From the many VKontakte applications, I chose the most effective ones - those that will help develop the community and convert visitors into subscribers or buyers.
But first, let's figure out how to install applications in a group. To do this, go to “Management”, and then to “Applications”.
Click on “Add” and the application will appear in the group
What is a widget in VK
Many people are interested in the question, what is a Widget? It can be called a small application that performs a useful function. They are different. For example, they can show weather conditions on the phone screen or the clock on a PC. Such utilities in VK link your resource with a specific group or page on VKontakte. Thanks to them, users can subscribe to group news without leaving the page, learn about promotions, and receive personal messages.
This small program can display photos of friends and other public members. They are easy to install and edit. Group administrators and owners of commercial pages cannot do without them.
Where you don’t need to install the VKontakte widget
- In the header of the site
. Your goal is to keep the visitor on your resource for as long as possible, and not invite him to immediately switch to third-party sites. - In the side menu
. The placement of social media buttons here overloads the menu and also encourages users to leave the page early. - Pin to page
. This placement is good for an online consultation window or a feedback form, but not for a button on VKontakte and other social networks.
Website creators make several common mistakes when embedding repost icons:
- They are placed without reference to the content. Buttons are appropriate where the user really has something to share with social media subscribers: under important information, exciting videos, useful infographics, etc.
- Installed under content that does not meet the definition of popular and interesting. Thus, information about a company can hardly be considered data that you want to forward to a friend.
- Immediately below the title of the article. No matter how necessary and exciting the information is, the visitor will simply forget that he has the opportunity to send a link to his friends if the buttons are placed between the title and the text.
If you want as many social media subscribers as possible to know about your material, install repost buttons below the text, not in front of it.
Why do you need a widget?
The main task performed by a small program is the connection between the site and the VK group. No matter what the focus of the resource and community, they need synchronization. You don't need to understand programming; just follow the simple instructions to install the program. Applications provide two-way communication between the site and the group. For example, a user, by clicking on the “Like” button, will put a mark from his profile on the resource. The utility helps to distinguish a public page from many competitors and attract visitors.
Popular widgets from VKontakte for websites
- Community Posts
Thanks to this block, it becomes possible to communicate with users using messages.
- Allow the community to write
This element allows you to receive personal messages from the community.
- Write to us
If you install this VKontakte widget, site visitors will have access to direct dialogue with the community or individual users.
- Comments
A function is being added to the site that allows you to leave your opinion on the information presented on the page.
- "Writing on the Wall"
Thanks to this element, posts or comments from VKontakte subscribers or communities will be able to appear on the site.
- Communities
Such a block will become a “bridge” between the site and the official VKontakte group. On it you can see community news and photos of its members.
- "I like"
In one click, the reader will be able to express his positive attitude towards the article and send his VKontakte friends a link to the material he liked.
Interaction with clients: basic methods and rules
Basic methods and rules
More details
- Recommendations
The data from the previous element is used to quickly find the most popular articles on your site.
- Polls
This form, which is very popular among visitors, will not only help you organize a vote on an issue that interests you and collect valuable information, but also distribute the survey on social networks, which means expanding your audience and getting new customers.
- Authorization
The “Login via VKontakte” button allows you not to lose visitors who are too lazy to enter their data into the form on the site. With one click, they get access to all the materials on your resource, and can also see which of their friends on the social network also visits it.
- Publishing links
Thanks to this widget, a link to content from your site will appear on the VKontakte page.
- Subscribe to the author
Users of the site have the opportunity to become subscribers of an individual author or an entire group in one movement.
Let's talk about what actions you need to take to expand the capabilities of your resource using the listed blocks.
Widget setup
Now you will see five blocks of different directions, as in the screenshot. Let's look at them in detail, according to numbering:
No. 1. In the first column you need to indicate the address of your own group.
No. 2. Here you can select one of the options you are interested in:
- “Participants” – the application will show the avatars of everyone who participates in the group.
- “News” – shows the latest news content from the community.
- “Name only” – only the name of the public will be shown on the resource.
No. 3. Here you can configure the size of the application - width and height.
No. 4. In this block, the color of the background, keys and text changes.
No. 5. Here is the embed code for the resource.
Change the settings as you wish, it's all up to you. Then they need to be saved.
Personalize content and encourage activity
Personalize the content - make a widget in which every visitor or subscriber will see themselves. Offer a discount in your greeting, encourage you to subscribe to updates or participate in some activity.
To set up a personalized greeting, use the Community Widget app. It displays the user's avatar and name, and you can write the text of the message, set a button and select a link that the person will follow.
The widget may look like this - offer the visitor something that might interest him: products, articles or discussions
When a person has become your subscriber, motivate him to actively communicate, like and comment on your content. For example, show the most active participants in the group: they will be pleased. Connect the Pedestal application - it will calculate activity points and display a rating above the community posts. You decide how many points you can get for likes, comments and reposts.
