Web widgets are little pieces of code that can be customized to fit a site. They add dimensions of fun, flare and functionality. For marketers, widgets can be used as a tool for promoting your website.

Why Use Widgets?

When you add a widget to your website or blog, you give users something fun or useful to engage them and spend more time on your site. There are widgets for just about any functionality, so it is a good idea for you to become familiar with web widgets and how they can enhance your site. They are excellent for spicing up your site and adding a way for visitors to interact.

For Marketing

As a promoting tool, widgets can increase traffic to your site, but only if you can get others to add your widget to their site or blog. The code is embedded through the web, expanding your audience and number of visitors. They also create extra backlinks to increase your search engine rankings.

There are two sites available that provide the best experience in creating and using widgets. The first is WidgetBox and the other is SpringWidgets. These sites provide you with a wide array of widgets to add functions to your blog like countdowns to Christmas for ecommerce, calendars or any number of functions that you think your particular niche readers would benefit from.

WidgetBox

The Web Widgets available at WidgetBox are sometimes quirky and poorly designed, depending on how they were set up by the developer. Because it is a free platform, anything goes. A feed widget, known as a Blidget can help you expose your site to more users. Post it wherever HTML coding is allowed in your profile. This widget was made with WidgetBox and took us just a few minutes:

SpringWidgets

SpringWidgets has a much better functionality for creating widgets than WidgetBox. You can take any widget you see and customize it for your site. Upon registering, you can get the code. Here’s a handy SpringWidget we made in about two seconds:

We’re thinking of putting this one on the front page for people setting up new websites. How we wish we had this little widget before when trying to match colors for other sites we run. There is a reason KillFive is simple black!

Worth Your Time

However you choose to do it, making a widget is certainly worth your five or ten minutes to set up at each site and gain exposure. SpringWidgets makes better widgets for the purposes of entertainment or helping your visitors. WidgetBox makes it easier for you to spread your message, because the user is getting a copy of the widget with your URL in it for their site. You can post your Blidget on your site and visitors can add the widget to their own blog. Your fans with personal blogs may just add you!