Give Widgets a Chance
- 4 Comments
- March 3rd, 2008
Jeremiah Owyang writes about the many challenges of a widget strategy. He lists about 18 different problems with using widgets to market. Among them: high costs to create widgets; and low value to users.
His post is well thought out. And I agree with a number of the points.
I would add this thought, however: maybe we shouldn’t expect so much from widgets. The more you expect your widget to accomplish, the bigger the issues will seem. If you have modest expectations of your widgets, then you can afford to experiment and you won’t be disappointed if the widget doesn’t deliver. But if your widget is successful, you’ll be thrilled.
One company I heard about is considering a widget strategy. However, they don’t want to take advantage of off-the-shelf widget creation tools like Spring Widgets. Instead, they have a complex strategy for a super-widget, requiring them to devote precious development resources to make from scratch
A widget is just one more tool in the toolbox. Don’t expect it to be your entire marketing strategy — or even your entire social media strategy.
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Anita,
I have several widgets on my blog. I use the same approach as you. I don’t expect too much from free online tools. I test them out and wait for reactions from my readers. If I find them useful for my own blogging pleasure and my readers enjoy the features so my blog get more “sticky,” I keep the widget. On the other hand, if the widget has some side-effects like slowing down the loading of the page, is annoying to my readers, etc., I will phase it out.
ReplyI love how widgets enhance and decorate blogs, but the slow loading of pages can be very annoying.
ReplyI agree that widgets are fun and pretty cool little tools. However, Anita makes a great point here - they cannot be solely relied upon as a marketing tool, but if you don’t expect miracles from them, I’m sure your readers find them of value and interest and they add to your site.
ReplyI think widgets can be useful but only if they are really eye catching. I rarely pay attention to them unless they are colorful and different.
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