Thinking about not writing at squidoo anymore

I am not very happy with the way things are going on on squidoo lately, and the recent changes have little to do with it.

There are several reasons why and I would like to ask you what your thought are about these issues.

First off, the counters are way off. There was a thread about this recently and some users have 50% discrepency compared to google analytics and squidoo statistics (traffic count). This is big. The way they explain it is always they show last 7 days and/or they count unique visits etc. I can see that on google too and they are not even close to matching. So this makes me feel a little uneasy.

I have a few lenses that got so close to tier 1 but when it gets too close suddenly my traffic stops. And my lens rank starts sinking. Hmmmm.... makes me wonder really. What can change in 24 hours and then suddenly a lens that gets about 30 views per day only gets 3 or 4 and starts ranking lower and lower.

Squidoo is a tedious work and it is tiring. I get more clicks to my google ads elsewhere and make more money on google per month per article than squidoo would pay me, which is 20 cents per lens, really I think this should tell me something, work more on my blog. One click sometimes brings me more than 20 cents.

I am thinking about using squidoo just for backlinks purposes from now on and I will only write for sites that will allow me to use my own google adsense id number, like here on wizzley.

I trust wizzley's statistics much more. I get more clicks to my google ads on shetold me, than anywhere else, weird but true. So why the heck I go somewhere where I can't even control my own google ads?

I did not do much for only 1 week on squidoo and a lot of my lenses went down to tier 4. So no payment for those at all. I can use my affiliate accounts on my blog or on wizzley and can be happy with just doing that.

And none of my lenses never get listed on yahoo or elsewhere, I thing only bing and ask.com and google so far. I even tried submitting manually but it never worked with yahoo. Yes, google is the most popular search engine but still, why they are not listed on yahoo?

I believe wizzley will keep growing and will get better google rankings soon so my time here is better spent. That's how I see it.

I have a never ending twitter issue. NONE of my twitter views are counted on squidoo. NEVER. I post a link on twitter from other places and get 15 to 20 views in seconds. I have nearly 4000 followers. On squidoo it's nada, zilch, nothing. I have tested this a lot with friends, never seen that traffic calculated on squidoo.

Same for facebook.

I know most of the users here are on squidoo as well, so what are your thoughts?

I appreciate this post. I'm fairly new to Squidoo and only have 1 article that has earned much of anything. I am concerned about the constant updating that site seems to need. I'm not used to having to update the same article over and over and find it strange. The ranking system is also another bugaboo. It's pretty difficult to stay up in ranking, if you ask me. I'll be curious to hear what more experienced writers are saying.

I too get much of my Adsense income from SheToldMe for some reason. With such "mysterious" ways of doing things, I am wondering about how much time to give to Squidoo. Thanks for starting this conversation!

CHalloran: 26. Jun 2011, 12:07

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I am thinking about using squidoo just for backlinks purposes from now on and I will only write for sites that will allow me to use my own google adsense id number, like here on wizzley.

I trust wizzley's statistics much more. I get more clicks to my google ads on shetold me, than anywhere else, weird but true. So why the heck I go somewhere where I can't even control my own google ads?

I did not do much for only 1 week on squidoo and a lot of my lenses went down to tier 4. So no payment for those at all. I can use my affiliate accounts on my blog or on wizzley and can be happy with just doing that.

And none of my lenses never get listed on yahoo or elsewhere, I thing only bing and ask.com and google so far. I even tried submitting manually but it never worked with yahoo. Yes, google is the most popular search engine but still, why they are not listed on yahoo?

I believe wizzley will keep growing and will get better google rankings soon so my time here is better spent. That's how I see it.

I know most of the users here are on squidoo as well, so what are your thoughts?

Here are my two cents for what it's worth:

At least for the time being, Squidoo is still as powerful a tool on the internet as it has been, changes notwithstanding, however it is just a tool.  It makes an awesome and fairly stable backlink to any site, and can rise in the ranks of search engines quickly if you know how to do keyword research and optimize and promote your pages.

However, just like any website that you do not own, including Wizzley, which I love, you do not have 100% control over the site, its direction, or its earning power.  I recommend that you reduce your reliance of income earning on sites that you do not own, and increase your earnings from sites that you do own, blogs, websites, etc.  While the advantage of sites like Wizzley and Squidoo is that they are easy to use, and have instant authority, in the end you need to be able to trust the owners will do what is best for the writers, and in most cases that is not the priority for the site owners.  They need to make money for the site.

