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.

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New Squidoo Module: Recipe Module

For all of you recipe lovers out there.. you’re going to be jazzed! Squidoo now has a new module. It’s specifically designed to use with recipes. Let’s take a look.

You can find the module under “all modules” and then under R ~ it’s the recipe module.

Once you’ve added it, open to edit.

You’ll need to give the module a title ~ I went with the recipe name. You can also provide a description here as well. If people can buy this recipe somewhere you might want to include a link in the description area.

Next step is the recipe stats: you know, how many people it serves, how long to prep, how long to cook. All that good stuff.

Next is the actual ingredients. They’ve created a form to fill in. One ingredient per line and if you need more lines just click the “add more items” link on the bottom left of the section.

Once you’ve added your ingredients there’s space to add your instructions. I skipped a space between each instruction… we’ll see how that comes out. You’re welcome to experiment to find the way that works best for you.

After the instructions you can add an image for your recipe. You can also link the image to another place, so if you’re selling a book with this image you will want to use your link with the image as well.

When you save the recipe your image will be shown with the stats about it right below the image. You will see bullet points for each ingredient, and if you’ve left space between the instructions, that will show up as well.

You can check out this recipe on my 7 Quart Slow Cooker Lens. You’ll see there are a couple recipes on there using the old way, and the Ropa Vieja recipe is the one using the new module.

Good luck! I’d love to see some of your recipes lenses using the new module. Feel free to come by and drop a link to your recipe lens once you’ve tried out the new module.

How to Add Products to Your Amazon Modules

I had a question today about adding products to amazon modules. It’s really simple. You need to find the product(s) you want to include at Amazon and find the ASIN number which you will add to your module. The ASIN is the number Amazon uses to identify each product in their store.  Here’s a walk through of two of my favorite Amazon modules.

Amazon Spotlight

This amazon module allows you to feature ONE product. It makes for a pretty good call to action. Once you’ve added the module to your lens you have to get to the edit area.

You can see the space available for the ASIN number. This is a number provided by Amazon. Find your product page and scroll down until you find the product details area. You’ll see the ASIN or ISBN (if it’s a book) number there. Copy the ASIN number.

Then all you have to do is paste it in the module where it asks for the product you want to feature (as shown in the above image)

Basic Amazon Module

This module allows you to choose a few products to show in your lens. You have two options here. You can allow Amazon to pick the products or you can choose the products.

If you let Amazon pick you can choose what category of products you want it to choose from as well as a keyword to match the kind of products you want to show up.

If you decide to choose your products to show up in this module you’ll need to go find the ASIN numbers just as you did for the spotlight module.

Make sure you add one ASIN per line.

There you have it. That’s all there is to adding products to your amazon modules. If you have any further questions please ask in the comments and I’ll do my best.

Using The New Sidebar Widgets

If you haven’t heard or noticed there are some new sidebar widgets you can use on Squidoo.  There are only a few options currently, but rumor has it there will be even more options for our sidebars in the future. YAY.

Right now the only sidebar widget I really use is the Amazon spotlight module. I thought I would walk you through how to choose and use the amazon spotlight sidebar widget.

A quick note before we start:

If someone clicks through the sidebar widget you will share the profits with Squidoo ~ same as any other widget. However ~ it’s a better deal than someone clicking out via an adsense ad and you get basically nothing ~ unless the specific lens is in the top 10K of all lenses.

The money from adsense and other sidebar widgets goes into the pot where it is divided among Squidoo users using the tier system ~ so if you’re not in tiers one, two or three, you’re not going to get paid at all.

How to find and use the sidebar widgets:

1. Click manage widgets to get to the area where you can choose.

2. Choose the widget you want to use. Click the + and it will be added, then click add at the bottom.

3. Click back over to manage widgets and you’ll see your new widget you can edit. Click the pencil to edit.

4. Find the ASIN number for your product (at amazon.com) and add it to the pop up box.

5. Add keywords in title.

6. Save and Publish

I don’t add in a reason it should be featured, I like just the product in the sidebar. Save the widget ~ you’ll see it show up in your sidebar. For everyone else to see it you have to republish your lens.

Once you’ve published take a look. You’ll see your new widget in the sidebar. Here’s the one I just did in this example for the Ironman Gravity 4000 Inversion Table lens.