Here’s the steps I took to make this effective lens.

1) Find a controversial subject LOTS of people are talking about, and/or notice something in current news/buzz that people may look up.

I follow space news, and heard there were some new cool photos of moon landing sites. When I searched for them on the web, I ran into a whole pile of people claiming the moon landings are a hoax! (This would be news to my Mom’s friend Neil Armstrong.) A number of people were asking why there were no photos of moon landers from space. Aha! A question that can be answered with a Squidoo lens! Juicy debate and controversy! Perfect for getting traffic. Now, how to target it…

2) Find popular keyword searches for that topic.

First I looked at news posts, blog posts and especially the comments to see what words and phrases people were using to discuss the topic. I paid special attention to questions people were asking in comments, because when people ask questions, they often search the web for answers! I wrote these words, phrases and questions down, then checked their popularity in Google Adwords and Wordtracker to see what people were searching most often.  Finally, I Googled for “allinurl: <keywords>” and “allintitle: <keywords>” to figure out which of these phrases didn’t have too much competition (other webpages optimized to target those keywods).

Remember the golden rule of SEO: find popular search phrases for which there isn’t too much competition!

3) Weave keywords into page title, URL, lens photo’s filename, links, and a few module headers — this is standard Squidoo SEO practice.

My title is actually long– ideally it should be 4-5 words long  — but it’s covering several different popular search phrases.

4) Write entertaining copy that answers the exact questions people were asking.

For example, I noticed some folks asking about photos of the American flag on the moon, so I found a photo that showed it it. I noticed that some critics were complaining about the bright white spots on some of the moon lander photos, caused by major sun glare, so I found a video that illustrates exactly that.

5) Provide LOTS of clickthrough links.

Clickouts are key. Getting visitors to a webpage is step 1. Step 2 is to get them to DO something once they arrive — click links, buy products, view videos, vote in polls, etc. I included links right in the introduction that Mr. Five Second Attention Span might click on, then useful links — again related to the questions people asked on the topic — throughout.  Clickthroughs boost lensrank, and are a vital part of second tier lenses!

6) Get good, free, LEGAL graphics and videos to illustrate the webpage.

NASA images are very handy: since NASA is a US government agency, most of its images are available to the general public for reuse! Check permissions on NASA pages to make sure. This means that space-related topics are a gold mine for Squidoo lenses, since there’s lots of free photos available. See my Free Web Graphics lens for other sources of free images. For ideas about new lenses, you might take the unusual step of collecting interesting images, then writing a lens on that topic!

7. Interactivity (polls, guestbook, etc).

Interactivity increases reader interest in a lens, and the clicks may boost lensrank.

But a fishing hook isn’t enough to catch a fish. Even if you get to page one of search engine results, you still need your “hook” to stand out from all the rest. What kind of bait should you use to attract a click on your link?

Look at this example:

Something jumps out when you compare these search results.

The FIRST example tells the reader exactly what’s on the page. It has energy and pep!  It says “FREE STUFF for you,” always a draw. And it includes the keywords right in the title and opening sentence. The only thing it’s missing is a Call to Action.

The SECOND example begins with a friendly but generic “Welcome to my webpage” message. Courtesy is a fine thing, but it’s too generic for bait. Any webpage on any topic could start, “welcome to my webpage.” Skip vagueries. Get right to the point and say, “Come and get X and Y on this page.”

The THIRD example is a little hard to read — evidently there’s a logo there with some image alt text right at the beginning — however, it manages to get  hard and compelling fact into a very short snippet: “90 Free Squidoo…” something. Clip art graphics? Who knows. Maybe if they’d sacrifice the alt-text for that image they could fit the free whatsit in before the snippet breaks off.

Stepping back from the example, here’s some general guidelines to help you “bait your hook”.

1. Include your keywords in the opening sentence, showing you have exactly what someone is looking for (this also helps with SEO).
2. The sentence must be well-written, proving you know what you’re talking about.
3. When possible, the sentence should include a Call to Action, or at least build the reader’s enthusiasm and expectation.
4. The webpage title — the link — should include both keywords and something that tells the reader, “I’m what you need/want.” “Easy Kite Making” is a good search term. “Easy Kite Making: How to Build a Pyramid Kite” tells the reader they’ll be getting a step-by-step guide. See the difference?

You can’t always predict what excerpt people will see in search results. Sometimes they’ll land on your page searching for a term that’s halfway down it. But you can refine your introduction, the opening of your webpage or lens, to make sure it looks sexy. You can make sure that the first instance of your keywords on your webpage is in a sentence that’s compelling, informative, and phrased to attract clicks.

