How Do I Compare?

1. 87

   TimArendsposted 11 years ago

   Is there a way of comparing my average hub traffic to that of the average hubber so I can know either that I’m 1) doing all right and should feel pretty good about things, or 2) lagging behind the average hubber and therefore need to redouble my efforts.
   
   Either scenario could lead to good things. This will tell me if I'm doing things right or if I need to adjust my HubPages strategy.

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   1. 77

      CloudExplorerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Maybe try checking out folks accolades here, its a good way to gauge oneself amongst their peers on hubpages, and the only verifiable method to do so, without asking people directly. Them accolades are there to motivate us all, the number of hubs a person writes isn't as important, but it doesn't hurt to have tons of high quality articles neither.
      
      In any event Good luck bro, and thanks for starting such a cool forum post. If you need any help with anything, don't hesitate to look me up on Facebook or elsewhere, and I'll be glad to share whatever ideas I have that works best for me with you. Have a wonderful day or evening budd.

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2. 89

   Theophanesposted 11 years ago

   I don't think there is an average hubber.... what I mean by that is we all write about different subjects. Some of us can write one article that gets thousands of hits on a regular basis, others like myself have to write a lot of Hubs and just watch the overall traffic increase. Of course some topics are far more commercial than others and do a lot better. You can always target these topics for your own Hubs if you want to maximize what you earn, otherwise it is good just to be happy to get a little chnage for something you're doing at least partially for your own enjoyment.

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   1. 87

      Simone Smithposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Excellent point, Theophanes!

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3. 73

   relacheposted 11 years ago

   Unless you happen to also find another author who has been here for two years, only has five Hubs, and those Hubs happen to be the same age and subjects as yours... comparing isn't going to be very meaningful.  There is no "average" here because we all write differently on diverse subjects and engage in wildly contrasting promotional efforts too.
   
   You need to look at your own results over time and see if you are achieving your goals.  When I was starting, my first goals were just along the lines of doubling traffic.  Each time I hit my goal, I bumped it up.  Then came a time when my goal was to have a certain number of Hubs.  Then I played around with earnings goals.  Then a new number of Hubs goal.  Then traffic again.
   
   I've adjusted and changed a lot of goals over my 6+ years here.  But it works, and looking at my own account growth over time is way more meaningful than comparing to someone whose account doesn't resemble the size, topics or age of mine.

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   1. 87

      Simone Smithposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Great advice, relache.

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   2. 87

      TimArendsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      There's AWAYS an average. An average is defined simply as "the result obtained by adding several quantities together and then dividing this total by the number of quantities."

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      1. 89

         Rochelle Frankposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Mathematically, there is always a numerical objective average, but there are a lot of human individual variables in this equation.
         On the more philosophical side, we shouldn't measure our value by comparing ourselves to the whole mass of variable individuals with variable goals, variable talents, variable motivations, etc.
         "Average"  gives people an unrealistic comparison, that is meaningless in relation to what they are personally trying to accomplish.
         As far as traffic goes-- some go up quickly-- some have a show and steady pace, others have flashes of brilliance  or occasional lapses.  Part of it is related to learning the ropes, some due to the whims and variables of other forces.

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      2. 85

         aa liteposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I have heard that the average traffic for hubs is around 50 views a week.  Mind you I have a couple that get several thousands a month, and some that get 5.  Hence averages really don't mean very much. 
         
         Personally I care about the hubs that get a lot of traffic, every hub I write could potentially become one of the >1000, a month, although a few hundred a month will not disappoint me either.  Occasionally this will happen, a lot of the time it won't but that's ok.  If a hub "doesn't work" for some reason, I forget about it and move to the next one.  Perhaps one day I will revisit the failures and see whether I can figure out why they didn't do as well as I'd hoped, but for now I accept that some are just not going to succeed.
         
         Of course I also have hubs that are very "niche" but I enjoyed writing for one reason or another, and even if these get few views, I still think they were worth  writing if they help people find out about a topic I care about.  But these are written for personal satisfaction rather than profit.

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   3. 85

      aa liteposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Relache, how come you have yellow background, while Simone's is normal.  Have you switched roles????

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4. 60

   yupperclubposted 11 years ago

   If either scenario could lead to good things, either try both simultaneously (if possible) to see which works best...or...choose the scenario with the worst outcome of the two...see the results...and move onward.  Don't rush a good thing.  Take every precaution for best security.  Don't jump the gun, so to speak, just because you may be eager to complete a project.

