07 Nov So What The Heck is A Widget?

Widgets (on the internet), provide an extensible “network”, that allows you to actively share content on other websites, while marketing your website and passing traffic back to yours with a click through.

You have heard about Widgets for years… either a widget was a Marvel comic book character as seen to the right here, or a very limited Sit Com from the 90s… or if some of you are financial gurus, it is a product that professors and theory guys use to generically define a product….

In the internet world, the widgets can be a great feature to your site.  If you use widgets that don’t necessarily belong to you, then a widget on your website could for example, display the weather, or display news, or be a sign up form for an email list.  Get it?

So let’s work through an example of a widget. In my further definition, it “Decentralizes” a website.  Literally using the internet to create a Spider web effect BACK to the website that provided the content.

In this example, I show you how we have used widgets on our site, www.blackatlanta.com to drive place some of our great content on sites like Myspace, facebook, and other websites, that provide cool pictures, photos, and more on those sites.  However, when people want more of the same, they can click and be driven back to our site.

Decentralization:  Again, the theory for the “widget owner” is to provide lots of great items on other sites, and point them back to the “CENTRAL” source.  This increases:

• Branding:  Awareness of your site and its content.
• Traffic:  If placed properly, a widget can increase your traffic, as site visitors may click through to find your site.
• Viral Placement: YES!!!!  We have not talked about this yet, but most widgets have a famous SHARE or EMBED feature.  This allows OTHER people to actively place your widget also for you.

With the viral placement feature, can you see how we would create a web of traffic back to your site?

Ok, so before this post gets incredibly long and boring, let’s simply look at a widget.

This widget is again, showing the latest videos from our site www.blackatlanta.com

• One can enjoy the content on this site.
• Share it.
• And then click to go to our site BlackAtlanta.com for more !

Find some widgets and liven up your site. Or find a way to WIDGETIZE your site!

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