You now have your lens done (hopefully) and it’s time to let the big G know it’s out there. Unfortunately this is not a “build it and they will come” kind of adventure. You have to leave a little trail of breadcrumbs for Google to follow to find your lens. This is also called getting your lens “indexed”. That simply means google has found your lens, they acknowledge it exists and have included it in the index of sites that are out there on the internet.
What this does not mean.
When your site is indexed it does NOT mean that you will see your site on the first page of google when you put in your product/keyword. Nope, that’s the second step of the plan. So let’s start first with just letting Google know it’s there, it’s live and it’s a great resource for people.
How do I let Google Know my lens is out there?
Do I just drop them a note? Nope.
You drop them a link, otherwise known as a backlink.
What is a backlink?
A backlink is just a link from on site that points to your lens (or website). There are a LOT of ways to create backlinks. If you would like to know more then read this lens about how to create backlinks
Today, though, we’re going to do a couple simple things to let google know your lens is “alive”. We’ll keep moving on through other backlinking options as we go.
RSS Feed:
Every lens you create has an RSS feed. The primary function of this feed is to allow people to be notified when you update your lens. We’re going to use it in a little it different way. We’re going to use it to notify some people this lens exists.
We’ve talked in other posts about how to find your RSS feed ~ but again here are the steps.
1. Go to your lens (live, not in edit mode) look for the orange button.
2. Click the orange RSS button, that will bring up the rss address for your lens.
3. Right click and copy the address ~ to be pasted somewhere shortly.
Where do I use this RSS feed?
There are a lot of places you can submit your RSS feed. You want to find RSS directories ~ these are websites that catalogue RSS feeds so people who are looking for specific information can find a whole site/page about that. When you submit your RSS feed to these directories your submission will link back to your site, thus creating a backlink. 
Where do I find these RSS directories?
Finding RSS directories is not difficult. You can google “rss directories” and you will get some directories, as well as blog posts that will list quite a few all on one page.
To get you started here’s a couple of my favorite RSS directory resources.
A couple things before you get started on this project ~ and it is a bit of a project, but one WELL worth the time and effort it takes.
1. These list were not made by me. The internet is an ever changing world, and links do not always stay live, working whatever. If you find links in the posts don’t work ~ don’t sweat it. Just go to the next one. Really.
2. While it’s great to submit your lens RSS feed it’s much more efficient, if you are doing your lenses all in the same account ~ like you’ve set up a holiday related squidoo account and all your gift lenses are in this one account ~ to submit your lensmaster RSS feed.
This will automatically submit each new lens you create automatically with no further work on your part. (I like tht part). It’s the main function of an RSS feed ~ to notify of new content. So when you add new content to your lensmaster account each directory you have submitted your lensmaster RSS feed to will automatically be updated.
Where’s my lensmaster RSS feed?
Get your lensmaster RSS feed at Squidutils. It’s a great site with lots of cool squidoo tools. Now don’t get distracted over there ~ just get your lensmaster feed.
It’s quite simple ~
1. Just put your lensmaster id in the box, and click login.
2. Once you’re logged in you can click the link for your lensmaster RSS feed and it will show up.
3. Copy it to your clipboard (right click/ copy) so you can submit it later.
Here’s what you will see when you click to get the RSS feed. (Of course yours will have your name in it, not mine) 
Now all you have to do is take this lensmaster RSS feed url and submit it to the sites you found in your google search, or the links to blog posts posted above. This can be slightly mind numbing ~ but it’s part of the job.
When you go to the RSS directory sites you will want to look around for a link that says “submit a site” “add a site” “submit a url” or something to that effect. Once you find the link, just click it, there will be a space for your lensmaster RSS feed url ~ it may also ask for the actual site url, it may ask for your email address ~ all of that is to be expected. Just fill in the information it asks for and click submit.
The second thing you can do to let google know your lens is alive:
This one is very simple. What I find however, is the more simple something is the less effectively it works. But it’s worth doing simply because it’s so quick.
Ping your lens.
You can also do this from Squidutils. You will see a link that says “ping your lens”. When you click it a new box will open. You will be asked to enter the url of the lens you want to ping. Enter the url of your lens.
Then click ping. Like I said, it’s really easy.
There’s one trick to it though ~ you have to have recently updated your lens ~ so before you go to ping, just go in and add a tag, or something quick and easy, and then hit the publish button. Then go and ping.
That’s it for today. If you have problems with specific RSS directories or submitting your lenses just ask in the comments section!
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