Social media is essential for anyone looking to grow their brand and boost online visibility. However, as the digital landscape evolves, so does the way people share content. While traditional share buttons were once a staple of websites, they’ve lost relevance.
Today, users prefer sharing content that feels native to their platform of choice, with visuals like images, videos, and infographics dominating social platforms.
In this article, we’ll explore the changing nature of social sharing, strategies for leveraging share buttons on visual content, and the best WordPress tools to encourage social media sharing. Let’s get started!
Are Social Sharing Buttons Dead?
Social share buttons were once a must-have on blogs and websites. But as the internet evolved, many marketers (myself included) began questioning their effectiveness.
Does anyone even click them anymore? If we’re talking about traditional share buttons, like those that typically appear at the top of a blog post or in the header, the short answer is no (or barely)—98.8% of mobile users never engage with them.
Why the decline? Early designs were clunky and didn’t always work correctly, which made users wary. Meanwhile, social platforms became more popular and feature-rich, leading users to share directly within platforms, like retweeting on X (formerly Twitter) or pinning on Pinterest.
So, should we throw in the towel and abandon social sharing on websites entirely? Not quite…
The Shift Towards Visual Content
With over 4.6 billion people using social media and 70% of North Americans relying on it to connect and share content with others, the value of social sharing hasn’t diminished—it’s evolved. People haven’t stopped sharing, but what and how they share has changed.
With the abundance of content online, visuals stand out. Users are likelier to share visually compelling content like images, infographics, and videos than long-form articles (news being an exception). In fact, people are more likely to share a visual advertisement from a blog than the article itself (according to Moovweb)—highlighting the power of visual content for social media sharing.
Key Takeaways
Don’t rely on old-school, outdated share buttons.
Don’t expect users to share your homepage or long text content (news articles are the exception).
Do create visually optimized content for social platforms.
Do tailor your website to encourage users to share specific content naturally.
Best Practices for Shareable Content
Creating compelling visual designs with social platforms in mind is essential to encouraging organic sharing. Here are key practices to keep in mind:
- Use High-Quality Images and Videos: Ensure visuals are professional, clear, and visually engaging to stand out.
- Incorporate Storytelling Elements: Images that evoke emotions or tell a story are more likely to be shared.
- Leverage Infographics and Memes: Deliver information in a fun, digestible way.
- Use Engaging Titles, Captions, and Alt Text: These help make your content accessible and searchable.
- Optimize Metadata: Use sharing plugins, Open Graph tags, or Twitter Cards to ensure visuals display correctly when shared.
Further Reading: Tools to Create Better Images for Blog Posts & Social Media
Creating Content for Your Audience
Tailor your content to fit your audience’s interests and your brand. You can optimize your articles to encourage sharing using compelling headlines and images, but it will only take you so far. Consider breaking down content and concepts into bite-sized, shareable visuals to maximize success. Here are a few examples to spark your creativity:
Infographics
Deliver complex information quickly through well-designed visuals:
- Comparison charts
- Tips or product recommendations
- Surprising industry statistics or trends
- Visual overviews such as a flowchart or timeline to breakdown how-to processes or DIY guides
- Recipe cards for food blogs
Images & GIFs
Spark conversation and demonstrate concepts through engaging visuals:
- Before-and-after comparisons for services like interior design
- Captivating photos or GIFs of unique events or travel experiences
- Aesthetically pleasing GIFs showing product colors, variations, or customizations
- Motivational quotes or surprising statistics overlaid on an image
- Striking portfolio images from photographers or designers that evoke emotion and showcase creativity
- Humorous memes related to your industry
This is a great example of how the furniture brand Ikea used a trending meme to promote their products and encourage sharing.
Videos
Use videos to engage and educate your audience while driving shares:
- Behind-the-scenes clips or time-lapses for creatives
- Step-by-step video tutorials
- Product unboxings or demonstrations for eCommerce sites
- Testimonials and user-generated content
Tailoring your visual content ensures it resonates with your audience and encourages meaningful, organic sharing across platforms.
Further Reading: How to Build a Brand on Social Media: 10 Proven Steps
Best Social Share Tools for WordPress
If traditional share buttons aren’t cutting it, website owners need tailored alternatives to encourage social sharing. Here are some of the best social share plugins for WordPress:
1. Envira Gallery
Envira Gallery is the top gallery plugin for WordPress, offering custom layouts, social sharing, and advanced tools tailored for photographers and image-heavy websites.
