Have you ever looked at components such as weather, clock, search, or social media panels on a website? If so, these components are what are called widgets. Adding a widget to a website will provide information.
Apart from that, it is also an element to decorate website pages to make them more attractive. So, what widgets can you use to make your website attract lots of readers? Keep reading the following article!
What are Widgets?
Widgets are small components or elements of an application’s user interface that can be displayed separately or on a screen.
Typically, widgets are used to display information or provide quick access to certain functions within an application. This element plays an important role in making it easier for users to explore a website.
For example, they can provide information that fits the website theme, provide direct control over certain pages, or be used as decorative elements for website pages to make them more attractive.
Some examples of widgets include weather widgets, clocks, search, or social media panels. Widgets can be displayed on the home screen or lock screen of mobile and desktop devices.
In addition, widgets can also be part of the application interface, such as buttons, sliders, or text boxes. Widget development involves various technologies, such as HTML, CSS, and JavaScript for websites, and Java for mobile applications.
Widgets can also be integrated with other applications or websites to provide additional functionality.
The main advantage of widgets is that they allow users to access certain information or functions more quickly and easily, without having to open separate applications or website pages.
Apart from that, widgets can help beautify the appearance of an application or website interface by adding interesting visual elements.
Widget Function
After understanding the definition of widget above, the interpretation of the important role of widgets in websites and applications becomes clearer.
Overall, the function of a widget is to play a role as a small element in the interface that facilitates user interaction with an application or website.
Widgets not only provide ease of access, but also allow users to perform specific actions, such as inputting data, changing settings, or even playing a role in navigating the interface.
Through these capabilities, widgets can contribute to a better user experience and improve the functionality of an application or website.
WordPress Widget Examples
What are some examples of widgets? So, below, examples of widgets are as follows:
Author recommended posts plugin
Author recommended posts plugin allows users to select related articles that they want to display.
After the plugin provides recommendations, the process of changing posts that are deemed less relevant is very easy, just by using the intuitive drag-and-drop interface.
The main advantage of this plugin is its ease of use and adequate level of accuracy.
However, one downside to be aware of is the lack of active updates from the developer, which can result in compatibility issues when the WordPress framework undergoes updates.
Wripl
Wripl is a plugin that utilizes widgets in the sidebar to provide recommendations to readers about what articles they should read next based on the content they are currently accessing.
Using widgets in this sidebar is an elegant and effective way to provide relevant content recommendations.
Although there are no official reviews regarding this plugin, my personal experience in testing it shows that it works well and can provide appropriate content recommendations.
Easy related post plugin
The easy related post plugin has become a popular choice among WordPress users, and for very good reason.
This plugin helps significantly in managing the images featured in your articles, resizing them, and using them as thumbnails in the recommendation area.
This plugin offers various options for selecting the articles you want to recommend, giving you flexibility in determining the layout that best suits your needs.
The main advantage of a plugin like this is its ease of use and its positive influence on the appearance and function of your WordPress website or blog.
Primal for WordPress
The Primal plugin operates in a slightly different way compared to other recommended post plugins. Instead of relying on articles from your own site, Primal is able to pull relevant content from across the web that relates to the article the user is viewing.
This provides a broader and more comprehensive dimension in offering appropriate content recommendations, allowing audiences to explore relevant and varied information from multiple sources.
The main advantage of the Primal plugin is its ability to add a diversity of content that enriches the user experience by offering more comprehensive insights.
Related posts by Zemanta
Zemanta, as a startup supported by Y Combinator, has a main focus on developing recommended content based on the algorithm they have created.
The approach used by Zemanta is to recommend relevant content from other websites to visitors to a site, and vice versa.
In this way, Zemanta provides two main benefits. First, they help increase the attractiveness of the content displayed to readers by providing additional content that is relevant and interesting.
Second, they can help direct visitors from other websites to your site, which is a huge advantage in efforts to increase your site’s traffic and exposure.
Zemanta is an effective tool for optimizing content recommendations and expanding your audience reach across the web.
Where did they go from here
The “Where Did They Go From Here” plugin takes a unique approach in recommending additional content to users. Instead of only considering specific articles, this plugin focuses on reader similarities.
As a result, instead of just seeing article recommendations, users will see a list of links that say “Readers who read this, also read this.”
This plugin provides an interesting and useful alternative to increase reader engagement with relevant content. Although there is no screenshot of the application above, the image used is an illustration from the developer’s personal blog which gives an idea of how this plugin works.
Cross promotion content recommendations by Engageya
The “Cross Promotion Content Recommendations” plugin by Engageya is an effective solution for recommending content from your blog as well as relevant content from other bloggers.
