Why is my Hub score in the basement?

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   Frank Sanelloposted 13 years ago

   I'm not fishing for compliments (or insults, please!), but why are my Hub scores so low? I can't attribute it all to my poor writing because Amazon.com lists 25 of my books, and before print journalism died during the rise of the Internet, my articles were published by the New York Times Syndicate, the Chicago Tribune, USA Today, the Chicago Sun-Times, People, US Weekly, Penthouse, the Washington Post. Cosmo and other magazines have excerpted my books. The Times of London reviewed one of my books. (OK, it was a pan, but at least my name was published - and blasted - in the same publication that published Dickens, Trollope, Shaw, Conrad, and Henry James.
   
   Is there something technical I'm not doing which might account, in part, for my subpar Hub scores? I still can't figure out what an RSS feed is.
   
   I'm a techno-peasant who was allegedly fired as an English instructor by the University of Phoenix because I couldn't figure out its buggy software, although I later discovered that the University was successfully sued by non-Mormon faculty for favoring Mormon faculty. Apparently, the University is run by Mormons, and Mormons are notoriously homophobic. I never advertised my homosexuality, but I didn't conceal it either, since one of my books title is "Tweakers: How Crystal Meth Is Ravaging Gay America," and many of my on-line articles reveal my sexual orientation in the context of the article's topic. I hate it when minorities blame their personal failures on their race, religion, sexual orientation, etc., but at the conclusion of my 6-week, unpaid orientation period, my mentor at the University of Phoenix' undergraduate school, Axia College, Mary MacDonald, wrote this glowing evaluation that couldn't have been more generous if my mother had written it:
   
   "Your performance during Week 2 of Axia College Candidate Certification training was top-notch. It has been a pleasure getting to know you and working with you over the past two weeks, Frank. I appreciate all of the time and effort you invested  in the Candidate Certification process, and I want to thank you for your consistent, high-quality performance and contributions. I hope you will enjoy facilitating at Axia College of University of Phoenix as much as I do. Mary McDonald. Good luck in your mentorship!"
   
   On the first day of class, I was fired not by personal email but by a posting in the main "virtual" classroom saying I had been "terminated." The official explanation was my inability to use its software, but when I called it tech support department and asked, for example, why I couldn't even access the University's on-line library, the techies said they were stumped, a common response to all my tech support questions.
   
   Before the print industry died, I used to get 3-4 book deals per year, then around the turn of the century, suddenly, NADA. I thought my writing had deteriorated with age (I'm 58 now), a common experience among writers, but I checked with older colleagues who were much better writers and had enjoyed greater book sales, but they confirmed my experience. They too couldn't get arrested, unless DUIs count.
   
   Sorry to whine, but the death of a 35-year career is a tragedy of ancient Greece dimensions.
   
   Frank Sanello

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      ssaulposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      When I read through google advice to bloggers, I was in aw! They always suggest that your articles be short, precise and informative. Most people including myself love to skim, if the article is too long, I will move on! So your writing is fine, just make it little shorter!

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   2. 0

      Frank Sanelloposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you all for your kind words and advice, but I'm still mystified. If brevity is the soul of wit (and a high Hub score), why are Wikipedia's extremely long entries usually ranked No. 1 whenever you type in ANYTHING? If I type Hitler + Kristallnacht into a search engine, my article on Kristallnacht is usually No. 1 after the paid links, but that's not reflected in my Hub scores or the pennies, literally, I earn. I used to make a lot of money when I was a print journalist until print journalism died. I earned even more writing books until Amazon started selling my books used for one penny plus S&H. To quote Tom Cruise, "Show me the money!" I'd like some more, to quote Oliver Twist.
      
      Does anybody have any ideas why Internet writing pays so much less? Richard Johnson, the chief writer of the NY Post's Column Six recently decamped to the Daily Beast. I can't believe Tina Brown pays more than the NY Post. Fellow former print journalists tell me that Arianna Huffington's site doesn't pay ANYTHING. How do her writers pay the rent?
      
      I do put key words in my title and sprinkle many others throughout each article. In fact, I add so many tags, Hub's bot warns me I've used too many tags. I thought that was what this shell game was all about, tags, key words = $.
      
