Last week at the Kiss Club one of the members decided to start a 52 Lens project. Her goal is to do 1 lens a week for the next 52 weeks. I, of course, thought that was brilliant so I joined in. 
There have been other people who have said that goal is too intimidating to them, but they are doing what they can along with us!
So anyway… I took a moment to really look at what I do to build links to my lenses once I get them finished so I could put it in a nice little outline that anyone can follow. Here it is. I’ll do a brief outline and then go back for more explanation below.
My Link Building Process
1. Submit lensmaster feed to RSS directories
2. Write posts for 5 to 10 free ad blogs.
3. Add post to my blogger blog.
4. Add a link to the lens in the sidebar of my blogger blog.
5. Add post to my christmas related wp blog.
6. Comment on 5 to 10 blogs using commentluv.
That’s about it.
Holy crap. I just checked Google for my targeted keyword for the lens I did this week and it’s already on page 1!!
Well that’s exciting ~ I’ve been so busy I hadn’t even checked to see if it had been indexed yet, and there it is on page one.
Anyway… back to linking. (but you see how choosing a long tail non competitive keyword works, right?)
RSS Directories
This only needs to be done once. But I put it in here so that if people haven’t done the work involved they will do it. It is one of the easiest and fastest ways to get some link action going! If you don’t know how to do this part check out this post: What is RSS and How to Use it.
Free Ad Blogs
These are fantastic. These are blogs people have set up that allow you to create your own content. This means you can write a post and include your links to your lenses within the content. This is awesome because in content links count a little more than links found without content. This post outlines the free ad blogs I use.
Post to my blogger blog
A long time ago, I don’t remember when I started a blogger blog called How to… Life’s little instruction manual ~ or something like that. It seemed like a great way to be able to cover just about any topic I could create a lens on, and I have. :) It doesn’t get traffic (I don’t think ~ I’ve actually never checked), I don’t really build links to it, I don’t do anything with it. It was the beginning of my “link network”. It was the place where I could go to link to my new lenses, and still is (one of those places).
A blogger blog of your own is a fantastic asset ~ and you probably made one to get your amazon affiliate id ~ so use it!! It doesn’t have to be fancy, it doesn’t have to be pretty, it doesn’t have to be much of anything other than a place you post so you can get yourself a link (or few ~ if you use the sidebar and a post).
If you don’t have one or have questions about using your blog this post will probably help: How to create a support blog.
Just remember, don’t get caught up in this blog ~ it is a tool ~ it’s not really a “blog”. You update content when you do a new lens. K?
Add a link to my blogger blog sidebar
Here’s a video that will show you how.
Add a link to my Christmas wp blog
I started this Best Christmas Gifts blog a couple years ago while I was following the “Info Product Killer” strategy. I wasn’t exactly doing IPK ~ because I was actually using lenses instead of building websites ~ because I didn’t know how to to build the kind of sites he was doing, but the strategy of having a “Christmas blog” or hub for all my other stuff works quite well. It’s the same concept as the How to blog ~ it’s just hosted by me on wordpress.
This site actually does pretty well in the search engine rankings and gets quite a bit of traffic during the holiday season ~ so it’s a bit different than the blogger blog ~ it actually makes me money.
While on the blogger blog I don’t really link to amazon (because it doesn’t get traffic) I do link to amazon via links and images on this blog.
Now if you don’t have hosting and aren’t ready to jump into it yet, don’t stress ~ it’s not going to make or break you ~ but it is nice to have a network you can rely on to build links. (but you can also do this with free blog platforms, and I’m going to do a post on that next week)
Comment on commentluv blogs
I love to read blogs ~ so it only makes sense for me to leverage that time I spend “goofing off” by making it useful to me as well. Reading commentluv blogs is how I do that.
What is a commentluv blog?
A commentluv blog is a blog that uses the commentluv plugin. When you make a comment and put a link to your lens in the url comment field it will create a keyword anchor text link to your lens below your comment. (It pulls the title from your lens) So you have a link with your name, but you also have a link using your keywords ~ 2 links for one comment. (This blog happens to be a commentluv blog ~ so make sure you’re using your lens links in the url field when you comment)
The key for this strategy to work is to make thoughtful, quality, content rich comments. You have to add to the conversation, you can’t just write “Hey nice post”. That kind of comment will be considered spam by a lot of blogmasters (including myself) and will be deleted. People who run commentluv get a lot of extra spam and they can get a little extra ruthless when moderating comments.
