So I did it: I built my very first new lens in 10 months ! Well not really a lens, it's actually a product review lens - or as some lensmasters call these types of Squidoo pages: "lenslet".
I've read so many things about that new type of pages that I decided to give it a try. Before making any lenslet I needed a product to talk about. Found it since my coffee maker suddenly died (yeah, once again, I'm bad luck with coffee machines) and that a friend of mine just bought a coffee on demand machine which I saw in action and fell in love with.
Oh I already had such a coffee machine (the one that doesn't work any more) but it was an old model, tall, wide, too big for the small kitchen. Plus not of a high quality. So when I saw my friend's coffee machine, I decided to put it on my Christmas wish list. Anyways, talking about my coffee maker is not the purpose of this post.
Because I didn't have enough materials to create a standard lens, I gave a shot at lenslets. If there's a $100 award incentive for making such a page, why would I keep off building it? Moreover, there's a book I'd like to talk about as well but never created the related page because of the lack of materials -- lenslets to the rescue in this case too! (if I have some time before flying abroad tomorrow).
So here's my feedback about product review lenses:
* Quickly built lens because it doesn't require too many modules, text blocks, pictures, etc.
* One product lens -- that's something I can do on my own blogs, though.
* The introduction picture and "buy now" button are too big for my own taste; they look like shouts at the readers,
* Must pay close attention to the related products automatically added to the page!!! Yes -- related products are picked from the Amazon product page where Amazon adds some products bought by their customers. Hm... these products aren't always suitable for the product WE write about so we must pay attention to that. Since I know the coffee machine, I was able to remove the related accessories and add at least one that would fit with the machine.
* Without a background, product review lenses look ugly and have a taste of junk. So although they might appear as conceived for lazy lensmasters, they at least require the creation of bespoke backgrounds. Warning: there aren't any background setting options, so if you create a 200 x 200 background you're wrong. You must make at least a 1500 x 1500 graphic for it to be properly displayed.
* These pages don't require many modules. The introduction text is in reality the product itself so it might be hard to find a good way to start talking about the Amazon item you try to sell since you don't want to digress and need to directly refer to your advertised item.
In summary I'd say that many thought that this new lens format would be ideal for those who are able to create a 1 hour or less lens. I'd say that it is true. But the final result, apart from some very smart and creative lensmasters (and there aren't a lot of them) looks like what it is:
From my readings on the Internet it seems that unless we create such a product review page on a highly popular product, it won't generate any kind of significant traffic or sales.
All in all, apart from the book review I wanted to make for so long and that coffee machine I want so bad, I don't think I'm going to make any more product review lens.
But the worst feeling I've had while making this page was that I realized that I lost my Squidoo mojo. Needless to say that the traffic drop experienced one week before the big Halloween Day won't revive the passion I once had for making Squidoo lenses.
That's it for now. Since I'll be abroad for 1 month, I wish you a very happy Halloween and hope you'll see some improvements in terms of Squidoo traffic and earnings in the future.
Posted by Squidoo lensmaster Prosperity66
I've read so many things about that new type of pages that I decided to give it a try. Before making any lenslet I needed a product to talk about. Found it since my coffee maker suddenly died (yeah, once again, I'm bad luck with coffee machines) and that a friend of mine just bought a coffee on demand machine which I saw in action and fell in love with.
Oh I already had such a coffee machine (the one that doesn't work any more) but it was an old model, tall, wide, too big for the small kitchen. Plus not of a high quality. So when I saw my friend's coffee machine, I decided to put it on my Christmas wish list. Anyways, talking about my coffee maker is not the purpose of this post.
Because I didn't have enough materials to create a standard lens, I gave a shot at lenslets. If there's a $100 award incentive for making such a page, why would I keep off building it? Moreover, there's a book I'd like to talk about as well but never created the related page because of the lack of materials -- lenslets to the rescue in this case too! (if I have some time before flying abroad tomorrow).
So here's my feedback about product review lenses:
* Quickly built lens because it doesn't require too many modules, text blocks, pictures, etc.
* One product lens -- that's something I can do on my own blogs, though.
* The introduction picture and "buy now" button are too big for my own taste; they look like shouts at the readers,
* Must pay close attention to the related products automatically added to the page!!! Yes -- related products are picked from the Amazon product page where Amazon adds some products bought by their customers. Hm... these products aren't always suitable for the product WE write about so we must pay attention to that. Since I know the coffee machine, I was able to remove the related accessories and add at least one that would fit with the machine.
* Without a background, product review lenses look ugly and have a taste of junk. So although they might appear as conceived for lazy lensmasters, they at least require the creation of bespoke backgrounds. Warning: there aren't any background setting options, so if you create a 200 x 200 background you're wrong. You must make at least a 1500 x 1500 graphic for it to be properly displayed.
* These pages don't require many modules. The introduction text is in reality the product itself so it might be hard to find a good way to start talking about the Amazon item you try to sell since you don't want to digress and need to directly refer to your advertised item.
In summary I'd say that many thought that this new lens format would be ideal for those who are able to create a 1 hour or less lens. I'd say that it is true. But the final result, apart from some very smart and creative lensmasters (and there aren't a lot of them) looks like what it is:
- A less than 1 hour lens,
- A page that didn't require a lot of work,
- A page that's been quickly made,
- A page that isn't particularly attractive,
- A page that doesn't look as personal as HQ wants it to be,
- A page that lacks design, harmony and taste,
- A "free" page,
- I can do better on my blog.
From my readings on the Internet it seems that unless we create such a product review page on a highly popular product, it won't generate any kind of significant traffic or sales.
All in all, apart from the book review I wanted to make for so long and that coffee machine I want so bad, I don't think I'm going to make any more product review lens.
But the worst feeling I've had while making this page was that I realized that I lost my Squidoo mojo. Needless to say that the traffic drop experienced one week before the big Halloween Day won't revive the passion I once had for making Squidoo lenses.
That's it for now. Since I'll be abroad for 1 month, I wish you a very happy Halloween and hope you'll see some improvements in terms of Squidoo traffic and earnings in the future.
Posted by Squidoo lensmaster Prosperity66
