What have people learned about gaining traffic

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  1. Paul Edmondson profile imageSTAFF
    Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

    I had a conversation with a new online writer and I realized what I recommended is a bit more specific than I used to be based on what I've seen be successful.  I'm in the middle of refreshing several Hubs (150 to go), but here is what I tell others and am trying to do myself.

    - write on evergreen topics where I can provide excellent instructions, analysis, or insights.
    - create videos and post original photos when I can.
    - break hubs into sections with the majority using full width images followed by a text capsule. 
    - look at the number one ranking page and see if I can create a better page.

    As an example, I looked at the top two results on how to make poached eggs
    http://www.helpwithcooking.com/egg-guid … -egg.html/
    http://www.wikihow.com/Poach-an-Egg

    I think the wikihow page is the best.  I updated my page with a how to make poached egg video, and pictures, plus recipe capsules.
    http://pauledmondson.hubpages.com/video … oiled-Eggs (I know, should have used a different url)

    I think I'm a little short of being the best, but that's my goal:) 
    I need to get better writing, taking pictures and doing videos, but I think I can get there.

    Do you do things differently?  If so, what would you tell a new starter and how do you think about your current hubs?

    1. Daughter Of Maat profile image93
      Daughter Of Maatposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I've actually been paying a bit more attention to keyword research, but mainly I've been sticking to subjects I enjoy writing about. My writing tends to be more coherent and seems to flow much better when I write on topics I'm passionate about.

      I have noticed a significant increase in my traffic since I've been concentrating more on the keywords. Google seems to like me again! big_smile Thanks for the tip about looking at the top ranking page and the layout information. I typically use pictures on the side, but I think I'll try more full width photos. What do you think about lead photos? Should they be full width?

    2. Will Apse profile image89
      Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      That is a nice page and a good example of the kind of thing that I never try to do, but perhaps should.

      Those 'how to wire a plug' type, much-covered subjects are still vulnerable sometimes if you can produce an outstanding page.

      I look for newer topics not much covered.

    3. anasshad profile image78
      anasshadposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I think that keyword research is much more important than any other factors.

    4. PegCole17 profile image93
      PegCole17posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Paul,
      I just used your method to paste the first few words of one of my hubs into the Google search and what I found is quite disturbing. What came up as ranked first on the page was a totally unrelated hub where someone had graciously added a link to one of my popular articles. Her hub ranked above mine with my exact first few sentences and the only reason I can guess is that my hub was revised a month later than hers.

      What does this tell me about my ongoing revisions to existing hubs? Perhaps a new strategy is called for. I had previously thought that tweaking the text and adding new photos would be a plus. Instead, it has backfired on me.

      Is this because the new Hub Pages design has placed emphasis on when hubs were revised versus their original publication date? That is what I'm thinking.
      Peg

  2. Paul Edmondson profile imageSTAFF
    Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

    I'm a big fan of lead photos and think full width really shows off a great photo.  Every study I've seen says users love photos.  The sooner they engage with them, the better.

    Aesthetics matter:)

    1. janderson99 profile image55
      janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I think a full width photo or a video at the top will lead to a Panda penalty for not having enough text above the fold. Users will love it, but very few people will see it because it will rank poorly. The main ad is too far down the page to earn any money. The core issue is satisfying what readers like, versus what Google wants for ranking purposes. Will it get traffic and earn money?
      Just my opinion!

      see http://googlewebmastercentral.blogspot. … ement.html

  3. Daughter Of Maat profile image93
    Daughter Of Maatposted 11 years ago

    Indeed they do! I think I might be redoing about 55 hubs! Just out of curiosity, what about amazon or ebay capsules? Full width or on the side? I'm a bit on the fence on this one, I'm really not sure which one looks better, or which one is more effective.

    Hope you don't mind that I'm picking your brain big_smile

  4. Dame Scribe profile image57
    Dame Scribeposted 11 years ago

    I would have to highly recommend that one stick to subjects they are knowledgeable about. Someone will email and ask a question or related query and we should be prepared with a answer smile people of all professions have their eyes on us.

  5. Greekgeek profile image79
    Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

    You used a magic word in your first sentence which I'd like to highlight: "specific."

    One thing I've learned from a decade of site traffic is that you never know what search terms will bring people to your webpages. (I still want to pick the brains of whoever asked "How tall was Medusa?") All we know is that people are looking for specific things by typing specific words and phrases into search engines.

    Specificity is hard. As a poet, I was trained to use poetic language to suggest something without naming it. English classes teach us to use pronouns and avoid repetition. We can't use proper nouns or repeat words too often, or we'll bore human readers.

