How to Add a Facebook Follow Button for Authors in WordPress (An In-Depth Guide)

Have you been looking for ways to help your website visitors follow your authors on Facebook? Adding a Facebook follow button can be a great way to increase engagement and grow your audience.

In this in-depth guide, I‘ll explain everything you need to know about adding Facebook follow buttons in WordPress.

After 15 years as a webmaster, I‘ve learned the ins and outs of driving social media traffic and followers. By the end, you‘ll have actionable steps to add customizable Facebook follow buttons to your WordPress site.

Why Facebook Follow Buttons Are Valuable for Your Site

Before we dive into the how-to, let‘s look at some stats that highlight the value of Facebook follow buttons:

• 2.9 billion monthly active Facebook users – Huge audience reach and potential to expand yours.

• 50% of 18-29 year olds check Facebook when they wake up – High early morning engagement potential.

• Pages with Facebook follow buttons see 2x more engagement – Follow buttons drive significant interaction.

It‘s clear that adding Facebook follow buttons can expose your content to billions of active users. Even better, follow buttons boost engagement directly on your site.

Here are 5 key benefits you can expect:

1. Increase Your Site‘s Visibility

Every follow is a new potential set of eyeballs on your content. Facebook‘s algorithm favors content getting significant engagement. So your posts are more likely to appear in your followers‘ feeds.

This means expanding your Facebook audience directly translates to increased visibility and site traffic.

2. Build Stronger Connections with Readers

The more places your readers follow you, the stronger your connection will be with them. Facebook provides a whole new channel to engage with people who enjoy your site‘s content and authors.

Followers will feel more invested in your site and connected to your brand if they actively follow on social media.

3. Grow Your Audience and Reach New People

Every new follow is a potential for that person to engage with and share your content with their own network. Some studies suggest content shared by friends drives up to 30% of traffic to sites.

So don‘t underestimate the power of follower sharing for reaching brand new audiences.

4. Keep Readers Updated on New Content

Your Facebook followers will see updates in their feeds whenever you publish new posts. This makes it easy to stay up to date with engaging authors.

Followers are more likely to click and read your content rather than coming across it randomly in search results.

5. It‘s Free and Easy Marketing

Unlike Facebook ads and promoted posts, follow buttons are 100% free to add. And as we‘ll cover shortly, it only takes a few minutes using WordPress tools.

Compared to other marketing options, follow buttons are hands down one of the fastest and most low-effort ways to grow your Facebook presence.

Now that you know the tremendous value Facebook follow buttons can provide, let‘s look at how to actually add them in WordPress.

Method #1: Add a Simple Follow Button Using the Social Icons Block

The easiest way to add any social follow button is by using the Social Icons block that‘s built into WordPress.

For quick Facebook implementation, just follow these 5 simple steps:

1. Edit the page or post where you want the button. Click the ‘+‘ icon to open the block inserter.

2. Search for ‘Social Icons‘ and click the block name to add it.

3. Click the ‘+‘ in the block toolbar and select the Facebook icon from the list.

4. Paste your Facebook Page or Profile URL into the block settings sidebar.

5. Publish your page and you‘re done!

The Facebook icon will now appear as a clickable follow button.

Pro Tip: You can also add the Social Icons block to widget areas like your sidebar. Just look for it under Appearance > Widgets in your dashboard.

The Social Icons block is great for quick and easy implementation. But it lacks customization options.

Let‘s look at how a dedicated Facebook plugin can give you more advanced features.

Method #2: Add a Custom Facebook Follow Button with Smash Balloon

For maximum flexibility and customization, I recommend using a plugin like Smash Balloon Facebook Feed.

It allows you to customize the style, size, layout, and more for your Facebook follow buttons. Here‘s how to set it up:

Step 1: Install and Activate Smash Balloon Facebook Feed

First you need to install and activate the plugin:

1. In your WordPress dashboard, go to Plugins > Add New.
2. Search for ‘Smash Balloon Facebook Feed‘ and click Install Now.
3. After installation completes, click Activate.

Step 2: Connect Your Facebook Profile or Page

Next, you need to connect a Facebook account. This allows the plugin to display your content.

1. Go to Facebook Feed > Add New in the dashboard menu.
2. Click the blue ‘Connect to Facebook‘ button.
3. Log in to Facebook and choose the profile or page you want to display.
4. Allow the necessary permissions it requests.

You‘re now connected!

Step 3: Create a Feed Displaying Only a Follow Button

Now let‘s setup a feed that displays only a Facebook follow button:

1. In your dashboard, go to Facebook Feed > Add New again.
2. Select your connected Facebook page as the feed source.
3. Set ‘Posts to Show‘ slider to 0 for both desktop and mobile.
4. In the Like Box panel, toggle the follow button on.
5. Customize the button size, width, position, etc.
6. Click Save to finish.

You now have a dedicated follow button!

Step 4: Display Your Follow Button

Lastly, display your new Facebook follow button:

• On a post or page using the ‘Custom Facebook Feed‘ block.
• As a widget using the ‘Custom Facebook Feed‘ block under Appearance > Widgets.
• In your theme files by adding the [custom-facebook-feed] shortcode.

And that‘s it! Smash Balloon makes it easy to create customized Facebook follow buttons exactly how you like them.

The possibilities are endless when it comes to sizing, placement, and styling. Be sure to experiment to figure out what works best for your goals and audience.

Get Started Growing Your Facebook Following

Adding Facebook follow buttons is one of the easiest ways to grow your Facebook presence and overall site audience.

It only takes a few minutes to implement using WordPress‘s Social Icons block or a plugin like Smash Balloon.

So what are you waiting for? Try adding Facebook follow buttons today using the actionable steps in this guide. Feel free to reach out if you have any other questions!