How do I Use Squidoo Effectively?

by Dimore
36 replies
I have Started out on Squidoo, but don't know how to maximize if effectively? Someone help?
#effectively #squidoo
  • Profile picture of the author Eleanor
    Hey,

    Squidoo is good for generating high quality content in order to link back to your "money site". Think of it as a mini site that is backing up your main site. If you were a magazine, you'd perhaps have leaflets inside that further discuss your niche, think of Squidoo as a leaflet for your main site.

    The best way to use it is to create high quality articles that are highly relavent to your niche, then place a link or two back to your site.

    You can also use the various monetisation options that come with Squidoo such as Amazon and eBay etc.


    Hope that helps

    Thanks
    Eleanor
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  • Profile picture of the author stanar
    Collins,
    I found Squidoo some what difficult to use effectively. If you still want to work Squidoo. Go to Potpiegirl.com. Jennifer has a good free Squidoo Guide. You may find that helpful. I perfer Hubpages. For me, it is much easier to understand and apply. Check them out.

    Hope it helps,

    Stanar
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  • Profile picture of the author AmandaT
    I've done will with Squidoo... both with traffic generation and amazon sales.

    Pick a popular niche and write an engaging article... use lots of pictures. If you follow the tutorial on Squidoo it gives you a lot of good ideas on how to make great lenses.
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  • Profile picture of the author sovereignn
    Once you actually make the lens though how do you rank it above the other lenses? Just by getting traffic to it?
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  • Profile picture of the author danr62
    No, Squidoo Lensrank is based on a whole lot of factors that Squidoo doesn't tell us. However, traffic, sales, clickthroughs, ad clicks, and interaction all probably play a role.

    In other words, the more traffic you get to your lens AND the more interaction done by that traffic, the better.
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  • Profile picture of the author sovereignn
    Alright simply put good relevant INTERESTING content = high rank
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  • Profile picture of the author clever7
    Here is a lens that teaches you how to easily create business lenses in a short period of time, how to get traffic, and a lot more:

    http://www.squidoo.com/passive-income-website-traffic-squidoo-beginners-guide

    You must write original articles for your lenses now, because of the Panda. Squidoo was not affected by this change because of the various rules of their system. However, now they require original content, while before you could post old articles to your lenses without any problems.

    All the best!

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    • Profile picture of the author bloomingrose
      Great suggestions! The link back into Squidoo provided me with awesome material!
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  • Profile picture of the author TiffanyLambert
    Depends on how you want to use it - to brand a business or as a tangible affiliate?

    Here's a FREE guide for the tangible part:

    http://www.tiffanydow.com/gifts/52onSquidoo.zip

    It walks you through a challenge to create 52 lenses on Squidoo (one per week). But of course you can do more or less. There's also a Facebook fan page for you 52ers to share links, support each other, etc. It's pretty active.

    tiff
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  • Profile picture of the author Mitja Drame
    First, write about a topic you know well. But before you do that, make a good keyword research and find high searching keywords with low or medium competition. While you will write about things you know, you will create lenses easily.

    When you'll learn that, go to Amazon and search for products. Look for best selling products and do a keyword research for that niche. There are lots of great niches with low competition.

    When your first lens is created you need to bookmark it on social media sites (Digg, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Tumbl, RedGage, etc.) and post your link on Twitter and Facebook for quick indexing of your lens.

    Also submit your lens to lens directories such as Squidom, Squidoo Monsters, LensLike, Lensroll, SquidUp, Squidlines, etc.

    Squidoo lenses rank pretty high on Search Engines, because of Squidoo authority. If you will build backlinks to your lens, you can easily come to Google's 1 page. You don't need lots of them.

    It's important that you join SquidU forum and learn from other lensmasters. Build connections aswell.

    You can monetize you lenses with money modules such as Amazon, eBay, Zazzle, Cafepress, etc.

    Best wishes!
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    • Profile picture of the author Juba1
      Great thread because Squidoo is something I've always avoided.
      Certainly given me some food for thought.

