How to Add Your Blog to a Squidoo Lens

By Tiffany Dow

Ever wonder how to add your blog to a Squidoo lens? It's really very easy once you know how to master the use of an RSS Feed module. Here are the exact steps to help you add your blog to your own Squidoo lenses and build a following of subscribers.

Step 1:

Log into Squidoo and on your dashboard, click the second tab at the top of the page that says, "My Lenses." Hover over the title of the lens that you want to place your blog on and click the Edit link.

Step 2:

Once you're in the edit mode for the lens you want to add your blog to, click the button at the top of the page that says, "Add Modules."

Step 3:

Immediately, you'll see the list of Starter Package modules that you can add. You'll be on page one. There's a link directly below that list that says "1 2 next." Click "next" and it will take you to another list of modules. Hover over the one that says, "RSS: Add Your Own Feed." Click the Add link next to this module.

Step 4:

Click the Preview Lens Layout button on the bottom right side of the page and it will show you a list of all of the modules you currently have on your lens. Drag and drop the RSS module wherever you would like it to be (I personally prefer to have it directly above my guestbook module). Now click Save, which will take you back to edit mode in your lens.

Step 5:

Scroll down to the RSS module and click the Edit button. Give your RSS module a title such as, "News About (and enter your niche topic)." You can also add a subtle if you wish as well as a description.

Step 6:

You'll see the question, "What URL would you like to pull RSS from?" Here is where you'll put your blog RSS feed URL. It will look something like this: http://www.YourDomainURL.com/blog/feed/ - highlight and copy this so that you can paste it directly below the question.

Step 7:

Then it will ask, "How many headlines would you like to show?" You can choose any number

Step 8:

Then it will ask, "Would you like to include an excerpt from each link in the feed?" I like to choose to show "excerpt 100 characters," but you can choose to only show title links or show everything (but be warned that this may be a space hog).

Step 9:

Next, it will need to know, "How frequently should the module be updated?" You can choose many options that range from every 30 minutes (if you're a frequent blogger) to weekly. I normally choose daily.

Step 10:

The last question will be, "Would you like to display HTML in the excerpt?" You can choose yes or no, depending on your personal preferences.

Step 11:

Last, click the Save button and you've just learned how to add your blog to a Squidoo lens! Now don't forget to republish your lens so that the public will see it.

Guess what other kinds of RSS feeds you can use? You can put an RSS feed to your other lenses to help cross-promote them! Want to learn more than just how to add your blog to a Squidoo lens? Visit Tiffany Dow at http://www.socialmarketing101.com and you'll get a soup to nuts crash course in mastering Squidoo.

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