This is a Guest post by Ken Xu from MySites Advisor who tells us about the Tao of Blogging to Wealth. Don’t forget to visit his blog for more news and Subscribe to his blog for regular updates.
Widget is a great element for a blog. But something that we never ask about is whether it’s useful or not. This year of 2007 is a widget-era where you could find so many kind of widget available for you to decorate your blog. Some peoples will go nuts (Really nuts!) by stuffing their blog with widget from header to footer. What make me questioning myself when arrive at that kind of blog is:
- What are the benefits?
- Does it become a burden?
- Is it necessary?
So, what are the benefits of Widget?
Yes, there are some widgets around the blogosphere that is quite useful. But large parts of them are exist solely for a decoration only. Well, I cannot say anything if your blog is for fun and making friends. It’s your right to put anything in it, but if you are blogging for business and credibility, I suggest you not to fill every single space of your blog with chicklets and Widgets. You must make sure it will not become a burden when user loading your page to view your articles. The most dangerous widget is flash type widget. Chance is, if the widget server is error, your page won’t display properly if you place the widget before the content.
So, Why take the useless risk? Also make sure it’s necessary and important for your blog. Don’t place there for fun, except you really want your readers having a good time with the widget. Widget like Blogrush is good for your blog. Dealdotcom widget is also beneficial for you to earn some commission. And CLIQ in Traffic sharing widget is also nice to try.
It’s depend on your planning toward your blog. An useful widget for me may become useless for you. The idea here is make sure not to “widget-stuffing” your blog but try to release some spacious space within your blog to allow reader to take a breath at your blog.
Try using Widgetbox to search for widgets around the world. It’s the largest gallery and directory of widgets. Hope you find this post useful.
Happy Widgeting your blog! 
Hi,
nice post.
i like widgets.
widgets becomes a part of the web2.0. you can remix the web or create mashups of the web. for webmasters
are widgets great tools to ush u sitetraffic.
I love widgets, but I also love simple sites. Widgets can be a great compliment to a blog. Making them better and more user friendly. Of course too much of a good thing turns into a bad thing.
There is a new pudding flavor out called pumpkin spice and last night I ate a big bowl of pumpkin pudding and cool whip. Tasted really good. However my body sure didn’t feel good about an hour later. I had a lot of a good thing but it sure turned into a bad thing.
Too many widgets can surely turn into a bad thing. You may not feel right away, but your visitors will. Visitors don’t like having bad experiences and when they do…they won’t be back.
Hi, Ken and Nirmal.
But sometimes useless widgets are useful also, albeit fo a different reason.
LOL,
For example, if I see some useless widgets on a blog, it immediately tells me that the blog is run by a novice, who is just learning to play with them. Seriously, useless widgets on a website or blog is a sure shot way of making a judgement
Hi Ken ^ Nirmal,
Useless widgets are sometimes useful too, albeit in a different way.
LOL,
For instance, they straightaway tell me that the blog is run by a newbie, who is just learning the art and science of blogging.
Haha, that’s my my way of interpretation.
Hi, Robert Eilers. Thanks for your comment. Yes, overuse never cause a good effect for our blog. I agree that we should select carefully what are we going to put on our blog to prevent something bad happening to our blog.
MyTagr, Widget for sitetraffic is the idea of blogrush. But I don’t think so it could bring alot of traffic if your syndication network is not wide enough to trigger the traffic rush. But, yes, widget could help us bring minor traffic.
Thanks for commenting at my blog post!
excessive use of widgets effect the blog speed and look cluttered. I use only mybloglog widget