How to Create Backlinks so Google Will Find Your Lens
Oct 07
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,
This is such a big help… God bless!
Hi Jackie,
Here’s another good one for RSS feeds:
http://www.masternewmedia.org/rss/top55/
Bea´s last blog ..The Best Gift from Lladro for that Special Nurse
Jackie my website is number 5 on the front page for Google under the keyword “illuminated fountain”
which has some 27000 searches a month.
yet I make no sales please contact me and tell me how much you need to review and make suggestions
thanks
Follow me @steelpaulo on Twitter!
Hey Doug ~ is your site #5 for the keyword WITH quotes? If so, that’s part of the problem ~ no one goes to google and searches for a keyword with quotes. You need to get your site ranking on the first page of Google without quotes.
There are quite a few other things you could do with the site ~ I’ll send you an email and we’ll set up some way to connect.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
Hmmm… is it the site you’ve used in the url of this comment? I looked with and without quotes and can’t find it in the first few pages of Google.
Are you logging out of your Google account before you check your ranking? It makes a huge difference.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
Hey Doug,
The best way for me to review and you to get feedback on your site would be to join the KISS Club ~ that’s where I’m doing all my one on one now.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
Ok, I am definitely going to add my feed to the rss directories. I could never wrap my head around the rss thing, since I don’t use it. Yesterday I learned how to add my blog rss feed to my lenses from one of your tutorials.
I love getting your emails, every day I learn something useful.
Lisa @ Chicco Keyfit 30 Cortina Travel System Adventure´s last blog ..Chicco Keyfit 30 Cortina Travel System Adventure updated Sat Jul 24 2010 9-50 am CDT
Hi Kenny,
Glad I could help. The pagerank only really matters in that sites with a higher page rank can give you a “little” more boost in the link. It doesn’t really matter though.
I’d also suggest you look for some blogs that use commentluv and comment on some of them to help your lenses get indexed and ranked. If you put your lens url in the website field it will use that as the link in commentluv.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
Hey jackie!
You have no idea how helpful this is to me. I have been following potpiegirls one week marketing plan for about a year now and I have been having a problem with submitting my rss feeds. Especially submitting them to feedest.com.
Feedage is cool but feedest gives me problems all the time. Sometimes it will load up, other times it will not. Also i have problems with 3stepads especially when i try to put my tags in the required spots on the page.
Now i dont know if its because i’m using internet explorer or what. I tried to use firefox like everyone is saying but for some reason it wont load on my pc. Anyway, just having another list of rss directories is perfect. Because lately it has been taking longer and longer for my lenses to get indexed using the steps in OWM.
I bought this to the attn of one of potpiegirls workers, (his name was gary…) and he wrote me back. He told me to give him the url’s of the lenses in question. I didnt think anything of it, so i did. That was over 2 weeks ago and I still havent seen any results.
But like i said i will use this new list of rss directories to submit my rss feeds to and hopefully i will be back on track. In closing i have a couple of questions: I was wondering exactly how many rss directories should i submit to? Also does it matter what pagerank the rss directory is? Does the pagerank mean that the rss feed will get submitted faster?
Thanx for all of your info and hard work. Its nice to have another voice online that you can trust.
Kenneth L. White(call me kenny!)´s last blog ..Best Porn Blockers… updated Wed May 5 2010 12:30 pm CDT
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Jackie, you are the best! For all the years I’ve been online, I never knew this about Squidoo. Thank you so much for the enlightening info. I am so glad I am on your list. Mahalo nui loa!
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Jackie
Don’t forget to add that another way to get a backlink is to share your lens on facebook if you have a facebook account and you don’t mind sharing there. You never know what may interest your family and/or friends on FB.
Jane ~ MoneyMom
Jane@CampChefFirePit´s last blog ..Camp Chef Fire Pit updated Fri May 28 2010 9:02 am CDT
Hello Jackie,
Have you already explained how to set up a photo page with photos being side by side yet? If not do you think that you might be able to have a lesson on the site pertaining to that? This is just one of the pages that I am trying to add to my own site ..I want to have a photo gallery page for dogs..here is an example at
http://www.bringfido.com/photo.
I’m still working on mine but would appreciate any assistance from anyone that knows how to accomplish this. You site is always so informative and it is a great asset for newbies like me. Thanks so much for giving back.
Theresa´s last blog ..Mint Bangers ~ Banish the Dog Breath
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My guess is they have uploaded an image gallery software. If you have fantastico in your hosting you will find they have such a program. You can upload it quite easily.
You will need to create a new directory /photos on your site, and then upload the photo gallery to that directory. I haven’t used one myself, but it’s probably pretty easy from there I would imagine. The photo gallery I have in my fantastico is 4images gallery.
Jackie
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I don’t think it had anything to do with that. Google is not associated with those things in any way. With that said… this happened to me not long ago too.
Why can you not access your blog? That has nothing to do with google. ???
There was somewhere something that asked if you think it’s a mistake click here. I did that and it let me do something that reactivated my account. I don’t remember exactly what it was, but I was freaking out. It reinstated almost immediately though.
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Hi Jackie,
I submitted my blog & lenses to the 55 RSS Directories, then I was working on my blog (trying to get the ‘must-haves’ onto it.
This morning, when I tried to access my gmail account that I use for these, I have an “Account Disabled” on it and can no longer accesss my gmail or the blog. Is it possible it’s because I did the RSS thing in one day?
It can’t be because of spam (I don’t, and I wouldn’t even if I knew how), and I don’t have a list. In fact that email address is more for receiving than sending.
I’ve contacted Google to find out what the problem is, but in the meantime, do you have any idea what would have triggered this?
Thanks.
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!
Loretta´s last blog ..What’s Stopping You From Publishing Your Own Info Products?
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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.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
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
Follow me @floorance on Twitter!
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/
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
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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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?
Follow me @steelpaulo on Twitter!
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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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.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
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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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.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
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
Again, can you be a little more specific ~ I have no idea what you’re trying to do or where.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
When I type my id in it just stays on current page. Any suggestions
Unless you are updating your lenses frequently I would just submit the lensmaster feed.
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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
Follow me @merylvdm on Twitter!
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!!
Oh, BTW, to everyone, alternatively, you can ping your lenses @ pingler.com. It seems to submit the information to more directories.
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
i never knew about these squidoo tools. thanks for the tips!
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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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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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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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?
~ 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.
Follow me @momtohanna on Twitter!
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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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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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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Jackie,
Potpie Girl suggests not pinging your lenses before they get indexed. Do you agree?
Thanks,
April
Thanks for your help. Between you and Jennifer I’m only really learning what I do now!
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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.
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!
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:
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.