Is this too long of a hub title?

1. 60

   Zenofsongposted 12 years ago

   The title for my best page is:
   
   Turning Fear into Courage, Confidence and Self Esteem using Hypnosis, Meditation and EFT
   
   Would it be better if it were shorter?

   replyreport
   1. 87

      SimeyCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      What you have to ask yourself when creating Titles is 'what would someone search for and then click on'
      
      You have to do some keyword research and look for decent titles that way.
      
      I did some keyword research on 'Turning Fear into Courage' using Google Adwords Keyword tool. This phrase didn't come up with decent figures - it did however come up with a similar phrase 'living with anxiety' which gets about 14000 global searches and has low competition.
      
      I did the same on 'how to turn fear into courage' and again came up with nothing - but again there was a phrase 'fear disorder' that showed 27000 global searches and low competition.
      
      Finally I did the same on  'how to improve self esteem' and came up with 27000 searches with relatively low competition.
      
      Thus I'd be more included to use a title like
      
      'How to improve self esteme using Hypnosis' but then use the longer phrase (and perhaps expand on it) as your Summary thus they'll see the title and then see the desription and this should help with clicks!
      
      I would also try and include 'fear disorder' and 'living with anxiety' in your article - but only if it is appropriate to the content.

      replyreport
      1. 60

         Zenofsongposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you that is really helpful. I also have a better understanding of how to use the keyword tool!

         replyreport
         1. 60

            Zenofsongposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I just used the keyword tool and i see that it says only 4,400 global searches. Are you multiplying that number for some reason?

            replyreport
            1. 60

               Zenofsongposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               4,400 searches for living with anxiety i mean

               replyreport
               1. 87

                  SimeyCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  That's weird - maybe a typo on my part! 4400 is still fairly decent - that's 100 searches for that term alone in a day - so still worth including in your text.
                  
                  The important thing is not to kill the flow of your text, and always make sure it is relevant - don't overstuff your text with keywords and phrases - most experts will say to use a keyword every 200 words - I tend to try and use keywords less than that.
                  
                  What you'll find is that if you simply write your article you probably already use proper keywords anyway!

                  replyreport
                  1. 60

                     Zenofsongposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     Wow, very helpful! I'll be able to show you the results by the end of the day. Wish me luck!

                     replyreport
                     1. 87

                        SimeyCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        OK great - it may take a while for you to see any improvement though - it does take time for a site to move up the rankings.

                        replyreport
                        1. 60

                           Zenofsongposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           Three questions:
                           
                           How long would you say that takes?
                           
                           Is there a format on hubpages which works the best?
                           
                           Do you have any "required reading" that you would recommend for someone still new at hubpages?

                           replyreport
                           1. 95

                              melbelposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                              I would personally recommend the HubPages Learning Center. If you'd like to learn more about keyword research, check out the section on Choosing Topics
                              http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/contents

                              replyreport
                           2. 87

                              SimeyCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                              1) They say it can take over a year to rise to the top - depends on the competition - in some cases my Hubs have been on page one in a day or tow.
                              
                              2) Take a look at the top Hubbers and see how they format their hubs - a lot depends on the audience you are aiming at - but generally, an easy to read format that has break points, headings, pictures etc is good.
                              
                              3)The Learning Center is a great resource for all writers (not just new writers)http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/contents  (Thanks Melbel!)

                              replyreport
2. 95

   wildernessposted 12 years ago

   Yes, it is too long.  Google search results only show about 64 characters; the rest are off the screen.  A title really should be no longer than that.
   
   Not to say it won't work; one of my better performing hubs has even more characters in the title.  Just that best practice is to limit the title to what the searcher can see.

   replyreport
3. 60

   Zenofsongposted 12 years ago

   This is my reformed hub: http://zenofsong.hubpages.com/hub/How-T … h-Hypnosis
   
   Now I wonder if there are too many words. (Current: 1300)

   replyreport
   1. 87

      SimeyCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Exzcellent HUb - well presented - not stuffed with keyword and makes sense. Voted up...

      replyreport
   2. 95

      wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think 1300 words is too long, especially for a "how to" hub.
      
      Most of mine are 1500+, and a couple (that really are too long) are around 4000.

      replyreport
      1. 60

         Zenofsongposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Could I go longer? Would doubling the word count be crazy? I'm thinking: If a person comes to my hub looking to battle self esteem, i want to be an armory, not a gun-chest.

         replyreport
         1. 95

            wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            How about writing two hubs instead of doubling the word count.  If you link them together properly you should be able to convince a reader that liked the first to visit the second for more detailed information.  I have a set of 6 specialized "hot to" hubs all linked together and to a "index" hub that simply provides a brief description of each of them and gives links.  They do reasonably well.
            
            You also expose that reader to twice as many ads to click...

            replyreport
            1. 60

               Zenofsongposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               The twice as many ads thing sold me, but a concern of mine is that google counts how long a reader stay on your page. I think this may be one of the more relevant factors in determining page rank. A page with more, well-organized information might keep the reader longer and achieve a higher and steadier ranking.

               replyreport
               1. 87

                  SimeyCposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Why do two? My best performing 'niche' has about 7 hubs - all perform very very well! As long as there is a logical link between them, and there is a reason for the reader to visit your other hubs, then you should be OK.
                  
                  The other thing is to have a different 'key word' set for each so that they don't collide on the search engine - it also gives a wider reach to each hub

                  replyreport
                  1. 60

                     Zenofsongposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     That's a very good piece of advice about keyword sets. I'll be needing that!

                     replyreport
            2. 88

               gracenotesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               Zenofsong,
               
               
               Your current title (the one you edited) is about the use of hypnosis to enhance self-esteem.  As Wilderness hinted at, you would do better to break up your subject matter into more hubs.
               
               In your opening, you say you're writing about how to increase self-esteem through the use of hypnosis, meditation, and EFT.
               
               Then you talk a little bit about NLP.  Now, I do know a few things about NLP, and how it is related to hypnosis, but maybe the average reader will not. More explanation and clarification (just a little) would help. And when you get to the part about EFT, you've lost me there.  Is your hub really about the use of hypnosis, and how does the use of pressure points relate in any way?  This is quite a stretch for me to understand how it all relates.
               
               You also need to put more tags in your hub.  You've only got two of them.  I'd say, think of ten tags, and you've got to include hypnosis, of course!  Maybe self-hypnosis, too.  Perhaps also NLP, neuro-linguistic programming, altered states, hypnotic states, trance states, self-esteem, etc.
               
               Good effort, and you write well. But the organization of your hub could be better.  Ask yourself, what is my main point?
               
               You've just published this hub today, according to your Hub activity.  They all have low scores, until they've been indexed by Google, and people start finding them on search engines.  I hope this helps.

               replyreport
               1. 60

                  Zenofsongposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  It does! Thank you very much!

                  replyreport