Social media is bigger than ever! It makes a great place to quickly share information, pictures, and news with your members online. These various platforms also make a great way for your members to communicate information and feedback with you in real time! It is imperative that your website takes advantage of all of the benefits that your social media accounts bring.

Here at Worship Times we realize that knowing all of the best spots to include links to your social media accounts, displaying Instagram or Facebook feeds, and creating weekly plans for your social media accounts can be overwhelming. Let us share some tips on how to get started, and we can help create a tailored plan to meet your exact needs!

What information can I display from my social media accounts?

Great question! There are tons of different things that you can display from your various social media accounts. It truly comes down to what platform you use. Here are just a few of the different items you could display on your site:

1. Facebook Feed: Yes! You can display a copy of your Facebook feed right onto your website. Facebook is very popular as it offers a wide variety of ways for you to interact with you members and for your members to interact with you. When you post a new update or photo gallery on your ministry’s Facebook account, it could automatically be displayed on your website! Imagine the possibilities!
2. Instagram Galleries: Instagram is another very popular social platform for the younger audience. Because Instagram is entirely photo based, a display of your Instagram posts could be an amazing piece for a page dedicated to media and/or photos on your website (if implemented effectively). Just like a Facebook feed, anytime you publish a new post, your website would be updated automatically.
3. YouTube Videos: YouTube is another great video sharing social space! It can make a great place to publish worship services or special events. YouTube videos and playlists can be added to your website to give visitors all the information they need right in one place.
4. Social Icons/Links: Arguably the most important thing to include on your website are icons for each of the social media platforms that your ministry uses! Social icons that are modern, sleek, and blend with your website’s design can lead a visitor to learn more about you and your ministry! Make sure that your social icons are visible on every page and that they actually link to your account. This can significantly increase the number of interactions visitors have with your site!

The list doesn’t stop there. You can include Twitter feeds, Pinterest boards, Vimeo videos, and more! Here at Worship Times we use a combination of industry leading and custom in-house tools to meet all of your social media needs. We can take the worry and pain out of any social media woes you might have!

Where do I place social media content?

Wanting to include content from you social media accounts is a great first step, but you need to have a plan on where you want to put everything. It is all about finding a balance, because each ministry is a little different. You want to make sure it is easy for any visitor on your website to find your social media links, but you don’t want to overload and annoy them. Here are just a few tips to get you started:

1. Footer: Your website’s footer is a great place to put social media icons that link to your various social media accounts. Icons can be different colors, stand out more than just plain text, and can be easily identified by visitors. Because your website’s footer is displayed at the bottom of every page no matter what a visitor might be looking at they are only a single click away from any of your social media accounts!
2. Sidebar: Sidebars are another great area to display social media information. Because sidebars tend to be longer and skinnier, they make a great area for displaying Twitter or Facebook feeds. Since sidebars can be displayed on some pages and not others you can even choose which pages display a feed and which don’t. This also keeps social media information from being overwhelming and negating your website’s content while also being easy for the user to find.
3. Pages: Sometimes displaying a entire Facebook or Instagram gallery on a single page with other forms of media can make a great combination. This could work well on a page detailing various forms of outreach or community service activities or for special events. Make sure not to go overboard with this type of display in particular. Less is more with full page displays.
4. Navigation Menus: Displaying social media icons in the top navigation menu at the top of you website can be another good choice. This is done more on an individual basis depending on the look you want for your website. Just like the footer, your navigation menu is displayed on every page making it very easy for visitors to find links to your ministry’s social media profiles.

Worship Times

Social media is an ever growing part of the modern world, and it is time to jump on board. Trying to stay on top of every new update, change, and demand to keep your website and social media accounts updated can be very overwhelming.

Let us take care of setting up icons, links, feeds, galleries, displays, and linking everything together! Our team has tens of years of experience creating social media plans for ministries large and small.

Let’s get started today. We are only a click away!

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