Squidoo Tips Part 2: Building Your Squidoo Lens |

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Apr 30 2010

Squidoo Tips Part 2: Building Your Squidoo Lens

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The tips that follow are based on what I have discovered from what I have done with Squidoo these past few months.

As I continue to learn I will update this squidoo tips and if you have subscribed to my list or has been following me through twitter or facebook then you will get a free tips!

In addition I have created a lens at Squidoo Tips Part 1: Why Use Squidoo? which I will update periodically.

So let’s get started! The first thing you need to do to get started is to create an account at Squidoo.com and setting your personal preferences.

I think it weighs in your favour if you set your income earning to be split with the charities. Normally, I either just give everything to charities site or split it squidoo and charities. I have no hard evidence for that but just a gut feel about it based on experience so far and the whole ethos of Squidoo. For me at least the actual income through Squidoo itself is relatively secondary so I quite happily split my income with the Charities.

Okay so having done that you will want to take the big leap and start creating your first lens. As I said earlier, don’t worry if you get it wrong at first. You can always delete it and start afresh!

What I would suggest is that you find yourself a niche! Then we need to look at what the numbers are around that particular niche. What you need to look at is:

1) How many searches are there per month for the term? – look at something like the free programme at GoodKeywords. Find some of the lower rated keyword phrases (I tend to go for those in the 2,500 to 10,000 searches per month) to build your lens around.

2) How many competing sites are there? – Once you have found some keyword phrases that you think you could work with take a look at how many results the phrase returns (without quote marks) in Google. If you are getting less than 5 million then you can quickly see some good results with Squidoo.

3) Are there any affiliate programmes you can promote?

For your first lens I would pick a topic that you are interested in and possibly have an existing site/blog about. Then build it. Once you have tried it then focus on developing more and working your way through materials you have to hand.

I talked a moment ago about looking for Search Terms with less than 5 million competing sites. However, I have also seen some excellent performance results with both higher numbers of searches per month and results. So don’t be limited by that!

Now one of the keys to success with Squidoo is ensuring that your url is the keyword phrase you are targeting. I have also seen that for each of the lenses I have created I have had more success with those that have dashes between the words.

Okay you have created your lens, choosing your long tail keyword phrase and have chosen your category. Then you have added the first set of keywords as they request and you are half way there!

Then a page appears saying “Edit Your Lens.” Don’t panic! Have a play, try adding some modules and even get really adventurous and try deleting some.

You can always add them back. In fact I would strongly recommend that you do add and delete some and fill them with content and see how they look. Until you push the big button labelled “Publish” no-one will see your creation. Even when you have clicked the big “Publish” button you can go back and delete the modules you don’t want or got wrong. You can even delete the whole lens!

So you have had a play and want to get building your lens. Let’s look first at which modules I have found to be most useful:

The Text/Write Module

This one is a fairly self-explanatory because this is where you put your content! The module limits you to 2,500 characters each time, but of course you can add as many of them as you want. I have found that an average length article can split quite nicely across three of these modules and helps you to create the appearance of lots of content. You can also use these boxes to add links as Squidoo does allow a limited amount of html.

The Links Plexo

This module is perfect for promoting your affiliate links. You can add as many as you want although I tend to use no more than two or three at a time. Your readers can vote the links up and down and they also have the option to add their own links if you want them to!

You set the options for this in the “Submissions” tab within the module. If you do allow people to add their own links make sure that you select the option to “Ask Me First” – you don’t want them just adding any old link do you!

With links in the Links Plexo I always add some text to describe what the link is about and to encourage the reader to explore a bit more. These are the products that you want your reader to buy after all. Contrast this with using the Amazon Plexo where you are promoting Amazon Products to earn a commission through Squidoo. With the Amazon Plexo Module I tend not to write anything about the links.

The RSS Feed Module

This module enables you to add an RSS Feed from your blog(s) or from sites that support an RSS Feed. This is ideal if you want to drive traffic to adsense type sites especially if you are a member of Niche Mania where the sites have the RSS Feed available.

The Poll Module

Squidoo in common with other Web 2.0 sites is all about allowing your visitors to interact with the site. This module is perfect for this in that you can pose a question to your visitors which relates to the content of your site. Now start to think about how that might help your affiliate sales and I will cover that in more detail later.

The You Tube Module

This module is really useful because it keeps your visitors on your lens for the length of the video – well hopefully! Squidoo appears to reward you for the length of time the visitor stays on your lens. Obviously interesting and relevant video is a great way to keep them there.

Now when I first start building a lens I put the following modules into it:

Introduction – You should have your main keywords plus a couple of others dotted throughout and ensure that they are all bolded. It’s good to add a picture to the introduction as Squidoo (and visitors) like pictures. It also makes your lens stand out from others.

One RSS Feed – these are popular because they change and therefore make the content dynamic which is always a good thing as we all know. If you have a relevant blog that is updated on a regular basis then you could add that or perhaps a RSS Feed from a relevant website.

Six Text/Write Modules – this is where I use two articles and split them up roughly three Text/Write Modules to an article. If you need to add a few keywords here and there then you can work them in and of course don’t forget to bold them using <strong> </strong>

One Poll – I always include a Poll Module (you do have to search for it in their “Add Modules” section! They keep moving it so I tend to just use the search area in their Add Modules Section using “Poll” as the search term.

One Amazon Plexo – choosing relevant products from Amazon (you get a split of the earnings with Squidoo dependant on your account preferences).

Squidoo likes modules that help it to earn money for charity! Don’t use the Amazon Standard Module because the Amazon Plexo enables your visitor to interact with the list by using the voting arrows and also by adding their own products. Make sure that you mark any Plexo module as requiring your approval for an addition (you will find this in the tab “Submissions”) because some people will try and add all sorts.

One Links Plexo – same basic principles as the Amazon Plexo except here you are defining the links – think Affiliate Products! Now you will notice that I always add a few words about the product. Increasingly I am not doing this with Amazon plexos because we want them to be drawn to affiliate products don’t we!

A Guestbook – always nice to get comments and again like all of the above they add up to plus points for your lensrank.

Now, start creating your own lens.

Cheers!