Widgetbox Syndication Metrics

Widgetbox just released an analytics dashboard for widget developers. It is free and comes with every widget on Widgetbox.

The release further positions Widgetbox as the leader in the web widget space and as the backplane for syndicating, publishing, and tracking the widgetsphere. Since launch in October, the company has served 8.7m widgets to date and the widgetsphere (check home page for real-time data updates), the total number of widget instances syndicated via the service, is growing by over 40% month over month.

With these metrics, you are able to:

• Assess the popularity and effectiveness of your widgets at a fine level of detail.
• Track the spread of your widgets across the Internet.
• See who your biggest users are, as well as the most influential users (those driving the most new subscriptions to your widgets).
• You do not change your widget’s code or think about metrics in advance. Existing widgets automatically take advantage of it.
• It’s automatically available for all current and future widgets registered on Widgetbox. There is no separate sign-up necessary.
• The data is retroactive from August 2006. You can see the usage statistics of your existing widgets since the day they first appeared on Widgetbox.
• It’s free as part of the platform. There is no extra charge.

Developers can analyze widgets by these key metrics:

• Subscriptions - A “subscription” occurs when a blogger or web page owner personalizes a Widgetbox widget and gets it for their web page.
• Hits - A ‘hit’, or page view, occurs when a web surfer views a web page with the subscribed widget on it.
• Referrals - A ‘referral’ occurs when a web surfer viewing a web page containing your widget clicks the ‘Get Widget’ button underneath the widget. This takes them to the widget’s home page on Widgetbox. At this point they can themselves subscribe to the widget.
• Conversions - A ‘conversion’ occurs when a person who has been referred to a widget subscribes to that widget.

Congratulations to the Widgetbox team on providing widget developers the visibility and analysis required in serving the distributed web via a widget strategy.