2.0 Web Widget Marketing

November 13, 2007; 07:51 AM

What is a Widget?

A Widget is a newly defined term, referring to a mini internet application that is offered by a 3rd party. Widgets can easily be integrated in a web page by inserting a small piece of "embed code" that will be offered you at the site of your chosen Widget.

What is the best application for a Widget?

There are many pages that users themselves can adapt and customize by inserting pieces of HTML code. These kinda adaptable pages are offered by, for example social networks like MySpace, Facebook, Piczo, Xanga, I Live Spaces, Bebo etc. The newfound freedoms granted users of Blogs, Profile pages and other on line methods of publishing, make Widgets the perfect solution to fast functions and entertainment, without the need to code or own personal hosting space.

Other popular spots to add Widgets are online stat pages like the ones I Google, Microsoft and Yahoo have created. Again its very easy to add content to these pages and its easy to adapt their look and feel, simply by inserting the embed code issued by the supplier of the Widget you are interested in using. Weblogs are another application for Widgets and most of the online blog services like SixApart, Blogger, Wordpress offer plugins to make it even easier to add content like Widgets!

Widgets also make very cool and useful marketing tools for webmasters and companies BECAUSE users propagate (spread them around the internet) FOR THEM (this is what is known as Organic links) and they supply awesome content for users of all the above mentioned methods of on line publishing in seconds rather than hours, and without specific knowledge of the underlying technology.