If you seriously want to be ahead of the game when it comes to Social Media Integration within your WordPress site, then you definitely need to consider the following plugins. We have tested over 50 plugins since the beginning of 2011, and these are, in our humble opinion, the cream of the crop (so far!). In no particular order, here they are:

Simple Facebook Connect

Simple Facebook Connect is actually a series of mini-plugins that let you add any kind of Facebook functionality to a WordPress blog. Simple Facebook Connect lets you have an integrated site without a lot of coding, while still letting you customize it exactly the way you’d like. The coolest feature is the fact that you can have each post automatically published to your Facebook profile or Fan Page. Now, a lot of people have experienced problems installing this plugin so read the instructions on the plugin page carefully.

Simple Twitter Connect

Same idea as the plugin above. Simple Twitter Connect is a series of mini-plugins that let you add any sort of Twitter functionality you like to a WordPress blog. This plugin lets you have an integrated site without a lot of coding, and still letting you customize it exactly the way you’d like. You can also set up automatic publishing to have each new post automatically published on your Twitter account. Again, read the instructions carefully to make sure you don’t run into any bugs during installation.

Sharebar

This is one of our favorites! We are using it ourselves so you can actually see it in action at the left side of this blog post. The WordPress Sharebar plugin adds a dynamic and fully customizable vertical bar to the left of each post that contains buttons to popular social networking sites. For wide blogs, a vertical bar with popular sharing icons appears on the left of your post. If the page is resized below 1000px (default), the vertical bar disappears and a horizontal sharebar appears under the post title. The bar also follows the readers as they scroll down to read the blog post.

Disqus Commenting System

This one is a must! Disqus, pronounced “discuss”, is a service and tool for web comments and discussions. Disqus makes commenting easier and more interactive by letting users login and comment using their Facebook/Twitter or OpenID. Don’t force your users to sign up on your WordPress blog to be able to comment. Let them comment using their favorite social media account. The Disqus for WordPress plugin seamlessly integrates using the Disqus API and by syncing with WordPress comments.

Facebook Like Button

One simple yet useful plugin. If you only want to give your visitors the option to “Like” your posts, this is what you need. This plugin adds the Facebook Like Button to your wordpress blog with a lot of customization options, and you can preview the settings in real-time in the settings section. Add the button count, or normal by using short cuts [fb_like] [fb_count]. Add Facebook Recommendations Widget to your blog sidebar or to anywhere using this shortcut [fb_rec].

WP Tweet Button

Same idea as the plugin above. WP Tweet Button easily and fully implements Twitter’s official Tweet Button on your WordPress blog or site. The tweet button can be positioned as you please and can be styled to your delight in the settings page. You can configure individual messages for your posts, use the title of your entry or a default message for tweets.

Smart YouTube

This is probably one of the best YouTube integration plugins out there! Smart Youtube allows you to easily insert Youtube videos/playlists in your post, comments and in RSS feed. In fact, the main purpose of the Smart YouTube plugin is to correctly embed youtube videos into your blog post. The video will be shown in full in your RSS feed as well. Give it a try today! You’ll love it.

Do you know any cool Social Media plugins that should make this list? Let us know by commenting below…

Amine Rahal

Passionate about the world wide web since 1995, Amine has been working as a Web Developer, SEO & Social Media Marketing Specialist for several Organizations in the United States, Canada and China.