      I thought I might be writing about too obscure subjects, and I have, but I've also written presumably attention-getting pieces like how to quit smoking, a diganostic self-test to determine if you're an alcoholic or a drug addict, how to build muscle without dieting or cardio, anger management, my personal run-ins with celebrities I interviewed when I was a print journalist until print journalism died, etc., ad nauseam, and I do mean nausea, some of them for another ezine which shall remain nameless, and they all have low scores. I should have gone to law school, but every lawyer I meet asks me for tips on how to break into writing! I tell them to run in the opposite direction as fast as they can. These people earn half a mil per annum, and yet there seems to be a universal fantasy/dream about the romantic life of a writer. Yikes!
      
      Frank Sanello

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         plcarpeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I read today (from a successful hubber) that he wrote on obscure topics, topics that nobody else was writing on. And he managed to make it to the top of the search results. I have been studying the way Google, as a whole corporation, has survived and prospered. It is all in their basic philosophy, which is to find a need and provide others with the tools they need for that need. Unfortunately, quitting smoking and quitting drugs is a field that is dominated by professionals, who have been mastering those subjects for years. What do you know that is UNIQUE? One source of ideas is go on to You Tube, and see which videos are getting lots of clicks. They have "HOT" videos. But you'll also want to think in terms of longevity....something that won't be obscure 10 years from now.
         
         I got my idea for my first hub from You Tube. I saw people were doing graphic tutorials on it. Then, they are linking the tutorials to their webpages. You can also see how many hits your category of topic is getting. You can also get interest by sharing unique ways you overcame problems. I was a poor, single Mom. I learned to decorate rooms, and have them look nice, for under $20 a room. So some of your best articles might come from adversities you found a great way to overcome.
         
         Basically, what I see in your statements above is that you are writing on topics that everybody has already written huge amounts of materials on. In other words, don't reinvent the same wheel, make a new one.

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2. 79

   Uninvited Writerposted 13 years ago

   Scores really have nothing to do with the quality of your writing. There are many reasons. It doesn't have much say in your earnings either. It has to do with traffic, quantity, how much you interact on the site, etc.  I wouldn't take it as a reflection on your writing.

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3. 77

   Shadesbreathposted 13 years ago

   You're writing is fine. I think the trouble you are having is that you write long articles that are well thought out and steeped in research. The internet has little tolerance for that sort of thing (you realize that Twitter is amazingly popular and requires you to confine the <cough>writing<cough> to under 140 characters, right?).
   
   So, don't feel bad. It's not you. It's the market. This is an age of screens filled with flashing lights and moving colors, a bunch of drooling magpies pecking at shiny coins, beaks agape with dull contentment.

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      paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Wow, shadesbreath! Awesome post! 

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      DaNoblestposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I agree that was awesome. I will have to quote that sometime.

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4. 94

   wildernessposted 13 years ago

   I have to agree with shadesbreath.  Writing on the internet is not like other writing; it requires a different approach.
   
   Your post on this a case in point in that few internet readers, the kind most of us wish to attract, will bother to read through it. 
   
   Rather hubs need to be written for skimmers; people looking for particular information that will most likely skim your hub, glancing at titles and such and moving on if they don't immediately find what they want.
   
   Use your abilities to create a different form.  One that you may find to be inferior, but one that will work for you.
   
   Be aware as well that it will take time to be noticed on the net.

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5. 68

   ThomasEposted 13 years ago

   Looking at your hubs, I type into Google what I think someone would type if they were looking for the information in your hub... and your hub isn't there.
   
   The biggest factor on hub score is how many people visit your hub. This depends on how well it ranks on Google.
   
   The solution? Keyword research.

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      Frank Sanelloposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      whenever I type two keywords from any of my Hub or Suite 101 articles into Google or Bing, my articles almost always appear first, after paid links (advertising links)
      
      
      
      Frank Sanello

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         ThomasEposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         That's great! But how many people type in your keywords? What do your account statistics say about how many people actually visit your hubs?

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6. 95

   Sue Adamsposted 13 years ago

   Think of your title as someone typing it in  google search. For example, if I was interested in giving up smoking I would not type in:
   "Don't despair if you've failed numerous attempts to quit smoking cigarettes", I might type in: "How To
   Give Up Smoking", or "How To
   Give Up Smoking For The Very Last Time"
   
   long tail titles

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      paradigmsearchposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I've seen lots of good info here; especially this one.
      
      The only thing I can think to add is to sic the Title Tuner on it to help incorporate the advice on this thread.

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7. 80

   Midnight Oilposted 13 years ago

   Interesting Hubs, but the titles are too darn long plus the text is too long for webpages.  Being a book author myself, you get use to having tons of space to work with, but webpages are a whole discipline, which needs to be studied and learnt.
   