I believe you should have at least 4 to 5 online sites to write on, and half or more of those should be owned by you as you develop as an online writer.  This will give you a more stable income and balance.

"in the end you need to be able to trust the owners will do what is best for the writers, and in most cases that is not the priority for the site owners.  They need to make money for the site."

Paula - 

Wizzley makes money only when the writers are happy and produce quality content. That's why it is our top priority to create what is best for our writers. If you make money - we make money. 

At one time (maybe 18 months ago or more) I would have talked about Squidoo in terms of "loving it" but over time that has moved to "liking it" - I like it because it ranks well, it generates good sales and the tier payments are worthwhile when one has a reasonable number of top tier and 2nd tier lenses - I have those but it has taken some time to get there and stay there.

Wizzley has me excited in a way that Squidoo used to - in large part because the team here are so responsive and so focused on quality.

I have noticed that I create pages here that I wouldn't create on Squidoo and your post made me stop and think about that.  The pages I have been creating about Niche Marketing are a good example and I wondered why I don't create them on Squidoo.  I think the reason is that the focus here is on the article (and the income!) without all the extraneous bells and whistles and dare I say it feels more professional here.

Paula is also absolutely right.  All those sites which are not owned by you are not fully controlled by you and you have to adapt to the changes that happen or make a choice not to adapt and move on.  If you have found your niche(s) then you absolutely must be looking at creating your own site/blog.  Thank you by the way - you have given me the focus for the next couple of pages I will be writing on Niche Marketing - once I am back from a couple of days away on business.

Yes, I agree 100% with Paula, but what I meant by control, and I think i chose the wrong word actually, I meant to say, I am able to use my google adsense id number so I won't be complaining about wizzley or bukisa not counting my traffic accurately.

But on squidoo, I have doubts, serious doubts. And I am not the only one.

And until now, I have neglected my blog greatly, but now I feel that it was wrong, I should have spent more time with it.

And yes, I am also thinking about starting a webpage as well.

But when I post articles on content pages in the future, my choice will be the ones that allow e to use my google adsense id, and I don't mind sharing a percentage, as long as I know my traffic accurately.

Thank you by the way - you have given me the focus for the next couple of pages I will be writing on Niche Marketing - once I am back from a couple of days away on business.

@Paul, you're welcome. and I do read your articles and find them very helpful. Keep them coming!

pkmcr: 26. Jun 2011, 13:42

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I have noticed that I create pages here that I wouldn't create on Squidoo and your post made me stop and think about that.  The pages I have been creating about Niche Marketing are a good example and I wondered why I don't create them on Squidoo.  I think the reason is that the focus here is on the article (and the income!) without all the extraneous bells and whistles and dare I say it feels more professional here.

Paul, I've noticed that I'm taking a different slant here at Wizzley, too. I think that Squidoo, as much as I appreciate that platform, is too fancy. I get overwhelmed with all the modules, themes, you know. Here I focus much more on the simple content -- text, photos, a few products, maybe a video. I tend to be much more succinct here. It's a breath of fresh air since it takes me SO long to make a lens. But the wizzes are coming much faster.

Jimmie: 26. Jun 2011, 15:15

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pkmcr: 26. Jun 2011, 13:42

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I have noticed that I create pages here that I wouldn't create on Squidoo and your post made me stop and think about that.  The pages I have been creating about Niche Marketing are a good example and I wondered why I don't create them on Squidoo.  I think the reason is that the focus here is on the article (and the income!) without all the extraneous bells and whistles and dare I say it feels more professional here.

Paul, I've noticed that I'm taking a different slant here at Wizzley, too. I think that Squidoo, as much as I appreciate that platform, is too fancy. I get overwhelmed with all the modules, themes, you know. Here I focus much more on the simple content -- text, photos, a few products, maybe a video. I tend to be much more succinct here. It's a breath of fresh air since it takes me SO long to make a lens. But the wizzes are coming much faster.

 

 

Absolutely - that is how I feel too.

chefkeem: 26. Jun 2011, 13:30

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"in the end you need to be able to trust the owners will do what is best for the writers, and in most cases that is not the priority for the site owners.  They need to make money for the site."

Paula - 

Wizzley makes money only when the writers are happy and produce quality content. That's why it is our top priority to create what is best for our writers. If you make money - we make money. 

