One of the most important features of a website is that it is interactive. The increases in modern technology have created consumers who have to be engaged. Media is constantly thinking up new ways to grab their attention with flashy ads, loud noises, and cool devices. This leaves us with consumers who believe that the websites they visit have a duty to create excitement in their web experience. Because of the push towards interactivity, widgets are extremely popular and there is no shortage of them.
Whether they are games, business applications, or informative widgets, they can add a little extra pizzazz to your website, drawing people in and keeping them there. Here are a few great widgets that you can put on your website absolutely free.
Google is probably one of the best sources for free widgets. Some may be less useful (Interactive Monkey, Angry Birds, Poke the Penguin – are you sensing the animal theme here?) while still entertaining, and others may be great for keeping on top of whatever it is that you want to keep on top of.
The five most popular free Google gadgets are:
Google Weather
This widget allows you to select your home city or any other cities you want in order to receive weather information. The widget itself provides information about the current day as well as the following several days including expected high/low, current temperature, and weather conditions (sunny, rainy, cloudy, etc.) You can find out what humidity levels are as well as the wind’s speed and direction. Being able to select multiple cities allows you to see what’s going on around the country and around the world.
Date and Time
Similarly to Google Weather, with this widget you can choose multiple cities to find out what the date and time are in your area, or anywhere in the world. You can select from a variety of formats to choose the one that you prefer best, whether it be standard time, military time, American date format, or European date format. This works well for companies with locations around the world.
Google Calendar
This widget does more than just allow you to see what the date is, or to find out when your next paycheck will arrive. You can input events, update your schedule, and even add things that you plan to do, in the hopes that having them posted online will give you the motivation to follow through. For your business, you can let people know about important events that are coming up so they won’t miss out.
This widget allows you to sync your Facebook account with your webpage to let your viewers know what’s going on in your social networks. You can display enough to interest them in what you’re doing and give them reason to visit you on Facebook. This is pretty handy, since the likelihood is that most of your customers will be on Facebook anyway. Why not give them a reason to visit you?
Directions by Google Maps
This is a great widget to add to a business website. You can let your customers know where your locations are and even provide personalized Google maps that give direction by car or on foot to all of your business locations. Don’t miss out on business because no one can find you; this widget can make sure that your business is easily located.
About the Author:
Henry Nettleton understands that a powerful website and an effective ad agency is key in marketing any company.
I love reading a post that can make people think. Also, many thanks
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