Envira Gallery’s Social Sharing Addon lets you add share buttons directly to images in the lightbox and on galleries, including on hover. It keeps your website uncluttered and organically encourages visitors to share your visual content on platforms like Pinterest, Facebook, X, LinkedIn, and WhatsApp.
Meanwhile, the Instagram Addon allows you to create galleries from Instagram posts, linking directly to your social media to grow engagement and followers.
2. RafflePress
RafflePress boosts social engagement through viral giveaways on your WordPress website. You can incentivize users by offering extra entries for actions like:
- Sharing the giveaway on social media
- Following you on social media
- Visiting or liking your social media page or YouTube channel
- Tweeting a message
This tool works well for eCommerce stores, blogs, businesses, and influencers looking to grow their social presence through contests on their website. It’s a powerful alternative to more traditional WP social share plugins.
3. Share This Image
Share This Image is a free WordPress share plugin focused on adding lightweight share buttons directly to images. The tool makes it easy for users to share photos on popular platforms like Facebook, X, LinkedIn, Pinterest, Tumblr, WhatsApp, Telegram, Messenger, and Reddit.
You decide which images are shareable and can customize the titles, content, and URL. It’s ideal for users who want a simple, free plugin to add sharing functionality directly to infographics and other images.
4. Better Click to Tweet
If X (formerly Twitter) is part of your social strategy, Better Click to Tweet is one of the best social share plugins for WordPress. It lets you embed tweetable quotes directly into your content, making it easy for readers to share specific snippets from your posts.
5. Monarch by Elegant Themes
Monarch is a premium tool included in an Elegant Themes subscription. It offers flexible sharing options like pop-ups, fly-ins, and sidebar buttons, as well as advanced features like tracking your social shares with built-in statistics. It’s perfect for businesses that want a highly customizable sharing tool with a sleek design.
6. Ultimate Social Media Icons
Ultimate Social Media Icons is a free plugin that offers a variety of social button styles and integrates easily into posts or pages. You can configure your buttons to perform multiple actions and add animations or other effects to draw visitors’ attention and encourage sharing. It’s ideal for adding lightweight sharing buttons without a complex setup.
BONUS: Revive Old Posts
Unlike traditional sharing buttons, Revive Old Posts isn’t a plugin for sharing buttons. Instead, it automatically shares your archived content on social media to keep your feed fresh. As users increasingly share within platforms, this plugin helps you circulate content without manual effort, boosting engagement and exposure.
Further Reading: Ultimate Guide to the Best WordPress Social Media Plugins
Final Tips for Social Media Sharing
To get the most from your social sharing tools, follow these best practices:
- Strategic Placement: Add share buttons on high-impact content like images, videos, or infographics where users are most engaged.
- Maintain a Clean Design: Avoid clutter by tailoring buttons to specific content types—such as a Pin It button on galleries or a tweetable quote in posts.
- Optimize for Mobile: Ensure buttons display and function properly on all devices.
- Track Analytics: Use tools like Google Analytics or a plugin to track social shares and refine your strategy.
- Ensure Proper Display: Set up Open Graph tags and Twitter Cards to ensure images and links display properly when shared.
- Add a CTA to Encourage Shares: Users may not always think about sharing content from a website, but that doesn’t mean they’re unwilling. A well-placed, simple call-to-action (CTA) is often all they need to share on social media.
Traditional share buttons may have lost relevance, but social sharing remains a powerful way to boost your brand’s visibility. You can encourage organic engagement by creating shareable visuals like images, infographics, and videos—and using tools like Envira Gallery to embed share options directly on your photos.
If you enjoyed learning about social media sharing and WordPress share buttons, be sure to check out our post on the Best WordPress Instagram Plugins for Epic Feeds & More Followers.
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Hello Brenda,
Thank you very much for this great list and sharing all this information about the different tools.
Another important aspect in my eyes is, not only to wait for your users to share your posts, but do actively cross-promote your posts across multiple networks and sites. For automatically cross-posting your blog posts on social media take a look at the Blog2Social plugin. It has powerful options for easily sharing your posts across all popular social media networks in one easy step. You can optionally customize your posts for each network and automatically schedule your posts for the best times to share. The plugin is a big time saver for cross-promoting your posts.
I’d love to hear what you think about it.
Kind regards and happy sharing,
Bastian