As I mentioned on December 20th I am giving Squidoo a trial to see if it will:(a) Make money in it's own right
(b) To see if it can generate traffic to my blogs
(c) To see if it can generate traffic to affiliate programs and thus make money
It's very early days to make any assumptions as yet. From what I have found out so far I think it will take at least three months to establish if Squidoo is a worthwhile project, as far as money making is concerned.
I've been attracting some traffic to my Squidoo lenses and this has come from:
(1) 47.2% - Referrals from my own blogs
(2) 22.8% - From Google search engine
(3) 18.6% - From within Squidoo
(4) 10.0% - Arrived direct, not sure how
(5) 01.4% - From Ask search engine
What is encouraging from the above is the percentage from Google. I have now created 5 Squidoo lenses but the search engine referrals are to only two of these. This shows that you have to follow the normal SEO (Search Engine Optimisation) rules and think about keywords and the like when setting up lenses.
A decent percentage has arrived from within the Squidoo community itself. In other words if you participate in commenting and ranking other lenses, and joining in on their forum, this will produce traffic in relation to the effort you put in but ...
... from a money making viewpoint is this traffic actually of real value? It's a little like everyone scratching each others backs. You scratch mine and I'll scratch yours.
Absolutely nothing wrong with this as it will boost your Squidoo rankings and standing within the community but ...
... if you are in Squidoo to make money then you won't make much from this particular direction - at least not as far as I can see.
I wrote a post back in April 2008 titled Regular New Blood Is Needed To Make Money. In this I wrote that, as valued as subscribers are, they don't really make you money. I feel it's the same when attracting Squidoo members to your lenses.
Of course it all depends why you are setting up Squidoo lenses or blogging. If it's just for fun then it's fantastic to get lots of stuff going on with other members and lots of back scratching.
If your mission is money making, however, I still stick to the principle that this comes from fresh blood via search engines and good links.
As with Dracula continuous new blood is required to keep your money making alive and well.
Anyway, just a few initial thoughts on Squidoo. The four most visited of my Squidoo lenses are:
The World Of Ponzi Schemes
Celebrities Photos and News
Everything Perry
Making Money With Free Blogs
Good luck and wishing ...
TO ALL
SUBSCRIBERS, READERS AND ADVERTISERS
Mike
