. If you want a widget, first select "My Website" in the left sidebar.
5. Choose "Profile Widget", which will display a running scroll of your most recent Twitter posts to your Twitter page.
6. Customize the look of your widget using the "Preferences", "Appearances" and "Dimensions" tabs.
7. Once you're finished, click "Finish & Grab Code" at the bottom and skip to the "Adding the Code to Your Website" step below. The finished product should look similar to the example Twitter Widget to the right.

Facebook:

Update: Facebook is always changing and with the switch to the new Open Graph API, the process for linking your website or blog to your business Facebook Page has also changed. 

1. Make sure you are logged in as an admin of your Page and go here.
2. Change the appearance of your Page badge by clicking "Edit this badge" in the upper right of the page. It will look something like ours, to the right.
3. Once you have your badge the way you want it, click save. Then generate the embed code by clicking on the type of blog or website you have (or selecting "other").

Like Button, Like Box and other Social Plugins

Another way to create a link between your Facebook Page and your website is through facebook's social plugins. Most of these require programming or coding knowledge to set up through Facebook's Open Graph. You can find Facebook's documentation on these objects here. If you need additional help, contact us online.

Adding the Code to Your Website

With both Twitter and Facebook, you will be provided with a code for you to copy and integrate into your website. If you have a content management system or blog, it will be easy for you to simply log in and place the code where you want it. However, if you rely on a designer/developer to perform updates to your site, you will just have to email the code and tell them where you prefer to have your button or widget displayed.

What is the point of all of this? You built the communities, for a reason: to communicate with clients and potential clients. These links are on your site for all those on your site to see that you are readily available to answer questions and communicate in all forms of the Internet. The easiest way to get that point across is by displaying your participation on your website for all visitors to see.

For more information, contact Rocket Media online for comprehensive social media solutions, including training, setup, maintenance and campaigns. comments powered by Disqus