Why companies should have a ‘Like’ button and a Google +1 button on their website

Facebook ‘Like’

The ‘Like’ button is a simple way for an individual to broadcast to their friends that they like something and thus share it with their Facebook friends.

Companies that place a ‘Like’ button on their website are making this act of sharing very easy. Previously, to recommend a website to friends, would have required users to copy a link, write an email and then select who to send it to. One simple click of the ‘Like’ button and this information is broadcasts automatically.

With 27 million people in the UK using Facebook on a daily basis and the average person having 130 Facebook Friends, the ‘Like’ button is probably the best free advertising that a company could ever hope for.

So don’t delay – put that ‘Like’ button on your website.

The best way to share what you like with your friends.

Google +1

Google processes 92% of all UK web searches, but it is playing catch up with Facebook in the social stakes.  ’Google Plus’ is the new social network that Google has been working so hard on building and it is quickly gaining momentum. Within a matter of days of its launch it already had 20 million active users and is growing at a phenomenal rate.

The +1 button is Google’s answer to the ‘Like’ button. The more people that click +1 on a website the higher up the rankings that website will go and the more people that join Google Plus, the more search results will be personalised according to the tastes of their own networks.

If you haven’t yet added a +1 button to your website, do so now.

Twitter + Facebook Connect

So would you prefer Twitter or Facebook to login…

Well why not both?  It would seem that to give the 2 options for sign in and register we can extend our reach and at the same time capture the ability to publish onto 2 networks, Twitter updates (Tweets) and Facebook (news feeds).  This is now going to be our preferred choice while allowing email registration.

This will greatly reduce spam by having real facebook and twitter accounts as the standard login.  For the alternative email registration we will implement a capture.  The capture will be based on our own custom random questions such as “What is 7 x 1 + 2″.  Hoping to avoid the many capture issues we have seen develop with other sites such as StumbleUpon.

Sign in and registration will go into development over the next month which will help nut out some of the issues we have been trying to overcome with so many profiles and passwords to remember.

Facebook Connect or openId

Its an ongoing battle to see who will win the war of single sign on across the web.  Despite the early start of OpenId and the hype surrounding it there has been a formidable contender on the sidelines.  Yes with Facebook’s launch of FB Connect there has been a flurry of new integrations.  Its enormous penetration and ease of use makes it the obveous choice for aspiring web applications and start-ups alike.

Its for this reason Whaddado will be implementing Facebook connect as its primary registration and sign in app.  In addition we will allow Twitter sign in due to the fact we are linking all accounts with Twitter its a simple second choice.  Linked In connection may follow shortly after that.