      Is Squidoo a good site to get link juice from as I always got the feeling it was nofollow but have to check that.
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by Mitja Drame View Post

      Squidoo lenses rank pretty high on Search Engines, because of Squidoo authority.
      Three years ago, possibly. I find this is no longer true.

      Also, it's a little like arguing that articles in Ezine Articles rank highly on search engines because of EZA's authority. That relates only to their own home page, but that isn't where our stuff is published: we get our own newly formed PR-0 pages there.

      Originally Posted by Mitja Drame View Post

      If you will build backlinks to your lens, you can easily come to Google's 1 page.
      I can do that for my own website, which - unlike a Squidoo lens - I own and control, myself. Why would I want to build backlinks to someone else's sites?!

      I used to use Squidoo lenses as part of my backlinking strategy, for some of the now-very-out-of-date reasons given in this thread. Not any more!

      Originally Posted by Mitja Drame View Post

      You can monetize you lenses with money modules such as Amazon, eBay, Zazzle, Cafepress, etc.
      I can monetize my own sites with anything I like, and I don't have to share the revenue with Squidoo, either.

      Originally Posted by Mitja Drame View Post

      They'll ban you quick, if you spam.
      Whereas on my own sites, I can say anything I like and I don't ban myself and don't have to worry about anyone else banning me.

      Squidoo is perilous, unreliable, unnecessary and gives you absolutely no benefits that you can't get equally well or better elsewhere without paying a penny. And that way you can be in control of all of your business instead of just some of it. Even your own free blog on free hosting (Byethost/Weebly/000WebHost/Yola/Blinkweb), which you own and control, is a far better bet than a site which someone else owns and controls, on which they impose their own continually changing terms of service and their own idiosyncratic and inconsistent interpretations of them.

      Take this very literally, Dimore: Squidoo gives you nothing that you can't get (free of charge) elsewhere, a lot more safely and sensibly.

      It really is worth spending 20 minutes reading this thread slowly and carefully.

      Not to mention all the posts from such experts as Dan C. Rinnert and others, right here. These are people who know what they're talking about!
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      • Profile picture of the author MP80
        Originally Posted by Mitja Drame View Post

        Squidoo lenses rank pretty high on Search Engines, because of Squidoo authority. If you will build backlinks to your lens, you can easily come to Google's 1 page. You don't need lots of them.
        Originally Posted by Alexa Smith View Post

        Three years ago, possibly. I find this is no longer true.
        I have also noticed that Squidoo lenses are still ranking highly. As an example, I just did a quick search "Buy Kindle Fire" (without quotes) and there is a squidoo lense ranking halfway on google page#1. Kindle Fire launched 5 days ago so, providing the lens converts, the potential is there for some sales.

        Ezine Articles (and Hubpages) did however take an absolute battering following Panda, but Squidoo seemed to do ok. I personally believe that Hubpages will recover with time, and they have made a lot of changes since Panda. As a test, I was able to get one of my hubs from page 22 to page 3 while it was still 'sandboxed', using just one fiverr [backlinking] gig. Squidoo should be even easier to rank with the right backlinks etc.

        That said, I absolutely agree with the rest of Alexa's post, and would definitely reinvest any profits into owning and controlling some 'virtual real-estate' ASAP.
        Signature
        Before you do ANYTHING else in your day - do at least ONE thing that brings money into your business.
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    • Profile picture of the author Jnelson
      Originally Posted by Mitja Drame View Post

      First, write about a topic you know well. But before you do that, make a good keyword research and find high searching keywords with low or medium competition. While you will write about things you know, you will create lenses easily.

      When you'll learn that, go to Amazon and search for products. Look for best selling products and do a keyword research for that niche. There are lots of great niches with low competition.

      When your first lens is created you need to bookmark it on social media sites (Digg, StumbleUpon, Delicious, Tumbl, RedGage, etc.) and post your link on Twitter and Facebook for quick indexing of your lens.

      Also submit your lens to lens directories such as Squidom, Squidoo Monsters, LensLike, Lensroll, SquidUp, Squidlines, etc.

      Squidoo lenses rank pretty high on Search Engines, because of Squidoo authority. If you will build backlinks to your lens, you can easily come to Google's 1 page. You don't need lots of them.

