I've Seen The Future, And It Is Widgets
Widgets are taking over every blog and site on the net.
This isn't a bad thing: It means that sites are now a lot more inter-connected, with not just ads, but all forms of content syndicated out and ad-hoc communities and social networks built across web sites.
Our My eSassy Wishlist is just one example. Also out there are: the alexa widget, the slide widget, the meebo widget, the sedo widget, and the mybloglogs widget, which will track usage on and off your blog.
If RSS was the way to syndicate out static content, widgets are the way to syndicate out dynamic content. And what better way to drive traffic to a new web site than by giving away something for free? In this case, it's a widget, something that provides useful information or interaction for your site visitors with the idea that they will click through the widget to go to your site (sedo, meebo, eSassy, etc.) to get the full deal.
It makes perfect sense. Certainly there are still deals to be had with PPC advertising, especially on MSN and in some of the more obscure niches in Google and Yahoo. Widgets, however, offer a free alternative: provide something useful to the community and in return get traffic to your site.
Let the war of the widgets begin!
This isn't a bad thing: It means that sites are now a lot more inter-connected, with not just ads, but all forms of content syndicated out and ad-hoc communities and social networks built across web sites.
Our My eSassy Wishlist is just one example. Also out there are: the alexa widget, the slide widget, the meebo widget, the sedo widget, and the mybloglogs widget, which will track usage on and off your blog.
If RSS was the way to syndicate out static content, widgets are the way to syndicate out dynamic content. And what better way to drive traffic to a new web site than by giving away something for free? In this case, it's a widget, something that provides useful information or interaction for your site visitors with the idea that they will click through the widget to go to your site (sedo, meebo, eSassy, etc.) to get the full deal.
It makes perfect sense. Certainly there are still deals to be had with PPC advertising, especially on MSN and in some of the more obscure niches in Google and Yahoo. Widgets, however, offer a free alternative: provide something useful to the community and in return get traffic to your site.
Let the war of the widgets begin!
1 Comments:
I agree. Widgets, be it flash or javascript dynamic blocks, allow any user to insert on their blog / vlog / photo log / website (who doesn't have one of this at least?) their favorite items. However, I don't think it's an issue of RSS for static content, and widgets for dynamic content.
I think RSS is more oriented to machine programs that can categorize content (that might as well be dynamic) for the user to read. Widgets, on the other hand, are more web surfer oriented, since they tend to include some sort of graphic image to attract the eye of the visitor.
On my website Lo Que Me Gusta De La Web we offer both things: a widget oriented for the visitor, and an RSS Channel that helps users keep up to date with the site using their favorite reader. Both things are tailored to bring incoming traffic, but they do it by serving different purposes (the RSS channel is ment to generate more incoming links from automated RSS directories, while the widget is built to attrack visitors that are surfing other sites.)
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