This post discusses the lens design for my 87th lens,
Montville Queensland.
In a previous post, I identified the 7 Top Strategies for
Lens Creation, so I will use these steps as a framework
for discussing this new lens.
1. Purpose of the Squidoo Lens
This lens was designed to share the beauty and romance
of Montville with others. I wanted to highlight the
panoramic views, romantic accommodation, restaurants
and the unique shopping experience that is Montville.
While I do not promote an affiliate product or service
on this lens, it does provide the opportunity to promote
my email course on Squidoo and increase subscribers
to my Squidoo Marketing Strategies list (some of whom
will eventually buy my Squidoo e-book).
2. Concept of the Squidoo Lens
What I wanted to do with the Squidoo lens was to simulate
the experience of walking down the steep slope at Montville
taking in all the shopping. So I used a vertical layout for
the images, which basically follow the flow of shops and
cafes as you walk down the hill.
I wanted also to act as a guide as people progressed down
the hill, suggesting what they might look at and where they
might take a rest.
3. Lens Design to Meet Concept and Purpose
To create the sense of walking down the Montville hill,
I used a vertical design for laying out the images.
I wanted the visitor to feel as though they were progressing
downwards. The images are basically presented in the order
of the sights that you would see as you moved down the hill.
I used The Black Box Module (consistently) to provide
guidance to the visitor. Here I explained what was
on offer and suggested places to rest and things to see.
[I chose the Black Box Module over The Most Important
Thing Module because it proved to be a better color match.]
4. Keyword Research (where appropriate)
At this stage, I have not undertaken keyword research
as it is not critical to my purpose. I will, however, do some
keyword research to identify tags and longtail keywords
for the lens.
[Normally, if I was focused on an affiliate product, I would
undertake keyword research before deciding the URL of
the Squidoo lens.]
5. Develop Content
The content flowed from my purpose and concept for
the Squidoo lens. I wanted to make people aware of what
was available shopping-wise, to give them a sense of the
panoramic views and introduce the cafes and restaurants.
My primary focus was on the shopping, so I added a
text module where I could highlight the range of shops
available at Montville and provide a link for more
information.
6. Source Images
I had made a weekend visit to Montville in August 2008
and had taken photos with a lens in mind. So I had a ready
stock of photos which I supplemented by adding an image
from Flickr.
7. Revisit, Refine, Link and Promote
JaguarJulie suggested the use of the Photo Gallery Module
which I have added by way of review at the end of the lens.
I did not use this as the central design strategy because
I wanted to create the sense of moving downhill
(not sideways).
When the lens is indexed by Google, I'll add a Featured Lens
module and add the other four lenses I have developed to
feature some aspect of The Sunshine Coast in Queensland.
Promotion is ongoing - uploading a link and individual
photos to RedGage, creating this post and further social
bookmarking of the site. I've mentioned it in a post on
the highly rated Squidoo Marketing blog.
I'll also progressively add more images to the Photo Gallery,
update my tags and add a links module to further
information. The habit of regular updating will
improve the lensrank and increase my Squidoo visitors.
This lens was published three days ago and was ranked
1,000,000+ at the time. As I write this post, it has
already attained a ranking of 22,792.
Key Lesson: Squidoo.com gives you numerous modules
to design your Squidoo lenses. A key principle I advocate
is to create a design to fit the purpose of your lens. If you
want to learn the art of Squidoo Affiliate Marketing,
you can do no better than learn from Super affiliate marketer,
PotPieGirl.
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Ron Passfield is a Top 100 Squidoo Lensmaster and
Giant Squid. He provides free resources
for Squidoo affiliate marketing on his Squidoo authority
site:
http://www.squidoo.com/squidoomarketingstrategies
To learn more about Squidoo Affiliate Marketing
check out:
http://www.squidooaffiliatemarketing.com
Subscribe to Ron's free Squidoo Marketing e-course:
http://www.smsecourse.squidoomarketingstrategies.com/
Ron is the author of the e-Book:
Squidoo Marketing Strategies
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