Most of you will probably know the giant web 2.0 site ‘Squidoo’. The site was created in 2005 and like many social interactive sites, had a vision of community and free information.
Squidoo increased in popularity rather quickly and caught the eye of the Google bots in no time!
Budding internet marketers recognized the value in gaining links from Squidoo for SEO, and of course unfortunately there are always a few that push the boundaries too far, and these guilty ones built a small empire of Squidoo back links to their websites.
As a result people started seeing websites fly up the search engine ranking, however not long after they also watched vanish.
Why? Well Google as always was on the ball and introduced what was know as the Squidoo slap. This is where Google no longer placed as much value on multiple links coming from multiple Squidoo lenses to the same website. For some this meant their website going from the front page of Google to page 100 overnight.
You may be wondering why I am telling you this. Well Squidoo has announced that they are about to do a massive cleanup of their own website and have consequently changed the rules, so if you are using Squidoo then you will want to read on.
I am not going to go into all the details of what Squidoo are doing, however if you want the full report you can read it here: Squidoo Policy Update.
However the following topics are on the Squidoo radar and what you should consider
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1.) No Spam
2.) No X Rated or Porn
3.) No Junk Topics
4.) A New Limit On Overly Promotional Lenses
5.) Plagiarism
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Now I realize that not all of these topics will concern you, however if you are using Squidoo as a platform for affiliate marketing then number #4 is worth noting.
If you read the guidelines further they state that:
“If you have more than 9 links to the same domain on a single lens, your lens could get locked for review.”
Now to be honest I don’t know too many people that would have 9 links to the same domain from Squidoo these days anyway. However you may also want to keep in mind that some websites Squidoo has blacklisted. For example: Reverse Phone Lookup and Adultfriendfinder sites, and if your lens link to these sites you may be marked for review immediately.
All that said and done, Squidoo is still a great tool for internet marketers and I encourage you to participate. However keep in mind that it is just that, a tool amongst many and should not be overly emphasized or misused.
Links from Squiddoo still do grab the attention of the Google bots, but a smarter approach is to use these links in conjunction with a other web 2.0 sites. So you could consider building a network of your own web 2.0 sites that all link to each other.
For example: Squidoo—-Tublr—–Ezines—–Yoursite. Google prefers to see a variety of links coming into your site and by creating your own mini nets like this your site will benefit much more.
Also keep in mind that Squidoo and other large social sites are a great source of free traffic, and if you spend the time creating quality content then you will be rewarded with more exposure.
Hope that helps!
Matt
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Matt,
Good article. I have seen similar behavior with hubpages. I have been experimenting with linking to my hub page from squidoo and wetpaint to “lift” the hubpage which is then linked to my money site.
Also running some minor bookmarking campaigns against those same resources.
Regards,
Robert.
Excellent post and great insight. Really if people are using Squidoo by offering good content they should be just fine. Most of them time in these situations if you are providing good content you will be safe.
Thank you for the great information Matt!
These changes are going to make Squidoo a better place. I hope that Google does not change its mind about Squidoo!
Where did you get the theme for this blog? I really like it!
Thanks,
Chris Jensen
Thanks for the update on Squiddoo. I never thought to use even 9 links on one lens. I must be naive or too goodie-goodie. Check out my site and see what you think http://www.workonlinebusinessreviews.com I’d appreciate any feedback/suggestions.
I have a couple of Squidoo pages that I have to go and check now. I’m glad that Squidoo is cleaning up their website. Love the information on building my own mini nets. Cheers
I agree, Squidoo will be a better place simply because it forces marketers to have content, I believe in the free market obviously but you have to give before you receive, the whole magic of the internet is to have all this wealth of information at your finger tips and most of the times free. It is the information revolution! we cannot hoard information anymore, having said that there is nothing wrong in getting handsomely rewarded for it, but it is our responsibility (everyone) to contribute to the betterment of the whole human race no just our bank accounts, Matt is a great example of this, yes he will sell you something (and very worth having) but before he gives you tons of useful info that nobody gives you and best of all for free that you will be able to use weather you buy his products or not, I know cuz I am subscribed to many marketer’s email lists.
So by all means lets set it free, good for you Squidoo.
Thanks for the kind words David!
Kalyn, I looked at your site and to be honest I think it looks really good, one of the best I’ve seen for a while, well done.
Hi Mat,
I am also from Sydney and love your blog, videos. Great staff.
Looking forward to receive other videos.
Great,Keep it up.
Michael
Bondi.
Matt Carter Reply:
September 6th, 2009 at 4:40 pm
Hey Michael,
Thanks for stopping by and I’m glad you like the blog.
Look forward to hearing from you again soon
Cheers
Matt
Thanks for sharing Matt.
Personally I don’t mind when google makes these changes because it serves us better as they weed out the obvious and unethical ‘spammers’ and gives us – marketers who provide real content, to rank well and be the rewards of our efforts.
Keep it coming.
-Paul
Matt Carter Reply:
October 21st, 2009 at 6:44 am
Hey Paul,
Yeah I have to agree with you there, Google do tend to continually be cleaning up the web but I guess spam always seems to adapt a new way!!
Cheers
Matt
I suppose at the end -of-the-day, the good old saying of “provide good content and people will naturally link to it” is the best way to go.
Google just seems too clever. Everytime some marketer comes up with a new quick ‘n’ easy method for building links, it doesn’t take long for the big G to figure out what’s happening.
Not so long ago the linkwheel was the big craze but apparently Google knows how to spot them now!
Matt Carter Reply:
October 29th, 2009 at 9:11 am
Yes I agree Google are sharp and the rule of thumb I stick to is good content like you said, and otherwise natural looking link building.