It can be annoying and off-putting for people who do not find social buttons where they expect them to be when they want to share content that interests them and that they know would benefit other people. Sometimes the buttons are non-existent, and sometimes a visitor has to scroll to the end of the content to find the buttons. Any friction between wanting to share content and doing so successfully can cause a decrease in engagement, and this is why businesses must think carefully about where and how they place their social buttons.

At the Header

Your header will contain your heading and maybe the subheading, both of which are meant to entice people to read the content below the header. While placing social buttons here can show you have social media accounts, it does little to help with engagement.

Many people do not want to share content that they have not read unless you are a reputable source that they are already familiar with. That said, placing social buttons here can be a primer to let people know that you would appreciate it if they shared your content, even if they do not do it right after reading the heading.

Floating Bars

Floating bars are one of the most effective ways of placing social buttons on your site. Their main advantage comes from the fact that they are always visible, no matter where the visitor is on the page. Instead of the visitor scrolling up and down looking for the buttons, they are always there and thus the visitor can share or engage with the buttons any time they like no matter where they are on the page.

Floating bars are especially useful for long-form content, where bars placed at the header and footer keep the buttons away from the visitor’s line of sight.

To make them pop even more, some websites make them fade in once a visitor has read some portion of the page. Making the floating bar jump out of the page like this makes it hard to ignore and keeping it on the page makes buttons available throughout the visit.

Above or Below Posts

Placing the social buttons above or below the main content remains a popular way of getting people to engage with them. You will find buttons placed here on many websites because they work very well. Many websites, however, choose to have the buttons at the bottom of the content. Doing so ensures anyone who finishes reading the content and loves it can share it as soon as they are done.

Top-Right Floating or Sidebar

Most people read from left to right. Once our eyes reach the end of a line, we scan whatever is on the right before moving on to the line below. This way of reading is why research has found that one of the best places to put your social links is on the top right of your page. You can place the buttons on a sticky sidebar or make them float at the top right to increase engagement.

A little experimentation is required to determine what button placement works best for your website. However, research has shown floating buttons and placing the buttons at the bottom of the content work best for engagement.