If you’re not familiar with the funtionality of a widget, changed are that you’ve most likely seen them numerous times on websites, blogs and even on your at-home desktop. Widgets are programs that allow the user to access a wealth of various information. There are widgets for almost anything–from weather updates and news articles to advertisements, games, and more. If you sell a product or service then you definitely need to be aware of their functions and positive uses.
Widgets are almost like tiny little websites that can be accessed for more data. Theyare often times used to display useful information. If you want the weather on your site then you can display it with a widget (that automatically updates, too!). If you want your readers to be able to view your Twitter feed you can do that, too. There are widgets for your computer desktop as well. These can be customized to display a calendar, a search engine and even a virtual plant that you can water and grow. Pretty much anything you can think up can be made into an ever-sueful widget, within reason.
Advertisers have really utilized them to their best advantage. An example of this is the Purina site; they have a widget for the ultimate dog walking weather. While the consumer can use the widget to see when it’s the best time to walk their dogs, the advertiser gets to showcase their product along with the information. It’s a win-win situation for the consumer and the advertiser and being small, they’re usually not intrusive or a burden to view.
So whether you have a personal site with all of the bells and whistles or a commercial site where you want to advertise your brand, a widget can be helpful to both you and your readers.