    Nevertheless, we can be a little more deliberate about including subjects in our headers and facts, names, and relationships in our body text. In describing the Empire State Building, specify its height. On a page about Will and Kate, try adding a sidebar about, "Do they have a last name, and if so, what is it?" Look for ways to weave specifics into your text without making your writing too dense.

    People don't use search engines to look up "interesting stuff to read," or if they do, your article won't come first. But the more nouns, names, and relationships your writing explores, the greater are your chances that someone will come looking for the information you provide.

  6. rebekahELLE profile image85
    rebekahELLEposted 11 years ago

    I agree with much of what has have mentioned. I think a great lead photo can be welcoming, rather than to be barraged with ads. I have them on some, but not most of my hubs.

    I also like to give information people would want to know and make titles like a searcher would think or ask to themselves or to another person. We usually search what we don't know or want more specific information about.

    Write what we know and are passionate about. I like to use videos, although I haven't created my own yet. Make sure the videos can be embedded without a privacy issue.

    How to's, why's and what's are a great place to start. If we can answer specific questions in an engaging, informative, well-written manner, searchers eventually will find our hubs.

    Patience.

  7. Paul Edmondson profile imageSTAFF
    Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

    I think amazon and eBay are two of the most misused capsules.  They should only be added when they make the hub better.

    - product reviews makes sense to add them
    - adding them contextually when they add value.  Like when you are explaining the things needed to complete a project.

    I'd say avoid tagging them on the bottom of a hub and make sure they are tightly focused.  Also, rarely does listing more than one product in a capsule add value.

    1. Will Apse profile image89
      Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Twice when I removed Amazon links to a page (the items had disappeared from Amazon), I had comments 'like why am I not being offered the opportunity to buy these items?'

      There are a lot of pages where you are doing your visitor a disservice by not including Amazon links.

      On the other hand, if you rarely sell anything via Amazon or Ebay from a page, people obviously don't want the links and you should ditch them.

      Big blocks of poorly related ads are just spam.

      Everything on a page should be relevant to a visitor's interest.

    2. PaulGoodman67 profile image95
      PaulGoodman67posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      "I think amazon and eBay are two of the most misused capsules."

      Yes, it's kind of ridiculous when people just shove half a dozen Amazon ads on the end of an article, virtually just for the sake of it!  I am glad that HP introduced a fairly tight word to capsule minimum ratio - Squidoo has some really messy lenses that are strewn with unnecessary ads.

      To be fair, I think when people start, they are over-optimistic about visitors clicking on Amazon ads - but hopefully people get a bit more discerning about using them with experience, I know that I went through a learning curve.

      Picking specific products is the best thing - the only problem is that you can forget to go back to check that they are still active (the product range may finish, Amazon no longer sell them etc.)  I have been guilty of this!  That's why I proposed HP introduce some sort of auto checking system for dead amazon links (it's really boring to do it manually when you have a lot of hubs!)  I don't know how technically feasible that is?

  8. Shelly McRae profile image70
    Shelly McRaeposted 11 years ago

    I understand the philosophy of having full-width images, that readers like a good pic. But as a reader, personally, they annoy me. I don't like big pictures breaking up short bits of text. It's visually distruptive, and the narrative in my head is slowed. I've always preferred images to the side, even if it's a column of images to demonstrate steps in a project or recipe.

    But I am curious as to whether or not these types of articles actually do better, and if people actually read the text, or just look at the pics.

    1. FF Commish profile image73
      FF Commishposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I have the same reaction as a reader as Shelly McRae.

      1. Will Apse profile image89
        Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        I think there is a split between writers and readers here to an extent. If you are attracted to writing on Hubpages you probably like language beyond its simple function as a tool of communication.

        If you want traffic then catering to the hurried info seeker can be a good thing to do.

        Personally, I write very long pages and that works for me traffic-wise.

        Squidoo encourage you to write a 'what's on this page' section to try to convince readers that what they are looking for is on the page. I use a picture montage at the top of most pages to do the same thing visually.

  9. Paul Edmondson profile imageSTAFF
    Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

    It's a tricky balance when creating a page that can be read vs scanned.  Searchers are coming for a specific piece of information.  When we've run surveys on these people, they want the information in bite sized chunks at the top of the page. Often, extra information is a nuisance to them.  So, a page needs to be scannable, so they can extract the information. 

    About 65% of visitors to HubPages are looking to consume information in this fashion. 

    I can see your point that short paragraphs, broken up with photos disrupts the reading experience for certain types of content.  However, for step by step instructions, it makes a lot of sense.

    1. wilderness profile image94
      wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It makes sense, up to a point, or so it seems to me. 

      You have two separate "sections" - poach in water and poach in cups - and it works.  But what if there were 4 or five more "sections", requiring a large amount of scrolling to find the section wanted or to read the entire hub?

