A widget is just a small piece of computer code or a small application that can be inserted into a web page that performs a certain function or leads to a much larger application. It makes it easier for us non-tech types to get something done on our web sites without a lot of hassle.

You see them and use them all the time.

A widget can be: buttons, dialog boxes, pop-up windows, selection boxes, toggle switches, forms, stock quotes, news, search boxes for Google, clocks, counters, games, feeds and many many more.

If you are a Word Press user, you hear the term widget all the time. A widget in Word Press allows you to add tools or content to the side bars of you blog. One caution however, you must make sure you have a widget enabled theme. If you read the specifications of a theme it will tell you if it is widget enabled. This article is not going to go into all the details here about installing and using widgets. You should go to this web site: http://codex.wordpress.org/Main_Page to learn more.

Some people also get widgets and plugins confused when talking about their blogs. A widget is not a plugin and a plugin is not a widget. Think of it this way: a widget does something in your sidebar, a plugin affects your whole blog. So placing an auto responder sign up form in your side bar is done with a widget. A product such as "All In One SEO" is a plugin because it affects the SEO of your whole site.

If you go to this web page: http://wordpress.org/extend/plugins/ and look on the left side column you will find many widgets and plugins with ratings from other Word Press users. If there is something you want to do to your blog you will find a widget or a plugin to do it.

Most bloggers, and web site owners use widgets to generate credits for traffic to their sites, or to profit from. When blog or web site visitors click on links located within the widgets, that are taken somewhere that earns the widget user  traffic credits or money. If you Click Here, you will see a great example how traffic generation and money making widgets are both used effectively on the same blog. Note that there are three widgets are used on that blog and they are spaced nicely so as not to make the blog look cluttered or ugly. Even though there is a lot of discussion about if you should or not, how many, and of course which widgets to use, the decision really comes down to what are you trying to do with your blog.

You have to think about form, function and who your audience is. If you have a blog that is giving investment advice then a widget that shows what the Dow and the Nasdaq is trading at is a good thing. if your blog or web site is about a particular type of product, then a widget that leads a visitor to that particular is a good thing. Bottom line is that the widgets you use should be directly related to the topic of the blog or web site. 

It's really common sense. What fits with your blog objectives? However, you will see there are many options out there and it's wise not to get too much going on in the side bars because it can be very busy and distracting for your visitors and they may click away before you can communicate your message. So always try to set your widgets up so that when a visitor clicks on a widget link, they are brought back to your blog or web site after visiting the link.