If you want to know how you can find commentluv blogs check out this post: How to find commentluv blogs ~ the finding part is about half way down the post.
These blogs do not necessarily have to be about your lens ~ or related to your lens ~ although if you can find somewhat related blogs all the better. I commented on my favorite “food related” commentluv blogs for this last lens I did. It was about a cooking tool, so food and cooking go together. It’s really your comment that is important. Even if your site doesn’t exactly match as long as you are commenting on the POST you’ll be fine.
So that’s it, that’s what I did this week to link up my newly built lens. (Even though it is currently on page 1 I do not expect it to stay there. It will bounce around for a while, but I’ve found that lenses that are on page 1 in the beginning will end up back there after the bounce, so that’s good news.
If you’d like to be part of the 52 lens project ~ join us at the KISS Club! There’s lots of Squidooers there.
If you have questions about this process, feel free to ask in the comment section.
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Just wanted to say thanks Jackie! I set up a posterous blog network with about 10 or 11 links and am using it to start slowly building links to my sites and my squidoo lenses! Let’s see if I can just keep using it regularly. It is awesome and simple for a free site (though I couldn’t get a free (non-own-hosted) drupal or typepad or movable type site up for some reason…)
Jacquie´s last blog ..SuperMoon – Will you see the difference
Hi Jackie, I got Traffic Bug too but not using it yet because of all the bad reviews on Warrior Forum etc.
Can you please tell me what you think of Traffic Bug so far and does it really provide the service you are looking for? Do you notice a big difference?
Thank you and have a wonderful day
Irene
Irene@fourleafworld´s last blog ..Crohn’s Disease documentary from True Guts
Irene, if you paid for it, use it. Don’t waste your money.
Since I’m not doing much niche marketing anymore I no longer have it, but when I was using it I noticed that it did definitely help sites get indexed, and it did help sites to increase their ranking. It does exactly what it says it does ~ which is to submit your site to directories and social bookmarking sites.
I would be somewhat leery of warrior forum reviews ~ you don’t know who the people are, what they’re doing, what their keywords are they’re trying to rank for, and how long they gave TB to work. It isn’t going to work overnight ~ they’ve set it up to take time, as you should when link building. I’d say to expect to use it for 3 months regularly and consistently before you can judge how it’s working for you and your sites. And, it will work better the less competition your keywords have, which is what it is designed for.
Jackie as far as article marketing, do you use Ezine Articles at all? I was wondering if it is worth the time of setting up a new EZA account, submitting a few articles and waiting for them to get accepted? If you have spun versions of the articles you submitted to EZA I would think it would be best to wait until they are approved before submitting them to other directories, or would it be better to just skip EZA and use some other directories, to include the free ad blogs you recommend?
Tim Hughes@Wireless VGA Transmitter´s last blog ..Best Wireless VGA Transmitters
EZA is great for a high quality link, and you can sometimes get good placement in Google for those articles. I generally submit a unique article to EZA, and submit different articles to other directories. ~ the free ad blogs aren’t directories though… they’re just blogs.
EZA is really particular about uniqueness, it’s best to always give them unique content if you’re going to use them.
[...] is fun, remember creating the lens is really the smallest part of the process. You’ve got to build links using your targeted keyword as the anchor text to get this lens to rank for your [...]
How important is Page Rank? I’ve google searched it, and it seems that Page Rank is NOT the page you are listed on, but named after someone named Page! Not all sites with high page ranks are on the first page, so even though I know you said to add up the PR’s of the first 10 sites to make sure it adds up to 30 or less, I still would like clarification on this, please? Sorry to bother you with yet another problem, but it seems you REALLY know this stuff. Thanks!
Dee´s last blog ..Toro Blower Vac 51599 updated Fri Oct 8 2010 2-49 am CDT
Page rank is really not important at all. Google seems to be phasing it out. It can be an indicator of the level of authority of a site ~ which is why we use it to give us an indication of the competition on the first page ~ when we lack other tools to tell us this.
Other than that page rank is pretty irrelevant at this point. Again… there are better, more complicated ways to identify the level of competition for your keywords than just checking the PR from the first 10 sites ~ but it is a simple, quick easy test you can do to get a general idea of the competition.
