It’s hard to resist… All those little social icons are so cute, it’s tough not to populate your Squarespace website homepage with Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, Pinterest, Google+, LinkedIn, etc. icons. Besides being fun to have such a variety of buttons to click, it makes you look so popular. But wait…

Before you go all social icon happy on us, ask yourself this one very important question: How many of these social media pages can I manage effectively? Follow that up with this other very important question: How much time do I have to devote to social media?

The answers to those two questions should absolutely inform how many adorable little social icons—and consequently the seriously big deal responsibilities of managing the pages behind them—should appear on your Squarespace website.

Those of you who are debuting your Squarespace websites with new business ventures are likely pretty strapped for time. Our advice: Choose the social media outlets that are best suited to your target market and your mindset. For example, if you’re an artist of any kind, the more visual platforms such as Instagram and Pinterest should be a natural fit. You should have no problem taking and finding photos of your work, what inspires you, and your process, and posting frequently to these platforms.

Take some time to consider which platforms give you the best opportunity to share your message with your target market, and focus on those. Because the only thing worse than no social media presence is an established but ignored social media presence. Resist the urge to populate your Squarespace website with all those cute little buttons only to have a potential customer click on one and find out you haven’t posted to the page in months.

Ain’t nuthin’ cute about that!