There are so many great ideas on ActiveRain that it’s hard to find time to implement them all. Because of this, it’s important to always weigh the time commitment against the potential return. For me, this is one of those ideas that is a “No Brainer” on the “Should I Do It” scale. This is mostly because the total time investment is so small compared to the potential traffic boost both short term and long term.
Not Another Squidoo Post!
I know people have covered Squidoo before. And I am sure your probably thinking. “No, I can’t commit to one more website that I have to keep updated!” But that’s the great thing about Squidoo. You don’t have to continually update it to make it work. Let me give you a practical example.
A little over a month ago, I created a Squidoo Lens (Lenses are just what they call pages). My Lens wasn’t really anything earth shattering. It was a simple page that detailed some statistics that I received from the CALIFORNIA ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS®. It took me about 30 minutes to create the page. I pulled some of the data, created a few graphics, and included a link back to my website. I hit submit and didn’t think anything else about it.
Now fast forward about 30 days. I logged back into Squidoo and took a look at my stats for the lens. I knew I had to be getting hits because I kept seeing that Squidoo was sending additional traffic to my company website. I was pleasantly surprised when I saw the Squidoo stats. In just 30 days there had been about 300 visitors. Now I understand, 300 visitors isn’t something to jump up and down about. But none the less, it’s a respectable number. After all, I never have to touch the page again, yet it will continue to supply me with a few hundred extra visitors a month. Not bad for 30 minutes of work! What was even more exciting was that most of these visitors were coming as a result of the Lenses’ Google placement. Below are some of the rankings. One thing to note - I did not do anything special to “optimize” my Squidoo lens. I simply created a page with factual data.
real estate statistics and marketing - #1 - Google
online realtor stats #2 – Google
what every realtor should know - #2 - Google
online real estate marketing stats #2 – Google
buyer realtor internet statistics #1- Google
real estate on-line statistics - #4 - Google
real estate online statistics - #4 – Google
real estate internet statistics - #5 - Google
real estate internet search statistics - #5 – Google
internet search statistics for real estate - #5 – Google
real estate agent research statistics - #6 - Google
real estate searches online statistics - #6 – Google
internet statistics for real estate - #6 – Google
There are about a dozen more keywords but I think you get the point.
Commit To Do It!
So commit to yourself to take set aside an hour to sign up for Squidoo (don’t forget to optimize your username) and write a lens with good original content. To help you get started, here are a few tips to remember when creating your lens...
- Pull readers in with your headline: Remember, headlines are everything. They are the gatekeeper between thousands of visitors and your website. Use a headline that makes people want to click!
- Use original content: Creating a lens from a recycled article from your website or blog post isn’t good enough. Instead, write original copy (or hire someone to write for you) that will be valuable and original content for both search engines and site visitors.
- Offer real value: Don’t mistake a Squidoo Lens for a billboard. Don’t turn your lens into one big commercial detailing how great you are. Instead, give great content and then validate yourself by posting a short bio or a link to your website.
- Fill a Need: One of the main reasons I created a lens about Real Estate Internet Statistics was due to the fact that I could not find adequate information in Google. My thought was, “If I am frustrated and not able to find the information, then there is a good chance that others feel the same way.”
- Have a strong “Call To Action”: Be sure to pull the visitor into interacting with you after they have read your lens. In looking back at my lens, this is an area I need to edit. My Call to Action is a little weak and not very specific. Always have a very specific action that you want the visitor to do. For example, instead of saying “To learn more about Dakno Marketing...” I should include something like “To receive a free guide on Catering to the Internet Buyer, email me at…”
- Get Specific: Creating a Squidoo Lens about New York Real Estate is not going to land you on page one for that keyword. Instead, focus on highly targeted information. A local market report, or information on a specific neighborhood.
- Search on Squidoo: See what your competition is doing on Squidoo. Search for other lenses that are related to your chosen topic. If that topic is over saturated with pages, then pick a new topic.
Putting these few tips into place can set you up for Squidoo Success!
Brad Carroll
Dakno Marketing
Click here to subscribe to this blog.
Thanks Brad,
I have Squidoo opened in another window as I type and will make my over to make a lens. I will let you know what my results are!
Danielle