Hi Jackie,
I had a question about posting on free ad blogs. When I try to use html to link to my lens using anchor text, and I view my post, the link doesn’t work and all I can see is the coding that I wrote (not a link). Am I doing something wrong? Here is the code I put in: MB470LL-A Thanks!
Christine@Yoga for athletes´s last blog ..Yoga for Athletes – Training with Yoga updated Mon Jul 12 2010 5-13 pm CDT
On the free ad blogs you are using a text editor ~ you’ll need to highlight the words you want to use for the anchor text and then click the “chain” icon at the top of the editor ~ it will bring up a pop up box where you put your url in. Here’s more: http://internetmarketingformommies.com/posting-to-wordpress-using-your-wordpress-text-editor/
Oh gosh I’m so sorry, I just realized that that html editor is in it and all I have to do is use the link button! Sorry about that!
Christine@Yoga for athletes´s last blog ..Yoga for Athletes – Training with Yoga updated Mon Jul 12 2010 5-13 pm CDT
Hi Jackie,
Thanks so much for this information. I am saving for the christmas videos now – really want to make some extra $$$ this holiday season.
I must say that I was totally confused with Squidoo and you are sure helping me make sense of it.
Take care and thanks again!
Glad you’re finding the tips helpful. This blog also uses keywordluv so you can use your name @keywords and just your keywords will be linked ~ that way I can call you by name and not college grants.
Jackie,
Regarding article spinning, I have to say, I hate it! I hate article spinning and I have problems with people who use it! I know that not everyone in this Internet marketing game has the ability to write articles. But that doesn’t mean that they have the right to steal yours! (Can you tell I’ve had my own articles spun?!)
I have no problem writing articles. I think that it is an essential part of the link building process. But it pisses me off when I see one of my articles spun! It pisses me of even more when I see one of my articles spun so bad that the article is barely readable! I think that most people(potential customers/buyers) see how bad the article reads and immediately click away from the page!
I know that there are some marketers out there that have a problem with writing, and that they might use article spinning to build more links. But they should try to steer away from using this software to cheat!
I know the vast majority of marketers out there are making sure that they use article spinning responsibly. But there is always that 1%! Thanx for your continued and invaluable information that helps all of us try to achieve our dreams!
Hey Ken,
I feel ya man, and this post isn’t even about spinning.
The people who steal articles and spin them are only shooting themselves in the foot. Those terribly spun articles aren’t going to get them any sales.
Do you keep optimize the squidoo lens for your primary keyword phrase and then, get the one way backlinks for that same kw phrase?
I’m starting to get a little bit more I think with each lens. I think you said to modify the anchor text, right? But if you do that, how can you rank for the primary long tail kw phrase?
Yes, I create backlinks using the anchor text I targeted. I don’t modify the anchor text. I use the exact kw I targeted in for the ANCHOR TEXT in the articles I write, posts etc. I do not use the targeted keyword for the titles of articles/posts etc. I don’t want them to rank above my lens ~ but I do use the same anchor text in the links pointing back to the lens.
I’m getting more and more of this the more I make lenses. Do you optimize your squidoo lens and then get anchor text for links pointing b
The anchor text you use in your lens pointing to the product should be your targeted keywords. the ones you found during your keyword research, the ones you used in your url, title, etc. That is what your anchor text should be.
I’m pretty sure you think my comments are spam since they never show up, lol. But I’ll try again.
Regarding content spinning– honestly, do you really think it’s that important? I feel like that is one more step in an already time consuming process to try and score a big $4 – $8 commission..
There are so many article directories out there, do we really have to come up with fresh content for every article?
lacy @ Yamaha DGX630 Keyboard´s last blog ..Yamaha DGX630 Keyboard updated Fri Jul 16 2010 8-19 am CDT
Hi Lacy,
I approved, and answered your last comment.
Yes, it is important to come up with unique content. When you use the same content to build your links all over the place it doesn’t get counted much by google. So you’re doing work and not getting much bang for your time.
The point of doing articles, and posting to free ad sites, and putting posts up around your blog network is to get links pointing back to your site. It is those links that will drive your lens up the search engine ranking for your targeted keyword. If you don’t build links, and use unique content to do it, you’re going to find you just don’t rank in the search engines ~ and you’re therefore not going to get any traffic. 100 4 to 8 dollar commissions, add up. It’s not about the 1 commission, it’s about getting set up to have traffic coming to your lens without you having to do any more work.
