Widgets
Widgets (or gadgets) give users a way to interact with your brand and your content away from your main web-site.
Widgets, at their best, are very viral; their small size, versatility, portability and mobility makes widgets very easy for people to share. When made right, widgets are very useful, providing specific information to users that genuinely want it. Widgets/Gadgets can be a very effective way to promote your site and your brand.
Further, widgets can also contain tracking code that allows you to either communicate with your users or simply know how often your widget is being used and by whom.
When people use the word widget, in a Web 2.0 context, they are referring to a small application that has been authored for a very specific useful purpose and runs within a specific environment, such as a users desktop or customizable homepage. There are widgets that provide stock quotes, news, search boxes for Google and other popular web sites, clocks, counters, games, feeds and more.
Broadly speaking there are five types of widgets:
- Web Widgets tend to run on customizable Internet "home" pages. For example iGoogle.
- OS Widgets / Gadgets run in an OS' specific environment. e.g. Vista Sidebar and OSX Dashboard.
- Desktop Widgets run not in a user’s dashboard/sidebar but actually on their desktop proper. They are often seen seemingly embedded within the user’s desktop wallpaper and residing behind the user’s main windows and applications. Sometimes these are called desktop apps (applications). Examples of this category include Yahoo Widgets and Google Desktop Gadgets.
- Mobile Widgets, as their name suggests, run on mobile devices, such as mobile phones e.g. iPhone, and the more advanced iPod-touch mp3 players. Examples of Mobile Widget platforms include Nokia S60 Widgets.
- Universal Widgets are built to a "Universal API" and contain a mechanism enabling them to very easily be used as both different widget types and on/within different platforms.
Lastly, widgets can even be included within the larger context of your content-managed web-site to add interactivity leading to your users feeling more connected with your brand whilst receiving information that is useful and relevant to them.
At Spira we have experience in building widget solutions of all types for blue-chip clients wishing to make use of this new area of technology and are sure we can help and advise you if you are considering new ways to reach and retain customers. After all, widgets are an effective way to promote your business through direct response web marketing, social networking sites and e-marketing.
