When I started my blog it was very basic and simple and even making the best use of all the tricks and tools offered it was still a basic blog. Anything special that required any technical skill stood out among the other bloggers and was respected.
Today, the advancements we see in tools for Blog writers to use is amazing! There was a time when blog writers actually needed some skill to make their blog stand out in the sea of blogs all over the Internet. One huge change has been the simplicity of collecting the widgets, buttons and banners.
I can always recognize a blog writer who is New to the whole scene because they tend to load up every little button and widget that looks nice and pile the side columns with some little symbol of something. Personally, I feel it is best to be selective when placing the widgets, buttons and banners on a blog.
Even I have experienced the rush of putting pretty buttons and pictures on my Blog or Website because all I need to do is "copy" and "paste" some code--or even better over the last few months many of the widgets and buttons don't even require a copy and paste, in some cases all the blogger needs to do is click a button that says, "Add it to my Blog" and walla it is placed automatically with on the blog with no need to even think twice about it.
The fact that a blogger can surf around the Internet and collect widgets and buttons with such ease has often resulted in that blogger feeling a bit big for their pants! In all of an hour or so a Blog can be decked out with pretty looking items could be a huge mistake for a new blogger to make.
There are three primary things I consider when I investigate adding a widget or button to my blogs:
- Who is supporting the widget or button? I personally, think that it is nice when people connect with other websites or social networks but it is FUNNY when a blogger is ranked number one on a site of social network No One heard of--or is so new that the first 10 people to get involved each earn some prize which is usually just another widget or button to put on your blog to drive traffic to the site that bestowed the prize.
In the blog world there is a huge difference between adding a widget and actually creating a nice blog. I personally, check out the websites and social networks before I associate myself with them by using their cool widget or the neat button they offer. I would find it embarrassing to be the Winning Blog for a website that started last month and has only 8 people slightly involved.
I might still sign up with the websites or social network groups that look like they may become something different, new or directly relate to my website or interests--but, I am not in the habit of cluttering up my sidebar with one little blinkie after another saying I am "all that".
It's best to know who is giving you the widget and what website or group you are connecting to before publishing it on the pages of your blog. The experienced blogger will see the inexperience with those bloggers I like to call "Widget Collectors." The experienced blogger will visit a blog filled with BLING and think---oh great another one of these blogs filled up with pretty pictures that can be collected by anyone. - Hidden tracking and other connections to sites and services are also often connected with the free Widgets or buttons bloggers collect. In many cases your site visitors will be aware that going to your blog includes the delay was all the tracking widgets connect and do their things... A blog page may take an extra long time to load on your visitors site--and the savvy Internet surfer will be aware of what is happening when they click on a blog filled with every widget on the Internet.
Logic should tell the average person that FEW things in life are really free! To think that all these websites and blog groups have spent their time and resources to create a free toy or tool for you to use on your blog is about as funny as going to the grocery store and being given full sized packages for free instead of the little sample designed to make you want to pay for the full size.
Especially a widget or banner that is Hosted by their site--using up their bandwidth or taking space on their server. Why would anyone create some of these cool tools, go to the effort to make them look pretty, and then give them to US hosted and managed by them and their servers?
The fact is, they DO NOT give these cool tools to bloggers as a free--no strings attached--gift. Within their code, or on their server or for advertising reasons the vast majority of the spiffy buttons and widgets offer far more to the site or group handing them out for us to use for free!
Some of the readers you may have gained may "click-off" your site just the moment they see the navigation bar downloading whatever some free thing you have placed in your blog code has triggered some outside website to download anytime someone comes to see your blog. - The single most HORRIBEL mistake that a Newbie Blogger might make is to actually place some kind of widget or banner on their site which also triggers a Pop-Up ad. When I visit a blog that has some kind of neat tool and my computer is spammed with Pop-Up ad's I not only Click away from the site as fast as I can--but, I make every effort to NEVER click on that Blog again!
Pop-up ads are horrible they cause many people to experience technical difficulties. At a minimum they require your readers to "click" on something just to make it go away! And in many cases the Pop-Up ad you agreed to let happen because you used the widget or button may display ad's you wouldn't want to be associated with such as those famous Casino Ad's or the ones for male enhancement medication or tools.
The only thing worse then seeing a blogger use a Free Tool that puts a Pop-Up or a Pop-Under on their blog is to see one that offers all the recognizable icky spam kinds of things we are all so sick and tired of. I personally have a policy of Never adding a Pop-Ad to any of my pages. While my blog and websites are For Profit I take pride in only displaying reputable advertising and Never the kind of advertising that pops, tracks or in anyway messes with my readers computer use, causes a delay or displays ads from the well known spam type things.
We all start one day if we decide to create a blog or website and most Newbies make the same mistakes. My fist website looked like it was created by a 5 year old because I learned how to use "clip art" and make cool little buttons. I did get carried away and by the time I was finished my pages looked like something I should call my Mommy and ask her to save in my Special Memories box.... It was so Cute and cluttered with blinking little links and pictures that it was a true Masterpiece any kindergartner would be proud to say they had created.
I myself have fallen victim to the temptation of a free widget, tool, service or pretty button given to me free--or under the condition that I permit Pop Ad's. It's an easy thing to do when the discovery is made about how simple it really is to make a blog Rock and Roll...
Over time a newbie will learn to be more selective in the widgets and tools they put on their blogs or websites. Some Widgets, banners and buttons are Awesome and do what they should with no real string attached. Those little gadgets will ordinarily be offered from the Top line Internet businesses we all know and recognize. Google, Yahoo and their associated services and tools generally offer straightforward little things to make your blog HOT.... People are not suspicious when they see a Blog download or track their visit when it is a Product they recognize and respect. It's when something Fishy starts to happen that readers Run the other way...
My Next Blog will discuss the whole Goggle Page Rank issue and those providers who give away the cute little widgets that tell a reader how your page is ranked.
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