Chat widgets, free or otherwise, were once present in countless websites. They still are today, but they are apparently declining in popularity with the advent of the more ubiquitous social media widgets such as those for Facebook and Twitter.

Truth be told, the merits of social media widgets in terms of engaging site visitors and creating a stronger brand for businesses are unquestionable. A pile of books (or social media pages) can be written about the incredible successes that countless of businesses enjoyed with social media marketing. These days, it seems there is not a website that does not bear the utterly recognizable “f” and “t” symbols representing Facebook and Twitter respectively.

But chat widgets, albeit declining in popularity over the last three years, are starting to make a comeback with better and more innovative features. They may not topple the social media giants, but they sure are an excellent companion to social media in terms of bringing a whole new meaning to the words “social” and “interactive”.

Chat widgets offer website visitors with a good real-time element to communicating with other users onsite. No social media tool offers such real-time communication, except perhaps for Twitter.

As a complement to social media strategy, most chat tools can be used as an added feature to Facebook pages. A few lines of codes are needed to install within the page, and in a few seconds, a sleek chat widget is ready to use.

Quite interestingly, with modern innovative technology, newer chat widget providers such as ChatWing.com offer so much more. ChatWing takes social networking to a whole new level. It features a unique technology that networks or links websites together, making them fluid with the exchange of chatters between websites.

Complementing your current social media strategy with innovative tools such as chat widgets could make your website perform beyond belief. Who knows what surprises in terms of traffic and sales combining these two tools together could bring?