Build More Than You Browse
Dave Pye
Search Engine Marketing Consultant
SpiderSplat Consulting Inc.
Boston
Squidoo: How did you decide what to make your lenses about?
Dave: I made my first lens back in October, and the subject was Boston. I simply decided to compile a lens about something I know well. Squidoo at that time was a frightening and perilous place, and I didn't really know what I was in for. The lens is far from finished, and still has a long way to go.
S: Do you maintain a web site or blog otherwise?
D: I have too many hare-brained, half-finished sites to mention, but my personal blog and dirty secrets can be found at Pye in the Face.
S: What have you done with your lenses that you can't do elsewhere?
D: The jury is still out, but I have faith in the project -- several of my older lenses already have Google PR, so I know Squidoo is getting noticed and indexed. The speed in which you can assemble a reasonable lens is definitely a perk, as is the instant audience you get from other lensmasters.
S: Did you consider doing so using your blog or web page to do that?
D: My blog is themed around humor and thinly veiled narcissism. So I hope to use lenses to get more of my professional persona and experiences across to potential future friends, collaborators and colleagues.
S: Have you taken any cues from other lenses so far?
D: I haven't looked at a lot of them, to be honest. I bit off a lot early and have been doing more building than browsing. From what I've snooped -- and at the rate I see the site developing on the back end almost daily -- I think there will be room for a lot of personal creativity from everyone... both in terms of lenses and perhaps even eventual third-party and open-source module creation. Dare to dream!
S: What advice or ideas would you offer other lensmasters?
D: Don't overextend yourself. It's easy to fall into the whole "land grab" mindset and start registering tons of different words and iterations (I have been guilty myself). Build a few good lenses and then branch out a little bit at a time. Nobody likes a squatter.
If you're not familiar with RSS, get to know it immediately. Squidoo slurps in feeds very well, and they're a great source of frequently updated content. RSS is your friend.
Keep it colorful and interesting. Experiment with the text modules especially, because you can add absolutely any sort of info you want to them (trivia, poems, music tabs, articles, etc.) and each one enables you to upload a photo. Also, check to see if Flickr detects any pictures relevant to your lens automatically. Break up all that text with some creative touches.
Try some formatting. Not all modules allow you to use HTML, but text modules in particular enable you to use italic, bold and hyperlink tags.