      It's important that you join SquidU forum and learn from other lensmasters. Build connections aswell.

      You can monetize you lenses with money modules such as Amazon, eBay, Zazzle, Cafepress, etc.

      Best wishes!
      Thanks! Thats a whole lot of information on promoting your lens.Ive been making lenses only as a part of the link wheel.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mitja Drame
    I checked my links with SearchStatus add-on for Firefox and all my back links are do-follow. You need to build some lenses, get some comments and your links will become do-follow. But don't spam on Squidoo. They'll ban you quick, if you spam.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mitja Drame
    @Alexa Smith - I agree with you about control. I started on my own sites, too - because I control my assets and I have my own rules. But my lenses rank high on search engines. 95% on the first page of Google.

    But the main reason I started with Squidoo, some years ago is because I had no money for domain, hosting account, etc. I started with something which is free and I learned a lot.

    After I read a book by MJ DeMarco - The Millionaire Fastlane, I saw my mistake. Having own business is the way to go.

    But for newbies is great to start somewhere. Squidoo is free and can be great for starters. Because of Squidoo earnings I bough many programs I use today for my IM work.

    Thanks for your post @Alexa Smith, it was a good read!
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  • Profile picture of the author SoEasyMoney
    Erica Stone put out an awesome guide on using squidoo here in the WSO section. I'd highly recommend you check it out. It's a do this do that type guide.

    I am a HUGE fan of Erica. She goes above and beyond to help out her customers.

    Hope that helps!!
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  • Profile picture of the author MarcusJohnson
    Using Squidoo effectively, is to post relevant content to your site. Make it as your feeder site pointing to your money page. You can also use other sites, such as wordpress, blog, blogger, and hubpages. These are some of good quality sites that help improves your site's visibility.
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    • Profile picture of the author crgargan
      I personally Run my own site however, I now use squidoo for gaining traffic. Once a person gets to my squidoo len's I can direct them to my own site where I make the sale

      I have recently started using squidoo len's as part of link-wheels so I am curious to see how that works out for me.
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  • Profile picture of the author Mitja Drame
    @SoEasyMoney - I agree with you. Erica is such a nice person and her support is awesome! I bought that product, too. I'm happy with it. Nice way to create niche lenses.
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    • Profile picture of the author barbling
      Originally Posted by Mitja Drame View Post

      @SoEasyMoney - I agree with you. Erica is such a nice person and her support is awesome! I bought that product, too. I'm happy with it. Nice way to create niche lenses.
      Add me to Erica and Tiffany's fans - they're both super teachers and providers!
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  • Profile picture of the author cs.marketer
    Link your Squidoo posts together, and have them all linking back to your money site. Then comment on other posts related to you niche. This gives your Squidoo profile more link juice, which in turn gives YOUR own posts more link juice....which then also gives your money site even more juice

    Take care!
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  • Profile picture of the author absolutelee
    I use Squidoo for one thing...backlinking. I take content, put it up on Squidoo, then backlink the heck out of the lens. It's linked back to my money site, btw. Right now, that seems to work well.
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  • Profile picture of the author CarmenDA
    I have don lots of squidooing. I can tell you for certain that to move up in the game you should take advantage of getting as much "points" as you can. There is a point to the "points" and its to urge people to contribute to the site so the site gets more content. Its a business. They get paid for your stuff some way or another. So the more you help them they will help you by moving you up in their searches as well as the serps.

    This means that you should comment as much as possible, with real nice and meaningful comments (commenting gets you points, points are good). Plus it gets you "squidliked" (i hate these terms they make me cringe but it is what it is) faster and that gets you more points and certain point accumulations unlock more valuable tools. How cute huh?

    Use it mainly to sell on amazon and ebay. if you are smart you will figure it out. The longer the lens the better.
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  • Profile picture of the author shireen
    Hi:

    Shireen here :-)

    I've quit squidoo totally, it's a bit difficult to generate desire results...

    Just my personal opinion :-)
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  • Profile picture of the author marco005
    Notice;


    "Also submit your lens to lens directories such as Squidom, Squidoo Monsters, LensLike, Lensroll, SquidUp, Squidlines, etc."