      Would a "table of contents" help there?  A menu at the top to send a reader directly to a desired section?

    2. Shelly McRae profile image70
      Shelly McRaeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Mmmm, interesting. The survey says people would rather just get bits of info, little pieces of a topic, rather than actually read an article in its entirety. Wilderness seems to verify this; he says he doesn't like to have to scroll down the length of an article. So perhaps hubs should be more 'image literate", and text should be secondary. Not being catty here, just assessing the trend.

      1. Will Apse profile image89
        Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Flagship style hubs with a minimum of 1500 words, pics and video do well according to Hubpage's own stats. So the 'made for scanning' list and pics approach is not the only one that can work.

        I reckon visitors pick and choose what they want to read. If you use sub headers it helps them find the bits of info they most care about in a long article.

        Get people reading and your page should do even better.

  10. wilderness profile image94
    wildernessposted 11 years ago

    You've got my vote, Paul, over ehow.  I got really tired of scrolling forever down that article.  I'm not a big fan of lots of full size photos, but I often write hubs like this where photos are used for informational purposes and I'll give big photos a shot.

    At the same time, I'm in the AP where we're being trained in the gentle art of constructive criticism.  Last paragraph - "serve it on a piece with toast" - piece of what?  Gotcha! lol

  11. Paul Edmondson profile imageSTAFF
    Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

    Like I said, it's a balance.  There needs to be text meat to the page to do well in serps, but it also more optimal if a searcher can extract the precise information they're looking for easily.

    I'm working hard at breaking my hubs into chunks and steps with one text capsule per step and adding full width photos and videos when I can.

    Shooting to update five a day!

  12. Peggy W profile image95
    Peggy Wposted 11 years ago

    Thanks Paul.  I have been updating my hubs by putting a photo at the top...most of them full sized.  I am also limiting the number of comments at the bottom because with loads of comments, the chances of those bottom ads being seen are almost nil.  Both are taking time to do with hundreds of hubs...but chipping away at it like you are doing.  Appreciate any and all tips from you!

  13. janderson99 profile image55
    janderson99posted 11 years ago

    What I have learned about gaining traffic
    => Don't write on topics that have been flogged to death - stay realistic
    => Don't flog dead horses - if you can't rank, drop it
    => Do keyword research to find narrow topics that get traffic and for which you can compete - be ruthless in choosing competitive titles
    => Traffic prediction is very inaccurate and there many 'surprises' both positive and negative
    => Most traffic will come from 20% of your hubs - learn from your own successes, but value the little fishes as well - they all add up. Don't delete hubs!
    => Many hubs take months to mature and deliver traffic
    => Add related links to your own hubs, and build external links using post-penguin SEO, including social sites.
    => High quality content does not correlate with traffic, and improving the quality may not mean more traffic. Getting more traffic involves a lot more than on site SEO and quality. Only 20% of the ranking is derived from onsite SEO. So it is better to focus on offsite SEO to get traffic. Ranking determines traffic not hub 'quality'.
    => There is no formula for assessing quality especially in Google's eyes, its a changing feast anyway. The ultimate test of quality is the user response in the Analytics metrics.
    => What readers think of your hub may not be related to traffic - the less perfect page may always beat you in the SERPS because of site authority.

    1. IzzyM profile image87
      IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yet writing on just those topics can win you a watch, so to speak.



      Why drop it? Link it with your other related work, link fodder if you like.



      Can't argue with that.


      True.


      Yup, but if you know what you are doing, your traffic will come from a much higher percentage.



      This seems to be true, but instant success is more encouraging. In my experience, some hubs do well from the outset too.



      Absolutely true about the related links, but don't worry about external links.



      Um, you are right in that high quality content does not always correlate with traffic, but in my humble opinion on site SEO is everything you need to worry about as a hubber. Get that right, and offsite will take care of itself. I have my eye on a particular hubber just now - can barely speak English, and is using Hubpages to promote his own website, which is badly written and badly researched. One of his articles (using the same keywords) is just one position behind mine in Google search. He has thousands of artificial backlinks. I have none.



      The reason I have taken the time to reply is that I have several new subdomains, each with just 20 odd hubs.

      One of them has taken off big time. I took the time to write long, informative articles on it (as I have done on my other subdomains), and it is easily beating high competition sites.
      I am not saying mine is better; this is a powerful platform.
      About 25% of these hubs are seeing 100+ views per day. All of them see some daily traffic, and about 80% of them see more than 10 views per day. In fact, as someone who has seen overnight total traffic losses, I am extremely nervous, as I don't think this traffic level is here to stay.

      I just wanted to point out that success is possible, just by writing on this platform and using on page SEO and nothing else.

