WordPress · blog

Free widgets for a blog on WordPress

A blog's problem is abandonment: a reader lands on one post from search and leaves without discovering anything else. Live signals — people reading right now, where they're from, a comment thread with real replies — are social proof that the post is worth finishing.

What you are trying to do here is keep a reader on the page and prove the blog is alive. Three widgets below do that; the other 15 in the set mostly do not, so they are not on this page. No plugin. WordPress accepts raw HTML in a Custom HTML block, which is all this needs.

The three worth adding

  1. 01

    free live traffic widget

    On WordPress this goes in a footer widget area — it works anywhere on the page.

  2. 02

    comments widget

    On WordPress this goes in your single-post template, under the content — it belongs directly under the article body, which means the blog-post template rather than a global widget area.

  3. 03

    flag counter

    On WordPress this goes in a footer widget area — a ranked country list belongs at the bottom, where its lazy-loaded flags stay below the fold.

Where to put them

Put the live feed and flag counter in the sidebar or footer so they persist across every post, and the comments widget directly under the article body where a reader has just finished reading.

Questions people ask

Which widget should a blog on WordPress add first?

free live traffic widget — A blog's problem is abandonment: a reader lands on one post from search and leaves without discovering anything else. Live signals — people reading right now, where they're from, a comment thread with real replies — are social proof that the post is worth finishing.

Where do the widgets go on a blog?

Put the live feed and flag counter in the sidebar or footer so they persist across every post, and the comments widget directly under the article body where a reader has just finished reading.

Do I need a plugin for this on WordPress?

No plugin. WordPress accepts raw HTML in a Custom HTML block, which is all this needs.

Other site types on WordPress