SEO specialists disagree on how useful it is to include social bookmarking buttons on a website. Today I'd like to look into everyone's arguments, the pros and cons of social bookmarking buttons and give you advice depending on what sort of website you have.
People against the widespread use of these social bookmarking buttons express their disappointment at the fact that they have become so present in every website. They rightly argue that the most successful blogs don't feature them. Out of the Technorati top 10 blogs, none have these buttons, and only about 10-20% of Digg's top fifteen daily blogs include them. However, this doesn't mean they are right.
We have to take into account that the top blogs on Digg and Technorati aren't successful because of appearing on these sites. They were already successful and thus, appear on these sites. What most of us are trying to do is to use social bookmarking sites to help with traffic. So while blogs which are already really successful don't need social bookmarking buttons, other websites do.
However, the people at SEOmoz have brought up two points which I do feel are valid criticisms of including these bookmarks on your website:
You're potentially turning off audiences who feel that the buttons are too self-promotional
Having the buttons on every page could reduce the value of placing them on certain pages on occasion by giving your readers "button blinders" (similar to ad blinders)
I specially agree with the second assertion. You definitely have to be careful when allowing your users the possibility to easily share your content. If you fill your site with buttons for social bookmarks, it not only poses a design problem, it can also be annoying and can lead your visitors to 'forget' that they can even use them.
The positives that they find are more obvious, but equally valid (except maybe for the 3rd point. I'm not sure that offering buttons to 10 or 20 sites shows that you support them - just that you want the traffic!):
You make it easier for your visitors to bookmark/tag/submit/vote on your content
You help to suggest that performing those social actions is desired
You make it clear that you're a fan/supporter/devotee of those sites
So, let's find a middle ground. I feel that social bookmarking buttons should be used only to share good content. Everywhere else, not only will they not be used, but they will be a bother. Delete them from other places on the site, including your home page, about pages and announcements you make which are not newsworthy ("I'm going on vacation and the blog will be closed for two weeks" or "I've decided to close comments on the previous thread"). Also, have them either at the top or the bottom of your page, not both. More is not always better.
