It All Starts with the Basics

I received an email from a subscriber today. He wanted to know if I had a “newer list”  for Squidoo because he felt this list was pointless to be on as  he was being sent to posts that were from 2009, and with all the changes at Squidoo and Google he couldn’t believe they would be at all relevant.

This was a little disturbing to me, because I strive to provide good information that works if you work it. I went back through my list emails and have to say I don’t really agree.

What I provide links to in the email series you get when you subscribe (and get the Squidoo Christmas Cash Blueprint) are basics. The basics don’t really change. It doesn’t matter how many things change at Squidoo, or how many times Google changes their algorythm… the basics will stay the same.

In fact, the basics for making Squidoo work, are pretty much the basics for any strategy you plan to use to make money online.

You need to figure out what people want (not necessarily what they need). You have to figure out how they are asking for what it is they want. You then have to give it to them.

What this means in internet marketing terms is this: You find a product, find a keyword people are using to find that product, then you create great content that leads people to the product, and then build links to the content to get it ranking on Google.

That is it.

So, is that what I did in 2009? YEP.

Is that what I do today? YEP.

The basics don’t change. The only thing that changes are some of the tactics and tools you can use to implement the basics.

So many people online are continually searching for the latest and greatest thing, the one thing that’s better than the last thing. The thing that is going to be IT for them.

Let me tell you right now… there is no such thing.

There are the basics. The basics done over and over and over again. Internet marketing… especially on a free platform is all about the basics. You can spiffy up the basics a bit, but when it comes down to it, there’s only 3 little things.

1. what people need

2. how they’re looking for it

3. them being able to find YOUR solution to what they need.

Don’t make it any more complicated than that… at least in the beginning. There will be gurus and others who will tell you you have to do this, and that and of course that other thing or you will fail. This is a lie. It is not true. The basics will get you started. They will create an income for you (if you do the work) and they will allow you a little breathing room to grow.

So, don’t knock the basics. They’re what your business is built on.

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Will Christmas Cash Squidoo Lenses Be Considered J...

You may or may not be aware that Google has recently made some changes to its algorithm. (that’s a link to the actual post by Matt Cutts on the Google blog about the changes) They are trying to get more and more junk sites out of the index.

It didn’t take long before I got my first concerned email, wondering if the Christmas Cash lenses would be considered junk sites.

Here’s what I think and what I’ve seen so far.

No. I don’t think they will be considered junk sites at all. Provided you are using the blueprint correctly. If you are creating unique content for your intro module, your benefits module (and not just copy/pasting the product description), you’re adding your own two cents at the top of your other modules. If you’re adding in the interactive modules like the poll and guestbook. Even with Amazon reviews you’ll be fine.

The key here is you are not just copying and pasting content that is found elsewhere. You have plenty of unique content of your own creation. You are also helping people make buying decisions.

I think the real concern will come in, not with Squidoo lenses, but for people (like me) who are using wp robot to pull in content for their Christmas blog. Although, at this point my Christmas blog is still sitting on page 1 for its main keyword. I think my wp robot sites will probably be dropped at some point soon, unless I take some time and go in and do a real review of the products… like recommended in the Amazonian Profit Plan. Pulling products in with software probably isn’t going to cut it anymore.

Again though… think about the purpose of your site. My Christmas blog (though it does get traffic around the holidays) serves the purpose to give me a place to link to my lenses. It’s main purpose is NOT to rank on the first page of Google.  So unless it ends up getting completely deindexed it’s not going to be a problem, Google will still be able to find the links from my site.

I also think the other sites that will be nailed in this new change are RSS scraper sites. You know the ones. You’ve spent all this time writing this awesome unique content only to get a pingback saying you’ve got a link from another site. You hop over to check it out and realize it’s your exact content, copied right out of your RSS feed. I do not think those type of sites will make it through this change.

Your Christmas Cash lenses? I think they’ll be fine.

I checked my Ironman lens this morning, as well as other lenses I have that are ranking well and they are all right where they were a few days ago. I haven’t seen any movement.

I suggest you keep doing what you’re doing. Keep creating unique content for your lenses. Keep making them with your user in mind… thinking about how you can help your reader make the best buying decision, and give them the information to do that. You’ll be fine.