    Does this alone brings me enough traffic to my lens?

    marco005
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  • Profile picture of the author marco005
    Hi Alexa,

    I know that you say this I know.....

    But when I buy recommend fiverr bacḱlink gigs (from warriors), I think it is safer, when theese fiver backlinks go to the squidoo/weebly or any web2.0 propertie first and then link back from them to my money site, as link these fiverr backlinks direct to my money site.

    Many say that this is backlink method is safer.

    And it is shame does any article directories (these for free) not bring huge traffic to my money site you say, I will lost traffic, so that my only chance to get traffic is seo, to get a good ranking.Other traffic method I not see and I will not waste my time with social traffic,facebook,twitter and such things.....

    marco005
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    • Profile picture of the author Alexa Smith
      Banned
      Originally Posted by marco005 View Post

      when I buy recommend fiverr bacḱlink gigs (from warriors), I think it is safer, when theese fiver backlinks go to the squidoo/weebly or any web2.0 propertie first and then link back from them to my money site, as link these fiverr backlinks direct to my money site.
      Well, ok - for what it's worth, I don't agree at all. I think you're still leaving a trivially obviously detectable "footprint" which Google's algorithm - post Penguin update - has no difficulty identifying, and it's living very dangerously. Just my opinion (and that of all the people who have been caught out in this way).

      Originally Posted by marco005 View Post

      my only chance to get traffic is seo, to get a good ranking.
      Article marketing, though it isn't "part of SEO" or "aimed primarily at SEO" can actually bring some tremendous SEO benefits, because our articles are (more or less by definition) syndicated only to relevant sites: these are the backlinks Google likes. As explained in the last paragraph of this post: http://www.warriorforum.com/main-int...ml#post5035794

      But this arises when you use article directories as a stepping-stone to re-publication on relevant sites (i.e. for their intended purpose), not when you try to use them as re-publication.

      But trying to use either article directories or "Web 2.0 sites" for the value of their own backlinks and/or as traffic generators is altogether missing the point, I'm afraid.
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  • Profile picture of the author kislany
    Going back to the OP's question, it really depends on what you want to use Squidoo for. Do you want to earn directly from Squidoo or use it to backlink to your main websites? It works both ways, but the lenses you write will be different in style. What I've found is that lenses that are used mainly for backlinks are not doing nearly so well as lenses you write to earn right there on Squidoo. I'm making right now almost a full time income from it and it's working if you work it as well - just like with everything else in life.
    Signature
    Jewels of Cyprus - my personal blog
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  • Profile picture of the author johnpea
    Squidoo does work but it's hard hard work to perfect it so you get good rankings. I use it, but I'm wondering whether it's worth all the effort...
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  • Profile picture of the author Tanya E
    Squidoo works really well for reviews of low competition products as well as those with medium competition due to its ability to rank fast and easily. The review has to be unique and must be persuasive enough for the reader to click through to Amazon or else they will move on to the next Squidoo lens.
    Signature
    ...
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  • Profile picture of the author marco005
    Hi,

    @kislany, Tanya E, johnpea;

    what you do to get traffic to your lens? comment with other peoples in the squidoo community or only post a description of every new lens to; squidom,lensroll,article troll and so on???


    best wishes
    marco005
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  • Profile picture of the author kislany
    I just try to do initial good keyword research to get external visitors to my lens and do a bit of 'community work' to get the lens initially a bit of traffic, but that's about it. And keep updating the lens now and then.

    I've long stopped doing any kind of backlink to my lenses and haven't noticed any difference from the time I was adding my lenses to lensroll, lenslike, squidom and whatever else people are using for it. So I stopped spending my time doing those boring tasks and just focus now on creating fun lenses.
    Signature
    Jewels of Cyprus - my personal blog
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  • Profile picture of the author dhdevidhussy
    When choosing a name for your lens, this becomes your page title (you can change it later). So if your lens is about 'making english sausages'...name your lens 'How to Make English Sausages'. If your lens is about a product, then pick that.
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