Getting started with Squidoo.com
Squidoo lenses are like blog posts, but you can do more while driving website traffic
Whether you use www.squidoo.com as a free source of website traffic, or use it as a learning tool, it's a tremendous bargain.
Think of Squidoo as a "super blog." It's like a blog in that no design training or web programming experience is needed to create a strong web presence, and there are no costs involved.
But, Squidoo is more than a blog in that it offers far more options, as far as creating and formatting posts. It also offers a streamline way of attracting search engine traffic, which-in turn-can be driven to your website.
The following are the 6 terms you need to know to get started with Squidoo.
A lens is Squidoo's basic building block. Think of lens as a cross between an article and blog postings. Start a new lens each time you want to address a new topic.
Lenses can be long or short, and can be edited and expanded at any time. By creating a lens, you become a lensmaster.
Modules are the building blocks that make up each Squidoo lens. Add a module to your lens every time you want to insert a subhead and discuss a new point. Each module contains its own title and subtitle, which Squidoo automatically formats. Each module can also contain a photograph or other visual.
The power of Squidoo's modules is that you can choose over a dozen different types that, each, perform a different function. For example, you can add:
- Bulleted lists or numbered lists
- Annotated links to Amazon.com books
- Links to you own, or other websites
Squidoo encourages interaction. There are several Plexo! modules. Use these to post links and invite comments to online content like websites, audios, blogs, books, ideas, photographs, and videos.
Each of your lenses can contain your photograph, links to your website, and links to all of your lenses.
A great deal of Squidoo's power comes from its "search engine friendly" architecture. When you set up a new lens, you choose the category where Squidoo will list your lens in its internal search engine.
More important, you can also add additional tags-equivalent to keywords-to attract traffic to your lens. Because Squidoo tags are so prominent, when you create or edit your lenses, they're easier to work with than page titles and keywords located in the View Source code of your blog or website.
One of the ways you can enhance your visibility is to start and maintain a group lens consisting of links to other Squidoo lenses in your field or area of expertise.
By setting up a group, you reinforce your authority as an expert in your field. You can invite other lensmasters to join. You get to approve others who ask to join. You can post topics for comment by other group members. You become the "voice" of the group you created and can promote its visibility.
Squidoo.com can help you become more comfortable in several important areas. These include the ability to translate your experiences and knowledge into compelling topics. You also gain experience locating the tags that are most effective driving traffic to your lenses. Working with Squidoo, you will probably better appreciate the "plasticity" of the web; the fact that lens content can be continuously updated and maintained. You may also become more comfortable with the "social" or "community" aspects of the Internet, including the ability to post content for visitors to rate and comment on.
- Identify the topics you are passionate about and want to share with others.
- Visit www.squidoo.com and explore the lenses created by others in your field.
- Follow Squidoo's step-by-step tutorial to create your first lens and profile.
E-mail me, or call 603-742-9673, for help identifying topics to write about and setting up your first Squidoo lens
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