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5. 60

   socialmarketing7posted 10 years ago

   Solid point there! Well said!

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6. 89

   srsddnposted 10 years ago

   I think it will be difficult to define average traffic. It varies from Hub to Hub and individual to individual. I feel it is basically the satisfaction one derives from the visibility reflected through traffic. Being new to HP I would feel satisfied if my Hub is viewed and commented upon by some. May be I will expect more traffic in future.

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   1. 60

      socialmarketing7posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yeah true it varies significantly from hubs to hubs as well as profiles. I am still looking for ways to increase my traffic for my hubs.

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7. 93

   Carola Finchposted 10 years ago

   I agree that there is no such thing as "average" traffic.  I continue to be surprised when some articles go viral and others just sit there, not doing much.  A comparison to others is not useful in my opinion because we are all so different.  If you want to increase your traffic, I recommend you use social media like Facebook, Twitter, etc.

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8. 60

   yupperclubposted 10 years ago

   Social media like F*C*BOOK .... hum....what kind of TRAFFIC are you looking for?  You fill in the blanks.

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9. 86

   drpennypincherposted 10 years ago

   You could get a very rough gauge of how you are doing by comparing yourself with peers through information available from profiles.  Look at profiles to find peers who have similar topics, number of hubs, and have been around about the same amount of time.  Then you can see if they have a badge for 1k, 10k, 100k, visits etc. to get a rough idea of the level of traffic your peers have achieved.

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10. 60

    yupperclubposted 10 years ago

    Really not interested in peers...don't personally care for social media.  Found it to be a bunch of malarky...to each his own, I suppose.

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11. 90

    Millionaire Tipsposted 10 years ago

    I agree with you - it would be nice to see the numbers to know how you compare.  I think we are smart enough to realize that there are lots of factors that go into the numbers and make adjustments for that.

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12. 60

    yupperclubposted 10 years ago

    Wish everyone thought that way.  But what can you do?  Some people are just mindless, I guess, and do not care to be uniquely individual - they just follow the crowd for almost no reason - no reasoning.  Usually, unfortunately, for money only - and nothing more.  What are they going to do with so much money without mindfulness or love or the other things that are so important in life.  And like the authorities would let them get away with it anyway!  I just can't figure.

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13. 82

    Mark Ewbieposted 10 years ago

    I base it on number of words.  I know what my average words per article is and I have so far tracked down 34 other hubbers who have a similar average. Then I plot all their accolades into a spreadsheet and rank in order.
    
    I am 17th out of 34.
    
    Although if I apply a weighting for number of years on HP I am down to 19th.

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14. 60

    yupperclubposted 10 years ago

    Too complicated for me...and I think you mean "words" - "are" ...minor grammatical error there.  I you want to put so much into it, that's great.  Is there a tool you use or do you do it yourself?  Like for keyword research, I found keyword project manager to be the best.  Can you recommend a tool like that?  Or am I missing something already available through Hubpages?  Whenever...that might be a good post for this conversation.

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    1. 82

       Mark Ewbieposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Good grammar spot there. I am horrified.  I just use a lot of hard work and time - checking out other Hubbers pages and feeding the results into a spreadsheet. It's all manual.
       
       I made a mistake the other night and got so annoyed the nurses had to give me extra sedation.
       
       Not sure whether "is" and "are" will drive me over the edge tonight.  Lol and slightly odd smiley face.

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15. 60

    yupperclubposted 10 years ago

    Maybe you should try programming...program your tool and offer it in a Hub or recommend it to HubPages staff...maybe they will "work for hire" your program.  Let them know your idea!  Maybe they can even help....just check on copyright issue - I'm not sure if it would be copyright (limited time) or patent.  Somehow contact Hubpages staff or tell them you would like to get in touch with someone in AUTHORITY about a patent idea.  I think that would be the way to go.  Not real sure - just am sure copyright is only for a limited time.  Programming is really very easy - but get in touch with some pros who may be able to just WHIP IT OUT in no time!  Good luck!

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16. 85

    lovebuglenaposted 10 years ago

    What an "average" hubber is hard to pinpoint. We all write on different topics, have different amount of hubs published, have different traffic quantity, and different earnings. Don't expect to make thousands a month or even hundreds. That probably won't happen but then again that is based on my own experience. I'd be happy with any amount I make because anything is better than nothing.

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17. 60

    yupperclubposted 10 years ago

    DUH...

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