Create Your Lens

Now, when you are confident you have a great niche market to promote, its time you used Squidoo to create a money pulling lens page. Most people can set up a good lens page in just 10 minutes or less. Setting up a lens is easy, we’ve already covered many of the basic steps.

Here is a recap of the key steps required for building a great lens page:

1. First, register and sign up for your membership.
2. Next, use the site wizard to create a lens page.
3. When taken to this page, select the do your own thing option. This option allows you to put in any information you want using a pre-configured lens layout, making your job easy.
4. You will need to select a title for your page. Make sure your title is keyword rich.
5. Select the URL you want your Squidoo.com page to point to; this URL should also contain some of your keywords if possible.
6. Next, you can create keyword rich tags for your lens page that will help visitors find your lens page faster. You can add additional tags later, for now just put in your top three or four.
7. You will then be taken to a page that asks you how you want to get paid. This page sets up your account to pay you for any income you receive from clicks through Adsense, eBay, Amazon or other commissions you may make if you incorporate these commission based programs into your lens page. Keep in mind you can also use any income coming in from these programs to donate to Squidoo or a charity you select. You can also split the money so you earn half the cash and donate the rest.
8. Reconfirm your content, your contact information and your email and screen name. Then you are finished! Simply complete your registration.

Now that you have the basics laid out for your webpage, it is time to design your personal lens.

Design Tips for Maximizing Visits

The way you layout your lens page will ultimately influence how well your lens pages rank and how many visitors you send to the sites you promote. When you log into your lens page, you can edit your lens layout in any way you like.

Some important information to include in your lens include your biography. People like to learn about the person selling information to them or providing them with “expert” advice, so don’t skimp on your bio.

Many times, users simply put a backlink into the bio section that links back to their Blog bio or other personal page, like an “about us” page on a website. Add a picture if you can, because this simple tactic also creates greater legitimacy in the minds of those viewing your lens page.

If you aren’t sure what to put, take some time to look at other people’s Squidoo pages to get an idea of what information and the types of pictures they put in their pages.

Once you create your bio, you will have the choice of making your bio your “default” bio. Unless you want all your lens pages to share the same bio, you should not check this box. You may want a different bio especially if you plan to promote blogs or affiliate pages marketing different types of products. You want to highlight your skills and expertise in each unique area.

Tip 1

Want to be seen as an expert but lack the “credentials” to do so? Most people build their credentials by learning as much as they can on a subject and writing frequently and often on it.

One way you can promote your knowledge is by labeling yourself as a “critic” or “fan.” As a critic, you can spend time reviewing subjects and providing subjective opinion on them. You can link your opinions to factual data, supporting your knowledge of a subject.

You can also limit your liability by proclaiming your status as a “devotee” rather than an expert.

When creating your bio, be sure to include a brief quip, “For more information, click here to check out my pages,” which is an easy way to direct people to your home site or affiliate pages.

One thing you do not want to do is Spam the site. To avoid an accusation of Spam, most Squidoo.com experts recommend you limit the accounts you have on a subject to 10, and offer more than one product for each account.

The more products you offer, the more you look like an expert, and the less you look like a self-promoting bully out to promote just one product or site. Remember, most “experts” are also linked with multiple sites and products, so you want to offer a good portfolio of information so people perceive you have a wide knowledge base in several different areas.

Tip 2

One way to lose credibility fast is to promote too many things through your Squidoo.com lens pages. Think about it. If you are the “expert” or “devotee” of a certain product or service, then you should promote one or a handful of products in that field. You are likely to lose credibility if you claim you are an expert in many different topics, like real estate, Internet marketing and book promotions for example.

So limit your core areas to one or two subjects. This will help you gain the credibility you need to excel on Squidoo.