Squidoo - how to become popular
I woke up this morning all sick and tired of squidoo. A lot of it seems to be a popularity contest, and I’ve always hated those. So I was all prepared to write a sarcastic blogpost about it and say good bye to you all. But see the power of squidoo: I actually created a lens about the subject… and I think it just might become a popular one 
Here it is: If you want to become popular on squidoo….
9 Comments »
Susan Villas Lewis said :
August 17, 2008 at 10:52 am
Ya always hope you’ve left that behind after high school, but it’s just never the case.
Everything on the internet is about popularity really. That’s what traffic is. It’s just a more objective measure than “she’s cool”. I think it’s something that takes a little getting used to and a while before you can really step back and be objective about it.
That said, I’m not entirely sure what you’re referring to as the popularity contest - rankings? ratings? SquidU? It’s entirely possible to use Squidoo and get what you want out of it without getting caught up in any of those things. In fact, I think once you know what you’re doing (because SquidU is a great resource to get you there), you can get along at Squidoo just fine without any of those things.
spirituality said :
August 17, 2008 at 11:08 am
Well - I don’t know if you’ve noticed, but there is a direct link between popularity and getting votes on your lenses.
And then there’s a direct link between getting votes on your lenses and lensrank.
Lensrank leads to all kinds of lovely things like:
- a bit of income (not too much obviously)
- internal squidoo links -> better for SEO.
So the popularity think IS important. I’m definitely not saying it’s all there is to it.
mosaic said :
August 17, 2008 at 2:16 pm
So, I don’t know if we’ve gone to average lensrank or not, but definitely, it was helpful for my ranking towards the end of the month when I posted a lot on SquidU. I mean, I like to help when I can, but I have mixed feelings about my posts on SquidU affecting my lensrank.
Susan Villas Lewis said :
August 17, 2008 at 7:48 pm
@spirituality, I’m not sure it’s a direct correlation between popularity and getting votes. For me, it has to do with whether I actually mention the lens on SquidU.
Example - I did two lenses at the same time, one on Kristen Stewart and one on Amanda Seyfried. I mentioned the Kristen one in a thread on SquidU and have gotten stars on that lens. Never mentioned Amanda, so she has gotten no stars. (Poor girl.) However, I get three times as much traffic for Amanda as I do for Kristen. Their ranks are a little bit off right now, but if the traffic pattern continues, Amanda will be kicking Kristen’s butt soon.
Now, given that I have a consistent level of popularity (or lack of it), that isn’t what’s impacting getting votes on my lenses. It has to do with whether or not I make any kind of effort to bring it to the attention of lensmasters by posting it in the forum. I just don’t have the time or energy to worry about it every time. I’d rather get out to post it where it can do me some good for traffic than just internally for stars.
I have lenses hit the top 10,000 all the time that have no stars (have one right now, actually) thanks to great traffic and lots of clickouts. Stars are nice, but they aren’t the be-all, end-all of lensrank. I for one refuse to allow them to determine my success, popularity or self-love.
(Why is this comment box so small? It’s really difficult to go back to make sure you’re making a cogent point when you can’t see your whole post!)
Lifelongfitness said :
August 17, 2008 at 7:57 pm
Very true sometimes. You really do have to brand yourself on Squidoo. Provide the best information you can, and make sure it’s original. Helping others will always return a positive favour to you.
spirituality said :
August 18, 2008 at 3:46 am
I find I don’t really have to go to the forums for lenses to get votes. Just a squidcast will do - why? Because I have many ‘fans’. Of course blogging about them here helps as well.
Anyhow Susan: since you’re near the top of the pyramid like me, you don’t know how hard it can be for people at the bottom to get votes or traffic.
Of course on my lens the first thing I say is that you need a good lens to begin with.
mulberry said :
August 18, 2008 at 8:54 am
I think it is possible to “succeed” without Squidoo popularity but no doubt it helps and it can be frustrating. Of course, popularity outside of Squidoo is even more difficult and more important. It can all feel very “clique-y” to newcomers…
poddys said :
August 18, 2008 at 9:21 am
Don’t give up - you have a lot of friends here…
It is hard to succeed though and you have to keep working at it. I didn’t do anything to my lenses over the weekend and everything sank yesterday - not looking forward to today’s rankings either.
I do think it’s easy enough to get votes on a lens, but you have to make yourself known to the Squidoo community. Mostly I think that means being visible on the lounge, taking part in threads, above all being polite and friendly and not puching your lenses down people’s throats. I think that passive popularity leads to more traffic in the long run, but you still have to be able to create good lenses in the first place.
Don’t give up on us though - you are too good for that
CleanerLife said :
August 18, 2008 at 10:13 pm
Wow! What a way to turn it around! Thanks for not giving up, and making that great Lens instead!
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