The uniqueness of this plugin lies in its ability to promote your articles on other sites that use Engageya services.
That way, you not only expand the reach of your content but also help attract more visitors to your site. This is a great way to maximize exposure for your content and build collaborations with other bloggers in the Engageya network.
Reverb for publishers
Reverb for Publishers is a plugin that stands out when it comes to advanced recommendation engines. One of its advantages is the ability to scan your entire blog and use content graphs to map out which articles are most relevant to readers.
This capability ensures that the content recommendations displayed closely match the interests and preferences of your readers.
Additionally, you have full control over selecting the content from trusted sources that you want to display to your readers, making Reverb for Publishers a very useful tool in improving the quality and relevance of the content on your site.
Content.ad
One of the superior features offered by Content.ad is its ability to help you generate income through your website.
Apart from recommending relevant content from your own site, this plugin also displays sponsored content that can generate additional income.
Your income is based on the number of views your website generates, making Content.ad an attractive option for site owners who want to maximize their income potential.
ELI’s Related Posts Footer Links and Widgets
ELI’s Related Posts Footer Links and Widget is a simple but effective plugin for displaying related posts at the end of each article and in the sidebar.
With a minimalist design, this plugin makes it easy to display related content to your readers without any obstacles. It’s a solid choice for those who want a clean look and no complicated extra features on their website.
Advanced post list
Advanced post list is a tool that allows you to create a list of articles that can later be placed in various locations on your blog using shortcodes.
Although it requires a little more effort than some other plugins, advanced post lists provide a greater level of control.
This may be a preferred option for bloggers who want to have more granular control over the display and placement of related article lists on their websites.
My beautiful tubes
For bloggers who are active on the YouTube platform, this plugin can prove itself to be a very useful tool. The plugin allows you to easily embed YouTube videos into your blog posts.
Apart from that, this plugin also takes advantage of Facebook’s comments system to help increase the virality of your videos. With these features, you can more effectively share your video content and increase reader engagement in a more engaging way.
Nrelate flyout
Nrelated is a plugin that provides an attractive fly-out appearance and can beautify your blog, similar to what is used by The New York Times.
The plugin is also powered by a sophisticated, patented algorithm, which effectively ensures that only posts that are most relevant to the current content are recommended to your readers.
With this special appearance and algorithm, Nrelated makes it easy for readers to find and explore other posts that they may be interested in, increasing interaction and exploration within your blog.
WordPress related posts
WordPress Related Posts is a very useful plugin for bloggers who want to monitor and analyze the performance of recommended posts.
This plugin provides statistics on how well recommended posts perform in terms of number of clicks and viewing time. With this data, you can better analyze your audience’s preferences and behavior.
So, if you want to better understand how your audience interacts with recommended posts on your blog, WordPress Related Posts is a great tool to help you gain deeper insights.
WordPress Website Widgets
Here are some widgets on the WordPress website that you can use, including:
WP Call Button
As mobile internet traffic grows, more and more users prefer the telephone call method to obtain further information from businesses.
WP Call Button Widget is a very useful solution to fulfill this need. This plugin allows you to easily add a “click to call” button to your WordPress site.
This functionality makes it easy for users who want to communicate directly with your business.
This “click to call” button can be placed flexibly, either as a button that is always visible as the user scrolls the page or as a widget in the sidebar. Another advantage is the ability to associate this button with a landline or cell phone number.
However, it is recommended to use a professional business telephone service so that you can respond to calls efficiently and ensure that no calls are missed
WPForms
WPForms Widget is the leading solution when it comes to WordPress contact form plugins. This plugin provides advanced features that allow you to quickly and easily create contact forms that can be integrated into your WordPress website.
One of the main advantages of WPForms is its ability to customize forms according to your needs. This can be done via an intuitive drag and drop form builder.
Additionally, this plugin also comes with various ready-to-use form templates to simplify the form creation process.
WPForms is compatible with a variety of website design elements, including Gutenberg blocks and sidebar widgets. While there is a premium version, WPForms Lite, which is available for free, also offers a number of great features.
RafflePress
RafflePress Widget is an excellent WordPress giveaway/contest plugin. With RafflePress, you can create potentially viral giveaways and contests to attract web traffic, gain new customers, and expand your reach.
The advantage of this plugin is its ease of use, allowing you to run giveaways and display contests in various parts of the website, including in post, page or sidebar widgets.
Apart from that, RafflePress also allows creating special landing pages for giveaways and makes it easier to promote contests via social media or your profile.
While there is a paid version, RafflePress Lite, the free version, offers a number of very useful features. If you want to maximize your giveaway and contest strategy on your WordPress site, RafflePress is an option worth considering.