What is the character length for search engine results?

Maximizing the blurb served up by search engines helps you bait your hook. How much bait can you use?

Google search engine results show about 130 characters for the very first page on a domain that matches a search query, then they will either list just ONE more result for that domain, again with about 130 characters, or TWO results, with only 75 characters each. The example above shows three results.

This example shows just two results:

Yep, there’s an SEO blunder in result #2! I’ve fixed it, but of course, it takes a while to get re-indexed.

The third place to worry about is Squidoo search results. What do people see when your lens shows up in search results, tag pages or featured lenses modules?

That’s about 195-200 characters.

Finally, the Featured Lenses module gives you a generous 250 characters:

So what?

Craft the first 128-130 characters of your introduction with extreme care. That’s for Google. It’s best if you can get something catchy and/or keywords within the first 75 characters. Use the next 80-100 characters to engage your reader even more in Squidoo search results.

This takes practice– I’m still working on it myself. Check your search results now and then to see how they look. If you haven’t made maximum use of the blurb Google or Squidoo is giving you, try rewriting for brevity and punch.

“Bait your hook” wisely wherever you’ve bookmarked, plugged or promoted your lens.

She doesn’t give earnings, just her lens tier breakdown. 40 lenses in the top 2000 out of 120. FORTY. That’s
one out of every three of her lenses earning top dollar. AND they’ll be earning lots of Amazon commisisons, on top of ad revenue!

I have been aware of and lensrolled or featured some of Pastiche’s lenses on clipart, but that figure still knocked my socks off.

It’s worth taking the time to stop and admire Pastiche, and observe her secrets to Squidoo success:

1) Cover a niche very well, with lots of lenses devoted to seasonal and specific topics within that niche.
2) Make well-organized, attractive, easy-to-use and easy-to-read lenses.
3) Target keywords like crazy so you get a lot of traffic for specific searches. Don’t just have a lens on clipart. Have a lens on clipart for vintage hearts, or John Deere Tractor clipart, or squirrels.
4) Clickthroughs. Oh my gosh the clickthroughs. Nearly everyone coming to her lens is LOOKING for something, and almost certainly will be clicking on some of her links because she gives EXACTLY what she promise to give with the lens title and opening blurb.
5) Amazon modules that target her reader’s wishes and needs exactly. It’s one thing to promote items related to your lens topic. It’s another thing altogether to target a particular audience that is desperately wanting the thing you offer, and will be quite likely to buy it.

She’s identified a corner of the web for which there is a steady and unrelenting command, and provides a service so that lots and lots of people looking for it will come to her. I know from my own lens on where to get free graphics that there’s a bottomless demand here, but I haven’t really done much to monetize or follow up on that. Pastiche has!

Of course, since she’s cornered the market on clipart so well, the answer is not to try and target the same niche, but to apply Pastiche’s winning Squidoo strategy to another niche– one that’s wide open.

Hats off to you, Pastiche!

I have been away for a while, and just noticed a third stat added to the Traffic stats for a lens:

Total visits: 174 visits     Total pageviews: 256 pageviews     Pages/visit: 1.47

O-ho. Squidoo’s decided pages/visit is important!

EDIT: Oh, but what IS pages/visit? No, it’s not how many times your visitor comes back to the page, as I had thought. Fluffanutta explains: each lens now has sub-pages aka “Module pages,” so this gives you an idea how often visitors are going to those pages as well as the main lens.

Lakeeerieartist has a great lens explaining Module Pages and what they’re good for.

First up:  CLONE YOUR VISITOR.

This is an idea I’m trying, not yet proven, but it makes sense to me.

Situation: A series of lenses, a sequence of lenses that are all linked up, like different pages of an article.

Query: Which of them should you give the best keyword phrase to for the URL/title?

In the past, I’ve given it to the first page, the gateway lens, so to speak. But that’s linear thinking.

What if I use the keyword with the highest traffic potential on one of the secondary lens, with a link in the introduction module saying, “Welcome to part 2 of my 3-part series on X. If you’re just tuning in, here’s [link]part 1[/link]”

Why?

Squidoo lensrank is boosted by clicks. If you can entice the visitor to click, you’ve guaranteed yourself a click. Also, you’ve just turned one hit into two, one for each lens. [EDIT: Apparently passing traffic between lenses doesn't count. Squidoo is wise to the tricks we do. But the "double hit" theory holds true.]

