Google gadgets

Google gadgets are a great tool to use if you're making websites and have limited coding experience.

Simply put, they give you cool website widgets for without any of the technical hassles.

It's important to note that there are two types of Google gadget:

# The type you can add to a web page

# The type you add to an iGoogle page

I make regular use of both types for three purposes:

1) To increase content and interactivity on my sites

2) To promote my RSS feeds across my other websites

3) To monitor all of the RSS feeds that I have subscribed to, including my own

In this article, I will be ignoring iGoogle applications and concentrating instead on the use of Google Gadgets in your website design.

Getting started

Certainly in the early days of creating a website, it can feel like there's nothing available for users to see or do.

A few 'added extras' in the way of Google gadgets can give a new site a feeling of greater depth straight away.

For instance, how about a BBC News feed like the one below?

Putting what looks like a very complex feed like this on your website couldn't be simpler.

Step 1: Click on 'Add to your webpage' under your chosen feature.

Step 2: You're often given a series of customization options which allow you to re-size, change the look and feel and even alter content feeds at times.

As you can see from the screen shot above, the process is pretty intuitive and no technical ability is required on your part.

Once you've customized, click on 'Get the code' and you'll be presented with something like this:

<script src="http://www.gmodules.com/ig/ifr?url=http://shazingo.com/lig/lg/100001.xml&amp;
up_extrafeed=http%3A%2F%2Fnewsrss.bbc.co.uk%2Frss%2Fnewsonline_uk_edition%2F
technology%2Frss.xml&amp;up_extratitle=Technology%20news&amp;up_subject=
BBC%20News&amp;up_entries=6&amp;up_summaries=300&amp;up_selectedTab=
&amp;synd=open&amp;w=320&amp;h=400&amp;title=web-work-at-home.com
+news+feed+demo&amp;border=%23ffffff%7C0px%2C1px+solid+%23004488%7C0
px%2C1px+solid+%23005599%7C0px%2C1px+solid+%230077BB%7C0px%2C1px
+solid+%230088CC&amp;output=js"></script>

Don't be put off by this and don't trouble yourself about what it all means, just cut and paste it into your web page and you'll get a lovely dynamic feed of BBC News items.

Google doesn’t overdo it with adverts, pop-ups or gimmicks, so their tools fit quite nicely onto websites without dominating them.

My favourite Google gadgets

I'll leave you to explore the options and find out what suits your website and theme best, but here are a couple more gadgets that it's worth knowing about.

Google Translate My Page is a brilliant resource for you if you're running a travel website, hotel pages or similar where you'd reasonably expect different nationalities to be using your services.

Give it a try and see how you can place it on your website and users can than read your content in any language that they choose.

The Countdown Timer is an excellent utility to use if you've got a special offer coming up and you want to create a sense of excitement.

In coding terms, this is a pretty complex and time-consuming thing to do, but this gadget makes it quick, simple and effective.

Enjoy experimenting and make the most of this wonderful, free content provided by Google, it really can make a difference to a site and give it a lift.

If you like using gadgets and widgets on your website, you should also look at my page on Website widgets.

Return from Google gadgets to Website tips

Return to Home Internet Businesses homepage