Changes to Squidoo Modules… what do you thin...

I noticed this week there have been some changes made to some of the Squidoo modules. Mainly to the modules we use as call to actions… you know those modules we use to tell people what to do next.

The two main changes have come in The Most Important Thing module and the Big Arrow module.

You may remember the old version had a large orange box around the module, which made it really stand out… and we generally used it to add a visual call to action. It used to look like this:

Well it doesn’t look like that anymore. It is now much more subdued, with a grey border, and a small tab at the top that says important. It also has an off white background, so you can see the image now, it doesn’t just blend into the background. Here’s what it looks like now:

It’s a pretty big change, especially when you’re trying to use it to call attention to something really important… I’m not sure how well the word “important” is going to do that, but we’ll see.

Let’s look at the second big change this week. This one is a much bigger change in my mind. The Big Arrow Module:

It used to feature two large arrows pointing at text that said “here’s my favorite link” and then your anchor text was below it. I know a lot of people hated this module ~ felt it was too big, too pushy, too over the top, but I think it worked really well as a last minute call to action. We’ll see.

Here’s what it used to look like:

Now it is much more subdued. It’s just your link anchor text in blue with a grey arrow pointing to it from the side. When someone scrolls over the link the arrow turns orange, and the words become underlined. It looks like this in action:

I’m sure there will be people who are really happy about these changes, and there will be people who are not so happy. I know that Squidoo does a LOT of testing on things before they make big changes like this. It is their business, and they’re in it to make money as well…. so I’m holding out to see how things go with these new looking modules.

What’s really important to remember is this: just because they look different doesn’t mean you have to do anything differently. The modules work exactly the same as they always have. So just keep with the program… keep building lenses, keep using the modules and we’ll keep an eye on it and see how things go. If we start to see a huge decrease in conversion then we’ll take a look at what else we can do to increase it. However, I don’t think Squidoo would make such big changes that would affect the site negatively.

What do you think of the changes? I’d love to hear… tell me in the comments.

6 Simple Things You Can Do To Make Google Love You...

How are your lenses doing? Are they getting traffic? Are they getting to the first page of Google? If they’re not doing well, and they’re not getting to the front page part of the problem may be your SEO. What is SEO? Search Engine Optimization. This is  big term but simply means, creating a lens that tells Google very specifically exactly what it’s all about.  You want Google to know exactly what your lens is about because it’s their job to find the best matching site to searchers queries, and if they don’t know what your lens is about ~ they can’t pick you.

There are 2 types of SEO. Onpage SEO and off page SEO.  Off page SEO  includes things like backlinking. If you’re onpage SEO is right, then it’s probably your off page SEO you need to work on.

This post is going to focus on on page SEO.  This means the things you do ON your web page to make Google happy.

They are pretty simple to do, but if you want search traffic they are NOT optional.  If you have a lens that is not performing up to your expectations check to make sure you have done a good job with your on page optimization. If you’ve missed some of these things, changing them could make a huge difference for your lens. These things, if you haven’t done them, are worth going back and adding or changing on your already published lenses.

1. Use your keywords in the url.

When you’re creating a squidoo lens this is a huge element of SEO. This is the first place google looks to see what your lens is about. If you don’t have the specific keywords you are trying to rank for in your URL, you are putting yourself at a serious disadvantage.

Example:

My keyword for the ironman lens is: Ironman Gravity 4000 Inversion Table

My url for the lens is: www.squidoo.com/ironman-gravity-4000-inversion-table

The url is my EXACT keyword. It is not ironman-inversion-table or gravity-4000 or inversion-table-ironman.

It is my keyword, exactly and only.

So what if you go to make a lens and someone already has your exact keyword? I would look at the lens that’s already on Squidoo ~ check it out, see what it looks like. Is it any good? Check Google and see if it’s ranking on the first 2 pages for the targeted keyword.

If it’s not a great lens, and it’s not ranking mess with the dashes in the domain. Either take them out or add them in, so you can get your exact keyword in the ulr.

