Do widgets and gadgets affect SEO?

[casper434]

I have added a number of widgets and gadgets to my site that I suspect act like Iframes. If true do these widgets and gadgets and the content that they are linked to help or hurt my site from an SEO perspective? Examples are facebook gadget, wordpress blidget, weather gadget, google maps widget.

[casper434]

thanks very much - good points

[EGOL]

What do your visitors think of these gadgets?  Do they use them or are they warts that distract from your website?

From a content perspective you should use gadgets only when they are a positive contribution to your site that is just as interesting or more interesting as the rest of the content on your page.

From a technical perspective I've seen some sites have so many warts that their pages take forever to load.

From a social perspective the gadgets should help people communicate about your content rather than be simply a doorway out of your site to a weather site, a social site or some other destination.

So... think about these gadgets.  Do you your visitors need them?  If not then don't use them.