Drawbacks:

1. It’s all well and good to use the best-optimized keyword in the URL of lens #2 … who types those anymore? But to optimize it, you also have to include the keyword in the lens title. It may make more sense to have the primary/gateway lens have that title.

On the other hand, it may make more sense to have the popular keyword in the primary/gateway title. You know, the keyword you couldn’t use because too many other pages have optimized for it? Well, this way you can use it, too.

2. Bigger risk: as soon as you are asking visitors to do something— click a link, navigate to a new page, read an advertisement before getting to the content they were really looking for— you test visitor patience. It’s hard enough keeping them on your page. If they don’t see what they want in a hurry, they’ll hit the back button and look elsewhere. So that link to Page 1 needs to look shiny and enticing. The introduction for page 2 needs to be clear, well-written, compelling — to demonstrate you know what you’re doing — and show that yes, what they want really is only a click away.

So I’m not 100% about this method. I have created two pages linked together in this fashion and will be watching to see how many people landing on page 2 click the link for page 1.

My “How to Get Your Lens Found” tutorial includes some tips I learned from PotPieGirl and Spirituality and Fluffanutta, and I used to cite Mr Lewissmile, before I decided I disagreed with some of his tricks and changed my recommendations. My CSS Codes Tutorial includes something I call CSS Kung Fu, which I learned from Glen. On baseball lenses, I’ve got links to forum discussions on MLB boards.

And ya know what? I thank these people for their help, and pay them by sending them traffic. It’s only fair!

On a pragmatic level, those links represent a large part of the clickthroughs for my lens. Repeat after me, squids: clickthroughs boost lensrank; lensrank determines payout tier.

There are several other ways that being honest about your sources can actually benefit your bottom line.

If you’re sending traffic off to Amazon buy that book you used as a reference source, you and Squidoo are getting a commission. If you’re sending traffic to another Squidoo lens, you’re giving Squidoo another chance to collect ad revenue and/or royalties from that visitor. That supports Squidoo — and all of us.

I’ve been pondering lately how Squidoo’s business model promotes helping other lensmasters, because we all profit when one profits. That’s true more abstractly on other sites, where success breeds success. But think of CafePress for a moment (if you can without steam coming out of your ears). For the most part, each shopkeeper works in isolation and is competing with all the rest.

What about citing your sources on pages not hosted by Squidoo? Yes, it still helps! Linking to content closely related to your topic — preferably using your keywords — can boost SEO. Other sites often have ways to monitor where their traffic is coming from, and may follow the links back to your webpage or lens. Other sites may even list “Trackbacks” at the bottom of their pages, posting links to pages talking about their page. Then, woo hah, you’ve got a free backlink.

Finally, citing your sources helps establish you as trustworthy.

Visitor trust and respect is one of those intangibles that can be your longterm key to online success or obscurity.

Earn that trust.

1. In traffic stats, I change the window to 30-day-traffic and add any keyword phrase to my Squidoo Tags that’s been searched 4-5 times, if I haven’t got it already. This won’t help much with Google, which doesn’t put much stock in Squidoo tags, but it may help with MSN and Yahoo (once Yahoo rediscovers Squidoo). Don’t forget you need to PUBLISH a lens again after adding tags!
2. I make note of my chosen keywords and the top 2-3 searches for my lens. I then add each as alt-tags to one image on my lens, in a module talking about that topic, or a graphic that illustrates it.  I may even delete an image, change its filename on my computer to a better keyword (use hyphens to separate words, e.g. picture-of-stork.jpg), upload it again and change the HTML to point to the new filename. Both these methods are using images to attract search engine traffic.

Voilá! Publish, and you’ve just updated your lens, which can give it a small ranking boost. Again, you can’t always cheat like this — sometimes you need to add new content! — but we can’t be rewriting all our lenses every day.

I’m not talking about the best steps, in theory. I’m talking about what you do, for good or ill. And consider why you do them, and whether you know they work, or you’re just hopin’ or have “heard it works”, which a lot of us SEO journeymen do too often.

Confesssion time: here’s my “flail at traffic and lensrank” list. Some of these are good ideas, some of them “here’s hopin’.”

This is a tweaked version of a post I made at SquidU today answering the question.

Even the expert lensmasters are struggling to maintain their highest-ranked lenses in the top tier.
Two of mine have just barely dropped below 2000– they were bumped by two of my other lenses which have moved up! They may cancel out each other’s top tier lensrank at the end of the month unless I can fix this.
I can’t seem to get the ones that dropped to come back; they’re both sitting in the 2000-2200 range.

