NewsGator tracks a veritable ton of data every day.  That data, among many other applications, helps us to track how individual clients are doing in terms of their widget strategy and performance.  Every month several of us sit down and go through the past month's "numbers." 

Earlier in the month we reviewed our September numbers.  We put particular focus on widgets that experienced noteworthy upward movement in some of the metrics we track -- such as views, interaction, clickthroughs, etc.  Then we complied a list of best practices that reflect the basis for the positive changes we noticed in these particular widgets.  Some of them may seem quite obvious, but you'd be surprised how often these best practices can be overlooked: 

• Leverage your network to increase content distribution and interaction: consider sharing content with other NewsGator clients in the media industry
• Mash up your data types (text, video, pictures, animation, etc.)
• Put your widgets on article pages and areas to which they are related (i.e., instead of only placing them on section fronts)
• Keep it simple: don't try to do everything with one widget
• Plan ahead when launching time sensitive or seasonal widgets (i.e., Olympics, Election 2008, holidays, etc.)
• Don't hide your widgets; ideally keep them "above the fold."  (You'd be surprised by how many people seem to do their best to obscure hard earned widgets.)
• Avoid the catchall homepage widget; instead, create purpose-built, audience-focused widgets

Have you come across other best practices that have helped your widget campaigns?  If so, leave them in the comments section.