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[kmils]

Alison, why do I get the feeling you're trying to tell me something?

I am simply telling you what I use my lens for and how. Am I reading something between the lines that isn't there?

[Newbie Shield]

Originally Posted by BookWhiz.biz

kmils, I do have feeds on my lens for my two business blogs.

I have to tell you that I'm absolutely baffled by the page rank system. It seems utterly nonsensical to me. Later I'll post some examples and maybe you all can help me understand the system.

Alison

Hi Alison,

Don't worry too much about PR. It's horribly over-rated. It doesn't deserve the buzz it gets. Many times I've seen sites with a low PR or a zero PR at the top of search engine results. In the same results I have seen sites with high PR below the low PR sites.

PR is good for branding. I tend to trust sites witha higher PR. PR is mostly created by quality backlinks and age - sites over 2 years old. I wouldn't waste my time or energy worrying about it. Concentrate on driving traffic and creating a lot of high quality content. Just make your site nice for the visitors

Newbie Shield

[AlisonMSmith]

Originally Posted by kmils

Alison, why do I get the feeling you're trying to tell me something?I am simply telling you what I use my lens for and how. Am I reading something between the lines that isn't there?

Ack! Not at ALL! Only the first paragraph with your name was addressed to you specifically. The rest was just general! So sorry it came off that way! Most sincerely!

Newbie, I didn't mean Google PR, I mean the Squidoo ranking system. (Apparently my post was the least clear, ever! Sorry!)

I was planning to do a bit on my lens today, so I'll post some things I was talking about.

Alison

[AlisonMSmith]

OK, to clarify:

NO: I'm not trying to tell you something
YES: You are reading something that isn't there

[img]smileys/smiley1.gif[/img]

[AlisonMSmith]

OK, so as SOON as I complain, the results change!

If you go do Squidoo and search for "BookWise" my page did not even show up at all on the front page--even though it's ranked #18,556 (2nd among BookWise lenses).

Today, for the FIRST time, it does show up in the "Default" search results in the second spot.

So, I guess the question is: what is the "default" search result, as compared to the "lensrank" search result. IF you look at the search results, the "default" (which shows up unless someone manually chooses either "lensrank" or "recently updated"--there is no obvious systemm for how/why the items show up as they do.

Any ideas?

Also, the Lensrank often seems nonsensical to me. I have seen very short, two module lenses, with broken links and misspellings rank higher than really good quality lenses on the same subject.

Any ideas?

Alison

[kmils]

I was hoping it was just me , Alison, pardon my last post. I think this pre menopause crap is taken over my brain and emotions.

[wsue]

How many hits to you all average to your Squidoo lenses daily? Just curious! I have two that do pretty good and a couple others that I'm not all that certain anyone has even seen! lol

Wendy

[Newbie Shield]

Originally Posted by BookWhiz.biz

OK, so as SOON as I complain, the results change!

If you go do Squidoo and search for "BookWise" my page did not even show up at all on the front page--even though it's ranked #18,556 (2nd among BookWise lenses).

Today, for the FIRST time, it does show up in the "Default" search results in the second spot.

So, I guess the question is: what is the "default" search result, as compared to the "lensrank" search result. IF you look at the search results, the "default" (which shows up unless someone manually chooses either "lensrank" or "recently updated"--there is no obvious systemm for how/why the items show up as they do.

Any ideas?

Also, the Lensrank often seems nonsensical to me. I have seen very short, two module lenses, with broken links and misspellings rank higher than really good quality lenses on the same subject.

Any ideas?

Alison

Alison,

Okay...RE: searches by default, lens rank, and recently updated. Default probably goes by number of keywords (largely tag-based and title-based...may or may not also have to do with types of group memberships) according to your search terms.

Lens Rank probably puts the highest ranked lens first according to your search terms. The tricky part about that is that it is by "Over all rank" rather than within category.

Recently updated puts lenses that have been most recently updated (updated today would be at the top) first.

RE: Lens Rank (aside from searches) - Lens Rank is mostly determined by updates to lenses, traffic, interactivity - guestbooks, polls, clicks, and star ratings. In plain english, if you work on your lens often, drive traffic to it, and get a lot of folks clicking, signing, and rating, your rank should climb.

To make matters even more confusing, Squidoo changes their algorithm from time to time. They just changed it about a week ago and my lens dropped dramatically from #10 in music and #213 over all to something like #37 in music and #1,000 over all JUST OVER NIGHT from the recent algorithm change. It's coming back up steadily at #25 in music and #583 overall, but as you might imagine, I was very stressed about it.

I hope that helps

Newbie ShieldEdited by: Newbie Shield

[AlisonMSmith]

Number of keywords? You mean if I add keywords, it will bump up my position? OK, I don't even know what group memberships are. I guess I need to go read.

You deserve that #10 spot, but I'm still impressed. Way to go!

Alison

[Newbie Shield]

Yes, keywords matter for "default" and indirectly. Indirectly because they place you higher in SERPs and that drives more traffic, which boosts your lens rank. Put them in your bio, intro, title, and tags. Make sure that you are using all 40 tags! Use alt tags in your images that are linked from another site such as photo bucket or flickr. In the alt tags, put keywords

Just don't get too carried away or it won't be enjoyable to read. It has to be mostly natural, not keyword stuffed.

RE: Groups - Join relevant groups...book groups, book club groups, etc. Log in and go to My Dashboard. In the upper left there is a tab called My Groups. When you click it, you can search groups to join. Join a few.

Did that help to clarify a few things?

More tips to come (I've been doing this stuff since 1998...not Squidoo, I mean webmaster, seo, and online sales & marketing).

Newbie ShieldEdited by: Newbie Shield