How Do I Keep My Lens Fresh?

1 - I can do better 2 - Jury's out 3 - Pretty darn good 4 - Splendiferous 5 - Awesometastic by 61 people | Log in to rate

Ranked #285 in Squidoo Tips, #34,009 overall | Donates to Soldiers Angels

Nothing's Better than Fresh Squid!

You've made a lens. That's great! Think you have a finished product on your hand? Well, you probably don't. Around here, we like nice, well prepared fresh squid!

It's very important to keep your Squidoo lenses updated in order to keep both your lensrank and your search engine rank rising, but just how does a lensmaster accomplish that and keep on building lenses?

Based on a previous blog post, below are six quick ways to update a Squidoo lens. Try to do one or more of these updates daily, if you have time, or at least weekly. Keep your lenses fresh to keep that lensrank rising.

Not enough information? Still have questions? Ask away in our Q&A module below!

1. Product descriptions and testimonials. 

Your readers want personal recommendations!

Add descriptions to your Amazon module items. A personal testimonial or review is most meaningful, but make sure you include at least a short product description rather than just the item name.

Already have descriptions and reviews? Maybe it's time to rotate some old items out and some new ones in.

2. Get your visitors involved 

People like to give opinions!

Second suggestion, add a new poll module. If you already have a poll that continues to be relavent and active it's fine to leave it, but often an additional poll can really enhance your lens. Political lenses, especially, come to mind. What's your candidate been up to lately? Poll your visitors and see if they agree or disagree with his or her latest campaign tactic.


(Photo from John Morton)

POLL: Do you use polls on your lenses? 

Get involved!

Loading poll. Please Wait...

3. Check the calendar. 

Revise accordingly.

Do you have a module that pertains to a holiday? The 4th of July is over. Replace your patriotic module with a Christmas or New Year's module.

Stay one step ahead of the calendar. Keep reminders on your own calendar to jog your memory about lenses that will need updating.

4. Check the weather! 

Dress your squid for the correct season.

Point number three, above, pertains to seasons as well. Change the products on your Cafepress module from short-sleeve t-shirts to sweatshirts in the wintertime, or vice versa.

How about this fresh, boilded squid!

5. Do some gardening. 

Pruning leads to new growth!

Prune the dead links. Periodically check to be sure all links on your lenses are active. Oftentimes YouTube videos or Flickr pics are no longer available. Replace those with fresh, active links. Check Amazon or Cafepress modules to be sure those items are available as well.

6. Tags and Keywords. 

People are looking for your lens. Can they find it?

Review and update your tags/keywords. You're allowed 40 tags per lens. Make sure the ones you choose are the best ones. You don't have to use all 40 and, in fact, sometimes less is more.

Squidoo provides us with awesome statistics. Be sure to check your stats regularly to see how people are finding your lenses. Use the best search terms as tags or, better yet, make sure you incorporate those search terms in your module titles and lens content. Use the words and phrases in a way that sounds natural, and don't overdo it by using the same keywords over and over and over again.

More Ways to Freshen Your Squidoo Lenses 

Enter the Valley of the Giants.




For more ideas, check out The Pause That Refreshes on the Valley of the Giants blog.

While you're at it, browse the blog for other great ideas, tips, and information about how to Squidoo, brought to you by a group of current Giant Squids, sharing their lensmaking secrets with you.

Time for a little Q&A 

There you have it, six quick suggestions to keep your lens squid-dewy fresh!

What did you think of those suggestions? Did they make sense? Do you need to know more?

Post your questions below, and I'll do my best to answer them for you here. Or leave a comment to let us know how these suggestions worked for you!

jennifer2 wrote...

Great way to catch our attention ....a great source of information and fun. Thanks!

ReplyPosted June 02, 2009

BevsPaper wrote...

Very good advice! 5*s

ReplyPosted June 01, 2009

DongMei wrote...

Great advice to follow. I think I need to work on my tags. Nice lens.

ReplyPosted April 26, 2009

Slothlover wrote...

Very Interesting Suggestions!!! Very great!

ReplyPosted April 16, 2009

karen550 wrote...

Thanks, Susan...looks like I need to follow you. You definitely have some great ideas.

Karen

ReplyPosted April 14, 2009

Jayway wrote...

Hi Susan, thanks for the reminders and suggestions.

ReplyPosted April 12, 2009

gurlgonewired wrote...

Thank you so much for some tips that are sure to help out the new girl!

ReplyPosted April 09, 2009

CoolFoto wrote...

You have a delightful way of presenting this info. Thanks. 5*

ReplyPosted April 05, 2009

JaguarJulie wrote...