   On the flip slide of book and long article writing, I spent a year or so writing the blurb on the backs of video and DVD cases - making a film sound interesting for a customer to want it buy it there and then in 100 words is an extreme discipline, which taught me a lot about making ever word count and do I really need that sentence in there.
   
   Perhaps review your hubs and get the trimmer out... people are compulsive skim readers on the web. Have a look at other hubbers work and see what makes them successful.
   
   Good luck

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      Frank Sanelloposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for your help, but how do you explain that Wikipedia's extremely long entries almost always display first after paid-for links?
      
      Frank

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8. 61

   jokeapptvposted 13 years ago

   dont give up

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9. 0

   Sierra Mackenzieposted 13 years ago

   I just changed the title of one of my hubs to see if it brings up the score.  I wonder if the hub titles have more influence than the content or quality of writing.  Be sure that you place at least one tag word in the title.  It might help.

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10. 71

    Cagsilposted 13 years ago

    Why is my hub score in the basement?
    
    Well, let's first distinguish between "Hubscore" and "Authorscore/Hubberscore"?
    
    Hubscore is a score that is directly on your hubs.
    
    Hubberscore/Authorscore is the score on your profile.
    
    Since, I admittedly haven't been to your hubs, I haven't a clue what your hubscores are to begin with.
    
    However, your "authorscore/hubberscore", which is on your profile, is in the basement, as you say. It could be a lot worse than it is presently. As I post this comment, your "authorscore/hubberscore" is at 84 and to be on the safe side of things, your score only has to be higher than 75.
    
    I've seen "authorscores/hubberscores" as low as 1, so since you are nowhere near that score, I would say you're doing just fine.
    
    I hope that helps.

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       Frank Sanelloposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, but what do you mean by "being on the safe side?"
       
       Frank

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          Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          If your authorscore/hubberscore is below 75, then your hub links will be nofollow, which will hurt your earnings from your hubs.

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             Frank Sanelloposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             I'm sorry to sound dumb, but what do you mean by nofollow? I think my Hub Score is around 85 last time I checked, and I've never earned a dime from Hub altho I registered with Google and PayPal and other payment methods I've forgotten. Ebay, another way Hub pays writers, told me it's not accepting new members????
             
             Frank

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                Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                I am not versed enough to explain "nofollow" or "dofollow". I just know that the difference is in earnings.
                
                Hubpages requires a hubscore to remain above 40 and an authorscore/hubberscore to above 75, to keep all links on hubs(ads) to be "dofollow".
                
                Nofollow and Dofollow are SEO technical terms.

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                seedlingposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                nofollow means that Google won't consider the link when it computes the algorithem for ranking the page.  Basically, the more links you have to a page and a domain, the higher the ranking in Google.  However, the nofollow links don't count with Google.  It's a way to prevent spam.  nofollow links only help you if someone clicks on them directly, rather than helping to increase your Google position as well.

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       kmackey32posted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Ur so smart... teehee

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11. 84

    rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

    I don't think brevity determines a high hub score. Most high ranking hubs are not necessarily brief, but they are detailed, cover a topic by giving specific information and are easy to read. There is a lot of very helpful info in the Learning Center. If you take a look at any given time at the top/best hubs in the Hubs category, you can get a good idea of what topics are bringing in traffic and the content, layout of the hubs.
    
    this is from the learning center about hub scores. http://learningcenter.hubpages.com/hubs … ber-score/

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    Sophia Angeliqueposted 13 years ago

    Frank, like you, I've been a print writer all my life. And I'm in the same age group - well, a little older.
    
    The reason that writing is not paid well on the Internet is because there are so many wannabes offering their services gratis. The bottom line is that if the boss doesn't have to pay for writing, why should he pay? Incidentally, I've just written an article about this, called, "Pay the Writer." The article takes its name from the well-known rant by Harlan Ellison on the topic.
    
    The other reason why good writing is no longer rewarded, is because the majority of people are nolonger capable of recognizing good writing. Also, people are no longer interested in depth. They are interested in surface information.
    
    You might be interested in reading these articles that I wrote about the topic.
    
    http://stage.www.associatedcontent.com/ … html?cat=9
    
    I also deal with the topic in various articles on the feed below. You'll have to skim through.
    
    http://hubpages.com/tag/htiw/hot
    
    The scores are not necessarily indicative of either popularity of writing or money paid to them. At this point, I couldn't care less about my scores. I have articles that have a low score but are getting a 1000 hits per day. I have articles that have a high score but have had 18 reads in two months.
    
