You can add social media icons to your Wix website using the built-in Social Bar element. Open the Wix Editor, click Add Elements, select Contact & Forms, then choose Social Bar. From there, you can link each icon to your Facebook, Instagram, TikTok, YouTube, or any other profile and place the bar in your header, footer, or anywhere on the page.
This guide walks you through the full process, including how to customize your Wix social media icons, add platforms like LinkedIn and Pinterest, handle mobile display, and fix common issues when icons don't appear correctly.
How to Add Social Media Icons Using the Wix Social Bar
The Wix Social Bar is a built-in element that lets you add social media buttons to any page on your site. It comes pre-loaded with icons for popular platforms and requires no third-party apps. Here is how to set it up step by step.
Step 1: Open the Wix Editor
Log into your Wix account and select the site you want to edit. Click "Edit Site" to open the Wix Editor. If you don't have an account yet, sign up with your email or an existing Google or Facebook login.
Step 2: Add the Social Bar Element
In the Wix Editor, click the Add Elements button (the "+" icon) on the left toolbar. Scroll down to Contact & Forms and look for the Social Bar option. Click on one of the pre-made social bar layouts to add it to your page. The social bar will appear on your canvas, ready to be positioned and configured.
Step 3: Choose Which Social Media Icons to Display
Click on the social bar you just added, then click "Set Social Links." Here you can add or remove icons for each platform. Wix supports icons for:
- Facebook -- link to your business page or personal profile
- Instagram -- connect your Instagram account (see our guide on how to connect Instagram with Wix for more detail)
- X (Twitter) -- link to your X profile
- LinkedIn -- great for B2B sites and professional services
- TikTok -- add your TikTok profile URL manually since Wix includes a TikTok icon option
- YouTube -- link to your channel page
- Pinterest -- useful for visual brands, food, fashion, and home decor sites
Click the "+" button within the Social Links panel to add platforms that aren't in the default set. You can also drag icons to reorder them.
Step 4: Enter Your Social Media Profile URLs
For each icon, paste the full URL of your social media profile. For example:
- Facebook:
https://facebook.com/yourbusiness - Instagram:
https://instagram.com/yourbusiness - TikTok:
https://tiktok.com/@yourbusiness - YouTube:
https://youtube.com/@yourchannel
Always use the full URL including "https://" -- not just the username. Double-check each link by clicking the preview icon next to it. A wrong URL is one of the most common reasons social media icons don't work properly on Wix sites.
Step 5: Position the Social Bar on Your Page
Drag the social bar to your preferred location. The most common placements are:
- Header: Visible on every page, ideal for brands that want maximum social visibility
- Footer: Standard placement that visitors expect -- keeps the design clean
- Sidebar: Works well for blogs and content-heavy pages
- Contact page: Natural placement alongside other contact details
To make the social bar appear on every page, right-click it and select "Pin to Screen" or add it to your header/footer section. If you want to add other interactive elements alongside it, check out our guide on how to add a button on Wix.
Step 6: Preview and Publish
Click "Preview" in the top right corner to see how your social media icons look on both desktop and mobile views. Test every link to make sure it opens the correct profile in a new tab. When everything looks right, hit "Publish" to push the changes live.
Alternative Method: Using the Wix App Market
If you need more advanced social media features -- like animated icons, floating social bars, or share-count displays -- you can install a third-party app from the Wix App Market instead of using the built-in Social Bar.
- Click the App Market icon on the left sidebar of the Wix Editor
- Search for "social media icons" or "social bar"
- Browse the results and check ratings and reviews before choosing
- Click "Add to Site" to install your chosen app
- Configure the app settings to add your profile links and customize the design
Popular free options include Elfsight Social Icons and Social Media Icons by Starter Apps. The built-in Social Bar is enough for most sites, but these apps can be useful if you need floating icons that follow the user as they scroll or want to display follower counts.
How to Customize Social Media Icons on Wix
The default Wix social media icons work fine out of the box, but customizing them to match your brand makes your site look more polished. Here is what you can adjust.
Icon Style
Click on the social bar and select "Design" to change the icon style. Wix offers several options:
- Filled: Solid background with white icon -- bold and attention-grabbing
- Outlined: Border-only icons -- clean and minimal
- Flat: No background, just the icon shape -- blends into any design
- Rounded vs. Square: Choose between circular or square icon shapes
Size and Spacing
Under the Design panel, adjust the icon size using the slider. For headers, 30-40px works well. For footers or sidebars, 24-32px is typical. You can also adjust the spacing between icons to prevent them from looking cramped or too spread out.
