Farmboy, Fetch me that Gadget
Like any brave new world worth it’s salt, the brave new world of Google gadgets is at first difficult to navigate, but once you know a few things about it you can tread easier. Which brings us to the feared Fire Swamp o’ gadget strategy. Doesn’t matter if you are a company wondering about gadgets, or a developer wanting to know what language to concentrate on, or just someone with an idea for a gadget, because all will face (and conquer) the three terrors…
As you know, very soon after their adventures with the cliffs of insanity, Westley and Buttercup traveled through the feared Fire Swamp to evade Humperdinck’s party, surviving the explosions of flaming gas from the ground; a fall into the quicksand-like substance known as “lightning sand”; and an attack by the huge, carnivorous “Rodents Of Unusual Size”, also known as “R-O-U-S’s”.
Buttercup was dismayed in the swamp and said…
“We shall never succeed, we may as well die here.”
To which Westly responded “No, no, we have already succeeded.” he continued, “I mean, what are the three terrors of the fire swamp?… One. The flame spurt, no problem, there is a popping sound preceding each, we can avoid that.”
Okay we will pause Westley for a second to ponder…
What is the flame spurt of gadget strategies?
The first terror of the gadget strategy swamp is doubt.
Inconceivable.
If you are not sure you want to fiddle your money or time away on gadgets, then you probably won’t. The thing is the more time you ponder on it, the less effective your gadgets will be. You see, there are a great deal of people who understand that gadgets are an important part of interaction and direct traffic which are major key elements to getting on top. Inconceivable?
The reason I bring this up is because timing is everything. You do not want to be the 23rd person to implement gadgets in your field, you want to be first. Second and third are cool too but the more you wait, the more you put yourself out of the window of opportunity.
Google gadgets are a very clear illustration of this. If you put out a gadget today, it will do better than if you put that same exact gadget out tomorrow. I have watched very closely the growth of the iGoogle gadget directory and the gadgets contained within it. In fact Adam Sah, the head honcho of gadgets at Google goes out of his way to say the same thing.
Okay so the first terror is doubt, and a yummy terror that is, because it keeps people away, meaning you can really take over your space if you jump in 
To help get rid of your doubt…
- Nearly 1 in 4 visits to Google are in “iGoogle mode” (where the gadgets are). This is alot. Think about how may people use Google.
- Google gadgets work everywhere (even mobile phones, more on that later this week)
- There are billions of Google gadget pageviews per week. (reported in the official Google gadget blog)
- There are single Google gadgets getting hundreds of millions of page views a month.
Google gadgets are here to stay and they are the “golden” product of Google.
Now, where were we?…
Buttercup - “We shall never succeed, we may as well die here.”
Westly - “No, no, we have already succeeded. I mean, what are the three terrors of the fire swamp?… One. The flame spurt (doubt), no problem, there is a popping sound preceding each, we can avoid that. Two. The lightning sand, which you found, so we now know what it looks like and can easily be avoided”
What is the lightning sand of gadget strategies?
The second terror of the gadget strategy swamp is lack of knowledge/lack of beginner documentation/not knowing where to begin.
Google gadgets, like other Google products, are somewhat restrictive to the beginner.
How do I make a Google gadget?
How do I get a Google gadget ad?
How can Google gadgets help me and my brand?
These are questions that Google does not answer well for the beginner. They have recently added a “guide” but it still is very restrictive when seen from the perspective of someone with very little web knowledge.
These are questions that I will be answering specifically here in the next week.
If you do not know where to begin with Google gadgets, then I suggest subscribing to SEOish (this blog). I will be publishing the most beginner friendly guides to Google gadgets that exist on the web. Really.
Not knowing where to begin with Google gadgets is normal, and nothing to stress on, I will be providing entry level knowledge and tutorials that can get you started on making them. Like this one which displays quotes from the characters of the Princess Bride and refreshes every fiften minutes or so…
I will also be putting out simple information for those who want to know how Google gadgets can help more people interact with their brands.
As far as Google gadget ads go, Google has put out very little. If you want to learn how to make Google gadget ads, I wrote about a way to get a trial Google gadget ad account earlier.
Once you begin to “play” with gadgets, you will start to understand them more. The main benefit that Google gadgets have in the “SEO” world is a form of direct traffic. They can provide ridiculous amounts of traffic.
It is much easier and realistic to create a Google gadget about “the Dread Pirate Roberts” that is popular than it is to create a website about him that is popular.
If your popular Google gadget links to your “dread pirate Roberts” website, than you can have direct traffic to your website from it and if your website doesn’t suck, then it will likely become popular as well.
The third terror of the feared fire swamp is of course the rodents of unusual size…
In the Google gadget world, the rodents of unusual (and increasingly larger) size is How to promote your Google gadget.
Once you have a Google gadget, how do you help it get popular?
One of the first steps is to submit it to Google gadget directories, but there are all sorts of things that you can do to increase the likelihood of your gadgets success.
I get alot of questions about the “nuts and bolts” of the Google gadget directory, and how it works. This means little to those of you who have not submitted to the gallery, but those who have, it means everything. How long does to get listed? How does Google choose which gadgets to show first? What are “page views”?
These questions and more will also be answered on this blog.
Whatever your interest in Google gadgets is, this is the place to be. Stay tuned, a couple very interesting and busy weeks lie ahead.
January 15th, 2008 at 3:26 am
Great intro, Pat. You have me drooling like a ROUS in anticipation of your upcoming posts.
March 6th, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Great post, full of imagery and really enlightening and informative. Keep it up, Patty!