Keeping lenses fresh is important -- sometimes it gets a wee bit challenging for me -- with over 400 lenses. ;)

ReplyPosted March 22, 2009

Laniann wrote...

After reading your lens I put a poll on my lens. I'm still new... but two out of two voted in my poll. Good advise and easy to put in effect. 5 Stars to you and I favorite it!

ReplyPosted March 08, 2009

NicheReaper wrote...

Great advice Susan

ReplyPosted March 05, 2009

Tipi wrote...

Very good advice Susan. Thanks for sharing these tips! :) - Susie

ReplyPosted March 05, 2009

Laniann wrote...

Thank you for the tips. I was wondering how you keep a lens fresh after it has been around for a bit. This is very helpful and I am going to put your tips to work for me

ReplyPosted March 03, 2009

WhitePineLane wrote...

Great tips! I do find, though, that the more lenses I have, the harder it is to keep them all fresh. (But I try!)

ReplyPosted February 14, 2009

EuroSquid wrote...

Susan

Nice lens with great reminders! 5* Thank you for mentioning Valley of the Giants! I am so glad you are blogging with us.

ReplyPosted February 14, 2009

ElizabethJeanAllen wrote...

I update as often as I can...not often enough.
Thanks for the tips
Lizzy

ReplyPosted February 14, 2009

JeffKnight wrote...

I would like to put the books I talk about into a separate resource module but when I put the amazon book links with picture into the module they go diagonally not horizontal. What can I do.

ReplyPosted February 06, 2009

JeffKnight wrote...

I would like to put the books I talk about into a separate resource module but when I put the amazon book links with picture into the module they go diagonally not horizontal. What can I do.

ReplyPosted February 06, 2009

BobbyBOOMBOOMBickerson wrote...

Thanks for the great ideas. I rated your lens 5 star!

Hope you'll come to check out our lens, where Squidoo Angels can get a blessing from Bubblegum Heaven!

ReplyPosted February 03, 2009

EverythingMouse wrote...

It is great that you have tackled this common question. Keeping lenses fresh can sometimes be a challenge but I do always try and find the time. Blessings to you for some great ideas to help others.

ReplyPosted January 14, 2009

CJM1957 wrote...

Thanks for the wonderful ideas. Now to see if I can freshen up my lens. I'm learning.

ReplyPosted January 07, 2009

Susan52 wrote...

in reply to tandemonimom Great question! I don't have a system or a plan, really, to freshen my lenses regularly; though I probably should! I do freshen current topical lenses quite often, even daily, while some, I am sorry to say, remain as is for far too long. I need to practice what I preach a little better in that regard. Time is definitely a factor, and the fact that I need a lot of sleep - and a faster computer!

ReplyPosted December 29, 2008

tandemonimom wrote...

Great lens, very helpful! Thanks for putting this info together. But I'm curious - with 100 lenses you can't do each one each day; how often do you try to rotate through and freshen each lens? Once a week or every two weeks? 5**** and Featured on Squidoo How To.

ReplyPosted December 29, 2008

mrsnicolaray wrote...

Great ideas to keep it fresh. Thanks.

ReplyPosted December 17, 2008

BikoBill wrote...

Another very helpful lens from you Susan, thanks again.

ReplyPosted December 15, 2008

 
1 of 3 pages

How do you freshen your squid? 

Your Squidoo lens, that is.

Do you have a quick tip, an easy way that you use to freshen your Squidoo lenses? Add it to the list!

Add a Polaroid module!

Readers love great pictures, too. Add a new one t more...6 points

Add New Links

Whenever I come across an article or something tha more...6 points

Add an RSS feed.

When you have a lens that is similar in topic to a more...5 points

Add New Search Tags!

Google has a great keyword tool I can use to load more...5 points

Featured Lense module

When a lensroll isn't enough...you can put a fello more...2 points

Update and Change Selling Modules

I make sure that my Etsy modules are updated, and more...2 points

Google Blog Module.

A good tip for freshness, use the google blog modu more...2 points

Update the old YouTube modules with the new Video module.

The newer module is bigger and looks fantastic on more...2 points

Add borders and icons

I create borders and icons to dress up my lenses s more...1 point

Add Your Twitter Feed

I now add my Twitter Follow to the bottom of every more...0 points

More Helpful Lenses 

Did you learn something from this lens? These might be helpful to you, too.

P.S. Still stuck? 

Drop by our SquidU.com forum. Ask for help, don't be stingy, be sure to smile, and we're betting someone will come to the rescue.

 

Photo attribution:
Fresh Squid, Kai Hendry via Flickr
Fresh Boiled Squid, ssour via Flickr


Return to the top to rate this lens.