One of Squidoo’s many features allows writers, bloggers, webmasters and developers to create pages – also known as lenses – where content can be created, displayed and organized about a particular subject or category. The format of these Squidoo lenses allows individuals to cram quite a bit of knowledge, information or advertising in one location. Many have been asking whether or not using Squidoo lenses is worthwhile when it comes to building up traffic and SEO strategy. We will outline some of the key features of Squidoo lenses that may prove to be beneficial to your website’s long-term success.

The No-Follow Issue

By default, links used on Squidoo are no-follow links. What does this mean? No-follow tags mean that it will not be pinging the servers of Google and others, telling them that these links exist. In other words, you will not build PageRank or any other form of search engine notoriety by using this approach. However, when you consider that Squidoo is a popular, highly-rated platform and that the ultimate desire of higher rankings is to attract new visitors, then it may still be worth it. If your Squidoo lens is optimized, people will still find it in search rankings and will also see any and all links you have inserted into it. Through this approach, you can still drive traffic to your site – even if the links are no-follow.

Not All Links Are Created Equally

While this may seem a bit contradictory when compared to the previous paragraph, Squidoo has its own algorithm that apparently determines the validity of some links and allows them to be treated as regular backlinks. In addition, some lenses will be given preferential treatment and displayed as ‘featured’ on Squidoo. Unfortunately, Squidoo has done a decent job at keeping their algorithms secret, so we cannot be sure how this process occurs. Nevertheless, it should be noted that some links may be pinging the servers of search engines and earning you search engine clout – but you shouldn’t expect it.

Diversify

Google and other major search engines like to see an array of different link profiles for your site, so there is no harm – and actually, potential benefit – in linking to your Squidoo lens. This gives your site a more “natural” look to Google and can help further solidify your reputation with the major search engine. You will have to continue providing updates to your lens in order to keep it performing well in search, but that is a given for most webmasters.

Opinion

Some believe that Squidoo lenses are useless, while others claim they work wonders. At the end of the day, a Squidoo lens can help drive additional traffic to your site – if you keep it up to date and full of valuable information. Some may say that this venue offers no real benefits and that similar effects can be achieved through other mediums. We tend to think that having your site mentioned and documented in as many places as possible is never a bad idea for brand awareness and traffic.