Where is the best place to put your FB 'like' and G+1 buttons??

[robertrRSwalters]

Do you guys think there is a more strategic place to place these buttons?

below the fold, above, in the top nav menus...??

I would love to hear your thoughts..

[activitysuper]

I personally would put them above the page fold to gain more exposure for the action.

The more likes, tweets the better. You could find your get a few more sales through this along with generating some good social signals for SEO.

I have seen a light box containing social tools after a call to action has been clicked like a order now button.

Just my 2 penny's worth

[mosaicpro]

I've tried having a Facebook social plugin that showed images of people who liked the website lower on the home page. Not a lot of people came trough. I think the best response a facebook like and a +1 button would get is at the top near the logo so people are visualizing that when they land on your website. Another idea is to have it on the side as a widget that flows with the clients scroll.

[robertrRSwalters]

My thinking would be to have them on the right hand side of the main body so users can interact with them the same as on Google and Facebook, they are in the same place and users are conditioned to look there.

I am thinking above the fold but my thinking is also that's a bit obvious and it would be best to mirror how the buttons are on the big boys sites.

[Alex-Harford]

If it's an article or blog post I think it's wise to have them at the start and end of the content. If someone has read and enjoyed the article, they're more likely to click the share icons if they're there when they've finished, rather than scrolling back to the top.

[robertrRSwalters]

That makes sense.. does FB's buttons load asynchronously?

[IKT]

I would say put them below or AT the content... because some times when you put it at the top, they would ignore it (they have not read anything on your site to have an opinion of plussing your page), .. after they scroll through the page and read your content, they finally realized the piece of information they've stumbled upon your page is one piece of art that might rivaled even the best piece of novel they read somewhere... What we would want to happened of course, that they are given the PLUS button / SHARE Button at the right place where we think they might appreciate your content...

Does that make sense? xD ( again this is an opinion, and because i think it made sense,I also employ this into my site ikt.co.id )

[CPLDistribution]

It depends what priority you give someone liking etc the page as a goal and the impact lots of likes will have on conversions.

If you have an e-commerce site and are including the social buttons on your product pages I would ensure they are secondary in prominence to your buy now buttons but still have good visibility, so definitely above the fold.

[DanHill]

I like this suggestion - I've never landed on a site for the first time, had a look at the logo and menu and thought I'd share it - that comes after I've a reason to +1 or 'like' it such as a funny or informative post/article/image/concept etc etc

I think it depends on the niche and the target audience.  Another point to note is that one can use heatmapping software and test out where most of your visitors hover their mouse over and click and then place your social 'tools' in accordance

[Dr-Pete]

I'm going to set this as an "Ongoing Discussion", as I'm not sure there's one right answer and it's interesting to see a mix of experiences.

I'd lean toward the end of the content for a blog post, if only because many people don't want to endorse until they've read or at least scanned the material. If you put it in a fixed position, like the right column, and they scroll past it (if that column doesn't move), they might forget to go back.