Why Would I Put a Facebook Like Button on My Website?

There are plenty of tutorials on how to add a Facebook Universal Like Button to your website or blog. It is a fairly simple process once you learn how. But we skipped one part – do I really want it there in the first place?

• Branding. Internet users are very familiar with the Facebook brand. They have an established relationship with Facebook’s colors, fonts, and buttons. This level of trust will bleed over to you, your site, and your information when you add Facebook buttons.


Placing a Facebook like button on your website or blog is the cool thing to do.

• Part of the In-Crowd. Especially when configured with one of the ‘Open Graph’ faces, your Like Button will show new readers all of their friends that benefitted from your content. This will compel them to pay closer attention to what you have to say.
• Facebook Search. Although most people still use search engines to look for their favorite content (since neither company releases their algorithms to the public, no one knows whether the Like Button can help you with Google SEO or not), many users are beginning to stay on Facebook for longer periods of time. This is going to translate to more searches through the Facebook bar. It’s a good idea to begin optimizing your content for this shift now.

I have so few readers, it will show Zero Likes.

This is not true. If you have your iFrame Like Button configured well, then it will show “Be the first of your friends to like this.” That phrasing gives your first reader an extra incentive to click ‘like.’

I already have a Facebook Share Button, do I need a Like Button also?

Peer Pressure: Your company's raving fans will attract new customers with a facebook like button.

According to Facebook’s Mark Zuckerburg, the design behind the Like Button is unintimidating. People will very easily click ‘like’ while they may not click ‘share.’ So, your webpage or post will end up with far more ‘likes’ than ‘shares.’

Now I know what you’re thinking (and I agree): a shared post is far more powerful than a simple ‘like.’ It potentially shows a picture and the link in the newsfeed of all the sharer’s friends. This is why I recommend keeping both the Like Button and a method to share your content on all of your readers’ favorite social networks.

One of the big keys is proper placement and design of your site so that your calls to action don’t get confusing. Connect with the experts here at Building A Brand Online to learn everything about great design.