Google Traffic Before The Lens Is Featured

I've read a recent post on Greekgeek's blog about how Squidoo can get Google traffic BEFORE the lens becomes featured (i.e. enters in the next day's lensrank update) and I decided to make my own test.

I created a new lens yesterday on Black and silver bedding, did the usual posting on the Squidoo forum and the various Facebook groups and then waited to see what happens.

The next morning when I checked the lens stats (lensrank update happens usually at around 3 pm my time), it already had 4 visitors from Google and the lens is still In WIP status. You can see in the screenshot below the lens in red with total of 40 visitors. The next screen shows the 40 visitors broken down in 4 direct and 36 referrals. I'm not quite sure why Google visits are considered referrals, but there it is - 4 visits from Google, and the rest are from within Squidoo and Facebook.

And yes indeed, the lens is already indexed in Google:

So it's true, lenses in WIP status (work in progress) before getting featured for the first time can get Google traffic, so WIP doens't immediately mean noindex as many of us previously thought. Now I'm not sure about lenses that get into WIP status after they've been already featured, i.e. due to lack of updates, or no traffic or simply low quality content that is not rewarded. But at least initially the red WIP before the lensrank update still allows Google to find the lens and index it.

Some Recent Trophies and Squidoo Monsters I got

It's such fun when I see points dropping on my Dashboard and I see what they are for. Some are actually fun to read and really bring a smile on my face. Following this earlier post on Funny Squidoo monster messages, here are a few recent ones I've got.

Passed 230 lenses

With the new lens I made today on Free printable Halloween invitations I've just made 232 lenses, woohoo! The goal is to eventually apply to Giant 250, but I want to have a few extra lenses under my belt before I do that. In the meantime I'm working creating more lenses, some salesy ones like the one I made yesterday on the cute Dr. Seuss wall decals, or non-salesy ones like the free printable one I made today.

I'm hoping that with the traffic I will get on the non-salesy lens and clickouts that should follow, my lens will jump to tier 2 at least, if not to tier 1 for the month of Halloween. We'll see how it goes. I know it won't sell anything, but my free printable lenses so far are doing pretty well.

The last week I've been quite busy creating new lenses, I think I've made a lens every single day. Hope to keep it up. I got the flu from hubby so I'm kind of sick right now, but I'm glad to see that my motivation to create Squidoo lenses hasn't diminished.

My latest wall decal lenses

I love creating lenses on wall decals. There are just so many gorgeous ones out there that simply need to be looked at. For example just a few days ago I made a lens on the beautiful Marilyn Monroe wall decals, followed by the cute Disney princess wall decals, then the motivational and inspirational Live, laugh, love wall decals and finally the John Deere wall decals for little farmers wannabes.

The great things is that there are wall decals and wall art for everyone: for little girls who love the Disney characters, for little boys who love tractors, for moms and dads who are in love with Marilyn Monroe or enjoy a motivational saying above their heads. I have many more ideas on wall decal lenses, and I'm actually itching to start them. There is just something energizing when I'm looking at all these posters, decals and stickers, and I guess since I can't have them all (I love decals at home as well), I'm living vicariously through my Squidoo lenses!

The Death Of The Old Squidu Forum

Well, the Squidu forum is no more. A few days ago Squidoo HQ pulled the plug on it without any warning. I went one morning to check out on new threads, only to see the forum locked for posting, with a link to the newly created Squidoo forum that is directly on the Squidoo domain.

I'm not going to go into the details of how and why this happened, but right now it looks like we have two main Squidoo forums. The official one, and the one that the Squidoo veterans have started to have a retreat of their own. Personally I'm active in both because I see a value in each of them.

The official forum (at least so far) seems like a very easy way to get newbies introduced to Squidoo. It is a safe and cozy playground that is void of negativity (or so we hope) and of ill will. I love hanging out there for the games, the show and tell, and conversations that are there.

On the other hand the new Yuku forum is more serious in nature. Obviously now at the beginning there is still a bit of bad blood (understandingly so), but once things settle, I see great future for this forum as well. Here the discussions are more serious and the questions are beyond the basics. Here we talk more about Squidoo strategies and what works and what not. In the official forum I love answer questions about how to add an html code or to critique a lens by a new lensmaster.

Plus of course we also have a few Facebook groups for Squidooers, the most active of which is Squidoo Facebook community. Showing off lenses and doing the task of the day and then showing off the results is a fun way to get interactive over there.

All in all I think the situation is not so bad. I do understand the need of HQ to keep things under their own domain and keep discussions strictly on topic and stuff. But I also understand why those who have been for a few years around and know quite a lot about Squidoo need to have a place of their own where they can push the limit a bit beyond the basics. I'm glad to be part of both - or all three of these communities.

Became A Mammoth Squid - Giant Squid 100

Woohoo on July 31st I applied to the next Giant Squid level, 100, and only 3 days later, on August 2 I officially became a Mammoth squid. I'm really happy about it, actually overjoyed. Becoming a giant squid was one of my major goals at Squidoo, but I've never dreamed that I'd once have not 25, but 100 lenses that meet the approval of the Squidoo HQ. I guess I must be doing something right afterall.

This achievement just pushes me to do more lenses, more quality and informative lenses that I can be proud of. It's been already a few days and I'm still feeling the euphoria, although it does start to slowly settle down...

Squidoo Lens Featured On The Front Page

This week a second lens of mine has been featured on the front page. I entered in the second Woot competition and while I didn't win, my lens about 'How to get rid of fruit flies fast' has won a purple star and it's now randomly featured on the main page of Squidoo.

This is a topic that I actually know something about since due to the extra heat in our parts of the world, there are lots of fruit flies in many kitchens, including ours. I've been using various ways to get rid of them, some working better than others, so here I listed a couple that I'm familiar with.

I currently have 209 lenses, and on another note, I've reached 8% commission at Amazon, mostly through my lenses, and this for the second time now. The first time it was last month while I was away on holiday visiting my parents. The months is not yet fully over, and I'm already in the 8% bracket. Next I'll be working towards getting that elusive 8.25%. That's over 1571 products sold, so it's quite a bit until I get there. First, let's make sure I stay in the 8% bracket in the first place.