UserFeedback
UserFeedback Widget is one of the best polling plugins that can be used on the WordPress platform. The advantage of this plugin is that it makes it easy to create popup widgets to collect feedback from website visitors in real-time.
With UserFeedback, you can create various types of questions, including multiple choice, free form, star ratings, as well as collect contact information such as visitors’ email addresses.
Widgets are feedback can easily be placed in different parts of a WordPress site using shortcodes or set to appear based on specific targeting rules.
Although UserFeedback is a paid plugin, a free version, UserFeedback Lite, is also available for those who want to try out the basic functionality.
Whether you have an online store or a personal website, collecting user feedback is an important step in improving the visitor experience and the success of your website.
MonsterInsights
MonsterInsights, one of the leading analytics solutions for the WordPress platform, includes a very useful Popular Posts widget feature.
With this Popular Posts widget, you can easily display the most popular articles on your WordPress site. This widget allows you to display popular posts based on various criteria, such as the number of comments, the number of shares, or manual choices you make yourself.
There are many customization options, including various layouts and themes, so you can freely integrate it with the appearance of your website.
A very useful additional feature is the ability to display the most popular products if you run an online store.
By showcasing superior products online, you can significantly increase sales and run a more effective marketing strategy through your WordPress site.
MonsterInsights not only provides rich analytical information but also plays a role in beautifying the appearance of websites and increasing user engagement.
All in One SEO
All in One SEO (AIOSEO) has solidified its reputation as one of the best SEO plugins that can be integrated with the WordPress platform. Apart from offering advanced features in terms of SEO optimization, this plugin also includes a very useful feature, namely the Table of Contents widget .
By using the Table of Contents widget, you can easily include a table of contents in the articles you post. This widget is especially useful if you frequently publish long content and want to help users quickly navigate to the most relevant sections.
The main advantage of this feature is its ability to automatically identify the titles on the page and add them to the table of contents.
However, AIOSEO also gives you complete control over how the table of contents is tailored to your needs. This includes the option to hide certain elements that you may not want in the table of contents.
Smash Balloons
Smash Balloon, as a leading provider of social media feed plugins for WordPress, offers a variety of solutions for integrating social media content with your website.
There are four different plugins, each dedicated to popular social media platforms such as Instagram, YouTube, Facebook, and Twitter. With these plugins, you can display social media feeds with a beautiful appearance in various areas of your website.
Not only that, Smash Balloon also introduced their newest plugin, namely Review Feed. This plugin allows you to display reviews from various platforms, including Google, Yelp, and others.
By adding a social feed widget to your website, you can increase social proof and automatically update your website with fresh, constantly updated content.
One other advantage is that there are free versions of most of the Smash Balloon plugins available, so you have the opportunity to try out their functionality before deciding to purchase the premium version.
WP Simple Pay
WP Simple Pay Widget is a very popular and trusted Stripe payment plugin in the world of WordPress. This plugin allows users to accept payments via Stripe easily and without the need to set up a complicated shopping cart.
With the drag-and-drop form builder feature, you can quickly create payment forms that suit your needs. This plugin also provides a variety of ready-to-use payment form templates that make it easier for you to get started.
One of the advantages of WP Simple Pay is the ability to add payment forms to various parts of your WordPress site.
From sidebars to footers, checkout pages, or even within posts, you have the flexibility to place payment forms according to your policies.
For users who need more advanced features, a premium version of WP Simple Pay is available which offers capabilities such as recurring payments, user adjustment of payment amounts, cost recovery, and more.
No need to worry if you want to try before you buy because a free version of WP Simple Pay is available which allows you to test the basic functionality of this plugin.
Google Maps Widgets
One of the most practical ways to include a location map in the sidebar of your website is to use the Google Maps Widget.
This simple widget makes it easy for you to display Google maps in your site widget. When the user clicks on the map, a larger map will appear in a lightbox popup window.
This Google Maps widget is one of the best choices for business owners who want to easily display their business address and location on their website.
Social Count Plus
Often, you’ll see popular websites displaying the number of their social media followers in the sidebar. This gives the website added credibility by showing social proof about its followers.
Social Count Plus Widget is a very useful tool that allows you to easily display the number of your social media followers in the sidebar of your website.
This widget is specifically designed to display your follower count, not to count the number of times an article was shared on your website.
However, if you are also interested in displaying the number of shares for each post, there is a suitable plugin for this need.
Shared Counts is one of the best social media plugins for WordPress that will allow you to easily add social sharing buttons to every post and page of your website with share counts for each social media platform you use.
Compact Archives
The default monthly archive widget displays your blog archives in a long list of months, which can take up a lot of space on your website.
Luckily, to solve this problem, there are solutions like Compact Archive. This plugin helps group your monthly archives into several years so that the archive display is more concise and organized.
