While I was browsing through my daily blog reads, I noticed a very peculiar feature on one of them every time I scrolled across their blogroll. I tiny preview window appeared next to my cursor as I went over a link, displaying the content of that site in a clear RSS feed. At the top left corner of this window, you could also toggle a different view that previewed the front page itself. You also had the ability to increase the size of the window without straining your eyes to read the tiny text.

What is this marvelous tool that shows where outbound links are headed without having you leave the original site?

A glance to the lower right hand side of the preview window had the name Snap Shots and a link to their page. This service, found at www.snap.com, is free and with sponsored keywords related to the links appearing in the window, presents an opportunity for bloggers to share ad revenue with the company. Along with the standard window, specialized window types, or shots, can be used for a variety of different links, making your site accessible for your readers.

Among the selections:

  • AudioShot- plays mp3 links in the window.
  • MapShot – displays a Google Map link when you scroll over an address.
  • MovieShot – displays movie title information from imdb.com (Internet Movie Database).
  • PhotoShot – diplays Flickr, Picassa and PhotoBucket accounts in a small display window.
  • RSS Shot- displays the RSS feeds of whatever site has one.
  • VideoShot – displays YouTube and other site’s videos.
  • StockShot – diplays a stock graph of a company link.
  • WikiShot – displays Wikipedia articles.

There are also several other Shots, including ones specific for Myspace profiles and even World of Warcraft links!

Snap Shots also allows you to have inline links previewed, where shots are added to unambiguous phrases like people’s names or product brands, finding the most appropriate information without you having to insert a hyperlink. For example, if you wrote Obama in a sentence, Snap Shots would create a shot link that shows the Wikipedia article about him.

The Snap Shots you use are customizable; allowing you to change the color scheme, insert your site’s logo and change language settings. There are several advanced options where you toggle the default window size and choose what type of links are previewed (external and internal, key phrases).

Just from a quick glance of these Snap Shots, I got excited about all the possibilities this service presents to bloggers. For one, it makes your reader’s experience of your blog more convenient and interesting, as they can quickly preview other sites with minimal load times without leaving your site. It also increases the chances that your own blog will be visited if you happen to be linked to from another site using Snap Shots.

With its quick displays of your front page and RSS feed, readers previewing your blog will get a nice first impression of what you have to offer without even taking the chance to click on the link! As users have fun scrolling though all the different previews on a blogroll, they will have a more expedient method of assessing the strength of your links and where they should go next for more information.

We strongly encourage you to visit www.snap.com for more information about their service and the benefits of including it on your own blog. Don’t be surprised if you see Snap Shots appearing on this blog soon!

Do any of you out there use Snap Shots already? How has it worked out for your blog? Feel free to share your thoughts.