Having trouble getting traffic from sources other than HubPages

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   snake2135posted 12 years ago

   Hi, I have been writing on HubPages for about a week now and have noticed that my only source of traffic is HubPages. I have read plenty of articles on getting traffic and have used services like SocialMonkee and SocialAdr to bookmark my pages, but still cannot get traffic from any other sites. I understand that traffic does not happen overnight, but I'm just not sure if I can do anything else to help promote my hubs or get a better ranking in google (my pages won't even show up in google). I'm just looking for some suggestions as to what I should or can do to get traffic from other source than HubPages. Thanks.

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      shoganposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I can't speak for one of your hubs, but I'd say the other two have titles that are just going to be pounded in the Google standings.  You're not going to compete with those.  That being said, have patience, give your hubs time to mature, write more, and pray you're not sandboxed.

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   snake2135posted 12 years ago

   Thank you, I figured it best to just wait and see - that was the plan anyway. And to be honest, my first two hubs I did not bother to do any keyword research. I just figured that by now I would have traffic from more than just HubPages. I'm not expecting a huge amount of traffic instantly either, just thought I'd get something from google or Bing by now. Thanks again.

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      shoganposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It really does take time for many hubs to get rolling (though some have fast starts).  If you're going to trend towards writing about technology, however, you'll have to find more specific topics on it in order to compete with Google.

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   snake2135posted 12 years ago

   Technology is my thing, I'm a CS major so it's only natural. I've been a "power user" since I was about 15 when I learned my first programming language.

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   snake2135posted 12 years ago

   This might sound like a dumb question, but here it goes. In your experience, have sites like mass bookmarking sites helped get more traffic for you, or am I wasting my time?

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      wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I may be in the minority here, but yes, you are wasting your time.  I've used these in the past and while I've gotten a handful of visits from them it is only a handful.  Nor did I see any rise in the SERPS  after bookmarking.
      
      To your other posts; it does indeed take time to mature a hub - HP estimates 3 years to full maturity.  It is not get rich quick.
      
      My experience is that a hub may (may) begin to get a very few organic visits after a few days, but they will be in the range of 1 or 2 per day.  Normally a good hub will take 2-3 months to do much at all.
      
      If you are serious about making money here, you will have to find something to write about that isn't chock full of competition.  Whether you like that or not is immaterial; it will have to be done.  You may like to write about programming, but if you can't get to the top there in the SERPs you won't make anything.  Branch out, find tiny niches, be extremely specific if you must, or even find a new topic (building canoes perhaps?) but don't simply continue doing the same thing.  That is, AFTER you determine that even a few months age doesn't help.

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         shoganposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I'm with you in the minority, then, wilderness.  I think it's wasting time, too.  I haven't seen any rise in SERPS from the efforts I used to make along those lines.

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   2uesdayposted 12 years ago

   It is early days yet, from what I have read in the forums most of the traffic in the early days here comes from other Hubbers. Search engine traffic usually takes a time to build.
   
   Be careful not to use methods that are against the TOS for HubPages or for Adsense when trying to get traffic. Visiting the learning Center(bottom of the page) might be worthwhile.

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      shoganposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      That's true, 2uesday, but in order for snake to get consistent search engine traffic, he's going to have to focus his topics.  Rather than compare PS3 with XBOX360, for instance, maybe focus on just one attribute of the consoles and compare it between the two.

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   snake2135posted 12 years ago

   Thanks for the feedback, you have been very helpful. I'm understand it is not a get rich quick scheme, and I didn't approach it that way either. I always remember that if something is too good to be true, then it most likely is false. Thanks again.

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   Cathleena Beamsposted 12 years ago

   Are you on Facebook, Twitter, or one of the other Social Networks?  If so, you can share the links to your Hubpage articles.  If you're connected with a lot of people it helps since you get visits from folks who are truly interested in reading your articles. Don't share the same link too often or it may annoy your friends and be considered spamming. 
   
   If you're on Facebook look me up and send me an invite (Cathleena Beams). 
   
   Best of luck to all of us here on Hubpages!  )

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