How to Create a Squidoo Lens

How to Create a Squidoo Lens

Go to Squidoo.com and create a a lens (page) by clicking the Get Started link. Next, click the Make A Lens! link at the top of the page. Choose the correct answer to the account question asking if you already have an account or if this is your first lens. We’ll assume you don’t already have an account, so click the “Not yet – this is my first lens bubble,” followed by the “Get Started button”.

There are 6 steps to setting up your basic Squidoo lens and we’ll detail each of them here:

Step 1 – Fill in the space telling what your lens will be about. For this example we’ll assume our lens is going to be centered around the topic of flowers so and we want to be specific here so we type “How to Plant a Flower” in the box. Click the “Go to Step 2″ button to proceed.

Step 2 – In this step you’ll be asked what you want to accomplish with your lens. Click on the appropriate choice for your lens and then the “Go to Step 3″ button to move forward. For our example, we’ll choose the first and easiest option of I want to get the word out about How to Plant a Flower.

Step 3 - The next step in the process of creating a Squidoo lens is to set up your title and the website address of your lens. This step is broken up into 4 categories.

Lens Title – This is set by default with the topic you chose in Step 1, however you can change the title if you would like by clicking in the box with your current title.

Pick your URL – Your URL is your website address. Be careful to choose wisely, because once you set this you won’t be able to change it later. Your website address will start with www.squidoo.com/. The text after is what will identify your lens from everyone else’s at Squidoo. For our How to Plant a Flower lens we’ll use “plant-flowers” here.

Pick a Category – Choose from the drop down list the category that your lens fits in the best. We’ll choose “DIY & Hobbies” for our topic.

Rate Your Lens – Choose the most appropriate rating for your lens from the drop down list. We’re going to choose “G Rated Material – Safe for all ages and eyeballs.”

Once you’ve done all of the above steps and feel comfortable with your URL address, go to step 4 by clicking the button that tells you to do just that.

Step 5 – In this step we’re going to make it as easy as possible to help people who use search engines to find information on the web to find your lens. We’ll do this by entering keywords that identify your lens. Enter the best one (which by default is set to the topic you choose in Step 1) first. Then if you’d like to increase your chances of people finding your lens, enter up to three other keywords. We’ll add “flowers”, “growing a flower”, and “gardening” for our How to Plant a Flower lens example. Move on to the next screen.

You’ll now choose how you would like to be paid from your lens. Yes, you can earn money with your lens. Read through each choice and choose the one that’s best for you between the following: Donate to the Squidoo Charity Fund, Donate to a Specific Charity (which you can choose from in the dropdown list), I Just Want Cash, or A Combo of Cash and Charity. Proceed to Step 6 once you’ve made your choice.

Step 6 – Here is where you will enter all your personal information from your email address, name and password so that you can access your account. Once you’ve filled in all the required information, click the “Done” button.

Congratulations you have successfully set up a Squidoo lens and will now be taken to it. From there you can edit your lens as you wish.

Click here to create your Squidoo Lens Now