SEO for squidoo - getting found in google: search engine optimization

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How to get your lens found by google

SEO - search engine optimization - has many different facets. This lens goes over the main ones - especially how they effect making successful lenses on squidoo.

SEO BASICS 

Introduction into Search Engine Optimization

To understand search engine optimization you have to know the basics of how google (and the other search engines, but they become increasingly irrelevant) works.

Google ranks pages based on the following:

  • Text on the page

  • Links to that page

  • How old the website is the page is on

  • How trusted the website is that the page is part of

  • Emphasized text: text in headings, titles, description tags etc.

How does that pan out in Squidoo?



Text on the page


This just means: make a lens for people, based on what people are looking for.


Links to that page can be two things:

  1. Links from outside squidoo to that page. This is why we keep hearing: 'blog about your lenses', 'promote your lenses'.

  2. Links from within squidoo. This is such an important topic that I'll explain more later

How old and how trusted the website is the page is part of.


This is where we have to partly just pray and hope and wait. Squidoo was registered as a domain in 2005, so that's pretty old in internet years.
How trusted it is, is one reason why it's so important that squidoo keeps fighting spam. As lensmasters we all benefit if google feels it can trust the content that's on squidoo. We all lose when google decides not to trust the content.
One way to gain google trust is to get links from reliable websites. This brings us back to: if we all promote squidoo well online, we all benefit.

FAQ - any questions about SEO? 

Only for questions about SEO. Feedback below at the bottom of the lens.

Lensmaster

spirituality wrote...

in reply to JNFerree The easiest way to avoid this problem is, of course, to only use url-shorteners when you have to: on twitter for instance, but never on squidoo or your blog.

ReplyPosted May 05, 2009

Lensmaster

spirituality wrote...

in reply to JNFerree There are two reasons for promotion: getting people to see your page, who might tell other people (old fashioned word of mouth) & might link to you from their blogs or something (good for google).

2: the links you get from the promotion itself. In that case it makes a difference which tinyurl service you use. It should have 301 redirect. on the page to your page. Some do, some don't. Danny Sullivan did a report on the difference between the services not long ago, but this is the kind of thing that changes often as well - so if you want to go that deep into this sort of thing, keep your eye out. http://searchengineland.com/analysis-which-url-shortening-service-should-you-use-17204

ReplyPosted May 05, 2009

Lensmaster

JNFerree wrote...

Wondering if my TinyURL links count as # Links from outside squidoo to that page. This is why we keep hearing: 'blog about your lenses', 'promote your lenses'.

ReplyPosted May 04, 2009

Lensmaster

spirituality wrote...

in reply to elishadavis Since in your stats you only see yahoo etc, not google - your lens is apparently not getting google traffic. That's very possible. Many of my lenses get more yahoo than google traffic as well.

Follow the advice on this lens to up your chances of getting google interested.

ReplyPosted December 22, 2008

Lensmaster

spirituality wrote...

Don't turn off the related lenses feature - UNLESS you already do have traffic from google (as in hundreds a week) or you aren't going to be getting quality links through that feature anyhow. For instance: I have it turned off for most of my Dutch lenses.

The thing is: that feature gives links OUT to other lenses, and it also gives you links back IN to your lenses. This is good: you want links to your lenses. But you don't have any control over those links... The only reason to turn this feature OFF is when you have good reason to suppose you are giving more than you are getting. But this is hard to know.

For most lenses I would advise simply leaving the feature ON. That's what I do too.

ReplyPosted December 22, 2008

 
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Emphasized text: headings, titles etc. 

Squidoo is a well created platform, from an SEO standpoint. Anything we put in the titles of our modules is coded as an h1, h2, or h3 title. What we put in our lenses is emphasized above what google itself puts in.

Title and description meta tags


People need to think: hey, that's interesting! or hey, that's just what I wanted to find!
The title you give your lens, will end up in the title tag. The introduction you write for your lens, will end up in the description tag.
Once your lens is indexed by google, search for it to see what it looks like. You will see your introduction text appear in the search results - try and look at it from the perspective of a person looking for the information you offer: would they click that link? If so: well done. If not: try writing your description differently.

Though the title of your lens and the introduction should contain your main keywords, they should also be written for people: they are the ones you want to have on your page.

Headings


This is important: we don't really want all our lenses optimized for the term 'squidoo', when the subject of our lens could be something as arcane as 'spiritual quotes'.

Because headings are so important, it really pays to have your keywords in your headings. It also pays to use all the headings you can: the title of the introduction module for instance, or subheadings in modules.

Links


Links are important for all kinds of things. But one thing that's often forgotten is that link-text is emphasized text. One way of stuffing your page with keywords without raising much of a flag with google is by having the keywords in links. But don't overdo it!

Emphasized text in general


Emphasized text is any text that gets emphasized in the code. This can be a bold tag: <b>your keywords</b> or something in italics: <i>your key words</i>

The thing here is that just because you have your text bolded with CSS, this doesn't mean google knows it's bolded. If you are using CSS to bold text, it's not clear whether google realizes it. It probably will in the future, but for now it pays to add that b-tag.

