WordPress® All-in-One For Dummies®

Making It Easy for Users to Share Your Content

When I was a child, I loved to go to a country store on a lake near where I lived. One time, my mother and I went to the store to pick up a few things, but my mother didn't have any cash (this was before ATMs were everywhere) and wanted to pay by check or credit card. The store owner told her that they accepted cash only; we put the items back on the shelves and headed to a large supermarket.

When we got into the car, my mother said to me, “I wanted to give them money, but they made it too hard for me to do it.” That sentiment has stuck with me my entire life: Never put up barriers to actions that will ultimately benefit you. I'm sure that the store had reasons for not taking checks or credit cards, but they ultimately lost a sale and probably a customer.

Think of your blog as the store and your content as the products. When people want to take your content and give it to someone, you put up a barrier if you make it hard for them to pass that content along. Make it as easy as possible for people to share your content with their friends, family, and co-workers.

One of the best things about the social Web is that you can share what you find with other people. Sharing is such a basic concept. It's such an easy, thoughtful, and fun thing to do. You find content that you like and share it with your groups of friends on the Web, who might find what you shared helpful or interesting and pass it on to their group of friends. But a lot of sites ...