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Ron Passfield of Squidoo fame was our guest on Giant Squid Open Mike 8/17. By the way, I like the sound of Giant Squid Talk Radio, don’t you?

As I was reading over Ron’s lenses and his most recent Twitters, I discovered he is an expert on a Social Bookmarking site called “Red Gage.” After we got him out out of bed (4 pm our time and 6 am the following day his time) you could feel his energy and enthusiasm re-ignite as we discussed Red Gage!

Ron explained what Red Gage does. For one thing, hundreds of Squidoo community people are there. Connecting with them on Red Gage can only deepen existing relationships, as well as create new ones. You can place all of your existing links on Red Gage, and from what I understand, when people visit your site from the link you provided on Red Gage, you get points, and make money.

As Ron began to upload all of his material, and blog posts and Squidoo lenses he had written about Red Gage, as well as uploading pictures and videos, he noticed his material and links were appearing in top ten Google results. He said once you get the hang of it, it is very easy to use.

Concern was voiced in the chat room that Red Gage will accept lenses that have been banned on Squidoo and that so called Spammers will have a hay day on the Red Gage site.

This turned to the subject of “Comment Etiquette.” Ron said he hasn’t seen spamming on Red Gage other than what he called “Comment Spamming.” This is when people show up on, say on your lens or blog post and say, “If you rate my lens, I will rate your lens.” Or, “Great job!!” Or “Congratulations on your Purple Star,” and nothing else. Or, simply, “Nice.”

People make money making comments on Red Gage, so the temptation to write quantity without quality is great. The administrators at Red Gage have outlined Comment Etiquette Guidelines.

Like all other Social Networking sites, you have to pay your dues. You visit people’s content and speak to the person in your comment, not necessarily only to the content. Make your comment relevant to the content. Repeat the keyword in what you write to help that lens get a ranking boost.

Comment on the content in a thoughtful manner. This is common sense. Write valuable comments that add and expand on a point. Disagree on a point, but do so with grace. Do you have an opposite viewpoint? Offer that viewpoint with an attitude “What can I offer?” Simply agreeing is not a contribution. Don’t forget, your comments also reflect your own work.

Use humor in your comments. Add your own experience. Be mindful of the content by focusing your attention. Don’t think of what you have to do, or what you plan to make for dinner. Send Healing Waves through the ether to energize your message. These guidelines help create community, bring traffic to your blogs and lenses, and make new friends and allies. Think SEO as you write your comment, says Ron.

In any Google search, look for the word “Cache”  and by clicking on that word, you  will see how Google has indexed your blog or lens in terms of search terms. Chef Keem asked Ron to write a Squidlog post about this, which is now completed. The post is entitled: “Google Is Watching You!”

The conversation turned to Long Tail Keywords. Ron said this terminology came out of Google AdWord campaigns several years ago. The secret is to have a Primary Keyword and enlarge upon it. Treat Google as having the intelligence which it has. Ron gave the example of “Digital Story Telling” lenses. He broadened that key phrase to include “How To Make A Digital Story Into A Movie.”

“Digital Story Telling In Business.” “Digital Story Telling In Education.” “Digital Story Telling In Primary Education.” He came up with ninety different search terms, and this is how people found his Digital Story Telling lens.

The trick is to create long tail keywords, always keeping the primary keyword in mind. People are moving away from one primary key word. “How to turn a digital story into a movie?” is a good  example.

Keywords help you to stay focused on your message and your purpose for your lens. When relevance is not added, the Google Bot comes to a dead end. Google will not index shoddy content.

Google IS Artificial Intelligence! Treat it as such.

Mark your calendars for our next Giant Squid Talk Show on August 24, 4:00 p.m. Eastern Standard Time!

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