Getting a Squidoo Lens Indexed

…and Getting Your Lens BACK in the Google Index

It’s getting harder and harder at times to get our lenses indexed, isn’t it? I’ve gotten a few emails from folks who have been following the One Week Marketing “secret” steps to getting Google to index your lens…and Google still won’t do it! Darn Google! So what’s going on? Why are many lenses indexed within hours…and some sit there and wait…and wait… and wait. Worse yet, why do lenses jump into the Google index FAST and then drop back out just as fast? Is Google out to get you?

Google and Squidoo

Naturally, no one but the mystical Google algorithm knows for fact what exactly is happening with each individual lens. However, I have my theories and since I like to ramble endlessly, I thought I’d share my theories with you.

Squidoo is a BIG site. Reality is, Google most likely will not keep all pages focused on a certain topic within their index. Why would they? Think about it? Wouldn’t you keep the most relevant and have them on hand for those that search for those topics?

“Most relevant” – Now that is an interesting phrase. What IS “most relevant” to Google? Google scans your page and decides what it is about so it stops there, right? Oh no, Google relies on sites outside of Squidoo to tell them which web pages are “most relevant” and important to a certain search.

Google likes when other web pages “vote” for your lens =)

So, how does another web page “vote” for your lens in a way that makes Google feel your lens in “most relevant”?

Back links.

When another web page links to your lens using your focused keywords as the anchor text for that link (ie, the clickable words), Google sees that as a “vote” for your lens to be “most relevant” for that term.

Naturally, that is the short and condensed version of how all that works, but that is the gist of it.

So, even in the best case scenario that we get our lens indexed within hours, it could drop out of the index just as quickly because Google hasn’t found any ‘votes’ for it yet. Now, this doesn’t mean that you haven’t made any ‘votes’/back links… it just means that Google hasn’t found them and processed them yet.

After time, those votes will be found and your lens will come back IF your lens is MORE relevant than the other lenses on that topic/keyword search term. Build your links, be patient, and it will come back 95% of the time IF it is ‘most relevant’ to that search term.

So, What About The Lenses That Are Taking FOREVER To Get Indexed?

I’ve been keeping my eye on an odd little trend that is going on with Google and Squidoo lenses as of late. To “test” my little theory, I made two lenses. One was on a new “trendy” topic and the other was on a more established topic that Squidoo has quite a few lenses on already.

These lenses were made here in the last 3 days. One is in the Google index, one is not.

The lens that was on the more unique trendy topic got indexed and was showing in the index within 8 hours. To all you One Week Marketing followers – all I did was the first little easy part of getting a lens indexed, too! Google scooped it up. Why? They NEED web pages on this topic. It is a new and time-sensitive topic and they need all the info they can get.

The other lens…. yeah, well, it appears Google has said “No, thank you” to the first peek at it. Squidoo already has a good bit of lenses on this topic AND the url for the lens is very, very similar to the urls of OTHER Squidoo lenses.

I did all the steps within One Week Marketing to the letter…and to the extreme to get this lens indexed. I knew it was a bit of a saturated topic within Squidoo and also knew it would take more effort on my part – both to GET it indexed and to KEEP it indexed.

So, How Did I KNOW This?

How did I know that one lens would be harder than another? Simple, I asked Google!

For the sake of this post, I am going to share these lenses with you.

The “trendy” lens is about how to buy inauguration tickets. Pretty new and time sensitive topic isn’t it?

Look what is already in the Squidoo site for that term:

3 pages on Squidoo for that term. That is NOT competition…lol! As you can see, Google got my lens quickly (I made that lens yesterday). My lens is the first listing and as of this writing, it was indexed 22 HOURS ago – and kids, this is a NEW lens! Remember, I only used one little copy/paste technique that we use in One Week Marketing.

Now, my other lens is on a more “pressing” topic – loan modification.

Let’s ask Google what I am up against if I want this lens to do well.

Well, 161 lenses all focused on the exact phrase of “loan modification” within the Squidoo site ALREADY. Yikes!

Yes, that lens will take work – and I have done a LOT to get that lens indexed. So far, nothin’ honey. Also, the url that I chose for my lens is very, very similar to lenses that already are in the Google index.

It’s gonna take time for that lens. Time for Google to find the back links that are already out there, and time for it all to “simmer” together for Google to even begin to think my lens is “more relevant” than other lenses.