This is what makes it a passive income stream ~ however ~ you have to do the work to make it happen up front.
I have switched the comments around so the newest ones are on the top ~ that way we don’t have to scroll all the way down to read the new ones.
I know you’ve probably told us about using linking blogs but I guess I completely forgot about it. I’m heading to Blogger this weekend to get one set up!
Deb´s last blog ..3 Reasons To Start An Exercise Program
Jackie – I do have one additional question. When you list out your Link Building Process, what is the difference between step 3 and step 5? Are these two different blogs that we have? And, these blogs are supposed to point to our lenses right? or should we throw in a couple of Amazon links as well.
Jane ~ MoneyMom
Jane´s last blog ..Nostalgic Candy Baskets updated Wed Jul 7 2010 4-15 pm CDT
“It’s the same concept as the How to blog ~ it’s just hosted by me on wordpress.” (that’s under the Christmas blog section.
There’s more in there about how and what I link to as well.
We read all this all the time yet when it comes to putting it into action, i dont know how to begin. i begin something and then go back to something else..
I think doing it by setting a Plan of action this way should be better.
I have printed the steps and have put them up in front of me.. so that after every lens i precisely know what needs to done when.
two questions:
How many places do you submit your rss feed to ?
and
Where do i get other blogs with comment luv. (I know one for sure
If you follow the links by each of those sections the posts I point to will answer your questions.
looks good. I’d leave the categories there ~ it’s good for seo, and helps with navigation. You might be surprised come Christmas time.
Thx!! Now- to go in and get caught up on all of the product posts I need to add to my blog.
Jane
Jane´s last blog ..Nostalgic Candy Baskets updated Wed Jul 7 2010 4-15 pm CDT
Jackie,
Thanks so much for this check list. It is a big help. I copied the whole post (along with links)to my desk top to keep at my finger tips. RSS feed through Squidoo has always confused me. Reading the post you linked to about that subject is a big help too. This comment that you made, “It will bounce around for a while, but I’ve found that lenses that are on page 1 in the beginning will end up back there after the bounce, so that’s good news.”, made me feel so much better. I was in the #4 spot in Google for a brand new lens 3 days ago and today you can’t even find me. I almost deleted the lens since it is just a promo lens for a new launch and will probably have to be taken down soon anyway because of Squidoo’s last “don’t lenses” on IM. LOL. Think I’ll leave it for a little longer now.
June´s last blog ..My Secrets to Writing Articles Quickly
Hey June,
Submitting your Squidoo RSS feed to RSS directories is a great way to get links, and not have to keep doing the work over and over. Good luck with the lens ~ if it’s on the “don’t” list they’ve been pretty fast to find them lately. 
Glad it helped.
Well you don’t have the blogroll in your sidebar right now ~ you only have recent posts, categories, and a calendar ~ you need to add the links widget to the sidebar and then add links to your blogroll so they will show up.
PS that blog looks really good. Nice job.
Okay – I will go in and change that using the links instead of categories. I do have another question about backlinks. I was thinking that “eventually” what I would like to do is have maybe 5 different blogs (christmas gifts, gardening gifts, mom gifts, dad gifts, etc). Then, when I make a lens that is for maybe a gift that would work for Mom, then I could add it to both the christmas blog as well as the Mom gift blog….. and that should count for two backlinks to my lens, right? Of course, I would make sure that the writeup for the product was a little different so Google didn’t see it as duplicate content… but is that a good thing to shoot for when working with these blogs and lenses?
Jane
Jane´s last blog ..Nostalgic Candy Baskets updated Wed Jul 7 2010 4-15 pm CDT
1. You don’t have to do it instead ~ the categories are good for navigation. Just ADD the links widget in where you want it to show up.
2. Yes, that’s a great idea. I have a bunch of “deal” blogs and some other general “gift” blogs. It’s nice to have a network to use for linking.
Jackie – can you take a look again at my blog?
http://www.favoritechristmasgiftideas.com
I am putting in the Blogroll (which I renamed to Great Gift Ideas)… but now I am thinking to get rid of the categories that I have down further in the sidebar. Thoughts?