    Algorithms are big things on the Internet. They are formulated according to averages. So, if a certain topic generally does well, then it is assumed that every article on that topic will do well, so it gets a high score. If an article is unique and is unlikely to be read by anyone other than the intelligentsia, then, regardess of the excellence of the article, it will not get a high rating in the algorithm.
    
    Writing on the Internet needs to be tight, brief, to the point, and generally focus on something that is trending.
    
    It's taken me a while (a long while) to convert from a print writer to a net writer.
    
    By the way, I'm writing under a pen name.

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13. 60

    Painter Penfieldposted 13 years ago

    This is a great thread. I ducked out for a minute to read Frank's smoking cessation article, albeit chain-smoking through the entire event. Puff puff
    
    First of all, *I'm* the one with ratings in the crapper right now, but I have an excuse as a newbie and I have not lost hair over it yet. I have been keenly watching the scoring system and numeric ratings of my posts individually and as a group and have come to the following conclusion:
         Posting great dessert recipes can bump your scores up!
    Think about it...we are all sitting here, typing,stressed, chain smoking. Who wouldn't want the world's best brownie? Hey, it crossed my mind, so I wrote a hub to share my favorite recipe for one. I Forest Gumped my way into this site and that learning conclusion, but I think there is a lesson here.
    
    Sometimes light, brief, entertaining and giving the people what they want is great and we should do it. Other than that, those really good posts with great research and ideas (like yours Frank) are over the heads of the bots and drones. I had a fantastic post that was hurled on for too much self promotion. The article was about my making art from recycled materials.
    
    Long story short, even having removed all of anything promotional, the reviewers panned it again. This hub had legitimate links, was spot on for being current, great keywords and I even got 3 comments in the one hour it was posted before some reviewer got a tiddlywink you-know-where with it. Now, even after my second edit, it sits there like the spoiled milk and my opening score of 50 went to 58 and now sits at 38 because the editor has left it in the cue unprocessed for too long and made an incorrect decision on the second edit. I shall not go down without a fight I say. I sent an e-mail to the staff and queried just exactly a clarification as to what their continued objection to the article is...still waiting.
    
    So...Frank. Got any good brownie or cookie recipes?

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14. 60

    Painter Penfieldposted 13 years ago

    One more suggestion I forgot to mention.
    Maybe when the articles get lengthy, they can be broken down into a three part series, thus filling your numbers out nicely and enticing your readers to page through to 2 more of your posts. It was just a thought I had.

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15. 67

    Lyn.Stewartposted 13 years ago

    I would say that the main reason wikipedia's at the top of the list even though the info is really long is due partly to the fact that people know the information they are looking for is in there somewhere.
    
    I often go there to find one specific piece of info regarding a topic I'm interested in however I'm also aware that it could take me a while to find the info I need. So wiki gets people stay on the site for quite a time. I never really mind that much because I always find other interesting things I wasnt aware of.
    
    So I believe wiki is at the top due to keeping peoples interest enough that they loose track of how long they stay on the page as well as how many people use their pages.

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16. 73

    cheaptrickposted 13 years ago

    Wow!You folks are Brilliant!I've learned more in the last ten minutes than....well,lets say a long time.
    So here's the Dumbest question of this thread.Are our hubs individually showing on google search?I always thought folks have to come through those back link things I've been hearing about or to Hp to read our stuff.Big Blush...How the hell do I have a score in the nineties while real writers are in the eighties?....
    maybe they got mine up side down Hmmm

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17. 57

    Mrvoodooposted 13 years ago

    Assuming it's a lack of traffic that's dragging your scores down, a quick check would suggest that it's most likely your titles.  As others have suggested, you need to title your hubs in such a way as to reflect what internet users might type into their search engine.  Rather than creative/artistic sounding titles.
    
    In addition, your more mainstream hubs, such as the ones on quitting smoking/building muscle, are most likely too mainstream for you to ever dent.  There's probably considerable money to be made from those topics, meaning that the owners of the ranking pages have probably invested time and/or money in SEO work to get them there. 
    
    If it's traffic you're after, do some reading on keyword research, and search engine optimisation.  And aim for the middle ground.  If it's just the score that's bugging you, learn to turn a blind eye to it, and know that it really isn't anything more than a carrot on a stick, to motivate those who are encouraged by such things.
    
    EDIT - Oh, you asked that question 8 weeks ago, lol.  God damn it.

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