Way back in the beginning, it seemed like the typical Squidoo lens was extremely long, and that was the model that I followed for a long time. However, except for certain circumstances I now believe that a Squidoo lens does not have to be, and in many instances should not be long, in order to succeed.
As for most things, the way you construct a lens should relate to the reason or purpose that you are writing. But no lens should be a treatise on any subject because your readers will never make it to the bottom of your page. You are much better off dividing a large subject into smaller bits that can be put on a lens that has approximately 5 to 10 text modules.
This is my own opinion, but I believe that the most streamlined construction for a lens on your topic is always going to be your best bet. And there is no hard and fast rule to this method, but here are what I tend to do when I create a lens.
The majority of my lenses are either informational or sales or a combination of both. Keeping that in mind, here is what I look for.
- A clean, easy, simple interface (no fancy colors) New York is my favorite theme
- A construction of text modules and sales modules
- Pictures that relate to the topic
- Connections to other related articles through links, link modules, and featured lens modules
If it is a sales lens, I focus my attention on one vendor at a time, so the lens is written primarily for Amazon, or Ebay, or a third party vendor.
A typical lens of this construction is Collecting Antiques: Tea Cups and Saucer Sets. You can see that I have alternated the text and sales modules. In this lens, I let the Ebay pictures act as the pictures of the products except in the introduction. So the construction of the lens is much faster than if I also added pictures.
A recipe lens is a combination of sales and instruction. This lens, Best Christmas Cookie Recipes: Vanilla Cranberry Biscotti, has just enough information to explain the recipe, and where to get the items that some people may not be able to find at home.
I cannot show you a purely informational lens of mine because I generally put sales items on all of my lenses. The closest one is How to Write a Profitable Product Review. As you can see on the lens, I am selling products as well as giving information. However, the advice on that lens is what I would give you for all your lenses. Do not distract the reader from your message. Make it simple and straightforward, no matter what your lens is about.
As usual, there are several lensmasters who create long lenses that are successful. In other words, they are not practicing what I am preaching here. One of the best of those is Janet21. One of the reasons that Janet is so successful is that she has learned how to present a complete package to her readers so that they can create a child’s birthday party if they just use the items that she has found and displayed on her lens. They do not need to look anywhere else. This makes Janet a reliable source of information and products in her niche. Even so, Janet does not offer extraneous items. Her lenses offer just what is needed for each event.
The most important thing that you can do to decide on the length of your lens, is to give the readers what they need completely, give them a reason to click through to whatever you are offering on your page, and no more. Save the extra for the next lens. This will make you a faster and more efficient lensmaster.
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