Color
You can change icon colors to match your brand palette. Click "Design," then "Customize Design," and pick your preferred color for the icon and its background. Some brands stick with the official platform colors (Facebook blue, YouTube red), while others use a single brand color for all icons to keep things consistent. If you're working on your overall site look, our guide on how to design a website with Wix covers broader design tips.
Hover Effects
Wix lets you set a different color or opacity for when visitors hover over an icon. This subtle interaction tells users the icons are clickable. Set a hover color that contrasts slightly with the default state -- for example, a darker shade of your brand color.
Instagram Feed vs. Social Bar Icon: Which One Should You Add?
When it comes to Instagram specifically, Wix gives you two distinct options that serve different purposes. A Social Bar icon is a small clickable button that sends visitors away to your Instagram profile. An Instagram feed widget does something different: it pulls your actual Instagram posts into your Wix page and displays them as a live gallery. Understanding which one fits your situation will save you time and keep your site performing well.
If you want a lightweight, low-maintenance approach, a Social Bar icon is the right choice. It adds no page weight, works instantly after you paste in your profile URL, and keeps the focus on your core site content. It's also the only option if your Instagram account is private, since the feed widget requires a public account connected through Wix's official integration. Sites that are just starting out or that use Instagram as a secondary channel are usually well served by an icon alone.
An Instagram feed widget makes more sense when Instagram is central to what you do. Photographers, restaurants, boutiques, and influencers often find that showing actual posts on the homepage gives visitors a concrete reason to follow without leaving the site. A feed also signals to visitors that your social presence is active and current, something a static icon can't do. The trade-off is loading time: each feed widget makes external API calls to pull image data, which adds weight to the page. For speed-sensitive sites, the icon is the safer bet.
There's no rule against using both. A common pattern is to put the Social Bar icon in the footer so it appears on every page, and then add a feed section to your homepage or about page where it makes contextual sense. That way visitors who land on inner pages still see your social link, while your homepage makes a stronger case for the follow. To set up the feed widget, you'll need to connect your Instagram account through Wix's official integration in the editor -- it updates automatically once connected.
Adding Social Media Icons for Specific Platforms
Each platform has its own quirks when it comes to linking from your Wix site. Here are platform-specific tips to get each one right.
Wix Facebook Icon
Use your Facebook Page URL, not your personal profile. Business pages have URLs like facebook.com/yourbusinessname. If you have a custom vanity URL set up on Facebook, use that for a cleaner look. Make sure the page is published and not restricted by age or country gates, or visitors will hit an error.
Wix Instagram Icon
Link to instagram.com/yourusername. If you want to go beyond just an icon and actually display your Instagram feed on your Wix site, Wix has a built-in Instagram feed widget you can add separately.
Twitter/X Icon
Wix still labels this as "Twitter" in some versions of the editor. The URL format is x.com/yourusername or twitter.com/yourusername -- both work. If the icon shows the old bird logo, check for editor updates or use a custom icon through the App Market.
LinkedIn Icon
For company pages, use linkedin.com/company/yourcompany. For personal profiles, use linkedin.com/in/yourname. LinkedIn is especially important for B2B websites, consulting firms, and professional service providers.
TikTok Icon
Use tiktok.com/@yourusername. Wix added TikTok as a native icon option, but if you're using an older social bar layout, you may need to add it manually through the "+" button in the Social Links panel.
YouTube Icon
Link to your channel URL. If you have a custom channel URL, it looks like youtube.com/@yourchannel. Otherwise, use the full channel ID URL from your YouTube channel settings.
Pinterest Icon
Use pinterest.com/yourusername. Pinterest is particularly valuable for websites in fashion, food, home decor, weddings, and any visually driven niche. If you have a specific board you want to highlight, you can link directly to that board instead of your main profile.
Mobile Display: Making Sure Icons Look Right on Phones
More than half of website traffic comes from mobile devices, so your social media icons need to work well on smaller screens. Here is how to check and adjust them.
- Switch to mobile view: In the Wix Editor, click the mobile icon at the top to preview how your site looks on phones
- Resize icons for mobile: Icons that look great at 40px on desktop might crowd the screen on mobile. Consider setting mobile icons to 28-34px
- Check placement: The social bar might overlap other elements on mobile. Drag it to a position where it doesn't block important content or buttons
- Test tap targets: Make sure each icon is large enough to tap accurately. If icons are too close together, users will tap the wrong one
- Sticky header consideration: If your social bar is in a sticky header, verify it doesn't take up too much vertical space on mobile screens
Always preview your site on an actual phone (not just the editor's mobile view) before publishing. The editor preview is helpful, but real-device testing catches spacing and sizing issues the preview can miss.
