How Big Brands Display Social Network Icons on Their Websites

The majority of modern businesses need to use the Internet to be successful. Even small local companies tend to have a website to enhance user experience and increase sales. However, to have a strong online presence, running a website is often not enough. Social media networks are perfect for promoting your business and engaging new clients. You can find logo maker and canvas templates for any type of social media post to advertise your brand, but you need to share your socials first. Here are some ways of displaying your social media links on the web page.

Links in the Header

The header is the top bar on a web page, and placing important info and links there is a nice move. Some brands put the links to their social pages right in the header so visitors do not have to even scroll to find them. Here are some good examples of using links in the header:

• Whole Foods – in the header of the Whole Foods website, visitors can immediately see the most important info: registration and signing in options, a search bar, and links to a few social media profiles of the brand.
• Disney Books – with a simple blue header, this site only features a search bar and minimalistic white stylized icons of their socials, such as Twitter, YouTube, and Instagram.
• Angry Birds – what started as a simple mobile game is now a multimillion corporation that also produces movies and merch. On the top bar, they have a few social media icons with their respective colors that fit perfectly into the colorful website design.

While this is a great solution to place your socials at the top, there are also a few different options that also work quite well. Besides, it really depends on your website design as not all sites will look good with links in the header.

Links in the Sidebar

The sidebar is a convenient location for placing some essential info. You can make it fixed that your links are always on the side as visitors read through the main block or leave it scrollable and add more info below or above. In any case, proper sidebars do not distract website users from scrolling through pages and allow having essential info on the side to find it easily. Here are some brands with their socials placed in the sidebar:

• PlayStation Blog – in a convenient sidebar, they have various podcasts and featured articles, as well as a simple block with various social media icons and names, such as Twitter, Twitch, Facebook, and more.
• CNN Press Room – this website has a fixed sidebar with three quite big social media icons in circles, which can be noticed immediately as the site loads.
• TED Blog – this one has a short sidebar that only features its socials and a button for newsletter subscription. This minimalism is great as there is a lot of information on the main dashboard already.

As you can see, links in the sidebar are mostly used by various company blogs and news websites. This is because the majority of the screen is already occupied with tons of information in a form of articles or posts. In this situation, having a clean sidebar is helpful.

Links in the Footer

It is common for websites to have their social media profiles linked in the footer. People already expect to find the links there as usual. However, this might be inconvenient if you have the infinite scroll on your site. Here are the websites that use this method:

• Microsoft – they have a simple and short homepage with the essential info and just two links at the bottom: Facebook and YouTube.
• Sony Music – once again, a short dashboard and a plain dark footer with white social media website icons. This design looks minimalistic and straight to the point.
• Time Magazine – while there are quite some articles and segments to scroll through, this popular magazine has its socials listed at the bottom. Right under the Time sign, there are a few minimalistic links in the same red color as the name of the magazine and some other elements of the page.

While placing links in the footer is a very common solution, it can be suitable only for certain website designs.

Conclusions

Having social media profiles to promote your brand is crucial. Even the biggest companies in the world realize the importance of social media and have a few different profiles. There are three main ways of displaying your socials on the site: in the header, sidebar, or footer. A lot depends on the website design you are choosing as links must look organically and not clash with all other elements of the site. Strategically placed social platform links will be extremely beneficial for any business.