Which share networks to show, and how many

Start from your readers, not the settings screen

Sharing plugins list dozens of networks because they can, not because you should show them. Each extra button is another choice the reader has to scan, another icon to load, and another row that wraps on a phone. The old premium network packs sold by share plugins, including the MashShare Social Networks add-on this address once sold, existed because site owners wanted everything available. Having everything available is fine; displaying everything is the mistake.

Match networks to content type

Treat the table as a starting hypothesis. Your own referrer data beats any general rule. After a month, remove any button that has not been clicked.

Worked example: reading a referrer report

Here is how the decision looks with numbers. The figures are invented but the shape is typical of a mid-sized craft blog. In the analytics referrer report for the last 90 days, filter to social and messaging sources and note each one's share of the total, then compare with the clicks each button in the current row received.

The "direct" line is the interesting one. Sessions with no referrer that arrive at deep post URLs usually came from a link pasted into a chat, a message or an email. No network button produced them, which is why the row gains a copy link button and, on phones, a native share button. The old row of eight buttons becomes Pinterest, Facebook, copy link, email and a More button holding X.

Buttons people forget

• Copy link. A large share of sharing happens in private chats. A copy button with a clear "Link copied" confirmation serves all of them.
• Email. Still used, especially by older readers and at work. A mailto: link costs nothing.
• Messaging apps. On phones, a native share button (the Web Share API) opens the device's own share sheet, covering every messaging app the reader has installed.

A copied link carries only the address. The chat app or feed that receives it builds its own preview from your page's tags, so the title, image and any label in that preview are yours to control; what survives in a share preview covers what to check.

Networks that went away

Share rows age. Google+ closed to consumers in 2019. Delicious stopped accepting new bookmarks years before that. Regional networks come and go. If your plugin still shows a button for a service that no longer exists, it wastes space and makes the page look abandoned. Audit the row once a year.

How many social media share buttons is too many

There is no universal number, but the pattern is consistent: a short row with a clear label outperforms a long row, and a long row on mobile is worse still because it wraps or scrolls. Four buttons plus copy link fits one line on almost every phone. If you need more, put the extras behind a single "More" button rather than showing them all.

The arithmetic on a phone is simple. At 360 CSS pixels wide with 16 pixel side margins, the row has 328 pixels. Five icon-only buttons at 44 pixels with 8 pixel gaps need 252 pixels and fit. Add short text labels and each button grows to roughly 90 pixels, so the same five need about 480 pixels and wrap. Either drop labels on small screens or show three labelled buttons plus More; share buttons on mobile has the CSS.

Pitfalls when choosing networks

• Choosing by your own habits. The site owner's favourite network is often the least used by readers. The referrer report decides, not preference.
• Counting followers instead of shares. A large following on one network says nothing about whether readers share articles there.
• One row for every post type. A tutorial and a recipe on the same site can deserve different rows. Most plugins allow per-post-type settings.
• Keeping a dead network for old links. A button for a closed service does nothing; a redirect on the old share URL, if it exists, is the network's problem.
• Ignoring the More button. Extras behind one button cost nothing and calm the row. Hiding them entirely loses the occasional click for no gain.

Check it worked

• Every button in the row has at least one click in the analytics report after 30 days; anything at zero is a removal candidate.
• The row fits one line at 360 pixels wide, in portrait, with labels or without.
• Copy link shows a confirmation and the pasted address is the canonical post URL.
• The More button, if present, opens with the keyboard and lists only networks you decided to keep.
• Nothing in the row links to a service that no longer exists.

When you change the row, note the date. Comparing 30 days before and after is the only way to tell whether the shorter row lost anything. Placement and styling are covered in adding share buttons to WordPress and in the wider share buttons handbook.

Sources

• Pew Research Center: social media fact sheet
• MDN Web Docs: Navigator.share() (Web Share API)

Questions

Related reading

1. 01How to add social share buttons to WordPressAdd social share buttons to WordPress with a plugin, a block, or plain links in your theme. Placement, networks, counts and the checks to run afterwards.6 min read
2. 02Share buttons on mobile: layout, size and native sharingMake share buttons work on phones: tap target sizes, one-line rows, bottom bars, the native share sheet, and how to show different buttons on small screens.6 min read
3. 03Tracking shares and pageviews in analyticsTrack share button clicks as analytics events, tag shared links with campaign parameters, and read shared traffic in referrer reports without cookies.5 min read