> ## Documentation Index
> Fetch the complete documentation index at: https://buttercms.com/docs/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover all available pages before exploring further.

# Social sharing buttons

> How to add social sharing buttons to your ButterCMS-powered site.

Adding social sharing buttons to your blog encourages readers to share your content and can significantly increase your reach. There are two common approaches: building your own share links using each platform's native share URL format, or using a supported third-party widget library.

## Option 1: Custom share URLs (recommended)

Every major social platform provides a simple URL format you can use to create share links without any external library. This approach is lightweight, dependency-free, and will not break if a third-party service shuts down.

```html theme={null}
<!-- Twitter / X -->
<a href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?url=YOUR_URL&text=YOUR_TITLE" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Share on X</a>

<!-- Facebook -->
<a href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=YOUR_URL" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Share on Facebook</a>

<!-- LinkedIn -->
<a href="https://www.linkedin.com/sharing/share-offsite/?url=YOUR_URL" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Share on LinkedIn</a>

<!-- WhatsApp -->
<a href="https://wa.me/?text=YOUR_TITLE%20YOUR_URL" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Share on WhatsApp</a>
```

Replace `YOUR_URL` with the current page URL (URL-encoded) and `YOUR_TITLE` with the post title. In most frameworks you can generate these dynamically from your post data.

## Option 2: Third-party widget libraries

If you prefer a pre-built widget with analytics and styling, some actively maintained options include:

* **[ShareThis](https://sharethis.com/)** — free widget with analytics, supports 40+ networks
* **[AddToAny](https://www.addtoany.com/)** — free, privacy-friendly, supports 100+ platforms
* **[Social9](https://www.social9.com/)** — free sharing widget with customizable designs

These services provide a small JavaScript snippet you add to your page, similar to the old AddThis approach.

{/* IMAGE_SOURCE: file_path="knowledge-base/how-to/seo-optimization.md" */}

![Social sharing buttons example](https://cdn.buttercms.com/YUbWrz8RTc6kq1WSf0hB)

[![Social sharing implementation example](https://cdn.buttercms.com/PLLdBJJ4T96xRypprngu)](https://buttercms.com/books/microservices-for-startups/how-teams-get-microservices-wrong-from-the-start)