It’s simple to install social share plugin for WordPress. But keep in mind that they should also be effective and lightweight at the same time. So in this article, I’m making it easy for you to pick between 3 effective and lightweight social share plugin for WordPress to get more shares from your website.
The Most Lightweight Social Share Plugin for WordPress
When you begin working on your clients’ websites, make sure you set up a good and lightweight social share plugin. One that makes it easy for the client to manage settings and configurations.
This applies to which social channels to include, where to display the buttons, and how to change their appearance.
I recommend you choose and install one of the most lightweight social share plugins to minimize the load on the website. All scripts, plugins, and add-ons you install in WordPress will reduce the overall website speed. So, opting for lightweight and high-quality plugins is crucial.
Your client doesn’t always keep this in mind when building a website. It’s your responsibility as a Web Designer and online platform advisor to provide your customers with a quality solution.
That’s why I will only give you my advice on the top social sharing plugins that are lightweight and easy to use.
Social Snap — The Most Beautiful Social Share Plugin
I just switched to Social Snap, which is a paid plugin, but keep this in mind. Now, before you leave this article, keep this in mind when it comes to free plugins:
The free plugins and other apps, tools, and services are not always the best choice when building a WordPress website.
You want quality-coded plugins. And one that is lightweight, built on clean code to keep the site loading fast.
It’s also clever to pay for quality to make sure updates are provided consistently. That’s how bugs are fixed and new features are added over time.
The best social media plugin for WordPress I have found so far is Social Snap. It’s a social share plugin that covers over 30 different networks and channels.
I also believe this is the most lightweight social share plugin for WordPress I know of.
Other features I like with SocialSnap plugin:
- Very slick interface for customizing
- Easy to connect with social networks in the setup
- It’s a social share plugin with attractive icons
- Many options for placement on the website
- Open Graph support to customize post content when sharing
- Nice options for icon colors and animation
- It’s a social share button with a “minimum share count” setting
- Social Follow option and settings
- It’s a social share plugin with click-to-Tweet function
- Good-looking social share analytics dashboard
Plus many more features like social login, auto-poster, boost old posts, and other cool stuff.
I just bought it and love it. When I find something of this quality that makes my work more fun and enjoyable, I immediately make the switch.
Price: $39 per year.
Monarch — Lightweight Social Share Plugin with Shortcode
You may have heard about the company, Elegant Themes. They are well known for the Divi Theme — a productive, powerful, and simple-to-use visual website builder for WordPress.
They also offer a bunch of quality plugins for WordPress that are lightweight, and one of them is Monarch, their social sharing plugin for WordPress.
It’s a good-looking plugin with a lot of customization options. I think it’s also the best social share plugin with shortcode for WordPress.
This basically means that you drop in a “shortcode” snippet anywhere on a page or post, and the plugin will render the social sharing features.
Monarch is also simple for your customers to use, and here are some of the features:
- Over 35 social networks and channels covered
- 5 different locations for sharing buttons (sidebar, above/below post content, on images and videos, pop-ups, and fly-ins)
- It’s a social share plugin with time delay, if you’re looking for that
- Supports “after inactivity” setting and triggers
- It’s a social share plugin with shortcode to place buttons where you like
- Customization of social share buttons, colors, and shapes
- Mobile-friendly (of course)
Monarch, from Elegant Themes, is also one of my recommended plugins for WordPress.
Price: Note! Elegant Themes operates with ONE license that provides you access to everything. You get the famous Divi builder plus all plugins for $89 per year or a one-time fee of $249.
Social Warfare — Popular and Fast Social Share Plugin
Social Warfare has been around for a long time and is a well-known, quality social sharing plugin for WordPress.
They also state that their plugin is “lightning-fast,” which we like. They make sure you understand “we take load time seriously.”
For you as a Web Designer and online platform advisor, keep load time in mind when building websites.
Here are some of the features in the Social Warfare plugin:
- Customizable buttons and colors to match the website branding
- Upload and customize Pinterest-specific images
- Custom tweet options and click to tweet
- Popular posts widgets with social share count
- Social share plugin with shortcode support
- Analytics tracking with custom UTM codes
Social Warfare is also a paid plugin, which is a good thing.
Price: $29 for one site or $89 for up to 5 sites if you want to add it to your client websites.
Image Social Sharing Plugin for WordPress? All of These
The option to easily share images in posts and pages is an important function for a lot of websites, but not every plugin does this.
Every option suggested here is an image social sharing plugin for WordPress, perfect for sites to make sure they get more shares to Pinterest.
But to give you another great resource link for more options, check out this article for the Best WooCommerce Social Media Plugins. It might as well also be used for your blog.
Conclusion on Lightweight Social Share Plugins for WordPress
The conclusion here, and what I have chosen for the best and lightweight social share plugin for WordPress..
It’s a fast-loading social share plugin, and I love the feature with the little non-invasive share button down on the right side of the pages.
Here are more resources, apps, and tips for your business.
SocialSnap has a nice user interface and is easy to work with. For you as a Web Designer, this is also important to be aware of. So you can suggest good solutions for your clients who often are less tech-savvy. As long as you can offer your customers the best tools and apps, they will love you for your work and suggestions.
Share this article with your network and be the one to spread the word.