The Buzz About Widgets: Keep Blogging Interesting
Sometimes, there’s only so much blogging you can do before readers get bored or lose interest in visiting your site. Giving your blog an edge and adding some flair to it may give you the boost you need to see those visitor counts go up.
This is where widgets can be incredibly useful and so necessary. I find that, in moderation and using the right ones, widgets can be a valuable asset to you and the blogging community alike. I particularly love using the widgets that allow me to meet and stay connected with my audience. Still, there are widgets out there for every taste, and bloggers have an ample varietyof widgets to choose from in the blogosphere.
My favorite widgets are listed below, but you can look around for widgets and you’ll be sure to find so many of them out there that your head will spin.
Yes. I am a Twitter addict. I spend a great deal of time posting on Twitter, letting people know what I’m doing and giving them insight into my exciting (or not-so-exciting) life. For those of you oblivious to the marvel that is Twitter, it is essentially a way of people letting each other know what they’re up to through status updates done either online or through your mobile phone. It can get pretty addictive if you’re really into the social networking aspect of the Internet like I am. Now, Twitter has created a widget that lets Twitters share their updates with blog visitors. The site will give you a code designed for your blog or profile, be it for Facebook, Myspace, Blogger, Typepad, or any other site that you would want it for. Now, not only can I share my Twits with my Twitter friends, but I can share them with the rest of the world.
By far one of the most functional and useful widgets I’ve come across, the Bitty Browser widget will simply blog your mind. The Bitty Browser is exactly what you think it is: a mini-browser embedded into your site. It can be used as a way of sharing your favorite websites, podcasts or files to your blog readers, or it can just be incorporated into your site as a way of letting your readers search for content without ever leaving your website. It keeps your readership where they belong — on your page — and it adds an interesting, useful and, yes, I’ll say it, adorable widget to your page.
When we need storage for our large media files, many times we go to an online media storage site like Box.Net. We’re not always able to share those files with everyone we’d like to share with, however. That’s where the box.net widget comes in. This simple, slick widget allows box.net users to share their online media files with the rest of the world. It’s very simple, there’s not much to it, but if sharing media is something that you want to do with your blog, this is the best way to do it. It’s also very easy to sign up for and very easy to add to your page.
Skype is another one of those applications that has become almost indispensable, especially for business owners. Which is why this widget will be especially useful for those of you with either business blogs or personal blogs that mention business matters. The Skype widget lets people from all over the world see if you’re online and allows them to communicate with you through the Skype application. It’s incredibly user-friendly and the buttons add some flair and color to your site.
Widgets are a fun, useful way of increasing traffic to your blog website, but more importantly, they can also connect you to your readership in ways that other Internet tools can’t. Take a little while to look into widgets and see what they can do for you.