Keyword Over Optimization 

I'm going to stress this, because it's a subject that I have seen lensmasters ignore.

When a page looks unnatural to you - it probably looks unnatural to google. After all: google is constantly on the lookout for spam pages - pages that are designed to get visitors from google and get money out of people clicking on ads just to get out of the page as quickly as possible.

One way google figures out what is spammy is to try and determine whether the keyword density is 'natural'.

In other words: is the percentage of keywords in your lens natural for a page discussing your subject? If so, no problem. If you think it's un-natural - tone it down a bit...

After all - I've seen pages get visitors from google for key phrases where the words themselves were only on the page 2 or 3 times.

Key word optimization is about balance: make sure google knows what the page is about, but don't overdo it.

Over optimization is one reason why it can pay to have different spellings of your key word on the same page: you get all the variations your visitors may be using in there, and you will be over-optimized for none of them. Of course this has the disadvantage that it doesn't look all that professional.

Keyword over optimizations is easy on squidoo


With all the modules and tags - it is very easy to loose rankings due to over optimization.

If you suspect that has happened: cut back on your tags.

Leave in only those that are green in the squidoo health check (see below).

Make sure your tags don't repeat the same words too often (not more than 3 or 4 times)

Make sure you use different spellings of your key phrases in your modules. Mix things up a bit.

Keyword research 

Before you make a lens, you should find out a bit about the keywords you are going to be using...
featured lens How to do Keyword Research for squidoo

It is an under statement to say that keywords are important for getting your squidoo lenses (or any webpage really) found in google or another search engine. If you are going to be making a lens to make money, you had better find out two things: wh...

Not everything that gets you traffic is SEO

I've seen a number of people make the following mistake: they call anything that brings traffic SEO.

SEO is what brings search engines to your door. With social media like tagfoot, stumbleupon and myspace this is only true if they do not have rel-no follow in the links. check the source code of the page your link is on.

Promotion is what brings direct traffic.

Links that do neither are NOT useful.

Internal Squidoo Links 

There are several ways your lens can get links from within squidoo.

There are links humans create:


  1. Your own profile page has links to all your published lenses. Each of your lenses profits a bit from links you create to every other lens you have.

  2. Links you create between your lenses: lensrolling, featured lenses, link plexos and any other links.

  3. Links other lensmasters create to your lenses. Again: lensrolling, featured lenses, link plexos and any other links.

  4. Links you can create to your lenses on other lenses: submitting links to link plexo's devoted to your topic.

  5. Links to and from groups

Links created semi-automatically


There are aspects of squidoo that are created by computers. As lensmasters we have some, but not much control over them. This is where the TAGS come in. Lensrank is also an important factor here.

  1. Links on tag pages
    Which DON'T count, because they aren't indexed by the search engines! (found out in Sept. 2008)

  2. Top 100 lists

Linking OUT - within and outside squidoo 

[Linking out is linking to any page that isn't your own. In the case of squidoo I mean by the term linking out to pages that aren't made by you.]

It's well known in the world of search engine optimization that there are two (or three) effects to linking out:

  1. The author of the other page may notice you exist and be thankful. In the case of squidoo: they may link back, or give your lens stars, or whatever. You get cudo's for linking out - especially to related pages.

  2. Your own page may suffer in search engine rankings just a bit because the other pages have the advantage of your links

  3. Your page may become more valuable because of links to other valuable pages: in that case your page may GET more links (votes etc.) and GAIN in the search engines.

Point one is actually only meaningful if it's an editorial link: a link a human decided to put on a page. You get cudo's for external links in link plexo's, featured lens modules, link modules, inside text you typed. You don't get cudo's for linking out to tag pages.

Point two is the one to notice here, because squidoo makes it very easy - in fact default - to link out to other squidoo pages. This to an extent that may not do you any good. Think: tag pages, lensrolling etc.

Point three is also one that only relates to editorial links.

SO what should you do?



For lenses that are meant only for squidoo - like this one - which don't get any visitors from search engines...

You should use all the options squidoo gives you to get and give links within squidoo. There's no reason to worry about google, because why would google even mind your page.

Do make sure you create links to related squidoo lenses yourself: ones you've made, or ones someone else made. You do want people to find your other lenses. And you do want to get cudo's for linking to a great lens someone else made. (we all want friends, don't we?)

Lensrank explained 

featured lens Lensrank explained (really)

Well, squidoo lensrank has, by common consensus (at least) the following factors: Lens freshness. sales made through money making modules like amazon and ebay. visitor numbers. star ratings. favorites. whether you've been blessed by an angel. whethe...

Building links - the rel no follow tag 

No explanation of SEO is complete without mention of the rel no follow tag.

This tag can be added to links - and those links will not be counted towards the link popularity of a page

Squidoo links don't have this tag (except for the sales modules). This has the following implications:

  1. When we link out, we really vote for that page.

  2. Every link within squidoo counts toward the link popularity of pages - directly and indirectly

So - why bother about this tag if it's not used in squidoo? Well - it IS used elsewhere.

Many blogs have rel-no-follow on links in comments. This means that while putting your link in a comment may get you visitors, it won't get you extra google traffic.