Apart from that, this plugin also provides special Gutenberg blocks that you can easily add to your posts and pages. To make it easier to use, Abridged Archives also has a widget that you can install in your blog’s sidebar.
OptinMonster
OptinMonster Widget is proven to be the best lead generation software in the WordPress ecosystem.
With its superior features, OptinMonster Widget helps you convert website visitors into customers and potential customers.
With this tool, you can easily grow your email list by placing sign-up forms in various places, such as sidebar widgets, lightbox popups, floating bars, and many more.
Primarily, OptinMonster is perfect for eCommerce websites and businesses that want to increase their conversion rates.
AdSanity
AdSanity Widget is known as the most superior ad management plugin in the WordPress ecosystem. Its incredible advantage allows you to display ads with speed and ease throughout your website.
Apart from that, this plugin is also equipped with a widget that allows you to display advertisements automatically in the sidebar of your blog.
If your goal is to support your website with advertising revenue through various sources such as Google AdSense, banner ads, or affiliate marketing programs , then AdSanity is your best friend.
Rotator Testimonials
One effective method for adding social proof to your website is through adding customer testimonials. Testimonial Rotator is a practical solution that makes this process easier for you.
This is one of the best testimonial plugins for WordPress which is equipped with a special widget. By using this widget, you can display customer testimonials alternately in the sidebar of your website.
The advantage is that this widget saves space and allows clever use of the sidebar to increase the level of social trust.
Plugin Feature a Page Widget
The Feature a Page Widget plugin is a neat and efficient tool that allows you to display certain pages as featured in your WordPress sidebar.
With this plugin, you have the flexibility to display page titles, featured images, and quotes to suit your needs.
To understand how to display pages in WordPress using this plugin, you can refer to the article which provides further guidance.
Context Widget Plugin
The Widget Context plugin is a useful tool that gives you the ability to show or hide widgets based on the context you specify.
For example, you can configure this plugin to hide widgets when users are visiting certain pages.
This is useful if you want to avoid the appearance of irrelevant widgets on specific pages or if you only want to display the widget in certain parts of your website.
Q2W3 Fixed Widgets for WordPress
Sidebar widgets often disappear from view when users scroll down your website, especially if your website has a lot of long content.
Q2W3 Fixed Widgets for WordPress is a plugin that provides a solution to this problem. This plugin allows you to turn any widget into a persistent widget that will remain visible on the user’s screen as they scroll down the page.
This can be especially useful if you want to highlight a special offer, display content that is considered important, or promote a newsletter sign-up form.
Theme My Login
Theme My Login Widget is a powerful and useful WordPress plugin to improve the user experience on your website. With this plugin, you can easily create a custom login page that is tailored to the appearance of your website.
This feature is very useful if you allow user registration on a website or run a multi-author WordPress blog, because users can quickly and easily log in or register with a custom login page that matches your site’s theme.
Apart from that, The My Login Theme is also equipped with a sidebar login widget which makes it easier for users to access the login area and enter their accounts more efficiently.
Advanced AJAX Product Filters
Advanced AJAX Product Filters Widget is a simple yet incredibly useful plugin that helps improve navigation and easily display specific content in your website’s sidebar widgets.
This plugin allows you to display certain posts that you choose in a sidebar widget according to your preferences. It’s very flexible, providing the option to display posts with titles, quotes, and thumbnails, or in standard list format.
With this plugin, you can present relevant and interesting content to your site visitors in various areas of the website.
Furthermore, you can combine it with the Context Widget plugin to display different posts on different pages or categories, providing a customized experience to your visitors.
This plugin is a very useful tool to improve the appearance and functionality of your website, helping visitors find the content they are looking for easily.
Google Language Translator
Google Language Translator is a very useful plugin for WordPress website owners. This plugin allows you to easily add a language switcher widget to your website.
By using Google Translate, this plugin can translate your website content into various languages. With this widget, your website visitors can easily change the site language according to their preferences, increasing site accessibility.
Alternatively, if you want to improve the overall quality of your content translation, TranslatePress is a good choice. This plugin allows you to combine Google Translate with manual translations, allowing you to better control the quality of translations on your website.
The Events Calendar
Events Calendar is one of the leading WordPress calendar plugins that is widely used in the market. By using this plugin, you can manage event listings very easily on your WordPress site.
You have the flexibility to add new events with complete details, including date, location, description, and more.
Additionally, this plugin allows you to easily display an events calendar on various WordPress posts or pages, so that your site visitors can quickly find and refer to events that interest them.
If you want to provide information about upcoming events to your site visitors, you can also display a list of upcoming events via a widget in your site’s sidebar.