How to Create Backlinks so Google Will Find Your Lens
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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Jackie:
I’m sure you were a newbie at one time as well.
But I have to tell you, you have NO IDEA how helpful this information is.
Thanks a million.
At least now maybe the big G can locate my lenses!
Thanks again.
Just wish to let you know how much you have already helped me from your post about building Christmas squidoo lenses and yes my next step was how the Big G as Keith calls it will find my lens.I guess this post just did that for me Thanks again you are the best.
Jackie, thank you for posting this! I did not know that these places existed to let ‘G’ know where we are. I assumed you just waited until it was indexed by the spiders. You emails have been very informative and I am working on Christmas right now using your techniques. Thanks for everything you are sharing with us and good luck in the coming seasons!
I purchased some software to help with this step. It submits the feeds from articles and my lenses to about 50 rss directories. I got mine via clickbank, but a company called icansoft also has one. I have seen it on sale for $7-$12, you could probly find the discount code by searching online.
I find that this step along with making a few blog posts gets me indexed within 24 hours, it does work.
Thanks for your help. Between you and Jennifer I’m only really learning what I do now!
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Jackie,
Potpie Girl suggests not pinging your lenses before they get indexed. Do you agree?
Thanks,
April
Hi April,
Personally I don’t do a lot of pinging ~ so if she says it’s best to wait until after they are indexed ~ she’s probably right.
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hey jackie,
I have been subscribing to PPG (potpiegirl) and your blog for some time now. I have made a couple of lenses and have started to see a little success online.( All i have 2 do now is rinse and repeat 4 more success.) Anyway. In your Squidoo Christmas Cash, you say to write an article on ezinearticles to provide a good backlink to your lense. But I know from experience that ezine doesn’t allow any articles with outright “product promotion. So how are we susposed to do this? Should we use another article directory?
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You create a link back to your lens in your resource box ~ just like in any other article.
For example I could write an article about 3 ways to manage back pain. In the resource box I could mention the ironman gravity 4000 inversion table is a great option if you decide to go with inversion therapy.
You don’t promote your product ~ you give helpful information about a related topic and then link to your lens as a solution to a problem in the resource box.
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~ as usual I remembered something after I hit publish.
I’m going to be going over more ways to create backlinks in upcoming posts ~ article marketing will of course be included in that series.
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Sorry if these are really stupid questions. . .
So if you submit the lensmaster feed, does this mean we only have to do it once and never have to do this again?
How do you know if a lens or blog is indexed?
If you are using the same squidoo account you will only need to submit the lensmaster feed once, your lenses will upadate in those directories via that feed.
I’m going to write a post today about indexing ~ so hang on gotta eat some lunch first.
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Jackie you are a gem. You always seem to have the answer to the questions.
I have built two lenses for the christmas thingy and am now indexed and am getting traffic. Need to do some more articles. I just need to get the steps in order and stay focus.
Thanks
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WOO HOO!!! Love it. I created a mind map to lay out the process and all the ways to link in this post on setting goals and staying focused. ~ it’s at the bottom.
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i never knew about these squidoo tools. thanks for the tips!
This is great! When I was a very new lensmaster, I never knew how to make Google index my lens. So this is really valuable information!
I’ve been a user of Squidutils for a while now and I’d say it is great! Must use for all lensmaster.
The list of RSS by PR is also great! I’ve been trying to research this one. Thanks, Jackie. RSS feeds are like the easiest way to create backlinks – its like hitting five to ten lenses in one stone!
- ROth
Oh, BTW, to everyone, alternatively, you can ping your lenses @ pingler.com. It seems to submit the information to more directories.
Yay, I finally discovered the Advanced Dashboard!!!! That makes things a lot easier
Jackie, thanks for the info on RSS Feeds. I’ve been meaning to learn more about it. With your info, my lensmaster RSS feed url has now been submitted to your list of active directories. I hope it helps increase my traffic!!
Jackie
Firstly – thanks for all the great posts. One question about submitting RSS feed. I have all my lenses in one account. They fall largely into 2 categories (shopping and homeschooling). Should I rather not submit my lensmaster feed and submit each lens feed separately or does it not matter?
Thanks
Meryl
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Unless you are updating your lenses frequently I would just submit the lensmaster feed.
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When I type my id in it just stays on current page. Any suggestions
Again, can you be a little more specific ~ I have no idea what you’re trying to do or where.
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I don’t know. Know it works. Sometimes that site is kind of weird. Also, I cannot figure out when I go to my article post at newbizshop.com, freeadvertisingblog.com, and orangcaster.com the are telling me that I have a bunch of articles and post. I know these are not articles I have written. When I login and hit post. It should show me my number of articles posted. I cant even find the one I wrote. Any suggestions
Apparently some of those sites don’t categorize the posts by user so you won’t be able to pull up just your articles ~ it pulls up all the articles that have been posted to the site. Just the way it works.
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Another question my wonderful wise friend..
So this RSS Lensmaster link that you tell us how to get.. I should submit that link to the 50 book marking sites you listed?
I am wanting to get the word out about a couple lenses that I made.
THANK YOU
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You don’t have to submit it to all of them ~ and they are RSS directories, not bookmarking sites ~ but yes. You want to submit that feed url to those sites.
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Thanks for the great info Jackie Lee.
A friend asked what a I was doing on the net so I made a lens with you and potpie girl on it. I entered the address in the “website” box above this box. If you want me to do something else or add something for you please let me know.
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It seems like rss feeds are faster and easier than writing articles and then posting them to a lot of article publisher sites. Is one better than the other?
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Sorry one more question, did you learn all this from potpiegirl or on your own or
did you have other mentors?
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Anything that is faster and easier will one day be obsolete because the lazy people of the world will only do the fast and easy things. But at this point ~ RSS works quite well. But it’s important to do both.
I have been doing this for a long time. I learned a lot about squidoo from PPG, but a lot of this other stuff is trial and error. You can check out my whole IM story if you haven’t read it already at http://internetmarketingformommies.com/who-is-jackie-lee/
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Hi Jackie!
If you are submitting an RSS feed for a blog – do you need to do this only once and never again? Also – concerning pinging…how often should you ping your blog in order to get the maximum benefit from the search engines?
Thanks!
Julie
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You only need to submit to the RSS directories once ~ the nature of RSS will update them each time you update your site. If you have a wordpress site it will automatically ping for you each time you update your site. If you have a free blog that doesn’t do automatic pinging I’d say each time you post.
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AWESOME! Thank you so much! I thought the RSS would automatically update. Now I see the benefit of using a WordPress blog – pinging can be very tedious! Hope the cat isn’t too worse for wear after his ordeal
Julie
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I didn’t realize there were lensmaster feeds in addition to the single lens feeds! (duh! *headdesk*) all this time I could have been using that!
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