How often do you go to a website and see teeny, tiny social media icons or even none at all? Often the blog button is nothing more than a button on the main navigation. Visitors can’t see that this is where new content is going.
This reminds me of website navigation in the 90’s and early 2000’s. Remember how designers would make the navigation buttons subtle, hidden, and teeny, tiny — in the interests of design elegance. Back then, we at FOW were pushing for upfront & elegant navigation as it’s conducive to people clicking around the website and reading more.
The same is true for the email sign up box and social media icons. If you are committed to social media and inbound marketing, you want to the links and sign ups to be prominent on your site.
In the above photo you see the fun website of TV host / health / wellness / eco-consciousness coach Giselle Achecar. I didn’t design this site but I like the style and the prominent social media.
On the left is Chick Boss Premier Jewelry. I consulted on the plan for this website and handle their blog and social media. Each page has a call to action for their online store, their Facebook, Twitter and email newsletter. That’s because we want every site visitor to keep in touch and go to the store once they’ve gotten to know us.
The same is true for the email sign up box and social media icons. If you are committed to social media and inbound marketing, you want to the SM links and blog and email sign ups to be prominent on your site. And it can look great!
Have a site you like that does this well? Want to share how you’ve done this on your site–drop me a line in the comments section below!
Also, here’s a blog post from Hubspot with 50…yes, 50 social media icons in different styles to rock your web design.
Karen Nierlich is an internet marketing consultant in Albany, CA. She and others at FOW help clients thrive on the internet through website development, design and inbound marketing consulting. See the Full Orbit Web and Marketing portfolio.