LaunchTags – Another Squidoo Clone
LaunchTags is a newer site that is out where users can create ‘mini-pages’ on just about any topic they’d like to. LaunchTags also share revenue with their page creators…. Sound familiar? It certainly should sound familiar to any Squidoo do’rs out there. One glance at a LaunchTags Mini Page and you will notice that it LOOKS familiar, too. Here is the About mini-page describing the LaunchTags site.
Look familiar? =)
How I Tripped Over LaunchTags
I stopped by CaptainSquid today to see what all was going on. He has a great post today about what’s going on in the blogosphere and beyond regarding Squidoo. CaptainSquid always has helpful information and I trust him as a reliable resource (as you should, too). One of his point of interests today was about a neat directory site called Squoogle. This is a directory made expecially for Squidoo, Hub Pages, Associated Content Articles, Gather, and….. what is the OTHER site? Something called LaunchTags?. So, off I go to examine me some LaunchTags.
LaunchTags is still in beta and it sure reminds me of my home on Squidoo. On Squidoo we have ‘lensmasters’, on LaunchTags we have ‘creators’. On Squidoo we have ‘modules, while on LauchTags we find ‘pods’. Same difference – six of one, half dozen of another.
From their home page:
Build a mini-page about your expertise, interests and know-how.- Use text, pictures, video, links and blog feeds.
- Earn revenue brought in by your mini-pages.
- Launchtags.com is simple, free, and fun!
I’m having a serious case of deja`vous!
LaunchTags Rating System
On Squidoo there is an internal rating system (lensrank), however I don’t see anything like this on LaunchTags as of this writing. LaunchTags also offers very little in the way of stats – just an on-page visitor count. I do see areas on some of these mini-pages for comments, but no rating options.
Earning Potential with LaunchTags
As for money making potential with LaunchTags – looks like a creator associates their Google AdSense publisher id with their LaunchTags profile and shares an AdSense earning from their mini-pages 50/50 with LaunchTags.
Looks like you can participate in affiliate programs such as CJ and Linkshare, too….but there isn’t a whole lot of info on this for me as of yet. One peek in the LaunhTags forum and I can see tumbleweeds blowing by. REALLY quiet in there….lol!
SEO Review of LaunchTags Mini Pages
I noticed that these mini-pages on LaunchTags were obtaining their own Page Rank so I thought I’d dig deeper and find the SEO structure of these pages. Guess what? Looks awfully similar to Squidoo. Remember the tips I gave in an earlier post about how to SEO Optimize a Squidoo Lens? Yup, that same technique will work for LaunchTags mini-pages, too. Only main difference I see is that each pod (module) title is not given a <h> tag (and this is something LaunchTags might want to correct for better SEO potential for their site as a whole).
I took a few random samples of mini-pages in LaunchTags and put the title (exact, in quotation marks) into Google. Yup, they rank. Many mini-pages ranked high for their title without using quotation marks, too…and many of those ranked on the first page of Google SERPs for more specific keywords in relation to their title. All a good sign.
One LaunchTags mini-page I found interesting was this one about natural homeopathic sprays. When I put the exact title of this mini-page ( in quotation marks) into a Google query, this mini-page ranks #2. The #1 Google return for this mini-page title is the creators page on Squidoo. Upon examining the two similar pages, I see that the the creator made this mini-page with the single intention of promoting that Squidoo lens. Very nice.
Also, I see the content on the LaunchTags mini-page is pretty much the exact same content that is found within the intro module on the Squidoo lens. Oddly, the LaunchTags page has a Page Rank of 2 while the Squidoo lens does not have PR at all.
Interesting. I have no doubt that in this case of chicken/egg, that the squid came first, but Google is favoring the mini-page on LaunchTags for some odd reason.
Needless to say, LaunchTags needs further investigating. So, I am off to create a mini-page on LaunchTags.
Thanks for the article and for the mention of HubPages, which I work for.
We’ve actually continued to see HubPages traffic grow (predominantly from search engines) to 6 million visitors per month, despite eliminating a-dult/p0rn content last year and cracking down on sp-am. What this means is that our average quality is very high, and the SEs know it. High-quality Hubs get indexed within hours and if they hit the right niche and/or get the right backlinks, can enjoy a nice flood of SE love.
But we maintain high-quality standards. Spammmy or otherwise low-quality Hubs are unpublished to give the author a chance to revise. Repeat offenders are banned. All of this is to maintain the high level of trust we have from Google & Yahoo, and to make sure traffic flows to the right sort of content.
Be sure to give us a try at HubPages!
Jason Menayan
Jason – thanks for stopping by! Glad to hear HubPages is doing well… I just might have to pop back in and take a look.
Thanks for your feedback!
Hello to a fellow squidooer! I hadn’t heard of launch tags as of yet but I definately will check them out. I’m intrigued with the possibilities.
Thanks for the info!
I just deleted all my pages from Launch Tags. They have taken out most of the content within the pages and surrounded the intro with adsense. It had become just another scam where there are no updates or answers to questions.
I spent many many hours at the beginning of their website only to have all my content deleted along with the content of all the users.