In this post I’ll go over some of my favorites and hopefully convince you to give them a try.Įach tool differs slightly, but typically after customizing your widget on the widget-maker’s website, they will provide you with some HTML code and directions for where to put it on your site. Knowing which one is which isn’t as important as knowing that you can pretty easily put them to use on your site. When we talk about these kinds of website tools, we usually talk about both widgets and plugins. Some of the best widgets are free or work on a freemium model.

A widget adds functionality to your site by outsourcing the development of the application to a coder, instead of every site owner having to program it themselves. Widgets come in many forms: clocks, translators, Instagram feeds, video players, contact forms, slideshows, search bars, etc.

Taking advantage of these tools can engage your visitors and make a simple website much more functional.Īpplications that are embedded into the body of websites are called widgets.

But these days it’s usually as simple as copying and pasting some text into your website. Do you ever visit a website and wonder how it got all of those widgets to work? The booking form, the calendar, or even the weather display? You might assume that these kinds of bells and whistles require a web developer to install.

Download weather widget for website