As fun as Squidoo may be, at the end of the day you are interested in profits—not cleverly named sea creatures. Therefore, you're probably wondering how Squidoo can help your bottom line. As you shall see, Squidoo can help you in the same way that most websites can help you financially, as well as in a few ways which are uniquely Squidoo.
The Power of Links
The simplest and most "normal" way to make money with Squidoo is through the power of links. Remember, Squidoo Lenses in general rank high in the search engines. So, by adding a link from your high ranking Squidoo Lens your main site will have a better chance of getting a profitable spot in the search engines as well. That being said, your first order of business is to make sure that your Squidoo lenses link out to the money pages on your main site.
But you don't want to send just any old link over to your site. You need to be smart and take full advantage of that link as far as the search engines are concerned and in terms of direct traffic from Squidoo. The best way to accomplish both of these goals at once is to try and pre-sell your potential customers while they're still on your Squidoo Lens page.
Now a pre-sell can be anything from a review of a product or service to an explanation of the features and benefits of that product or service. The key ingredient of a pre-sell page is that it puts your (potential) customers into a buying mode when they make the jump to your main website.
At the same time, placing your link within a pre-sell will help your money pages rank better because search engines love links within keyword rich, relevant text (particularly if the anchor text of that link is a targeted keyword). And guess what, that's exactly the type of links that you create when you link to your main site's money pages through your pre-sell content.
Different types of money pages — Now, when we say money pages don't think that you have to limit yourself to your own products or services. You can link anywhere you want with a Squidoo Lens including: affiliate products, opt-in lists, lead forms or any other page online which can financially benefit you. Just remember, no matter where you're sending your visitors, be sure to use your Lens to put customers in the buying mode as best you can.
IFrames to the rescue
Speaking of opt-in lists, did you know that you can actually add your opt-in sign-up or lead generation form to your Squidoo lens? It just involves using something called an IFrame (which is a fancy way of saying that you can insert an element of one webpage into a totally different webpage). To learn exactly how to do this, see our SEO video byte: How to insert an IFrame into your webpage.
And, you can add more than just your opt-in sign-up form using an IFrame. IFrames give you the freedom to break out of certain limits within Squidoo and further monetize your Lens. For instance, with Squidoo you don't have much control over the size or positioning of your pictures. With an IFrame you can size and organize your pictures however you want (great for placing ads on your Lens). And! You basically only need the ability to upload some content to your server in order to use an IFrame on your Lens.
With that said, here are just a few possible ways that you can benefit from an IFrame:
- Sell advertising on your Squidoo Lens
If you have a particularly popular Squidoo Lens why not capitalize financially on your traffic by selling ad space. You can easily add banner ads to your site using an IFrame. You can even put up ads for your own products and services on your Lens. - Add AdSense ads into the body of your Lens
By using an IFrame you can easily add AdSense ads into the body of your Squidoo Lens. Not only can you increase the click through rate on your ads, but you also won't have to share the revenue with Squidoo if someone clicks on one of those ads. - Add a monetized search box
Amazon, E-bay & Google all provide search bars which can provide you with referral or ad revenue. You can use an IFrame to add such a search bar to your Lens.
Be careful with IFrames — Unless you really know what you are doing, it's best to keep things simple. As a general rule, only use content that you have on your server and that you control. You're sure to stay out of trouble that way. Here's the flip side - if you use content that you don't have control over then it may be changed without your knowledge. This would mean that all of a sudden your Lens based on healthly outdoor living can have an ad for the latest flat screen television. Not exactly targeting your market!
Making Money the Squidoo Way
Last, but not least, is the fact that Squidoo provides numerous money-making modules for your easy implementation. You should experiment with these to see whether or not they add financial value to your Lens. Just note, though, that you will be sharing any profits you make with Squidoo. Therefore, you may want to actually bypass Squidoo, sign-up with a relevant affiliate program on your own and add your own links either through the link modules or the text/write modules. You'll have to balance the added profit that you can earn with the greater amount of time and effort that this process involves.
Be that as it may, here are a few tips on how to maximize the profitability of Squidoo's money-making modules. First of all, you should experiment with the different modules to see which one's work best for you. Secondly, you should experiment with how many items you show. More is not always better, particularly if it seems like you are just trying to cram in as many products as possible. Remember, your first goal should always be to add value to your Lens visitors. This is as true (if not more) about your money modules as it is about any other aspect of your Lens.
That means that your money modules should complement and positively contribute to the content of your Lens. So, don't just haphazardly list various products. It's much better to place them in some sort of logical relationship to the rest of your content. For instance, if you are developing a Lens on how to program in PHP, then adding a recommendation for the "best beginners guide to PHP" is much more likely to convert into sales than a random list of books on PHP.
Another possible way to use money modules to add value to your Lens is to present a mini-store in your Lens. For instance, take a look at the following Lenses:
- http://www.squidoo.com/laptopbag/
- http://www.squidoo.com/strathwood/
- http://www.squidoo.com/buy-omega-watches/
Each of these Lens presents a variety of items based on the theme of the Lens. For instance, the Strathwood Furniture Lens organizes the products by furniture type (Outdoor 4 /2 Bar Seating, Outdoor Lounges, Outdoor Benches, etc.). The key is to organize your products in a way that your Lens visitors find useful and appreciate.
Remember the importance of pre-selling your visitors! Just because Squidoo automatically and/or easily inserts some content into your Lens does NOT mean that you don't have your part to play. People still need that human touch, something that only you can provide (no matter how clever and sophisticated Squidoo becomes). Fortunately, Squidoo makes this easy to do, since they allow you to add your own comments and/or reviews to any product. Make full use of this by providing some helpful information about the product in question.
Keep your eye on the prize...
The most important point we can offer about Squidoo is to avoid getting carried away by the technology, name or social aspect of the site—stay focused on your financial goals. That doesn't mean that you can't or shouldn't enjoy using this very creative website, just that you should remember why you are there in the first place. To monetize Squidoo is to keep your eye on the prize rather than getting too caught up in the fun of it.
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