Time to Clean House on Squidoo

It's housekeeping time on Squidoo.

There's a new quest on my dashboard today - maybe you have it, too - called "Clean Up a Lens Day."  The point is to take a lens that is sitting down low on your dashboard and give it a nice freshening up.  In fact, the quest lens includes a list of 10 ways to clean up an old lens.  Fabulous tips!

If this quest doesn't apply to you, then bless you my friend.  You're a better squid than I.  As for me, I've actually been (slowly) working on freshening a few old lenses recently.  I feel better for it and the lenses I've updated have shot up in lensrank like Howard Wolowitz's rocket.

Will you accept the challenge and complete the quest?  Let me know, and feel free to leave a comment that includes the lensrank of your cleaned-up lens before and then after its freshening.  (Woohoo in advance for that!)

Progress Bar on Squidoo - Pros and Cons?

Have you seen the new progress bar on Squidoo?  In case you haven't, go look at one of your own lenses now.  On the right, just below your bio, is a green bar showing "lens progress" with a percentage posted next to it.  Click on "see your progress" below the bar for details.  There you'll see a list with 11 items, with the completed ones checked off.

New lensmasters that I know really like the progress bar.  As they make a new lens, they are prompted to complete each one of the steps (write more in your intro, add an intro photo, pick a topic and subtopic, add a social module, etc.).  It's very encouraging for these young Squids to achieve some immediate gratification as well as to be able to gauge their progress.

The last two items on the list, "Get at least 20 SquidLikes" and "Get SquidLiked By a Giant Squid," have generated some controversy among experienced Squids.  While the first nine items on the progress list are items that lensmasters directly control, completion of the last two items requires other registered Squidoo users to visit and "like" the lens, with at least one of those "likes" being from a Giant Squid.  While there are ways to promote a lens within the Squidoo community, most lenses are written with a different audience in mind.  Most lensmasters would be much happier with 20 visits to the lens from strangers rather than having 20 fellow Squidizens visit and like the lens. In fact, many people couldn't care less how many SquidLikes a lens gets in its lifetime - as long as it gets search engine traffic from shoppers.

While a number of people have voiced their concerns (some rather loudly) about these last two "requirements," at least one person has suggested that the first nine items on the list should comprise 100% completeness while the last two be added on as a bonus. That seems like a good idea.  Obviously having traffic from shoppers is very important, but it's also true that participation in the social aspects of Squidoo figures into lensrank calculation.  So, having those peer "likes" has potential monetary benefit, too. 

I've been around Squidoo long enough to know that almost all changes create controversy and, occasionally, chaos among the troops and some lensmasters can be very vocal about their disapproval.  "This too shall pass" is usually the way I handle situations like this one, but I'll admit that I was glad, and somewhat relieved, to hear the positive feedback from those in my small group of young Squids about the progress bar. 

My plan is to take those last two items on the progress list and use them as an object lesson for teaching promotion of lenses in general and participation in the Squidoo community in particular.  If others will stop worrying and simply adhere to TOS and not beg, bribe, or otherwise plead for their 20 "likes" but use good promotion and social media practices instead, I think they'll be far better off.  Which I'm pretty sure was the reason for the progress bar in the first place.

A Lesson on Lensrank

One of the things you have to learn to understand Squidoo is the language. "Lensrank" (or lens rank) is a term that you'll hear a lot and it's important to understand what it means.

Simply put, lensrank is where your lens ranks compared to all the 1.8 million (and climbing) lenses on Squidoo. The lower the number, the better. In other words, a lensrank of 1 is the very best and the rank that everyone strives for but few achieve.

So, how is lensrank calculated? Good question! The answer is a closely guarded Squidoo secret, but we do know some of the factors that affect lensrank. Traffic, or the number of visits to a lens, is a big factor. Fresh content, or how recently the lens has been updated, is clearly a huge factor. Record the lensrank on one of your lenses then give it a quick update by replacing dead links with good ones, adding a poll or a picture, or even simply rewording a paragraph. Then check lensrank for that lens the next day and see how it has improved. You might be very surprised at the result.

Another important factor in lensrank is the number of clickouts a lens gets. Make sure that when a visitor to your lens is finished reading that they have someplace to go next. Yes, they can click on an ad or on one of the related lenses that Squidoo provides for them on the right sidebar, but wouldn't it be better if they went to, say, one of your own related lenses that you've featured in the body of the lens? Or, better yet, to an Amazon or eBay link that you've provided where they can buy something? The back button doesn't count as a clickout, so make it a practice to provide links for your readers to use to move forward as they read your lens.

If a visitor to your lens does click on one of those product links that you've provided and makes a purchase, that counts as a sale for your lens. Sales, too, are part of the lensrank calculation. So are "likes" or "thumbs up" ratings that the lens receives. When you visit a lens, be courteous and rate it with a thumbs up (assuming you like it). That helps the lensmaster who, in turn, may just visit your lens and help you.

Some of the factors in lensrank must be earned along your Squidoo journey. That includes purple stars (which used to be awarded to Giants only, but now anyone can earn a purple star for an outstanding lens), Squidangel blessings (Squidangels patrol Squidoo looking for great lenses to "bless" with a special boost), and boosts that all Giant Squids automatically receive for their lenses. To earn Giant Squid status, you must make 50 great lenses and then apply for the Giants program. Your lenses will be evaluated and, if they are deemed truly great, you will be awarded Giant Squid status and all of your lenses will benefit from it.