If it’s a great lens, and it’s ranking in the top 2 pages I’d personal reconsider targeting that keyword. I’d probably find something else. Google is not going to put multiple lenses on the front page for the same keyword. If that lens is already there, it’s going to be tough to knock it out. Find a keyword that doesn’t have that kind of  Squidoo competition.

Dashes – no dashes?

For Squidoo I don’t think it matters. Squidoo’s default is dashes so that’s what I usually end up doing.

Sidenote:

Google’s one and only job is to give searchers relevant, unique,  targeted information for each and every search query a searcher does. So think about it this way. I go to google and I put in ironman gravity 4000 inversion table. What is google going to think is the best match to my query?

www.Squidoo.com/ironman-inversion-table

www.squidoo.com/inversion-tables

www.squidoo.com/ironman-gravity-4000-inversion table.

Yeah ~ of course it’s going to be the third one. This is why it’s so important to not only choose your keywords correctly, but use them in your url exactly as you’ve chosen them.

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2. Keywords in your lens title

Every page on the internet uses html tags in the background. This is the “title tag”. When it comes to squidoo you don’t need to know about the tags stuff,  they  do it for you automatically, but what you do need to know is that you have to use your keywords in the title.

Here’s what the code to the ironman lens looks like ~ and you’ll see the “title tag” is the title of the lens.

That gives google exactly the information they need in order to know exactly what this lens is about.

Where it says Title: in the edit area of your lens you ALWAYS want to have the keywords you are targeting.

If you don’t feel like just the keywords are a good enough title for your lens (which they are), you can always add words AFTER your keywords in the title. You always add your additional words AFTER your keywords in the title because Google gives a little more emphasis on the first 3 or 4 words in the title, so you want your keywords to be up front.

3. Use keywords toward the beginning of your intro module.

This is another html tag area called the “meta tag”. This tag provides a description of your page to Google. In squidoo this tag is grabbed from your intro module.  This is what will show up in the description under your listing in the search engine results, so you definitely want your keywords in there.  When keywords show up in the description area of the rankings they are bolded ~ this also helps bring more attention to your page.

4. Use keywords in your module titles:

In your squidoo lens you want to make sure you also use your keywords in your module titles. While your title gets its own “title” tag in html, module titles get a tag too ~ it’s called an h1 tag. This is a tag that google weighs very heavily when determining what your lens is about.

You don’t have to worry about creating that tag,  you just have to remember to put your keywords in your module and post titles.

5. Use your keyword in your content.

Obviously you want to make sure you use your keyword in your content  because that’s what you’re talking about right? So make sure you talk about it ~ specifically. It’s ok to use variations of your keyword and related keywords/terms in your content, but you also need to have your exact keyword phrase in the content as well.

In the past “keyword density” (using your keyword a certain amount per 100 words) was a lot more important. Now it really is pretty irrelevant. Just talk like you would talk to a friend and you’ll be fine. You don’t have to worry about calculating your keyword usage, just use it as you would in conversation.

6. Use your keywords in outbound links.

Links in your lens are another good way google identifies what your page is about. In your lenses you may be linking to an amazon page ~ so make sure you use your keywords as the anchor text of the link.

Using anchor text pointing to your sites is important, but the anchor text of the links on your site pointing elsewhere also count when optimizing a page.

I know  some of you want to get creative, and tell a story with your lens ~ which is FINE ~ but you still have to find a way to do it within the framework of on page SEO.  You can tell a story that converts all day long, but if you never get traffic then there’s no one to read it or click your links.

If you have questions about on page SEO please feel free to ask in the comments section and I’ll do my best to answer your questions.

How to Create a Clickable Link to Your Product

When you want to create a link that is clickable and you’re working somewhere that doesn’t have a text editor (where you can just click the little chain button), like Squidoo, you will have to use html code. Html code is extensive, and you can use it to make your site do all kinds of things. However, for this post I’m just going to show you how to use it to create a link in your lens that is clickable to your product.

I’m going to use Amazon for the example ~ because that’s pretty much our focus, but realize the code is the same no matter where you’re linking. The code below will work to create a clickable link for anything, you just have to change the information that points to what site you want them to go to.

With that, let’s get started.

