Build a Squidoo Lens

Pick your topic. Decide on some keywords to include in your url (web address).

Type in http://www.squidoo.com/replace-this-with-the-title-you-picked in the url box and click Enter. Either a lens with that title will come up; means it's taken and you need to adjust your title somewhat; or an option to say it is available and that you can claim it.

Once you have claimed your available title, another screen will come up in which you fill out three tags (they can be single words and/or phrases). Fill those in and click on the best category for your subject. There will be a drop down menu for the category field.

Once those are filled in and entered, you will be presented with a screen with options on some pre-selected template options or one without any. Since I know more of what I want now, I usually go with, Do my own thing, but for starting out, you might like seeing what some of the options are that fit best for that particular lens. Click on the little circle next to your option and hit enter. Anything can be edited later when you have your actual Squidoo lens in front of you.

Once you've filled out the little getting started forms, and clicked Continue, you will finally get to your Squidoo lens.

If you selected a template option, your lens will already have some modules on them. If you selected Do my own thing. there will just be an Intro Module.

Click on edit on your Intro Module to begin.

Your Intro Text and Title lets visitors know right off what your lens is about.

Your lens title can be a variation of your lens title or the same as your lens title.

The Intro module is a good place to add a photo. To add a photo in the Intro module, the photo first needs to be on your computer. You can use your own photo or that of another with their permission. To use a photo from a website that has given you permission, hover your mouse over the desired photo, right click on the image, click on, Save image as, title it and save it to your computer. When editing the Intro Module, click on Browse and then Pictures, click on the image you want, Open, and then Update Photo. Whenever you upload an image, you will also need to click on the Save in your module.

If your lens is more than several modules long, it could be beneficial to turn on the Table of Contents. Just click on the Table of Contents tab, and click on the circle next to on or off. You can do this anytime and also change it anytime.

The Discovery Tool helps similar lenses get seen. If this is your first lens, you can come back and fill in the info once you have similar topic lenses made. When you do, you just add the title part of your related url, up to three, and click on Save.

If I had said all of this in the Intro Module, it would have been way too long.

A Text module helps to break the topic up into more manageable pieces. Think of it like an outline that introduces new sub-topics. Pictures also add more visual interest and can be very helpful to your topic.

The Text module allows for more text, and is also one of the ways you can add links, such as picture links and product links. More on that later.

You can also add a photo that is stored on your computer in this module, as long as it fits the size parameters (it will let you know). If you want a photo from your computer here, click on Browse in your Text module, Click on your Picture file, and then the picture you want to upload. Click on Open on that picture. Then click on Update Photo. When the image appears, and you hit Save, it will be there in your module. You can also label your image, and add a url to it if you want it to link to another web address page.

This photo is for demonstration purposes only, so I only filled in a title for it. When you scroll your mouse over the image, it should say, Teach Squid.

The text module is very versatile. It can also be used for adding and making links.

Now that you've learned how to add a photo in the Text module, you can turn that photo into a link.

Here, I've uploaded a picture that I had saved onto my computer. While in the edit mode of the text module, I typed in a title in the Label this photo: box. I also copied and pasted the url of the product into the box labeled Link the photo to this URL? box. I then clicked on Update Photo and then Save. Voila, the photo is now a clickable link. Remember to save the draft of your lens, and then publish it once you have made changes.

When you hover your mouse over the picture now, it not only says, How to Squidoo book, on Amazon, it also turns into a little hand, meaning it is now a link. If you click on it, it will take you to the page that the url is for.

I also copied and pasted the text code for the title, How to Squidoo, from my affiliate page, to make it a text link: How To Squidoo. To copy affiliate codes and use them as links, you must log in to the affiliate site to make sure your affiliate id is part of the code.

I haven't read this book, but if you find you want more than what I'm telling you here, it might be helpful.

Sometimes you might want to link to another web page that is just for info purposes or for reference. An example would be when you want to quote what someone else has said, or to give someone else credit, as I did in the Intro module about the picture that I used.

Here's how to do it:

1. You'll need to type in the following code (or copy and paste it if you've saved this on your computer)

a href="http://url/">title in between what is listed in item 2.

2. The above code goes in between an < at the beginning right before the a; and at the end of the above code, type a < /, a lower case a, and a greater than symbol right after the title.

You can have spaces in the actual title part, and there is a space right after the first a, but not in the rest of the code.

3. Then replace the URL with the actual URL that you're linking to; i.e. www.squidoo.com/build-a-squidoo-lens.

4. Also replace the title with what you want your audience to see; it can either be the url repeated if your want them to see that, or of a name for the page you're linking to; i.e. Build A Squidoo Lens.

Hope this makes sense. If I typed the actual symbols, it would have made an actual link.

So try it out, then click save on your module. Then click on Save Draft at the top of your lens, and test it. You can always go back and edit if need be.

Once you've saved your lens, and/or published it, then click on Dashboard at the top of your screen.

Then click on the My Profile tab. Here you can add a personalized bio about yourself. You can even include links in the bio section. A small portion of this will automatically show up on the top right of each lens, or you can create one individually on each lens.

There are other fields that can also be filled out on this page as well. If you'd like people to see more options and things about you, add an About Me module to your lens. Click the different boxes to see what and how much shows up on your lens. An About Me module is usually placed at the bottom of the page. You can see mine, About CreativeArtist near the bottom of this page.

When you want to edit a page at a later time, and you have saved your draft and logged out, you will first need to log back in to Squidoo. Once you've logged back in, click on Dashboard at the top of your page. Then click on the Lens tab. You will see a list of all the lenses you have both published and haven't been published yet. Scroll your mouse over the lens you want to work on, additional options will show up under that title. Click on the edit option to edit.

You may have published a lens, but it may not show up as published (have a green check next to it) right away. Give a day or two to get indexed in the Squidoo system. Also the lens will need to have the Introduction module along with 3 or 4 more modules to be ready to publish.