How do I enable the share button on Facebook?

Facebook’s share button allows users to easily share content from external websites on their Facebook profile or page. The share button appears as an icon, usually with the Facebook logo, and is commonly found on articles, videos, images, and other media around the web. When clicked, it opens a pop-up dialog box where the user can post the content to their timeline or send it to friends. Enabling the Facebook share button on your website is a great way to increase engagement, visibility, and traffic from Facebook.

What is the Facebook Share Button?

The Facebook share button, also known as the Facebook social plugin, is a tool created by Facebook to allow users to share external content on their Facebook profiles with little effort. It appears as a button or icon on third-party websites and apps and uses Facebook’s APIs to enable the sharing functionality.

When a user clicks on the share button, a dialog box pops up with options to share the content to their own timeline, post it on a friend’s timeline, share it in a Facebook group, or send it as a private message. The user can also customize the shared content with a comment or description.

The share button helps increase engagement between users and websites. It allows websites to tap into Facebook’s over 2 billion monthly active users and extensive social reach. For users, it provides a simple way to share interesting content they find across the web with their friends and followers.

Benefits of Adding the Share Button

Integrating the Facebook share button has several benefits:

Increased referral traffic – The share button makes it easy for users to share your content to potentially millions of Facebook users. This can drive more visitors to your site.

Boosted social engagement – More shares lead to more likes, comments, and overall visibility of your content on Facebook.
Expanded reach – Users will autonomously share content with their own networks outside of your page’s followers.
Improved SEO – Higher social activity signals to search engines that your content is popular and engaging.

Brand awareness – More people will be exposed to your brand, products, and services through shares.

How to Add the Share Button

Get a Facebook Developer Account

To access Facebook tools and APIs, you need to register as a Facebook developer. Go to developers.facebook.com and follow the steps to set up a developer account.

Make sure you also verify your personal Facebook profile and set up a Facebook app. This will generate the App ID and App Secret needed later.

Generate a Share Button

Once you have a Facebook developer account, you can configure and generate buttons to add to your site:

Go to the Share Button generator in the Facebook for Developers site.
Select a button style – icon, button count, or box count.

Customize size, color, and other options.
Enter your Facebook App ID.
Click “Get Code” and copy the code snippet.

For example, here is the code for a standard blue icon share button:

<!-- Facebook Share Button --> 
<div 
  class="fb-share-button" 
  data-href="http://your-url" 
  data-layout="icon"
  data-size="small">
</div>

Add the Snippet to Your Site

Paste the share button code snippet on your web page wherever you want the button to appear. Some common placement options:

Next to headlines

At the top or bottom of blog posts
Alongside media like images, videos, or slideshows
In sidebars or widget areas

Inline with text content

Make sure the button code is visible on all pages you want it to appear.

Load the JavaScript SDK

The share button functionality needs the Facebook JavaScript SDK library to work. Add this before the closing </body> tag:

<!-- Facebook SDK -->
<div id="fb-root"></div>
<script async defer crossorigin="anonymous" 
  src="https://connect.facebook.net/en_US/sdk.js#xfbml=1&version=v15.0" 
  nonce="yourNonceValue"></script>

Customizing the Share Button

When generating the code, there are several options to customize the button’s appearance and functionality:

Size

Set the size to small, medium, or large depending on needed prominence.

Layout

Choose icon, button count, or box count layout. Icon shows just the Facebook logo. Counts display share numbers.

Color

Change the color from standard blue to white, gray, or black.

Include Share Count

Check this if you want the button to display a live count of how many times content has been shared.

Show Faces

Display profile pictures of friends who have already shared the content.

Width

Set a custom width for the button in pixels.

Verb to Display

Use “share” or “recommend” to customize the button text.

Font

Specify font family and size if not using the default.

Where to Place the Share Button

Proper share button placement is important to get maximum impact. Some best practices:

Highlighted positions like above the fold or near headlines
Areas with lots of white space like sidebars or footers

Near related social buttons like Twitter or Pinterest sharing
Above the content the button is sharing
On pages with high traffic and engagement

Avoid placing near potentially offensive content or buried deep within complex layouts. Test different placements to see which get the most use.

Troubleshooting the Share Button

Button does not appear

If the Facebook share button does not show up, check that:

The button code snippet is present on the page

The App ID in the code matches your Facebook app
The JavaScript SDK is implemented properly
Any ad blockers are disabled

Share count does not update

It takes some time for share counts to update across Facebook’s systems and CDNs. If the count seems stuck, try:

Waiting a while – counts may take hours to populate
Checking shares on Facebook directly to confirm activity

Using the Facebook Debugger to troubleshoot issues

Share pop-up does not open

If clicking the button doesn’t open the share dialog, try:

Logging out and back into Facebook – session issues may interfere

Using another browser or incognito window
Asking others to test sharing to check for consistent issues

If problems persist, re-generate the button code from scratch and verify all settings.

Increase Your Sharing Reach

To maximize sharing activity with the Facebook button:

Post engaging content – Content that elicits emotions and reactions tends to get shared more.
Use high quality media – Eye-catching photos and videos tend to attract more interactions.

Write descriptive headlines – Summarize the content clearly to grab attention.
Leverage hashtags strategically – Include relevant hashtags for discovery.
Promote sharing – Ask your audience to share posts with their networks.

Share buttons everywhere – Include sharing options on all relevant pages and posts.

Analyze sharing data over time and double down on content types that perform best. The higher quality and more engaging your content is, the more viral shares you will earn.

Other Social Sharing Options

Beyond Facebook, many other platforms have share buttons to tap into wider networks:

Twitter

Let users easily tweet your content out to their followers.

Share blog posts and resources with the professional community.

Drive traffic by allowing users to pin visual content to Pinterest.

Tap into Reddit’s influential user-moderated communities.

Leverage WhatsApp’s encrypted messaging to share privately.

Consider adding buttons for platforms where your target audience is most active. Social analytics tools can identify top referral sources.

Using Share Buttons Alongside Other Tools

For a comprehensive social strategy, combine share buttons with other tools:

Social Media Plugins

Plugins like Like/React buttons, Follow buttons, embedded posts, and comment boxes encourage on-site engagement.

In-Content Sharing

Inline sharing options within content let users share specific sections.

Social Media Apps

Apps provide analytics on sharing activity and help manage multiple channels.

Link Shorteners

Shortened URLs are easier to share across networks.

Social Media Dashboards

Centralized dashboards make it easy to post to and analyze multiple networks.

This holistic approach helps maximize reach, engagement, referrals, and ROI across all social platforms.

Best Practices for Social Sharing

To boost sharing of your content for greater visibility and traffic:

Place 3-5 prominent share buttons on each page.

Use horizontal button layouts for better click-through rates.
Vary button size and color for visual interest.
Annotate share buttons clearly, like “Share this on Facebook”.

Show share counts to indicate popularity.
Test different button placements to see what performs best.
Make share buttons highly visible – highlight them with color and white space.

Keep buttons consistent across all relevant pages of your site or app.
Pair social sharing with email opt-ins, subscriptions, and downloads.
Regularly promote your content and ask for shares.

Analyze sharing metrics over time to identify trends and opportunities. Keep iterating on placement, design, content types, and timing to maximize social shares.

Conclusion

The Facebook share button provides a simple yet powerful way to tap into Facebook’s expansive reach. Integrating it takes just a few lines of code. Strategically placing and promoting it across your web presence enables users to easily share your content to their timelines and friends.

This can significantly boost traffic, engagement, and visibility. Combine the share button with engaging content and smart social media strategy for the best results. Measure performance regularly and continue optimizing to build your audience and traffic.