I look at a lot of lenses.

Tons.

I would say without a doubt the single thing that turns people off to lenses, hurts conversions, and causes visitors to hit the back button is how the page is written.

Common mistakes on lenses I run across all the time:

  • Non-specific module headers – If I’m looking through your lens for information and your module headers are all sayings like ‘Here’s a thought..‘ instead of ‘5 ways to reduce your energy bill‘ it makes it hard for users as well as search engines to understand what the heck you are talking about.
  • Repeating the same point in the same way - Don’t just re-hash the paragraph you wrote in your introduction and reprint it in 3 different modules throughout your lens. I’d rather have no text to read than the same 4 sentences repeated in different combinations. Squidoo has a huge pile of ways to make your lens interactive, use them.
  • Random footer modules – I see a lot of lenses that have random modules tacked on after the guestbooks or a bunch of banners or buttons in a text module. If you are trying to tell someone about the best way to protect themselves from mosquitos, why in the heck is there a banner linking to a ringtone site? or a knitting circle? It doesn’t look as professional and it dilutes the overall relevance of the page. (Note: I’ve seen some people leave a ‘logo’ or ’signature’ in the last module, that can look good if done well and is not what I’m talking about.)
  • Grammar…please? - If your English grammar needs some work or your spelling leaves something to be desired, Squidoo is a great place to improve your skills. That being said, I try a lot harder to read through a lens that is poorly written if the lensmaster says something about learning english in the lens. Sometimes very important points are lost in translation…
  • Huge intro modules – Intro modules should be 1-5 sentences in my opinion. Max. no extra pictures, graphics, buttons, huge text, flashing gifs, or any of that other junk. 1-5 sentences telling me what the lens is about. Simple.

Do you have a pet peeve with lens  content that immediately turns you off?

Am I going crazy and the only one that notices this stuff?