(how does squidoo work) Ok guys.. I i know a little about Squidoo and im going to reveal a massive secret that I Learned from my mentor. First of all you need to listen to what the market is looking for? Do some keyword research before even starting your lens. Once you find something that is good you want to type in relevant content through out your page entering your keywords Once you have done that go to webconfs and use the density cloud to find out if you have put the keyword to much or not enough for the search engine and squidoo. FINALLY THE BIG SECRET YOUR VIDEOS - Squidoo LOVES ACTIVITY.. Add other peoples videos relevant to your keyword. Guess what happens when you do that.. when people see there videos on your lens there gone use the little arrows to push there video Higher *ACTIVITY*. Guess what happens to your lens. IT SHOOTS TOO THE TOP. Because of the ever growing activity. NOW your might be thinking, well dont want to promote other peoples videos they might take my traffic Well if your thinking so competitively you might not make as much as you potentially could. I learned that the more you compete the less you earn.. "Be Creative" if this doesnt work you can stab me in the neck lol Just Joking.. Peace
Wow, great tips Gavin. I never knew all of those things. I will definitely go back to my lens and try to update it and make it better. I have been trying to work with squidoo for a while now, and wasn't completely able to get the hang of it. I always knew about keyword research but never thought of doing it before I even started. That probably would have saved me a lot of time if I did that. Great Post!
GavinStephenson: Ok guys.. I i know a little about Squidoo and im going to reveal a massive secret that I Learned from my mentor. Do you have a squidoo lens,Gavin?
Gavin, Performing keyword research before creating a page or a site should be done with all web projects including Squidoo lenses. This includes ensuring that your main phrase or phrases are in demand. Lens interaction is figured into the algo. More interaction increases lensrank. Poll modules and guestbooks also encourage interaction. Rumor has it that enabled emails also improve rank. Other helping factors are traffic, favoriting, and staring. Anything that shows an interest in a lens will increase the rank. ~Newbie Shield~
I just use articles for immediate traffic and backlinks. One of my lenses is naturally in the #5 position out of over 5 million searches (my articles are numbers 1 and 2) on MSN. The same lens has the #1 position on Yahoo with the same articles in #2 and #3 out of over 12 million. As I mentioned before this is in a niche with massive competition. There is POWER in the written word. BP
Thanks Gavin, The key for me in your post is more related to the mindset. You mention various methods of linking to outside sources, but doing so without the fear of competition. This to me is key in overcoming a belief in scarcity core value. Only by opening up to more can I receive it, and of course the information on what marketing technique to use is key in this. Marketing is so much of a combination of practical daily application and the right frame of mind for success. I know for me that I can't have one and be successful without the other. Thanks for the post!
Hey All, New to the forum. I started with Squidoo about a month ago, and have created 2 lenses so far. My first lens was ranked on the 2nd page of google for my keywords right away, then it disappeared. It appeared again after a few days for about 2 weeks and now it is gone again, and hasn't returned. I built the second one recently and it hasn't shown up, but if I do a site:"url" search, they both show up. I was wondering if anyone had an answer for me. Thanks
Hi Jen, The solution is to properly SEO the lens. If you don't know how to do that just read some forum threads and do searches on the net. A lens can drop in SERPs quick - if after it gets listed - it is determined that it has duplicate content, keyword stuffing, or any type of spam elements. Another possible cause is that you changed it and it is no longer SEOed quite as well as it was at first. One good thing is that you found that both are still indexed. To get them to rank higher, work on the SEO. Good luck, ~Newbie Shield~
Hi Newbie Shield, Thanks for the info. I thought that I had SEO'd the lens properly. I have read all the forums...maybe my lenses are too long, and I may have too many tags. I just created two more today, and I am going to tweek them too. Now, one of my previous that was indexed a few days ago is not indexed any more...I mean when I do a site: "url" search, it is gone now...so frustrating. Do you use keyword density percentages to determine keyword stuffing or just look at how many tags per module? Thanks for your help!
Jen, You can run density analyzers on your lenses if you like. I generally try to stay under 5% for a given phrase. I'm more worried about over-stuffing than under-stuffing. If your lenses are properly SEO'd then you might consider creating a press release and/or an article with a linkback to each lens to improve the SERPs. It's hard to say why you've been flagged. You can find a help link on the Google site and contact them to ask why you've been delisted. I had to do that with one of my lenses once and it worked. I do remember that I really had to search hard for the help link leading to the complaint form. I don't remember where it is on their site. I remember that my lens was put back in the index in a few days. Once you locate the link (if you can't find it you can call them on the phone) just fill out the form, tell them what happened, that you tested it with the link: command, and it appears to be delisted. Ask them why it was taken off of the index and what you can do to get listed again. I'm really sorry that you are having troubles. I've been there and I know how it feels. Good luck, ~Newbie Shield~
Ive read a lot about video giving you a high ranking even in google. So how do you actually add a video from youtube to your site? How can you cite the creator of that video?
Hi azmom, Squidoo lenses are equipped with YouTube modules. All you have to do is create a lens, add a YouTube Module, and tweak it to your liking. Furthermore, you can add your own text to the YouTube module if you want to cite the creator of that video. Adding text is pretty straight forward but let me know if you get stuck. ~Newbie Shield~
I think regular updating is important with Squidoo lenses. It seems to get your lens ranking higher plus Google likes new content.
I have created a local lens about my other "offline" business. Its a transmission and auto care franchise. My question is this: Can having a lens that ranks very low effect the way your other lens are ranked? The reason I ask is because the keywords that I am targeting have very low volume. I am not trying to earn any income from the lens, its more information based about my local company and bringing in new customers. I came up with the idea because I was searching through the local section and found many lenses for small towns, small local businesses and such. Its very easy to get first page listings in these local categories. I bounced ahead of everyone in a week with my blog. So what I am trying to do is to take advantage of my competitors inaction on the internet. And with Squidoo's ability to get placement on the engines so quick I thought it would be a good addition. I just dont want a negative effect on future lenses with such low traffic coming to the new lens. Thanks in advance.
Hi Bill, No, lensrank on one lens won't directly affect lensrank on another lens. Having a lens that ranks low is common among even the best lensmasters. I wouldn't worry about it. Still, it affects perception a tad. Branding and link power is something to consider. It can have an indirect affect. If you have one or more high ranking lenses, others may be convinced that the rest of your lenses - regardless of current rank - may be worth visiting. Conversely, if your entire collection of lenses are of low rank, few Squidoo members will view them. Same is true in regards to linking from a high ranking lens to another lens. You'll get more visitors to the high ranking lens and some of the traffic will click links leading to other lenses because they trust the high ranking lens and its recommendations. The opposite is true with low ranking lenses. Definitely create a lens for your business whether or not the keywords attract much traffic. It doesn't matter if your lens doesn't rank high. Take advantage of your competitor's inaction right away Don't hesitate. You might even link to one or more of your blog pages from your lens. Good luck and let me know if I can be of further assistance. ~Newbie Shield~
Thanks for the reply, Newbie Shield. I am in the process of making a business website and was testing the waters so to speak. My blog got indexed quickly and I expect the lens to also.
Newbie Shield: Other helping factors are traffic, favoriting, and staring. You mean if I just stare at my page my rank will go up?
Lol, good catch. Isn't wishful thinking a valid tactic? Bart Simpson and I may have to write something on the blackboard 100 times... I will not stare at the stars. I will not stare at the stars. I will not stare at the stars. I will not stare at the stars. I will not stare at the stars... ~Newbie Shield~
