We get a little bit crazy about using pictures and pretty colored text, borders, and backgrounds on Squidoo, sometimes more than a little bit crazy. This is reflected by all of the different templates that Squidoo has created for us. It is fun; it is colorful; it attracts the eye.
However, as much as we may like putting all of that color on our pages, many, many readers do not like all the decorations. In fact, unless they are searching for pictures of an area that they want to travel to, or an item that they are looking to buy, most readers are best served by more text and minimal pictures.
There is absolutely no question that as writers of Squidoo lenses, we are much better serving ourselves by including more text on our lenses. Text is the best way for search engines to determine what our lens is about, what our keywords are, and where to categorize us for search engines. Text is how people search for us on the internet.
One way that we can more efficiently reduce pictures is by using our Amazon Spotlight module, and our Ebay module for adding pictures to our lenses. In this case, each picture is a potential sale to Amazon or Ebay. The picture does a double duty, adding to the interest of the lens, and selling an item that relates to your lens.
One very important point to keep in mind when you are writing your lenses, is that with all of the various types of technology and internet connectivity, your readers can potentially be reading your lens from an old computer with dial up service, a cell phone, an iPad, or one of the new tiny netbooks. Screens are shrinking, and page load time is very important. Readers want easy, fast information while they are constantly on the go. The easier you make it for them, the better they will like it.
About lakeerieartists
Very good points, Paula. I find it aggravating as all get out when I land on a page that takes forever to load and I have high speed service. Since I’ve started using my Smart Phone while I’m at my day job, I’m also finding that the pages I land on with lots of pictures are harder to look at. I can make them bigger on that small screen but have to scroll over many times which gets annoying.
As I update my old lenses and write my new ones, I’m going with the “less is more” train of thought.
I just changed a lot of my lenses over to the new New York theme, because I love the minimalist look. Nice and clean.
I changed a few of mine over to New York and Squid Grid for the same reason. I am trying to update any relevant lenses right now, paying attention to the HTML I use, photos and loading times. Sales do seem to be better from less “busy” lenses.
I got carried away with css and html for a while because I enjoyed it. Bottom line is, potential customers don’t. My priorities have changed based on my sales. It works!
I meant Big Lucid instead of Squid Grid. I like the minimalist look too.
Excellent point with the smaller viewing devices that are rapidly replacing the PC. I have actually been thinking about that a bit lately. When I learned how to add Zazzle products to the sidebar widgets, I updated every one (I think) of my lenses to include some Zazzle products. I definitely did notice that it slowed the load time for the lenses. Ummm…may have to think about an overall new strategy.
Welcome.
I think part of it is deciding what is important on your page, and then you can sort out what to keep and what to toss.
Well, I like pictures, but I do know that load time is important. I suppose it depends on the theme of the lens. I have lenses that need pictures: seashell ID, gardening, etc. so what then? One day I will work on breaking the biggies up into smaller lenses which will help. I wish they had a “water” theme for use with my shells. After all it is “squid -oo”.
I am in the process of updating old lenses, tags, and themes. I like the NY theme nice and clean. If someone is looking to buy they don’t need all the glitz, I don’t use alot of html in my lenses, except for product links. My goal for 2011, work smarter not harder.
This is the right place for you, then.