You need social media to promote your WordPress site and keep it relevant. When designing the domain, you can stick with standard tools like Jetpack's social features—safe, familiar, multifunctional. However, there are great alternatives that can set you apart from the competition.

Here are eight social media plugins for WordPress that can make designing and using your site's networking features even easier, more powerful, and exciting. You get lots of unique choices at varying costs, from effortless controls to almost infinite ways to customize your social icons.

1. Kiwi Social Share

If you’re looking for a simple, lightweight, yet efficient plugin, go for something like Kiwi Social Share.

The initial free version offers all the basics, including an easy drag-and-drop system, various ways to change your icons’ appearance, and different places to put them in. They can even float across the screen.

Kiwi Social Share is minor software, but you get a good range of classic options, as well as Google Analytics features. The premium upgrade just improves everything you already have, barely increasing the plugin’s already low loading time.

Overall, this is a decent social media plugin to start out with.

2. Social Snap

On the other hand, you may want something more powerful, especially if your site is already quite active. While the core Social Snap plugin is available for free, the paid features can make everything much more exciting.

If you’re not happy with the premium plugin within 30 days of buying a license, which costs between $39 and $299, you can get a full refund.

In terms of capabilities, the list is endless. To begin with, Social Snap accommodates all popular social networks and offers unique sharing features, from a range of sticky—or floating—bars to share hubs, which display your activity on social networks.

You can customize the animation of your icons, choose how posts look when people share them, and automatically repost old articles. If you have high traffic on your site, show off page view counters for each social network. Your analytics tools are no less impressive.

All-in-all, you’ll get your money’s worth in handy and user-friendly social media features.

3. Monarch

If you like variety, explore the Monarch social media plugin too. It comes as part of the Elegant Themes membership, costing $89 per year or a one-time $249.

The package, perfect for a professional and ambitious web design, also includes the developer’s many other solutions. Divi, for example, is also among the top multipurpose WordPress themes we recommend for new and experienced users.

Monarch fully optimizes your social media capabilities. Expect dozens of network icons ready and waiting, as well as a truly liberating range of placements.

You can put social buttons on images or have them fly in from any direction. They can also pop up after visitors perform a specific action.

With its easy-to-use dashboard and in-depth analytics, there’s little doubt that Monarch can help you do wonders with your social media features.

4. Novashare

A cheaper but no less efficient option is Novashare, starting at $29.95 per year. It’s a social media plugin built for WordPress, so you don’t get a whole new dashboard to learn all over again.

The perks you do get involve lots of ways to boost your website’s networking powers. Novashare is compatible with most social media platforms, which you can feature as share buttons, floating bars, Tweet blocks, Pinterest pins, and more.

Customization options may seem limited compared to the likes of Monarch, but they're still very broad and user-friendly. Another important advantage is that the plugin won’t weigh down your loading time as much as more powerful software.

Novashare is, basically, a simpler solution for professional websites, offering a variety of classic and fully functional tools.

5. Easy Social Share Buttons

There are even better deals out there, balancing cost and capabilities. In this regard, Easy Social Share Buttons is one of the best plugins.

A regular license, for example, costs $22 and offers a huge range of tools to customize your site’s networking functions.

Apart from links to over 50 social media platforms and several customization options, you get just as many templates and around 30 different display positions for your buttons, whether they appear on a computer or mobile device.

Many other popular features exist, as well as some unique choices like setting a minimum number of shares a counter should reach before showing up on the website.

As you explore the software, you’ll see how much Easy Social Share Buttons can help your goals, no matter your expertise.

6. ARSocial

Many top social media plugins for WordPress may not be free, but you can find other software that is just as productive and easier on your pocket.

ARSocial is one such solution, offering 40 networks and their sharing buttons, counters, and customization settings for free on WordPress or for a $20-license. Expect classic and efficient tools, but not much else.

ARSocial has unique offerings too. With the social locker, for example, you can ask visitors to give you a like or share on a chosen network before they can access a specific part of your website.

This, like all other features, is adjustable and contributes to the plugin’s included analytics features. If you're not very demanding or are just learning the ropes of web design, ARSocial is a plugin you can rely on.

7. Social Warfare

Being able to control how social icons look and work on your domain is invaluable when developing a good online presence. But, when people share your content, you don’t always know what they post.

Plugins like Social Warfare change that. The core software, available for free on WordPress, offers the same customization features as its competitors.

Upgrading to Social Warfare - Pro, however, also lets you decide exactly how visitors’ posts will appear on different platforms.

Additionally, you get access to more networks, not to mention design and display options. The price depends on how many sites the plugin is for.

A single domain, for example, will cost you $29 or $89 for up to five. You could try out the free plugin and decide if the premium is worth the investment.

8. Spotlight

Visual content can make websites more interesting, so an Instagram feed could be just what you need to boost your traffic and followers.

WordPress plugins exist for just that job and Spotlight stands out as the best for its simple, user-friendly, and super efficient design.

If you want more than the free WordPress version, a 14-day trial should give you plenty of time to get to know its premium services. The software mainly displays your Instagram posts, which you can filter and stylize as much as you want.

You can even make the feed shoppable or add a follow button. The downside of investing in the full Spotlight services are their steep price, costing you $49 annually for just one website.

If you’re a dedicated Instagrammer, always finding great tools and methods to gain Insta fame, you can’t go wrong with this plugin. If not, explore other options, better suited to your needs and strengths.

Make Your Site More Social With WordPress Plugins

If you want higher visibility, you have to embrace social networks. Welcome people onto your domain, interact with them, and help them share their experiences so more visitors follow their example.

It’s a cycle that can become that much more effective with the right tools. That’s why social media plugins for WordPress are a great investment for any website owner hoping to make an impact.