You’ve created your website and designed it to fulfill a specific set of objectives.
But of course, you want your customers to not just be satisfied with the service you offer through your website.
You want to go the extra mile, go above and beyond to provide them the best customer experience.
And you think maybe you can add different features and functionalities to your website.
Perhaps, a calendar that your customers can easily refer to if they want to schedule a consultation with you?
A social media monitor to update them on your current feed?
A music box where they can listen to while browsing?
Or even a chatbot where your customers can send their inquiries to while they continue browsing through your website?
Anything that would enable your users to complete tasks and make their experience worthwhile and convenient.
But how can you do that without having to redirect them to another page or ask them to open another window?
All those features are made possible by widget for webs.
What are website widgets?
Notice the calendar on your phone screen? Not the app but the actual calendar itself.
Or the block on your screen that shows the daily weather forecast?
Those are called phone widgets.
There are also versions of those for websites.
So, those widgets for websites, or what we call “website widgets”, are third-party applications that are embedded into the website’s body.
These useful widgets for websites provide a convenient way for your audience to view or listen to certain data.
How?
Well, these widgets for websites are programmed for a specific functionality depending on what you need.
Some display the weather for the day or some, for the current hour.
Giving your audience an idea of whether or not it would be good to book a water activity in your resort on that particular day.
Or they could also display the calendar to make it easier for your users to book a reservation.
They won’t have to get their phones and open their calendar app.
Some widgets enable viewers to watch a brand’s social media streams, without having to visit the actual Facebook page.
All those things they can simply do by just looking at the widget displayed on the upper left or right or wherever you choose your widget to be placed.
Website widgets also come in many forms which are one quality that makes them not bothersome to your audience’s view.
These website widgets were intentionally created small so they don’t occupy much space on your website.
In that way, your users can continue to browse your website without an eyesore blocking their view.
Plus, they don’t have to open another window or tab to get the information they need.
All will be displayed on their screens for easy reference!
Also, for a website owner like you, website widgets are simple features in your website that expand the functionality of your page without having to write a code.
So, to help you see the picture of what widgets for websites are, here’s an illustration.
A website can be like the shell of a house, already designed with different sections (or rooms).
A website widget is like an appliance that makes a section more than just a container.
It makes the section functional.
That was deep but certainly wonderful.
You think so too?
So why do you need website widgets?
Well, based on user experience, free widgets for websites enhance the user experience.
How?
By enabling your visitors to run tasks online without the need for human interaction.
Many free widgets for websites are programmed to simplify your processes such as securing checkout, appointment reminders and reservations, and customer support.
Your users are more likely to interact with your website when it is easy for them to complete tasks for which they visited your site.
For instance, if you are a music producer, a typical visitor might want to listen to the tracks in your portfolio.
Wouldn’t it be fantastic if you did have a playlist of your songs on your website?
And your audience can easily turn it on without interrupting their browsing?
A music player widget will be perfect for that!
In general, if people can do specific tasks and can easily access information on your site, they will perceive your website as reliable.
They are more likely to come back for the same tasks in the future and might even tell their friends about you.
Free advertising for you!
In this regard, free websites widgets can enhance the user experience of your website because of their usefulness and the convenience they bring.
By simply adding different useful widgets for websites, you can address the challenges and requirements of your users.
Now, you might think, “these website widgets are very functional and useful. They might be difficult to add on my website.”
Free website widgets are not difficult to add at all, whether they are readily available in your website builder’s App Store or are coded.
Adding them will not require you to have technical expertise in web development to be able to build a more functional and feature-rich website.
On Strikingly, for instance, it is fairly easy to add a website widget or plugin through the internal app store.
All you have to do is log in to Strikingly.
Add a section by clicking on the App Store and HTML.
Decide where you want your widget to be located.
Open the new section you just added and look for the specific widget you want.
Or if the widget you want is not yet available in Strikingly’s App Store, you can go to the HTML Editor to add your website widget.
No sweat!
What are some examples of useful widgets for websites?
Again, website widgets are programmed for different functionality.
It just depends on you what kind of website widgets you think will be applicable and useful for you and your audience.
To give you an idea, here are some types of website widgets you can make use of.
These widgets for websites are designed to display your most recent posts on different social media platforms.
You can also use this to share to your audience updates on a certain brand or service-related hashtags.
Or even display or stream the current contents of your Facebook page.
That way, your audience will still be in the loop in the new updates and posts on your social media without having to leave your website.
Like a Twitter website widget for example. This can display your most recent tweets or mentions of your Twitter handle on your website.
And that is a good way of displaying testimonials and live mentions to your site.
2. Website calendar widgets
These widgets simply display the calendar.
But it functions so much more than just a board of dates.
A booking and calendar widget for website may come in handy for service-based sites or professional websites.
Why?
Because this website widget enables users to book reservations or appointments automatically.
While they are browsing your website for a possible booking, they can look at the calendar widget and think of a date to book that reservation.
Also, with a calendar widget, you may be able to display dates when you’re free to attend to customers or publish schedules for classes or online seminars that you may be offering.
This serves as a calendar, a datebook, and a reminder of events for you and your audience!
3. Countdown widgets
These are similar to calendar plugins or widgets.
A countdown widget for websites can be used as a part of marketing strategy.
This may be useful for building hype for an upcoming event, product or service launch, or even a new website.
If you put a timer plugin on a limited time offer announcement on your site, users can feel a sense of urgency.
As they continue to see the timer counting down, all the more they will feel that they’re losing an opportunity and that can motivate them to make a purchase or subscribe to a promo!
A clever move.
4. Customer support widgets
These website widgets are really helpful, especially for websites that are prone to customer inquiries.
Nowadays, credit card companies, airlines, and shopping websites are venturing into these kinds of widgets.
You too can benefit from these widgets.
Take, for example, chatbots and email support widgets.
Those are great for building and maintaining relationships and rapport with your customers.
You’ll be able to address their concerns immediately or even attend to them if they need help.
Some things to ponder on
These small website widgets are indeed useful and convenient.
It’s important to note, however, that while widgets are generally lightweight, since they are tiny, installing too many of these plugins on your site may weigh it down.
And that can affect the user experience negatively.
When a site has way too many widgets that a browser has to run, the website tends to load slowly.
So carefully plan out what kind of features your site should have and only add important widgets.
All in all, these website widgets may not be necessary for you to add to your website.
However, this may give your audience and users a better experience.
These are convenient and helpful.
Remember too, you don’t have to add all the widgets available in the market.
Otherwise, these may become a nuisance for your users instead of something useful.