 

 

You are right, and I do trust you.  But in the end, everyone needs to diversify to increase security in their earning platform.

Tried it a bit when I first started writing and realized very quickly their set up is such that it's not competitively fair so I never wasted another moment there. Back then my writing was not as good as it's grown to be now days, but still why work harder than you should when there are literally hundreds of sites on the web to work with.

Jimmie: 26. Jun 2011, 15:15

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pkmcr: 26. Jun 2011, 13:42

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I have noticed that I create pages here that I wouldn't create on Squidoo and your post made me stop and think about that.  The pages I have been creating about Niche Marketing are a good example and I wondered why I don't create them on Squidoo.  I think the reason is that the focus here is on the article (and the income!) without all the extraneous bells and whistles and dare I say it feels more professional here.

Paul, I've noticed that I'm taking a different slant here at Wizzley, too. I think that Squidoo, as much as I appreciate that platform, is too fancy. I get overwhelmed with all the modules, themes, you know. Here I focus much more on the simple content -- text, photos, a few products, maybe a video. I tend to be much more succinct here. It's a breath of fresh air since it takes me SO long to make a lens. But the wizzes are coming much faster.

 

 

Part of that is the style of the site, and also that the site is filled with quality authors and stricter quality control.  But really that is one of the problems with Squidoo.  The content is what gets you found on search engines, not the prettiness of the pages and modules.

 I read carefully all the comments. This is my point of view.

There are around over 600 Social Media sites. It is a mistake to spread so thin and write on all of them.

So anyway we have to try and chose the ones we will stick with.

I try tagfoot , I don't like them, it has a good idea to start with but a poor management, and I get out. 

I try RedGage and I like them in spite of slow load, but they work on it and I stay there... and so on.

We have to stay with platforms which make us happy and add revenue. But this is a personal decision for each of us.

About Adsens... they will die in time anyway, so we have to chose platforms with a more diversify on ways of  creating revenue.

I don't do Adsens at all, I don't like what Google is doing, they make millions and share with is pennies. So, Paula is right, from such small amounts if we write in sites we don't own, that small amount it will divide between us and the owner of the site. So  our pennies are slashed.

In Blogs, sites we own even Adsense will provide more for us, and if we add other revenue components we will be in a good shape.

But Squidoo is a good source of backlinks, so I'll keep them for a while on my pool of  Social Media I am dealing with even though they disappoint me a couple of times. 

Wizzley is very new, I think it will grow fast and some point can be very profitable, and we don't have to update posts the rest of our life...  to get rank...  I based my positive attitude toward Wizzley on my first impression,  its simplicity, and my trust for the owners.

But I will continue to write in my personal domains as well and fight to diversity of my portfolio, which I hope will continue to expend.

So what I try to say is we have to follow platforms we like and trust.

Everybody has good points here.

Thank for a great debate.

I completely agree with Michey that you need to pick and choose your platforms as not to spread yourself too thin.  And also, use what works best for you.

agree ........i am wroking hard on building my own little world on my own hosting, and narrowing down other places I write.  I do like some of the newest ones created by lensmasters and will support those.   will keep wizzley and my sites in top position and yes, will continue at squidoo.  it's like home base for me.   (like my high school - will love it forever ).....

Well, I continue to be on the "outside" where Squidoo is concerend but that's okay. :) I have enjoyed Squidoo ever since I started the first week in January and continue to do so today--as long as I stay away from forums and threads that bog me down. It's just a fun thing to do. 

For me, Squidoo is just another publishing platform. That's it, really. And it's fun for me because it'a a place where I can write about things I would not normally write about and do it in ways that I would not normally do. I mean, I would NEVER post about Toddlers and Tiaras on my writing blog. Please. But doing a MonkeyBrain theme for it was fun. I was thinking about it and had something to get out of my mind. 

I saw all the bells and whisltes with multi modules but found them too distracting. The same with all the html fancy design coding. That's not my thing so I focused on plain lenses and glommed onto the New York theme. It suited me. 

I wanted to invest the first 3-6 months of this year on Squidoo to reach 50, then 100 lenses. It seemed like a nice round number. I'm nearly there. My strategy was and continues to be to serve my overall writing plans. I use Squidoo to find new readers for my blogs and fan pages in a very indirect way. I use it to write about things I'm interested in but don't formally write about. I use it always for backlinks and will continue to update that way. I am now using Squidoo to backlink to Wizzley. :) I love Squidoo because I could write about my dogs. I've always wanted to do that. Squidoo is just fun for me. It's a bit of a multimedia online circus show where I have one small part. You can do all kinds of things there. 

