Choosing the right star rating widget for Blogger is an important step in improving the user experience. Two popular services are considered: Rating-Widget and LikeBtn, their functionality, ease of configuration, and compatibility with the platform. Evaluate the key features of each to make the best choice for your project.
What is a star rating widget?
🔹 The star rating widget allows users to rate your blog content by giving stars. This is a great way to get feedback and increase audience engagement. 🔸 Two services are popular for Blogger: Rating-Widget and LikeBtn. Let's figure out which one is better for your needs.
What are the main differences between Rating-Widget and LikeBtn?
| Criterion | Rating-Widget | LikeBtn |
|---|---|---|
| Functionality | Support star ratings and reviews | Like buttons with simple metrics |
| Personalization | Limited in the free version | More than 90 settings |
| Download speed | Asynchronous Boot, Lightweight Script (17KB) | Asynchronous loading, does not slow down the site |
| Integration | Basic knowledge of code required | Easy implementation with minimal skills |
| Statistics | Used on over 10,000 sites | Popular among bloggers and sites with likes |
| Language support | Multilingual | support for 44 languages, including Russian |
| Free Installation | ✅ Free version available | ✅ Free version available |
💡 Bottom line: LikeBtn offers more personalization options, but Rating-Widget is easier to use.
How do I install Rating-Widget on Blogger?
Create an account: Go to Rating-Widget and sign up.
Customize the widget: Choose your star style, language, and more.
Copy the code: After setting up the widget, get the HTML code.
Paste the code into Blogger:
Go to your Blogger dashboard.
Go to Design → Add Gadget.
Select HTML/JavaScript and paste the code.
How do I install LikeBtn on Blogger?
Create an account: Go to Like Button Rating website and sign up.
Generate code: Use the code generator to customize the widget.
Add the code to Blogger:
Go to your Blogger dashboard.
Go to Design → Add Gadget.
Paste the code into HTML/JavaScript.
Set up an ID: For each post, add a unique ID to track scores.
How do widgets affect website loading speed?
🔹 Rating-Widget:
A lightweight script (17KB), loaded asynchronously.
Has little to no effect on download speed.
🔹 LikeBtn:
It is also loaded asynchronously.
Optimized for mobile devices and does not slow down the site.
💡 Tip: Both widgets are suitable for blogs where high loading speed is important.
Importance for Google SERP posts
🔹 Snippets are short descriptions of pages that appear in search results. 🔸 Star rating widgets can improve snippets by adding visual elements such as star rating, which makes the snippet more attractive and increases click-through rate (CTR).
💡 An example of micro-markup for snippets with a rating:
<script type="application/ld+json"> { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@type": "BlogPosting", "headline": "How do I choose a star rating widget for Blogger?", "author": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Sergey" }, "aggregateRating": { "@type": "AggregateRating", "ratingValue": "4.5", "reviewCount": "150" } } </script>
Do I need to add schema markup with widgets?
If you use widgets like Rating-Widget or LikeBtn, they automatically generate micro-markup for the rating.
Additional manual customization of >micro-markup can be useful if you want to include more information, such as the author of the post or the date of publication.
💡 Bottom Line: Star rating widgets not only improve user engagement but also help your post's snippet stand out in Google SERPs, which will increase its click-through rate. Adding star rating markup, such as using schema.org, will let Google know about your rating, improving visibility.
Three simple tests on this topic
