There’s often talk about “likes” for our lenses – how to get likes, should I ask for likes, that kind of talk. While there’s not a thing in the world wrong with SquidLikes, I want to ask this question today: Have you given your readers something worth liking?
This isn’t going to be a lecture, but it might sound like one so bear with me for a minute.
When we make lenses, there are multiple things that we think about, often all at the same time. What will we write about? How do we narrow our subject? Have we chosen the best keywords? How long is it going to take to find enough good pictures for this lens? Wonder if I spelled that word right? Then eventually, okay I’m done and I can’t WAIT to get this thing published, ask my friends to “like” it, and move on!
But what about these questions:
- Is anyone looking for this type of information?
- Other people have written about this topic, so what can I do to make my lens stand out in the crowd?
- Is my presentation easy to read, attractive but not over-the-top?
- How’s my text-to-advertisement ratio?
- Have I answered all the questions my readers are going to want answered?
- Did I check every one of my outgoing links to be sure they work, that I coded them right?
- Have I provided opportunities for my readers to provide input? To contact me if they need more information?
- Is what I’ve written original? unique? up-to-date? useful?
- Have I written for others the way I would have them write for me?
When you’re making a lens, keep this checklist in mind. If you can answer every question positively, then your readers really will have something to like. Hopefully they’ll click on that little Squidlike button but even if they forget, you can pat yourself on the back for adding excellent content to your lens portfolio, to Squidoo, and to the worldwide web. That is something to really like!
