Should You Consolidate Your Logins?
Should You Consolidate Your Logins?
Consolidating logins by using social media sign-ins seems like a really good idea. For a start, it’s one less thing to have to remember. However, as a website owner you may be giving up some control over customer information by agreeing to do this. You’re going to have to decipher the pros and cons of consolidated logins based on your own business model to determine whether or not you should do it.
Is Your Site Controversial?
If you have a site that is controversial, it’s possible that your audience doesn’t want their family and friends to know what they’re doing. Even if you think your site isn’t controversial, perhaps they do.
For example, what if the site is about diet and exercise? Seems pretty uncontroversial, but to some it’s not and it’s private. They would be more likely to sign in using their own private information rather than social sign-ins where they think everyone is watching them.
Do You Need Member Emails?
When you use social sign-ins, you may not have access to your users’ email addresses and they may be reluctant to now give you the information, even in exchange for something else such as a freebie offer. If you want to build your email list, you might reconsider the use of social sign-ins for your website.
Is Your Website Fee Based?
If you have a fee-based site, you’re going to have to ask them for other information anyway. You may as well not use consolidated sign-ins because it will be just another step that your user has to take. When they have this much to do, they may think twice about signing up in the first place.
Does Your Typical User Use Social Media?
Some people don’t use or want to use social media. That may be hard to take, but it’s true. Some people find social media to be too much of a distraction and may choose not to use your website due to the requirement to sign in with social media.
Is It Worth It to Give More Choices?
It can bog down a consumer when they are asked to make a choice to sign in or not to your website. If you give them so many choices, they’ll be confused and they might not do anything. Simple is always best when it comes to signing in to a site.
Will It Harm Your Brand?
When you use a third party sign-in mechanism, it is allowing another business to use their branding on your site in a big way. It can even confuse the user and make them think you are part of Twitter or Google or Facebook by adding that requirement to sign in using that social account.
What If Your User Is Banned or Locked from Social?
If a user has to depend on social to sign in to your site, what if they’re banned or somehow locked out of their social sites? Then they can’t get on your site either. That is a problem for you that you cannot solve, because they’ll have to solve it with the social account first.
There is a lot to think about when it comes to offering consolidated sign-ins via social to your users. You’ll have to give it a lot of thought and consideration before you do it. But, if you answer these questions, you’ll likely come up with the right answer for your needs and your business.
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