Steps I’m taking:

Updated it with new, useful information that I know people have asked for, and SquidCasted this fact. [Alert! I have added rounded corners code to my CSS quick reference guide, color codes for a few more colors I've noticed Squidoo using, and links to free tools that let you test how your lens looks on different browsers! Alll this and more on CSS-Codes: Making Your Webpages Look Great! ]

Now, here’s two quick tips to help tweak the your SEO of existing Squidoo pages — and give it a lensrank boost to boot!

Keywords and Alt-Tags: Match ’Em Up

Check your traffic stats and see what keyword phrases are drawing traffic. (Hopefully, they match your chosen keywords.) Copy and paste them to a spare window.

Now go edit the lens and add alt-tags to all your images. That’s one of those chores we often neglect or put off. In naming images with alt-tags, keep your keywords in mind, especially those which keep turning up in searches.

If you don’t know what alt-tags are, read my section on How to Use Images to Drive Traffic to Your Lens!

Keywords: Plural Is Better Than Singular

Many search engines can find a singular from a plural (cat from cats), but not a plural from a singular. For some search engines, using the plural form is slightly better for optimization, as long as it’s not an irregular word like geese tht doesn’t have the word “goose” in it.

If you don’t know what a keyword is, get yourself back to my Squidoo SEO tutorial for a brush-up on search engine optimzation 101. It’s okay. There’s a lot of jargon out there; sorry I keep throwing it at ya!

Lensrank Boost?

Yep. Remember, regularly-updated Squidoo lenses receive a lensrank boost; if you leave a lens untouched for months, it drops. It’s usually better to scour the web for new quality content and link to it, and/or update your own content. But SEO  counts. After all, it’s bringing visitors.

For example, Amazon modules send us “royalties” if a visitor makes a purchase through them. We get a commission for any purchase the visitor makes after clicking on that link! (Tip: if you regularly make 7 or more Amazon sales a month, it’s time to get your own Amazon Associates ID. Captain Loyalis explains why.)

Other Squidoo modules, like Zazzle, don’t earn a commission, but members of those online e-commerce sites can can use the appropriate module to show off their products and stores.

What’s in it for the rest of us? Should we, as one member in SquidU said he was doing, rip out non-commercial-earning modules?

There’s four or five reasons why the answer is “Not necessarily!”

1. Squidoo wants to negotiate with more e-commerce merchants to get them on-board. (See Kimberly talking about Squidoo and Etsy). It helps if Squidoo can say, “We already have X number of webpages promoting items from your site!” If you’ve already got modules in place, you’ll start earning commissions if/when those modules do start earning commissions, whereas otherwise you’d better hope you don’t miss the announcement.
2. Content is content. Do you avoid YouTube modules, Flickr Galleries and RSS feeds because you’re sending someone traffic without getting paid? No. You use those modules to add value to your lens, giving your visitors a reason to visit your lens!
3. Many online shops donate part or all their earnings to charity. I found Watercoloryourworld while looking for a cool ShopIt example for my Selling Stuff Modules Guide. Not only does it have pictures of cute cats (a perennial web favorite), but it also donates part of its earnings to pet rescue. We only have their word for it, of course, but that’s true of the whole web, when you stop and think about it! Using the web means asking, “Do I believe this?” and “If it’s phony, will it harm me?” more often than most people realize.
4. Wall Street’s got its bailout, but Work at Home Moms and small online shop owners don’t. This is an easy way to help them while helping ourselves (reasons 1, 2, and 5).
5. Shopping modules attract CLICKOUTS. As you may recall from my examination of Squidoo lensrank factors, clickouts boost lensrank. So non-commission-earning modules CAN help you earn money: Squidoo payouts!

Here’s an example. My Funny Signs and Bizarre Billboards lens was Top Tier or close to it for about a year. In March it dipped below lensrank 2000. What to do? Improve it! I noticed it had almost no clickouts, since it’s a photo gallery lens: fun to view, not much to click on. There was an Amazon module featuring collections of funny photos, but people weren’t buying. I updated the Amazon module to find better-rated books, turned the ratings on, and turned the prices on (people are less likely to buy if no price is listed), but I also added a module that would get clicks. Which module?

A Zazzle module featuring some very funny posters. Check it out. TELL me you don’t want to click those thumbnail photos and see them up close!

Result?

Look, Mom, clickouts!

Visitors in the last 7 days: 122 (which is down a bit, so yeah, I’m not telling you this solely for your benefit!)
Clickouts in the last 30 days: 193
Clickouts via that Zazzle module: 71
Lensrank: bouncing around 1800-1900.