Some Web Design experts may not be too social media savvy, this is not their fault because they are not social media gurus, simply web designers. Social media is an increasingly important factor for businesses and the demand to add Facebook to someone’s website is increasing. So what plug ins should be used and where?
First of all, lets get the terminology out of the way. A like is when someone likes a page, this is essentially becoming a fan and subscribing to the pages updates and so on. When someone recommends something, then the page they recommended shows on their wall for all of their friends to see. If your client wants maximum exposure to their Facebook page, then consider incorporating both the like and recommend.
The Like Button
This is the bare minimum when it comes to Facebook. By default, Facebook shows you a like button plus the amount of users liking your page with their profile pictures. For a less in your face approach, deselect the send button and show faces. Then switch the layout style to button count. You’re like button should then look a little something like this.
This version of the Facebook like goes very well with the Twitter follow or Retweet button, along with the Google plus 1.
The Send Button
The send button can be incorporated into the like button by selecting the send button option. However if you would like to put the send button elsewhere then you can use this plug in. The send button allows users to send your page to a friend(s), however this is not used much by Facebook users and it is much simpler to include a like or recommend button.
The Comment Box
For those who want Facebook users to comment on their page or content, then including the comment section can be a great plug in to use. You can change the settings of the comments so they need to be approved before hand, for more specifics, check out the comment box plug in itself.
The Activity Feed
The Activity Feed shows users what is happening on their Facebook profile, this is basically their news feed on your site. This is fairly pointless because they did not come to your site to see what their friends are doing, chances are if they are a heavy Facebook user, then they will have Facebook open in another tab,
The Like Box
The like box is the big daddy of Facebook plug ins, it includes: the like button, Your live stream, and the amount of people who have liked your page including profile pictures. This has all of the features that are needed for the best exposure for your Facebook page. You can pick and choose what part of the plug in you want to keep/delete, but if you client is really involved in the Facebook page I would suggest this.
Recommendations
The recommendations plug in show similar pages to the page that the Facebook user is on, and recommends them to the user. This can be somewhat tedious and also a waste of space. If you have a link going to your most important pages, then this plug in is practically useless and I would not suggest it to be used on any site.
The Login Button
This button lets Facebook users log into Facebook directly from your site. I think that this button is somewhat pointless because if a visitor wants to use Facebook on your site and they are not currently logged in, then they will be prompted to before they can like our page or anything along those lines.
Registration
The registration button allows people to sign up for Facebook directly from your site, however people would much rather sign up to Facebook directly from the site instead of your own. This plug in is not worth installing into your site because it would not benefit yourself and would most likely not get used.
Facepile
Facepile is a pile of faces who have liked your page. This can be used creatively, however it is incorporated into the like box and is much neater and tidier in that plug in. Although if you would like your pile of faces to be arranged elsewhere, then this plug in can prove to be useful.
The Live Stream
Live stream shows your pages live stream, sounds fairly simple, and it is. This is incorporated into the like box and I would say it is fairly pointless on its own.
Conclusion
Facebook provides a huge selection of plug ins, but in my opinion the only one worth using is the like box. This is because everything important is included in this plug in. The other features that are not included in the like box are not worth including because they do not add any value to the page. The only other plug in I would recommend is the comment section, but this must be used carefully to stop spam and negative, undesired comments which could do more harm than good.
