How many gadgets should you add to your sidebar?
There are so many to choose from, especially through the process of adding a third-party gadget called a badge or a widget. It’s like picking a slot machine at a casino. They are so colorful, so enticing, so addicting.
Check out Widget List to get an idea of what I’m talking about. There are thousands of choices. Hot female celebrities, music, inspirational messages, calorie calculators, top daily beautiful photos, bejeweled puzzle games, for starters. Even under creative writing, the widgets are limitless.
So how many sidebar gadgets/widgets are helpful, and how many are too many?
It’s easy to put gadgets in your sidebar. In fact, here’s a VIDEO to show you how to put a widget in your WordPress sidebar. And for you Blogger bloggers, here’s a VIDEO to show you how to put a widget in your Blogger sidebar.
But don’t get carried away. Sometimes less is better.
Sidebar Choices
In my old Blogger blog, for instance, I had a gadget called My Blog List and then another called Margaret’s Shared Items, which covered just about the same thing. And then I had one called Books on Craft and another called Library Thing. Again repeats.
Thank goodness it’s easy to alter and delete these “goodies” when you change your mind.
Plus the experimenting is fun.
Just keep in mind that you don’t want to distract your reader from the content of your blog with too many bells and whistles.
In the end, your reader will reward you by not coming back.
Sidebar Gadget Suggestions
There are many places on the Internet to find gadget suggestions. Here are just a few: Top 42 widgets for your sidebar.
As Jimmy Rogers says in his post 6 of The Best Items for Your Blog’s Sidebar: Even the best blog authors need a little help to spice up their sidebar. While some argue that a plain, white-space inspired sidebar is best, I’ve become used to the little gardens of chicklets that most bloggers cultivate next to their posts. Here are some of the best ones I’ve run into on the web.
And he ends with: That’s all for now. There are a MILLION widgets, chicklets, embeds, and other discrete objects you can place on your blog. Be considerate of your users when doing this and try to limit yourself to about two lengths of a standard monitor. Beyond this not only will your widgets get no visibility, but you’re just increasing your load time.
Have fun. Experiment to your heart’s delight.
And then delete.
Thanks for stopping by,
I see a website book for you in the future.
Pretty cool piece of information you shared and definitely sidebar widgets is something most bloggers need to refine. However, the link you gave that got most of your information I have to question. The guy suggests as a top six Wakoopa? It a) runs on your system to peg what your most used apps are and b) pushes that information to the sidebar of you blog. While that may be a pretty cool piece of information for you personally and maybe even for the software marketing folks, who else really cares thta you use MS Word more then your Thunderbird? Given that he recommends that piece of junk to waste your sidebar I have to question all of his recommendations!
Hi Tonya. Never. I just do this to give my readers a clue to what's out there. I'm still new to blogging and am overwhelmed at the resources available. So this is just for fun.
Hi Ray. Thanks for checking out my post and the accompanying links. You make a good point. Though gadgets can be a lot of fun, IT PAYS TO BE CHOOSEY.
You make good points here. I like to have sidebar gadgetry that is applicable and useful for my site. I have what is probably an overly long blog list, mainly because I don't regularly edit and cull inactive sites, but I feel like it's a tool for my readers as well as myself. I don't really like games and doodads–after it's a blog, not an arcade and there are game sites that do all that much better.
I've added tabs to which someday (when I get a round tuit)I will transfer all of my "awards", buttons, and such since those are not of general interest to most.
What I like to avoid is a site that takes too long to load when someone visits.
Good post.
Lee
Tossing It Out
Hello Arlee. It's so true when you say your blog is a blog not an arcade. Sometimes the flash and busyness of too many gadgets can take away from the message you're trying to convey. I do appreciate the "awards" buttons on other people's blogs, though. Don't have any myself, but I like them just the same. Loading time is an issue when it comes to adding gadgets to your blog. People (including me) don't have the time or patience to wait long for a blog site to load.
I find too many gadgets is confusing. I have to agree with Arlee, it makes the site look to busy, and like a arcade.
Hi Lee. Well said.