There are other factors involved in calculating lensrank, including the social activity on Squidoo that we talked about yesterday. Since part of your earning potential on Squidoo is based on the rank of your lenses, keep all of these things in mind when planning and writing your lenses. Make time to update lenses on a regular basis, and reevaluate your lenses periodically with improving lensrank in mind to see what you might add, delete, or change that could help move your pages on Squidoo up the lensrank ladder.

For more information on lensrank, check out this lens, and this one. To see the top 100 lenses on Squidoo by lensrank, look here.

How about you?  What do you do to help improve your lensrank?  Tips are always appreciated!

Squidoo Lens Reorganization Project for the New Year

If you've been thinking that you need to get more organized in the new year, you're in luck when it comes to organizing your Squidoo lenses.

This SquidBlog post is a heads up on the new, three-level categorizing system coming soon to a Squidoo near you.  I think everyone will be thrilled to know that we will soon be able to categorize, sub-categorize, and sub-subcategorize each of our lenses.  (Well, not everyone.  Sometimes change doesn't come easily to Squidoo lensmasters, but I digress.)  Clearly, having a new, more specific way to assign topics to our lenses should be a good change.

Once the system is live, lenses will be re-ranked within the new topic areas.  Seems to me this should allow more lenses to rank higher on more top 100 lists, but we shall see.  Before the new topic ranking is published, Squidoo will allow a week or two for lensmasters to go through our lenses and find a proper topical home for each one using a bulk topic recategorizer tool.

I love the timing of this release in that it coincides with the natural inclination many of us seem to have this time of year to tidy up and organize our belongings, including our pages on Squidoo.  Begin thinking of how you'd like to group your lenses and watch for further announcements of the new topics.  This is one change I'm really looking forward to.

How about you?  Does re-categorization of your lenses sound like a positive move?  I'd love to read your thoughts in a comment below.

Help Me Bump My Lens?

I guess nobody likes eBay videos or eBay humor anymore (and that is entirely possible).

Or maybe I've just ignored my lowest-ranking lens for too long.

Either way, it's number 169 of my 169 published lenses. I just checked and it appears that every single video link is working. That, frankly, is amazing.

I actually kind of like this lens. So I tweaked a few things, put a poll near the top, and twittered it. It'll be on its way to Facebook as soon as I finish here.

Lensrank is 282,491 today. What will it be tomorrow?

Want to help bump it up? Check it out.

Kindle Is Number One!

Cool news My Kindle lens reached the number one spot on Squidoo this week. Hooray! That's a fabulous milestone, one that's getting harder and harder to achieve. The lens has always done well on its own, with decent traffic, clickouts, and sales, but I know that a recent angel blessing helped push it toward the top and to that angel I am very appreciative!

I've gotten a lot of comments on the Kindle lens recently from people who received a Kindle for Christmas, as well as those who really, really want one. It's nice to hear from satisfied Kindle customers, both present and future. I really enjoy my own Kindle and use it every day, reading far more than I did before I got it.

If you have a Kindle, make sure to check the bestsellers list regularly in the Kindle store and look for free books. Yesterday I downloaded a free daily devotional, a perfect addition to my daily Kindle reading. (Here's a link, but it's free for a limited time only so be sure to check the price before making your purchase.)

Here's to a year of good reading in 2010, Kindle style, and here's to more #1 lenses in the future for us all!

The Importance of Categories on Squidoo

If you're already a lensmaster on Squidoo, you may not visit the Squidoo.com page very often. If you haven't seen it lately, go take a look. Currently gracing the gateway to Squidoo is a collection of lists of the top five lenses in each of 27 categories. Each of those lists also has a "more" button which, when clicked, leads the visitor to the list of the top 100 lenses in that category.

Why is this important to you? Simply because thousands of visitors each day enter Squidoo through that Squidoo.com page and most of them choose to click either a lens name that catches their eye or they choose to further explore a category of interest to them. If you have a lens that ranks high in any of those 27 categories, there is a much greater chance that a visitor to Squidoo.com is going to find your lens.

Note that there are actually 32 categories in which to place your lenses. If you have a lens in a category that isn't listed, the odds of someone finding that lens through Squidoo's front door is drastically reduced.

Before you make a change to your category choices, though, consider other factors. If a lens's traffic is already good, recategorizing it might prove to be a mistake. Also, some categories contain a lot more lenses than others, thus making it more difficult to land a spot in the top 100, let alone the top five. Of course if you do change the category on a lens and placement when lensrank updates next time proves to be poor, you can always change it back.

Switching categories on Squidoo is just one way to fine tune a lens, but it's a good option to consider. Just keep in mind the old idiom: If it ain't broke, don't fix it.

Watch the (Gold) Stars Come Out On Squidoo

I've discussed in the past the practice of asking on a Squidoo lens that people rate the lens. Sometimes people do that well; sometimes they appear to be begging for a rating and that turns me off. I've settled into the practice of hyperlinking the lens at the bottom with the little statement, "Return to the top to rate this lens." Clicking on that link brings my visitors back to the top of the lens, making it easy to find the stars with just a subtle reminder.

Now, lensmaster extraordinaire thefluffanutta has made this process even simpler by inventing a widget called "Love This Lens?" By adding this widget to your lens you can bring the stars to the bottom (or wherever you want them), saving your visitor a trip back to the top! In fact, not only does the widget include stars with which to rate the lens, it also features "email it," "favorite it," and "lensroll it" links. How convenient is that?!

Check out this very cool widget, available to one and all on its own lens called, quite naturally, Love This Lens Widget. Follow the directions and watch the stars come out!

Hats off and a grateful bow to thefluffanutta!