This is what the activity rating looks like: it is updated every day, once every hour or half an hour
Competition will encourage users to communicate more actively. You can also offer subscribers bonuses for points: for example, discounts or small gifts. The application automatically adds points to the balance, and users can then pay with them for purchases in their personal account.
If one rating is not enough and you want to make a cool, engaging game, use the Colosseum application for gamification. It contains several tools at once:
- a unique set of widgets - for example, a dynamic cover displaying avatars and names of the most active users;
- points system (aces) - you set up how many points the user receives for certain activities in the community;
- level constructor - upon reaching a certain number of points, subscribers can move to a new level;
- anti-spam system - it detects spam and automatically deletes messages without counting them as activity;
- incentives - you can offer users some goods within the community for points.
"Colosseum" is similar to "Pedestal". But “Pedestal” can be set up in a couple of minutes, while “Colosseum” will take longer to figure out: it has more functions. For example, you can set what portion of the price of a product a user can pay with points. And what is one point equal to: a ruble, 50 kopecks, and so on.
This is what the list of products that can be paid for with points received for activity will look like
And in the “Colosseum” you can highlight posts for activity under which points will not be awarded. And choose one of four types of widgets that display the rating. Assign users who will not receive points, such as administrators or managers. Set activity limits to ignore comments less than three or four characters long. Assign karma: reduce it for rule violations and increase it for those who most actively comment on posts. The functionality of the application is constantly growing.
Removing a widget
To remove an application from a community you need to:
- Click on the “Management” tab.
- Select the application to be deleted and click “Change”.
- Next, click “Delete application”.
The removal procedure is simple and any user can handle it.
Chat with subscribers
To always stay in touch, set up an Autoresponder Bot. It's simple: add keywords that subscribers can use in your message and write response options. This way you can easily create an endless number of answers to a variety of, even unexpected, questions.
Add a command to write an answer to other possible questions like “how much does it cost”, “price”, “what is the price”
Even if the manager is offline, the user will instantly receive a response to the message. And in the description of the group there will be a proud o.
To increase activity, create a chat for all community subscribers. There they can ask you questions, share news, discuss new products and communicate with each other. “VKontakte Chat” can be connected in one click, and a widget for jumping into the conversation appears in the group.
This is what the chat link looks like: to start chatting, a person must subscribe to the group
If you want to work with mailings from VKontakte and fully automate communication with subscribers, connect Chatgun. The application allows you to:
- launch mass mailings to notify about the arrival of goods, promotions or discounts;
- create communication scenarios - add replies and reactions to different user messages;
- add buttons - the user can not write messages, but simply click on the buttons and go through the sales funnel;
- save user responses and collect order data with automatic transmission to the administrator;
- attach files to the bot’s responses—posts, images, documents, audio recordings, and others;
- set up automatic replies to comments under posts, for example, to questions about price.
There are many scenarios available: customize responses to sending goods, payment, first message and many other actions. Add media files and animations of the bot typing text, and also enable notifications to administrators about important messages.
You can gain more knowledge about promotion on social networks and running advertising campaigns, as well as upgrade your skills to an advanced level at the master class Advertising on VKontakte for hyperpros from SMM.school.
Script response settings are varied: you can even add people to the list of subscribers and remove them from it - for example, for violating the rules
Now let's summarize
Well, we’ve looked at all 12 widgets available for websites today. We hope that now you have learned a little more about them.
, website integration with VKontakte can give:
- improved usability (true for almost all widgets);
- increase in the number of members joining the group;
- increased social coverage of the material;
- improving positions in search results;
- leads and sales.
In addition, it can become a tool for:
- studying the site's audience;
- tracking the path and tone of discussion of material on VKontakte;
- increased engagement in site materials;
- growth of loyalty to business.
Click on image to enlarge
What widgets have you installed on your website and how do they work for your business?
Communities
Recommended for: all sites
What it gives : increased conversions for joining a group
Communication in the VKontakte group is in most cases less formal than on the website. Emotional presentation of news, live reactions from administrators to comments, broadcasts of work moments - intuitively expecting this, users move from the widget to the group.
Show that it exists, invite you into it. shouldn’t expect that the client will go looking for you on VKontakte
In the block with subscribers, the user's friends are displayed first. In addition, another block option is available, in which the latest posts from the group wall are displayed instead of friends.
The writing is on the wall
Recommended for: all websites (an alternative to the “ Communities” widget)
What it gives : increased conversion to join the group; a simple solution for adding multimedia documents to the site; increasing the social reach of a specific group post.
We recommend installing it if you notice that one of the posts in the group received more engagement than others: it was liked a lot, commented on and reposted. Most likely, the site’s audience will also like it, which means it will work well for conversion to join the group. Well, it will just show you from an interesting side 
In addition, the widget can be used as a very simple solution for integrating a block with multimedia content into a website: photographs, videos, as well as products from the recording.
Authorization
Who we recommend it to: all sites that have a personal account.
What it gives : more registrations (your potential leads), more active audience; social data; visitors do not leave the site when faced with the need to register. Friends are displayed in the authorization block, which means the site is more likely to be trusted and there will probably be something useful on it.