But, That’s Ok With Me

Yes, it’s ok with me. My lenses are made and I am moving forward. I can’t control Google. I did everything I need to do to get BOTH lenses indexed. Now, I wait on one, and for the other, well, I get to start seeing what that lens will do.

But I am not going to watch – I am going to keep working. Yesterday I also made two new websites … TWO… complete websites with blogs and landing pages for PPC… AND I set up the PPC campaigns, too. AND, I was using some techniques and tools in all steps that are new to me. (Just for the record, I had a BLAST doing it and can’t wait to share all that with you when I have some feedback and results).

Anyway, I know Google will probably find my lens eventually… I also know Google will probably drop either or both of them like a hot potato before long, too.

It is the nature of the Google organic listings business – the business many, many of us are in.

Google is not out to get me. I know my lens is relevant to the topic I chose.

Wait, how do I KNOW my lens is relevant?

Again… simple, I asked Google.

Yes, ASK GOOGLE if they think your lens is about what YOU think it is about. Now, this that I am about to show is not a fool-proof guarantee, but it sure can tell you from the git-go if your are even on track with the content you have ON your lens.

So, let’s ask Google about my loan modification lens.

Go to the Google AdWords Keyword tool, and choose the “Website content” option… then enter the url for your lens and let Google scan it.

Well lookie there….looks like I am kinda on target. Lots of good foreclosure words (another focus of the lens), but not enough loan modification words. (Interesting… wouldn’t some of those keywords Google shows me that GOOGLE thinks my lens is about make some pretty nifty Squidoo tags? hint hint)

Perhaps I need to improve the keyword focus/density for my main word?

Hmmmm….body is 3.6%… that’s not too bad. (and before anyone asks me how I did that keyword density report… if you read One Week Marketing, I already told you….lol)

But…I think I will let this lens be for right now and see what happens.

And keep moving forward.

THAT is the “secret” to all this – KEEP MOVING FORWARD. Stop micro-managing your lenses and campaigns. Get them out there, do what you’re supposed to do…and move on and create MORE. I push everyone hard in One Week Marketing to keep working…keep creating…keep trying. Why? Sure seems like a lot of work – why not just make one campaign and work it to death?

You could do that….but what if that campaign is a bomb? You just spent all of your most precious commodity – your TIME – on that campaign and it’s not doing a lick of work for YOU. With MANY campaigns, you have MANY streams of potential income AND many web pages out collecting intelligence for you.

Why is that important? Because you may not believe it right now, but someday you will start to have money coming in and you will be ready to expand your online efforts. You’ll want to know WHAT markets to focus your expansion on…..and you will have a SLEW of campaigns to choose from that will show you exactly what you need to know. No starting from scratch – simply expand what is already working.

That sure takes a LOT of pressure off when you start paying for websites or PPC, trust me!

Get those campaigns out there. Make them quality, focused content….but they don’t have to be works of art. If those campaigns show you that they are worth your TIME, then you can ALWAYS go back and add more content or more lenses or more whatever….

Just stop wasting your precious time.

Each moment you spend staring at your stats… each moment you waste beating yourself up with statements like “I’m not good enough”, “I’m not smart enough”, “I’m not cut out for this”, etc etc etc is time wasted.

The most frustrating statement I hear is this –

“This doesn’t work for me”

Sadly, this usually comes from those that have made half a campaign and within a few days they haven’t seen results…so, it must not “work”.

No, THIS doesn’t work for YOU –

YOU work IT.

If your lens drops out of Google – don’t sweat it, it will come back with the right steps. Besides, if you are constantly moving forward, that one lens or web page out of Google temporarily won’t matter as much in the BIG picture because you have LOTS of web pages that are still working.

Very few things in this world work FOR you. Heck, even that neglected vacuum cleaner of mine doesn’t work FOR me – I still have to push the darn thing. But, when I DO push it, it does a pretty nice job (if I remember correctly). But staring at the vacuum cleaner won’t work….. thinking positive about the vacuum cleaner won’t work….and telling myself and others that I am just too stupid to make a vacuum cleaner work won’t cut it either.

I also can’t push the vacuum cleaner half way and expect a complete result.

If it gets clogged, I un-clog it and get back to vacuuming. If the belt breaks, I take the time to fix it….and get back to vacuuming.

Just keep pushing that internet marketing vacuum and suck up ALL the keyword marketplace that you can!

You can do this!

BUT, you don’t need anyone to TELL you that you can do this….

You’re too busy DOING IT!