Troubleshooting: Common Social Media Icon Issues on Wix
If your social media icons aren't working as expected, here are the most common problems and how to fix them.
Icons Not Showing on the Live Site
- Make sure you clicked "Publish" after adding the social bar. Changes in the editor don't go live until published
- Check if the social bar is hidden on mobile. In the mobile editor, elements can be set to "hidden" -- right-click the social bar and select "Show on mobile"
- Clear your browser cache and reload the page to rule out a caching issue
Links Opening the Wrong Profile
- Double-check each URL in the Social Links panel. A common mistake is pasting the URL for one platform into the wrong icon's field
- Make sure URLs start with
https://-- missing the protocol can cause links to break or redirect incorrectly - Remove any trailing spaces or extra characters from the URLs
Icons Not Clickable
- Check if another element is layered on top of the social bar. Right-click the social bar and choose "Arrange" > "Bring to Front"
- Make sure the social bar isn't set to a design-only element. It should be in the interactive elements section
Icons Look Blurry or Pixelated
- Avoid stretching icons beyond their intended size. Use the Design panel's size slider rather than dragging the corners of the social bar
- If using a third-party app, make sure it outputs SVG or high-resolution icons rather than low-quality PNGs
You can also create a QR code for your Wix site to connect printed materials directly to your pages.
Best Practices for Wix Social Media Icons
Getting the icons on the page is just the first step. These tips help you get the most value from your social media integration.
- Only show platforms you're active on. An icon leading to an empty or neglected profile hurts credibility. If you stopped posting on a platform, remove that icon
- Place icons where visitors expect them. The footer is standard. The header works for social-first brands. Avoid putting them in the middle of content where they distract from your main message
- Keep icons consistent. Use the same style (all filled, all outlined, etc.) and the same size for every icon. Mixing styles looks unprofessional
- Link to the right pages. For Facebook, link to your business page, not a personal profile. For YouTube, link to your channel, not a single video
- Set links to open in a new tab. This keeps visitors on your website while they check out your social profiles. Wix's Social Bar does this by default, but double-check the setting if you're using a third-party app
- Update links when accounts change. If you rebrand or change your handle on any platform, update the icon link immediately. Broken social links signal a neglected site to both visitors and search engines
- Embed social feeds for more engagement. Beyond icons, consider adding an Instagram or Facebook feed section to your homepage or blog. Wix supports these as separate elements
How to Track Social Media Icon Clicks on Your Wix Site
Most Wix site owners add social icons and then never find out whether anyone actually clicks them. Knowing which platforms attract the most clicks tells you where your audience is most active, and whether your social bar placement is working. There are a few ways to get this data, ranging from simple to more technical.
Wix's built-in analytics does not track individual element clicks, but it does show you referral traffic sources. If a visitor clicks your Instagram icon, visits your profile, and then returns to your site directly or via a search, that session may show up as social or direct traffic. It's an indirect signal, but watching for a pattern after you add or reposition your social bar can confirm it's getting some use. To check this, go to your Wix Dashboard, open Analytics, and look at the Traffic Sources report.
For more precise data, Google Analytics with event tracking is the most reliable method. If you have Google Analytics installed on your Wix site via the Wix Marketing Integrations panel or through a custom code snippet, you can add onClick event tracking to each social icon. This typically requires a small JavaScript snippet added through Wix Velo (the built-in developer platform) or the Custom Code section under Site Settings. The snippet fires an event to GA4 each time a specific icon is clicked, so you can see a clean count per platform in your GA4 event reports. If you're not comfortable with JavaScript, a web developer can set this up in under an hour.
A simpler workaround is to use a social media management tool like Buffer, Hootsuite, or Sprout Social to monitor whether website-sourced traffic to each platform grows after you add or change your icons. These tools show you where your followers and profile visitors are coming from. If your Instagram profile suddenly picks up more "website" referrals after you add the Social Bar, that's a reliable signal the icon is driving clicks, even without precise event data.
If you installed a third-party social icon app from the Wix App Market, check whether it includes its own analytics. Elfsight, for example, provides a basic click dashboard inside its app settings that shows how many times each icon was clicked, broken down by platform. This is the easiest option if you're already using a third-party app -- no extra setup required. Whatever method you choose, checking click data at least once a month helps you decide which icons to keep, which to reposition, and whether your social bar placement is doing any real work.
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