Remember yourself. You want to access the continuation of the article, download a book, buy something in an online store, express your opinion on the forum, but all this can only be done after registering via email and subsequent authorization using a login and password.
It would be good if the site at this stage does not require you to fill out a detailed questionnaire, including questions about age and professional interests.
Now remember the sites where you can create your personal account in a few clicks: just log in through any social network. And at the next stage, if desired, fill out the questionnaire. Convenient, right?
In 2021, Janrain conducted a study that surveyed 600 of its customers. According to the data received:
Community Posts
Recommended for: all commercial sites.
What it gives : online consulting and sales support, a tool for audience research
Most online consultants ask visitors to introduce themselves before asking a question. Messages widget takes the user's initiation of communication one step further.
An avatar is automatically loaded into the dialog window, messages are sent to the widget on behalf of the VKontakte . On the other side of the dialogue are the administrators of the community connected to the site.
The widget offers benefits to both businesses and clients (or simply site visitors):
- The former receive another source of leads and the opportunity to study their social profiles,
- The second is the opportunity to quickly get advice in a familiar environment.
Moreover, even if the visitor leaves the site, communication with company representatives will continue in VKontakte . True, the question remains open whether such personal communication will become a psychological barrier for some users (we all understand that a business receives a link to a user’s personal account).
There are two options for implementing a widget presentation on a website: less intrusive and more intrusive.
- In the first case, an inactive consultant is a static button that, when clicked, opens a chat. This widget visualization can be recommended for article sites - the widget will not be aggressively marketed and will not distract from reading materials.
- In the second case, the online consultant is open by default and invites you to dialogue. We recommend this option for sales pages and online stores, as well as businesses with complex products: industrial equipment, machinery, consulting, all goods and services that require individual payment.
How to install VKontakte comment widget on Joomla and WordPress sites
1. Obtaining and setting up a comment widget
You can get the comments widget at https://vk.com/dev/Comments.
The “Connecting comments” section looks like this:
Select your resource in the drop-down list in the “Site/Application” field. If you couldn’t find it, select “Connect a new site.”
In the process of connecting your web site, you will have to enter information in several fields: Site name, Site address, Main site domain, Site subject. We complete the data entry by clicking the “Save” button.
You determine the number of comments displayed on the page yourself.
An active checkbox in the “Media” field gives users the opportunity to accompany the comment text with a photo, video, graffiti or audio recording.
The “Width” field is intended to indicate the corresponding widget parameter in pixels. In order for the comment form to adapt well to different types of user devices, it is better to leave it empty.
The figure shows that VKontakte provides a code, after installing which a widget will appear on the page of your resource. Let's figure out how to do this for sites based on Joomla and WordPress.
2. Adding a VKontakte comment widget to a WordPress site
There are two installation methods:
- The first option involves using a plugin for WordPress – “vkontakte api”, which can be found on the official website. The functions of this plugin include an email notification to the admin and the comment author about the appearance of a VK comment.
- The second option is to install the widget manually. The first two paragraphs of code are placed before the closing tag in the header.php file.
We insert the last paragraph into the single.php file before the line:
Everything is ready, the widget is installed.
3. Adding a VKontakte comment widget to the Joomla website
This problem can also be solved in two ways.
The first is using a plugin for Joomla. Third-party software manufacturers offer ready-made options for customizing the display of VKontakte comments, for example, there is the JL VKcomments plugin.
Widgets for the site: what they are and how to use them
Interaction with users
More details
This option has certain disadvantages:
- Third-party plugins accompany the VK widget with a link to their own website. There is little good in this.
- The load on the site's database will inevitably increase after installing an additional plugin.
The second way is to add a widget to Joomla manually. The installation code consists of three paragraphs. Place the first two paragraphs before the closing tag in the index.php file, which is located in the folder with the template used on your site.
Typically, the path to this file looks like this:
\templates\template in use\index.php
The last paragraph of code that starts with the line
place it where the widget with comments will be visible.
Ideally, it should appear under every article. Manual installation in this case is labor-intensive, especially if the amount of materials is in the hundreds.
We offer a simpler option. Open the file for editing:
\templates\template_folder \html\com_content\article\default.php
If this file is not in the folder with your template, use another path:
\components\com_content\views\article\tmpl\default.php
We find the line in the file:
She is responsible for outputting the full version of the material.
Place the third paragraph of code immediately after it and save the file.
Polls
We recommend it to: any sites when there is a need to conduct micro-research; can be used for additional engagement with site materials.
What it gives : increased social coverage (the survey can be shared); studying the site’s audience, engaging in communication.
Creating polls on the site using the widget is as easy as in VKontakte : to organize a vote, enter the question and answer options, after which we embed the resulting code into the widget.
In this case, the widget is not synchronization of a survey with an existing post with a survey in a group, but an independent block. In this way, non-overlapping voting can be held on the site and in the group. (For example, to compare the preferences and views of the audience of two different platforms).
In addition, site visitors can share surveys on their pages, popularizing your site.
