Do you want to use the power of social media to promote your business and drive sales to your brand?
In today’s digital world, integrating social networks into your website is a must. In fact, out of the 5.16 billion people using the Internet, almost 4.9 billion of them are social media users.
But with lots of social media widgets for WordPress.org available, it can be overwhelming to know the best way to add them to your site. Especially if you’re not a WordPress expert.
That’s why in this post, we’ll show you the easiest way to add a social media widget to your WordPress website — even if you don’t have any coding knowledge.
Here’s a table of contents to help you navigate and jump to the sections you want:
- What’s a Social Media Widget?
- Social Media Icons vs. Social Media Feeds
- Best Way to Add Social Media Widgets to WordPress
- How to Add Social Media Feed Widget (Combined) to WordPress
Let’s start by talking about what a social media widget is.
What’s a Social Media Widget?
A social media widget in WordPress can mean 2 things. It can be:
- A social media-related content you add to your website’s sidebar, footer, and other widget-ready areas, such as this Instagram feed added to a site’s sidebar area:
- Or, it can also be social media-specific content you add to your site’s posts and pages using an embed code or a WordPress plugin, like this Facebook feed embedded on a page of a website:
A quick Google search will show you that there are tons of social platforms out there, including smaller ones like Tumblr, LinkedIn, Vimeo, Skype, RSS, and more.
But if you want to reach tons of people and convert them, the best options are: Facebook, Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
Now that you know what a social media widget in WordPress is, let’s talk about the difference between adding social media icons and adding social media feeds to your website.
Social Media Icons vs. Social Media Feeds
Since social media widgets refer to social media content, the next question is…
“Which content is better to display on your site: social media icons or social media feeds?”
Social media icons are simple buttons you add to your WordPress.
Since these icons are small, they can be pretty easy to miss. So, your site visitors may not click on them at all because they’re not noticeable.
When clicked, these icons link to your social media profiles to encourage your site visitors to follow you. This means that your visitors need to leave your site to engage with your social media channels.
And the more people leave your site, the fewer chances you have to sell to them.
Social media share buttons are also similarly easy to miss for your website visitors.
Instead of displaying easy-to-miss icons, it’s better to embed your social media feeds on your WordPress.
They’re effective in establishing brand awareness because these social media feeds contain your real-time updates and social media posts.
Plus, social media feeds boost user engagement right on your site.
This means that your site visitors can interact with your social media posts without going to different social media websites, so their focus is on your brand alone.
And the more time they spend on your website, the more chances you have to direct them to your product pages so they can buy from you.
Also, embedding social media feeds on WordPress is a great way to display social proof for your brand in the form of positive customer testimonials or a collection of branded hashtag posts.
Finally, did you know that adding your social media feeds to WordPress can improve your site’s SEO — as long as you use the right WordPress plugins?
That’s right. You can also boost your search rankings when you embed social media feeds on your website.
Now that you know why adding social media feeds to your website is better than adding plain icons, let’s talk about the best WordPress plugins to help you do it.
Best Way to Add Social Media Widgets
The best way to add social media feed widgets to your website is by using WordPress plugins. This way, you can easily display your social media feeds on your WordPress, even if you don’t have any coding knowledge.
Now, since there are a lot of social media plugins to choose from, it can get overwhelming to get started.
So, why not start with the best social media feed plugins for WordPress?
With the help of Smash Balloon, the #1 social media feed plugin for WordPress, you can add your Facebook feeds, Twitter feeds, Instagram feeds, and YouTube feeds to your website — even if you’re a complete WordPress newbie.
How to Add a Facebook Feed Widget
The easiest way to embed your Facebook feed widget on your website?
Install an easy-to-use WordPress plugin like Smash Balloon’s Facebook Feed Pro to do it. It’s the best Facebook feed plugin for WordPress, after all.
With over 250,000 users and a solid 4.9/5 rating, Facebook Feed Pro helps you show feeds from your Facebook page or Facebook group.
You can also select to show certain content only, such as events, status, photos, videos, and albums.
Worried about the plugin slowing down your site? You don’t need to be since the plugin comes with speed optimization. It efficiently caches data so your feed loads lightning-fast on your site.
Plus, your website will still display a feed, even if Facebook’s temporarily down.
With all these amazing functionalities, Facebook Feed Pro is easily the best option when it comes to embedding Facebook widgets.
Want to add a Facebook widget to your own website? Take a look at these step-by-step instructions in this post on how to create a Facebook feed widget on WordPress.
How to Add an Instagram Feed Widget
What if you want to display your Instagram feed on your WordPress instead? Instagram Feed Pro, the best Instagram feed plugin for WordPress, can help you with that.
You can add Smash Balloon’s Instagram Feed Pro as a widget for WordPress. Simply embed it directly on your site’s pages or posts or use its ready-made widget to add it to your site’s sidebar or footer area.
Worried about your Instagram feed not showing up properly on mobile? The plugin automatically makes your Instagram feeds responsive, so they look great on any device or screen size.
It’s perfect for newbies since it doesn’t need any coding or an Instagram Developer account.
Great for your website’s performance, the plugin’s designed to be ultra-fast too. Over 1 million users worldwide give it an average rating of 4.9/5 stars, after all.