Because of Wizzley's style and intent, Wizzley seems more print oriented or more traditional with a lot of sophisticated thought in how to use the Internet to combine writing and passive income. I'm very impressed with the use of copyscape because I think it helps writers. The complete lack of education about copyright laws that has expanded with the Internet growth and use has all but buried the idea of intellectual rights, something I'm concerned about. 

I like the more stream-lined approach of Wizzley. It's clean. I love that. And now that I've been creating pages, I've begun to develop a way to include it in my writing stategy. My goal is to have it different but complimentary.  I LOVE that I don't have to update the pages unless it's needed. 

I think it's good to develop an overall strategy for your writing. What are your aims, your goals. Why are you on the Internet. Where is the best place to go to accomplish your goals. If it's not working, be flexible and willing to adapt and change. That's what it takes to survive in this new medium where change is everyday and you can't predict the next one or when it will happen. 

Wizzle's terrific. Squidoo is fun and still great for me. Every form has its virtues. Every medium has its parameters and its problems. If the goal is to provide content, then they all serve that purpose. If the goal is to earn income, then you go where you can get the most bang for your buck short term and long term. As my dog trainer is fond of saying, "Make a plan, work the plan." :) 

What I am still trying to understand with Squidoo, is why that incorporated the requirement of constantly updating lenses in the first place? Why did they figure that into the way the whole scheme works? 

I get the why WE have to do it part. I just don't get their thinking. For me that's a huge negative. It's not necessary anywhere else so they must have had a specific reason to structure Squidoo that way. I think, in the long run, it may have worked against them. I am not a fan of that requirement and it goes a long way into how I incorporate Squidoo into my strategy. Too many lenses is too time-consuming and eats up time to create new pages with fresh content. 

At least that's how it seems to me. 

@vikksimmons: my understanding is that they do this because google likes fresh content... but really, how many people are "really" updating when they click the "publish" button? Do we just change the wording of a phrase and re-publish it? Because, if we have to do this every week, that's what's going to end up being. So you're right, it is really a huge negative.

I mean I sometimes move the modules around or give it a different title, just for the sake of updating. I can't keep up with that.

Also check this out: Summer Reading 2011

There is a forum thread right now on squidoo discussing this lens and if it's a good enough lens or not.

I personally don't care if a lens is 5000 words or 100 words. If it's to the point and if it gives me what I want then I am happy camper but.... and a big but here...

If the founder of squidoo publishes a lens like this, then we can expect more spammers in squidoo, and it shouldn't be surprising.

So what squidoo needs to decide is "do they want to be an advertising site" or "do they want to be a content site"?

There is nothing wrong about being an advertising site, a lot of people might find those lenses quite useful, heck my zebra bathing suit lens, which I believe is very low quality, sold a lot of bathing suits... WINNING!!!!! Charlie Sheen would say :-D

But in the long run, google WILL punish squidoo for the low quality content like this and I wonder how much longer the name Seth Godin will be able to negociate that with google to get the lenses back up to higher ranks.

Just left a post in SU and was so disgusted I came over here.  I am soooo close to losing all my motivation over there.  The 2011 book list was nothing, it'll just be a top 100, but how about today's top pick.  That just got my goat!  And of course you have people that will say, well there are links and stuff, and no it doesn't need content.....

I just don't know what to do anymore.  Do I bite my nose to spite my face?  Do I question with no expectation of anything but that now I am a troublemaker, and bordering on violating rules by flaming someone?  I give up!

KathyMcGraw: 27. Jun 2011, 14:50

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Just left a post in SU and was so disgusted I came over here.  I am soooo close to losing all my motivation over there.  The 2011 book list was nothing, it'll just be a top 100, but how about today's top pick.  That just got my goat!  And of course you have people that will say, well there are links and stuff, and no it doesn't need content.....

I just don't know what to do anymore.  Do I bite my nose to spite my face?  Do I question with no expectation of anything but that now I am a troublemaker, and bordering on violating rules by flaming someone?  I give up!

I would not bite your own nose.  No point in that.  Frankly, I would try to find a way to not let it get to you so much.  Or take a break from the site altogether.