Social media has been on my mind a lot this week. Here are some tips for procuring designer icons to enhance the look of your website.

Online Buyer Protection

Before even getting into where to find icons, I want to make this suggestion for maximum safety in online purchasing.  Get a prepaid Visa, Mastercard, or AAA travel card.  

Dedicate this card exclusively for buying photos and icons, and other small marketing purchases, and designate it as a marketing expense in your bookkeeping. When using it, it can't open the door to your bank account getting hacked, and you have only that one purchase to track for tax purposes.

Scouting for Cool Social Media Icons

A simple Google search will turn up many vendors.  But, it may be most time-effective to search at a stock photo outlet first, where you can be certain you are acquiring legitimate rights to use these intellectual properties.  My preference is www.DepositPhotos.com and there are many others. 

Icons come in sets -- you don't have to buy each one individually.  But look carefully, because not all sets will have the full collection of icons you want.

Best Social Media Icon Sets for Private Practitioners

Look for sets that include:

• Facebook

• Twitter

• LinkedIn

• Google+

• Pinterest

• YouTube

and any other social media platforms you actively use.

Current Icon Design Styling

You might just be looking for icons that coordinate with your website's color palette, in which case the icons themselves may look fairly standard.  Square, flat desig is the most current styling.  Round, flat or rounded corners are still used, but may begin to look a little dated soon.  

Icons that are 3D, or with heavy shadow, or bevelled edges, that look like they can actually be pushed are an old design style that will mark your website as a little dated.

What to Think About When Hunting for Icons

• Will the icon colors look good with your website?

• Will the shape work in small and large sizes, for versatility?

• Will the shape work in vertical and horizontal placements?

• Do they make you excited and happy?

Once you have your icons, they may have downloaded as a zip file.  In newer computers with Windows 7 or 8 you can likely just double click on the zip file folder to extract the individual graphics.  Then just treat them as any other graphic and upload to your Wix social media graphics gallery.

By the way, I've written a new instructional guide about configuring social media buttons on your website.  If I have built your site, you are eligible for access to the password protected page where that resource is available free. Email me if you have forgotten the password.

Oh! and the cool watercolor icons I have on my blog pages are courtesy of Rose at http://www.everylittlepolish.com/free-watercolour-social-media-icons/ .  Nice work eh?