Interested in creating and displaying an Instagram widget for your own brand? Check out this nifty tutorial on how to add an Instagram widget to your WordPress site today.
How to Add a Twitter Feed Widget
Did you know that Smash Balloon plugins also include a high-rated plugin to help you embed your Twitter feeds on your website?
As the best Twitter feed plugin for WordPress, you can use Twitter Feeds Pro to create and display completely customizable and responsive Twitter feeds on WordPress.
As a result, you can boost your brand awareness and even increase sales for your business.
The great thing about this plugin is that it looks great right out of the box. Since it automatically copies your website’s existing theme and style, your Twitter feeds can look consistent with your brand’s visual identity.
Plus, you can easily customize your Twitter feed’s design with a few clicks from the live feed editor. So, you can have your feed looking exactly how you want it — no HTML, Custom CSS, or any coding needed!
If you feel like coding isn’t for you, Custom Twitter Feeds Pro is the best choice to help you embed specific Twitter widget examples like hashtag feeds, custom searches, and user timelines on your website.
Wondering how you can get started embedding your Twitter feeds? Check out this post on how to add a Twitter widget in WordPress and follow the step-by-step instructions.
How to Add a YouTube Feed Widget
Finally, to help you display YouTube feeds on your website, you can use Smash Balloon’s YouTube Feed Pro.
It’s the best YouTube feed plugin for WordPress, so even beginners can easily use it to embed their feeds in just a few minutes!
With the help of YouTube Feed Pro, you can easily add a customizable YouTube feed to your website — just by checking or unchecking choices.
You don’t need to be an expert in coding or design to set up your feed because the plugin does the hard work for you.
You can also save lots of time using the plugin. Why? Instead of getting the code of each YouTube video so you can manually embed them, you just need to connect your YouTube account and let the plugin handle the rest.
To add a YouTube feed widget to your own brand’s site, take a look at this helpful tutorial on how to create a YouTube widget for your website.
How to Add Social Media Feed Widget (Combined)
Now that you know how to add specific social media feed widgets to your WordPress, why not take it a step further and combine them into 1 feed?
As the best social media widget plugin for WordPress, Social Wall Pro helps you display these social media feeds on a centralized wall posted on your website:
- YouTube
As a result, you can effectively improve user engagement, establish brand awareness and use the power of user-generated content to increase your profits.
You can start adding your social media feed widget to WordPress by getting your own copy of Social Wall Pro here.
Once you have the plugin, you can quickly combine content from YouTube, Instagram, Facebook, as well as Twitter.
First, navigate to the Social Feeds menu from your WordPress dashboard. Then, click on the Add New button at the top to continue.
Here, you can choose the social media platforms that you want to use for your new social wall.
Just click on the Add to Wall button on the platforms you’d like to embed.
Next, you can simply choose the feeds that you’d like to add to your wall.
Once you do that, click on Create Wall and proceed to the next step below.
In the next step, you can use the plugin’s simple customization options to change how your social wall looks.
Customize Your Social Media Widget
Like other Smash Balloon plugins, Social Wall Pro looks great right out of the box as well.
And if you want to customize its design, you can do that easily using the visual customizer.
On the left, you can find the options to change your social wall’s layout, color schemes, post elements, and more.
And with the live preview on the right, you can track all of your changes in real time as well.
First, click on the Layout option on the left to start the customization.
Social Wall Pro will now let you select from 3 layout options: Masonry, List, and Carousel.
For this post, let’s select the masonry layout.
Remember to click on Save to confirm your social wall’s layout options.
After that, you can continue personalizing your wall by clicking on the Customize button at the top.
As you can see, it’s super easy to customize your social wall — even if you’re new to WordPress. Remember to click on Save to confirm your changes.
After that, you can learn how to embed your social media widget on WordPress in the final step below.
Add Your Social Media Widget to WordPress
It’s super easy to display your combined social media feed on your website using the Social Wall Pro plugin. Plus, you can get started right from the live feed editor.
First, click on the Embed button at the top.
Once you do that, Social Wall Pro lets you choose how you want to embed your wall:
- Copy: Copy the shortcode of your wall and manually add it to any part of your site
- Add to a Page: Display the social wall on a WordPress page
- Add to a Widget: Show the social wall on your widget areas like the sidebar or footer
To continue, select the embed option that you prefer.
For our example, we’ll go with the Add to a Page option here.
Now, you can just select the page where you want to embed your social wall before clicking on Add.
You’ll then see the web page open in the WordPress Gutenberg block editor.
Once you’re there, add a new block by clicking on the plus (+) icon.
Next, use the search bar to look for the “social wall” block.
Finally, click on the Social Wall block in the search results below — it’s that easy!
And once you’re happy with your social wall, click on Update so your website visitors can see it when they check out your website like this:
So, there you have it!
Congratulations. Now, you know the best ways to add social media widgets to your WordPress site with the help of Smash Balloon’s powerful and easy-to-use plugins.
Now, you’re ready to boost your engagement, get tons of social media followers, and grow your business with ease.
Ready to create social media widgets? Get the Smash Balloon All Access Bundle now!
Want your website to make more money? We’ve got a fantastic list of the best WooCommerce plugins to turn your site into a successful online store.
And don’t forget to follow us on Twitter and Facebook for more social media tips and tricks to grow your business.