How to get code from Amazon:

1. You must be in the associate program in Amazon to be able to get code. (You must be an affiliate)

2. Go to the product page you wish to link to (on the actual amazon site, just like you were shopping).

3. Along the top of the page you will see a grey bar.  On the bar is a link to “link to this page”. (If you go to the product page and you don’t see a grey bar it’s because you don’t have it turned on. Log in to your associates account and go to the site stripe page. You can turn it on from there.)

4.Click that link and a new box will open.

5. Go to squidoo and open the module you want your link in. (click edit at the top of the module)

6. Right click your mouse and choose paste. Your code will be inserted into your module.

No matter where you’re linking you will be using the same html code. Amazon provides the html for you, other places you may need to write it yourself. It’s very simple.

Here’s the code you will need to use:

<a href=”http://yoururl.com”>Your keywords here</a>

You simply replace yoururl.com with your actual affiliate link ~ or whatever link you want people to go to.

Then change the your keywords here to the actual words you want someone to click on. There are other pieces of code you can add to this, but this is the basic code you need to create a clickable link.

That’s all there is to it. You can pull an affiliate link from any where ~ it doesn’t have to be amazon.  You can also use this code to link to another lens in your lens or to another site.  Squidoo is one of the few places that doesn’t have a text editor ~ so you just need to write this bit of code down, and keep it with you so you can easily create links where you need them.

If you have html questions feel free to ask them in the comments below. I’ll do my best to help you out.

Tons of New Squidoo Categories

Well, Squidoo is up to their tricks again. This time they’ve created scads and scads of new categories (which they are interchangeably calling topics). This is very cool. Let me tell you why.

1. Relevance

You know how I’m always talking about how you should make your product, and you keywords as relevant as possible. That goes for your tags as well. Each time you put a lens into a category it creates a tag. Now you will have more tags that are even MORE relevant to your lens. That’s a good thing.

2. Size

Food and Cooking is a category on Squidoo. I’m sure there are literally thousands of lenses in that category. The top 100 lenses have probably been there for a while, and my guess is it would be pretty tough to bump them out of that position. (while we don’t really spend a lot of time trying to make Squidoo’s top 100… stick with me). As the categories get smaller, there will be fewer and fewer lenses in each category. So, while it may be impossible to make the top 100 in food and cooking, it may be quite easy to make the top 10 in tv cooks and celebrity chefs. This will get you more traffic from squidoo, as well as set you up to be on other lenses that are super related ~ which can also drive traffic to your lens.

3. Relevance:

Yeah I said this once before, but this time it’s relevance in a different way. They talked about this on the Squidoo blog when they announced this change, and it’s a big deal:

Once we release this project, you will have 3 levels of categorization available to you.  In the example above, you could pick the top level topic which will be renamed to Pets & Animals. Then you can pick a subtopic, Dogs. Then a subsubtopic, Large Breed Dogs. That’s 3 levels of topical focus for your lens.

In this new scenario your lens will now sit next to other lenses about large breed dogs. That’s better for you and better for people who are looking for the information you have to provide. It means there could also be new rankings and conversations within a topic you really care about.

As you can see there are some huge benefits to this change. Now all you have to do is run over to Squidoo and change all your categories!

Now, don’t worry. For the next couple weeks they are going to make it really easy on you.They have a “bulk categorizer” in your dashboard right now. If you click the link to recategorize your lenses (you can’t miss it ~ huge ~ at the top of your dashboard) it will bring up all your lenses, with drop down menus to choose your new categories. Just click ok at the end and you’ll be good to go. No need to go to individual lenses etc.

They mentioned this tool will only be available for a couple weeks so I’d get on it. It’s going to be a bigger pain in the butt to have to go to each lens individually to do this (which you will always be able to do).

Hey guess what…

You get points for recategorizing all your lenses. So if you’re still trying to unlock the sidebar widget or other tools that are now off limits until a certain point range ~ this could do it for you. WIN.

I made a quick video to show you how to do what I just explained above. Here it is:

Well there you have it.  New categoris. Head on over to Squidoo and get yours changed today. I’ve got my work cut out for me lol. If you have questions or comments feel free to ask them in the comments section below.