The Big FOUR Share Buttons That Should Be On All Of Your Online Marketing Content

See those four buttons ^^up there^^? You've probably seen them a million times by now (well, at least the Like & Tweet buttons) on websites across the internet.

Does your website have all four of them? If not... this article is for you. (Or if you don't manage your own website content, share this with your web designer.)

First, I want to be clear that the purpose of these buttons are for people to share YOUR CONTENT (blog posts, videos, events, promotions, etc.). If you want people to Like your Facebook Page, follow your Twitter profile or connect with you on LinkedIn, that's a bit different and I won't be going there in this post.

I'm also not here to preach about why it's important to make it easy for people to share your content. If you question the value of social sharing or inbound marketing in general, check out the awesome Inbound Marketing blog over at http://blog.hubspot.com/ and sift through some of the articles.

Finally, I'm not going to get too much in to the nitty, gritty technical details. All of the share buttons have detailed instructions and FAQs at their respective websites. For the most part they simply require you to customize the button and copy-paste some code to your site. If you need a little more technical help than what is provided, shoot me an email or give me a call at 314-432-7774.

What I AM going to do is give you a quick overview of each button, why it's important and the links to where you can find them.

Ok, let's get started...

Facebook's "Like" Button

What is it: According to Facebook, "The Like button lets a user share your content with friends on Facebook. When the user clicks the Like button on your site, a story appears in the user's friends' News Feed with a link back to your website."

Why you need it: Facebook is the largest social network in the world. As of mid 2010 this little button was averaging more than 65 million "Likes" EVERY DAY! Need I say more?

How to get it: Visit http://developers.facebook.com/docs/reference/plugins/like/, make a few customizations to suit your needs, click the "Get Code" button and embed on your site or blog.

Twitter's "Tweet" Button

What is it: Twitter touts "Add this button to your website to let people share content on Twitter without having to leave the page. Promote strategic Twitter accounts at the same time while driving traffic to your website."

Why you need it: Twitter is great tool for sharing content. It's also a good way to archive links to valuable content (both your own and others') for later reference (like my Tweet Rewind articles). But more importantly, both Google and Bing index Tweets which means they show up in search results and have (limited) SEO backlink value.

How to get it: Visit http://twitter.com/about/resources/tweetbutton. Choose your button style, personalize it and copy-paste away.

LinkedIn's "Share" Button

What is it: "LinkedIn is a place where busy and on-the-go professionals rely on their network to stay informed and make decisions. Get a share button and enable them to share your content with their network."

Why you need it: This one is my personal favorite. Most of my content gets more "Shares" on LinkedIn than any other site. The main reason I love this button is it's flexibility, you can share content in 3 ways; either as a profile update, to any groups you are a member of or sent directly to one (or multiple) connections. I often use this button on my own site to share my content with 4-5 of my favorite groups at the same time. Talk about a time saver!

How to get it: Visit http://www.linkedin.com/publishers and grab the code. There is not a lot of customization for the button itself, but the magic that happens when you click it makes up for visual limitations.

Google "+1" Button

What is it: Google's newly released +1 Button "lets people who love your content recommend it on Google search".

Why you need it: It's Google most recent push in to the social sharing arena. Although it's still a bit early to tell, if it sticks, the +1 Button may have a significant impact on a website's search rankings. If you're logged in to your Google account, you'll also begin to see recommendations based on our Google contacts (Gmail & Google Talk) rise to the top of search results. The idea is to make search more relevant and personalized.

How to get it: Visit http://www.google.com/webmasters/+1/button/ to get started. I suggest watching the video and/or reading instruction first as installation is a bit more complicated, requiring you to copy some hidden code to your site header before putting the button on your individual pages or posts.

Giving your website visitors an easy way to share your content with their social networks is one of the most important functions of a modern website. I am always fascinated (not in a good way) when I see shiny new or redesigned websites that leave out this simple, yet important, element. The future of the web is social, so make sure your site is ready for it with these four little share buttons.

Which button is your favorite and/or most used? Are there other sharing buttons you think should be on all websites? Do you think Google's +1 Button will catch on? Let me know in the comments below.