Many social media sites make sure links don't count towards link-popularity. For example Stumbleupon, twitter, tagfoot or Myspace. That means that if those sites are not bringing you traffic, you should probably stop bothering with them (or start using them as they were meant to be used: to be social).

Social Networking - Forums, Message Boards etc. 

To get links and visitors, it helps if you show people it exists.... This is called 'social networking'. The following lenses are devoted to a few places where you can network socially and how to do it.
featured lens Human Forum Promotion

This lens is a list of tips for promoting your online work on forums. Whether it's a ning devoted to your topic or an old school e-mailgroup, the principles are the same.

featured lens Squidoo on Ning

Squidoo on Ning aims to provide you: 1) with all the information you need about Ning.com. 2) with links to some of the best Squidoo networks on Ning.com. 3) with tips about the kind of features that social networks on Ning are provided with. 4) with...

featured lens Squidoo Message Board Forums

You have to do it. You have to let people know about your lenses - but HOW? One of the best ways is to network with other Squidoo lensmasters on Squidoo message board forums. There you'll meet lots of other lensmasters who have been where you are now...

FAQ 

So how come I have a lens that shows up in google for terms related to my main tag, while I didn't even have that main tag in my tag list?


That's because google is smart: it knows what your page is about by looking at the content. The tags are just one part of the equation, and a small part at that.

How come I submitted my lenses to google, and yet they don't get found?


First off: you don't need to submit your lenses to google, or to any other good search engine. These are good search engines because they will find your lenses as soon as they check out a page that links to your site.

There could be several reasons why your lens doesn't get found. Some common reasons no one gets to your lens through google can be:

  • There is a lot of competition: quality sites about the topic of your lens

  • You don't have enough, or enough quality, links to your lens

  • Your lens isn't optimized. Check the squidoo lens check to get started

  • Your lens is very new and your subject isn't one where 'new' is good. Sometimes if you wait a while, things will get better - seemingly without reason. In the mean time, do promote your lens.

My ponderings on squidoo SEO 

Some of the SEO tips I've been sharing on my squidtop blog.
Online promotion: directories, blogs, forums?
There are only so many hours in a day. An hour spent submitting lenses to a directory which doesn't even accept the lenses within a month or so - is an hour lost. I could have spent that hour writing a useful blogpost (like this), or commenting on niche blogs, or writing in forums.
Quiting squidoo groups - seems to help in google
Quiting groups your lens isn't featured on is NOT going to hurt your lenses one bit. And it may actually be the difference between 1 visit a day and 10 visits a day.
More pointers on submitting to squidoo groups
I've been cleaning out the groups my lenses are in for a few days now. This is a lot of work, because I have 90+ lenses and I used to submit to just about any squidoo group that was relevant to my topic. I'm nowhere near done either.
Tag & Search Pages not indexed by google - implications
This is REALLY bad news for those using squidoo as a place to post spammy lenses. If tag pages aren't indexed, they aren't getting much internal squidoo juice at all. After all: nobody is going to voluntarily link to such lenses.
Trusted sites - squidoo seo ponderings
Is Squidoo a trusted site?
Squidoo instability in the serps (search engine rankings in google)
I've been thinking about this, because squidoo is a place where a lot of the links are dynamic: they stay up only as long as your lens has a high lensrank. Getting your lens into the top 100 for instance is great for several reasons - one of which is that it's a great link to have. BUT it's a temporary link if your lens doesn't actually stay in the top 100.
Links that matter - SEO ponderings
Links are powerful for search engine optimization (especially google).
Why lenses should not be too long
I've been mentoring a lensmaster recently. I felt one of her lenses could perhaps be broken up. She wanted to know the advantages. I could not give a good answer. I thought about it and here are a few reasons lenses could be shorter (if they're long enough obviously).
It IS a waste of time to submit your squidoo lens to google
It is NO use to submit your squidoo lens (or blog or website) in google. It is a waste of time.
Link plexos - why aren't people submitting their lenses?
Link plexo's are one of the ways squidoo gives lensmasters a chance to get an easy backlink to their lenses. Yet - I've found that many people just don't submit their lenses to link plexo's.

So, did you learn something about SEO for squidoo? 

Lensmaster

WhiteOak50 wrote...

Thanks for passing this link to me. You have some really useful information listed here, but I am sure you already know that! 5*, fav'ed and bookmarked

ReplyPosted June 28, 2009

Lensmaster

C-Joy wrote...

I'm trying to wrap my head around this subject - I'm sure I'll be back to reread this lens! Thank you for sharing your knowledge :)

ReplyPosted June 24, 2009

Lensmaster

OhMe wrote...

I have read this great lens many times and each time I learn something new. I have such a problem with key words and am trying to learn. Thank you.

ReplyPosted June 24, 2009

Lensmaster

awesome lens, very useful information definitely fav this page to come back to whenever i need to , 5*s

ReplyPosted June 22, 2009

Lensmaster

TheGreenerMe wrote...

Thanks for these tips, I have a hard time sometimes with search engine optimization. It's a boring topic for me, but kind of necessary if you're on Squidoo. Very helpful!

ReplyPosted June 18, 2009

 
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