Jane
Jane´s last blog ..Nostalgic Candy Baskets updated Wed Jul 7 2010 4-15 pm CDT
Jackie your posts are always so well-timed.
So I have a question about commenting, as it has been a successful way for me to get “noticed”….but lately I have been having problems with my comments not showing up. They are clearly not spammy…and for that matter, the blogs they aren’t showing up on don’t necessarily give you that “Your comment is awaiting moderation” notice….the comments just don’t show up at all. I didn’t know if I should contact the blog owner to ask? That seems a little obnoxious…and besides it isn’t just one blog it’s happening on, it’s several. Any ideas?
Nancy´s last blog ..This Week’s Disney Chatter at Chip and Co Saving Money on Meals
Jackie – how does this work on WP blogs?
Jane ~ MoneyMom
Jane´s last blog ..Nostalgic Candy Baskets updated Wed Jul 7 2010 4-15 pm CDT
What do you mean Jane? Can you be a little more specific and I’ll try to explain.
Well, you are showing the steps on Blogger blogs. Is there the same kind of thing on WordPress blogs? Right now on my Christmas blog I have categories on the side (i.e Gifts for Mom) and then have links below that that go to my Squidoo pages – is that the same thing? I just wanna check to make sure by doing what I am doing I am getting backlinks.
Jane ~ MoneyMom
Jane´s last blog ..Nostalgic Candy Baskets updated Wed Jul 7 2010 4-15 pm CDT
gotcha ~ now I know what you mean. Yeah you can go into the “links” area of your dashboard and add a link there.
Then go to the widgets area and add the “blogroll” or “links” widget to your sidebar ~ not sure which it’s called.
That will add your links to the sidebar of your site ~ just make sure you delete all the random wp related links that are there by default.
Can you take a look at my Christmas Blog and see if it is the same thing as what you are talking about?
http://www.favoritechristmasgiftideas.com
Jane´s last blog ..Nostalgic Candy Baskets updated Wed Jul 7 2010 4-15 pm CDT
So are people really making money just from squidoo without having their own web site? I have four squidoo lens and haven’t made anything and two I paid someone (I think most people here would know who she is) to make two of them for me, still no sales. But I will try the linking strategies you have just given.
Thanks.
Hey Bob ~ yes, people can make money from Squidoo only ~ however you have to approach it the right way. I make money every month from my lenses ~ but here’s a couple things you have to do:
1. Build a bunch of lenses.
4 lenses is not going to do much for you. I’d shoot for 50. Squidoo is really a quantity strategy the more you do the more you’ll make.
2. TARGET specific buying keywords. My guess is the lenses you bought ~ and I’m pretty sure I know who you got them from ~ are probably not targeting a specific keyword related to a specific product. My guess is they are general. It’s tough to rank on Google for such a general keyword ~ and it’s tough to convert what visitors you do get on a general type lens.
By targeting specific keywords related to specific products you put yourself in the role of providing people exactly what they’re looking for and they buy. That’s what I teach in the in Squidoo Christmas Cash Blueprint ~ I suggest you grab it if you don’t have it already.
Bottom line ~ you’re going to have some faith ~ and you’re going to have to take action.
Jackie, this is just on time for me. I was wondering if it was worth it for me to start another WP blog with my own domain for this, or if I should just start (yet another) blogger blog.
Plus, thanks to this post, I now have plan of action for link building next month after I have my first batch of halloween blogs and lenses up.
Kelly @ Costume for Babies´s last blog ..Shrek Costume for Babies
super ~ I’m doing some testing on free platform networks right now ~ I do love having my own wp network though ~ no one can decide they are spam and pull them down.
I have a few other wp blogs that are “deal” or “gift” related ~ but I kind of leave them for the “second round” if the lens/site doesn’t rank with the this basic linking.
If you’re going to be doing a lot of halloween stuff it might be worth it to create a whole halloween related wp site so you can link to everything halloween you’re doing.
oh… one more thing… when you get your wp blog set up go ahead and submit it’s RSS feed to the directories as well.
If I build links between my WP blogs, I was under the impression that they don’t count for much with Google because their all add-ons of the same domain? Or does that only matter with sub-domains?
Kelly @ Costume for Babies´s last blog ..Shrek Costume for Babies
It’s always worked for me.
I don’t really link between my subdomains ~ just regular top level domains.