Widgets

Widgets are those small programs visible on the right or left side of your blog page, depending on the layout. If you have a blogger profile with a picture, that's a widget. If you have a blog roll or a blog post archives, those are widgets too.

In my opinion, its a good idea to have a few widgets layered vertically on your page, so long as they are necessary or pertinent. Think of your blog page like a online news site or newspaper page. People don't typically view news sites or read newspaper pages to look at the ads and sidebars, they simply want the news.

So how much is too much? Well, to be honest, blank space on a blog is not as detrimental as blank space on a news site page. The goal of your blog shouldn't be to generate revenue at this point, though that's certainly an option farther down the road. Think streamlined, think personalized. Your blog is an extension of you, highly focused into a coherent stream of facts and opinions.

With that in mind, a profile widget is a must. Let your readers see and get to know you, the author. The profile widget should be at least halfway down the page from the top. Blog post archives are also a must, as they encourage readers to digest more of your content and spend more time on your page. Blog post archives should be near or at the top of your page.

A blog roll is essential to building relationships, credibility and ultimately traffic. I suggest you orient your blog roll directly underneath your blog post archives. The blogs on your blog roll are automatically ranked by most recent post. Remember to ask other bloggers to incorporate your blog on their rolls so that as you post, your blog will be displayed at or near the tops of their lists. Remember readers are reluctant to scroll down, so if they see your blog at the top of another blogger's roll, they are more likely to click the link.

Finally, your blog should include a disclaimer widget. Your disclaimer sets the rules of play, how you mediate comments and content. Word your disclaimer as clear and concise as possible and don't be afraid to tweak or change it later on. I suggest you place your disclaimer under your profile widget, near the bottom of the page.

Consider the usefulness and necessity of a widget before placing it on your blog. Calendars, games, search bars and news updates are novel but not necessary. Readers don't visit your blog to check the date, the news or to play Minesweeper. Finally, consider adding a page counter to your blog.

Analytics sites like Statcounter offer you the option of placing a small, innocuous counter at the bottom of your page. Once your numbers go up, consider adding a page counter to your page, if anything it will save you the time and trouble of checking your analytics five times a day to see how well you're doing.