      1. janderson99 profile image55
        janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Thanks for your reply - very interesting!!
        It would be nice to get some research data from HP on one topic mini-subs!!
        Why has one of your mini-subs taken off and not the others?
        Do you link between your own sub?
        All mine are dead in the water (but early days)

        I presume "using on page SEO and nothing else" does not exclude keyword research and title tweaking.

        1. IzzyM profile image87
          IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          I link between my subs when they touch on related topics. On page SEO does indeed include keyword research, but not title tweaking because the research already covered it.
          The thing is, I am not writing for search engines.
          I chose the topic I want to write about, then search for the most searched for phrases. Choose an overall title, and use the search phrases as sub-headings. This might mean long hubs, covering an awful lot of ground, but it also gives each hub a huge variety of related keywords and searches.
          But I am still gobsmacked at the level of success one sub is seeing.

          1. janderson99 profile image55
            janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Do you use the auto-suggest feature to "search for the most searched for phrases", or a standard search, or perhaps a tool?
            Why did one mini-sub succeed?
            cheers

            1. IzzyM profile image87
              IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

              If I knew why one succeeded where the others are failing, I'd be a millionaire!

              The only obvious thing that stands out to me is that this subdomain is on a tightly focussed niche, the others are more a category than a niche.

            2. IzzyM profile image87
              IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

              I am assuming this one has succeeded because of its intense interlinking, although it is true to say that a couple of them got 3 figure daily viewing figures within hours of publication, without the interlinking.

              I use the auto-suggest feature to find the search phrases. I make a list and check the numbers of searches and competition in Market Samurai which is not accurate but gives you an idea.

              Once I have my title and subheadings sorted it, it is then down to intense research to write the content. I aim to make it as accurate as possible and so check all the 'expert' sites as well as wikipedia, always looking for a snippet of information to make it more interesting and not just a re-hash of stuff already out there on page 1.

              I am still gobsmacked at the rise I saw yesterday, and I don't really know why. It was climbing slowly, but yesterday traffic doubled. Was there another Panda run or something?

  14. sunforged profile image72
    sunforgedposted 11 years ago

    How do you feel about the auto-play videos?

    Personally, as a reader/viewer if I had not been heading over to the hub from this thread - the moment I was assaulted by a voice on page load I would have backed out and picked the next return.

    Certainly,  a video is useful in a food prep subject - but I still want to choose when it plays.

    I still consider that a huge no-no in web design ( and was historically considered as such), do you think that has somehow changed in recent years?

    1. janderson99 profile image55
      janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Here Here!  No auto!

    2. IzzyM profile image87
      IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I've put up a couple of video hubs, but am disappointed to see them appear in search as normal hubs, not video hubs.
      None of my video hubs are doing well, in fact the couple of normal hubs I changed to video have seen a traffic drop, which may or may not be unrelated to the video autoplay.
      I have been quite vocal here in the past against autoplay video hubs. Is there no way to make them 'press a button' play videos?
      Surely an autoplay video doesn't need another 500 words?

    3. lrohner profile image69
      lrohnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Exactly.

    4. WriteAngled profile image75
      WriteAngledposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I HATE a web page that thrusts a sound file or video at me without giving me the choice to click on the play icon.

      It is the Internet equivalent of rape as far as I am concerned.

      Furthermore, such elements are most often found on trashy sales sites for dubious internet marketing products and similar, or on amateur, personal web sites which in every other way show the owner to be totally lacking in any sense of good taste.

      I am saddened that Hubpages has chosen to align itself with such content producers.

      1. IzzyM profile image87
        IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        I've got a video hub, but it is not showing in search as a video hub. Therefore anyone who clicks on it is going to be taken by surprise when the video autoplays.

        I really think it should say in search that it is an video, and that is autoplays, though I would prefer the video option was there when someone opened the hub without it playing at all, much like every other video site out there does.

      2. Will Apse profile image89
        Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        BBC vids auto-play so you should avoid that site.

        1. Nouveau Skeptic profile image61
          Nouveau Skepticposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          I don;t go to their video pages for that very reason.  I stick to the text pages.

  15. Paul Edmondson profile imageSTAFF
    Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

    I personally don't worry about offsite seo as well.  I think for content sites that create very good content they will attract enough natural links.  I haven't looked at IzzyMs sites, but I think it sounds solid.  I am going to do some research on the optimal number of hubs in an account. 

    So, auto video has been a hot topic.  I think pages that are clearly labeled as video are acceptable to auto play.  So, we are working to make sure users know when they are clicking on a video. 

    The vast majority of traffic to videos comes from google video search.  Users clicking on video search are expecting it to play (85% of visits) vs people browsing the web (15% of visits).  For the 15%, I'd like to develop a setting to let people turn off auto play. 

    I visiti ESPN frequently and they autoplay video.  I often have to hit he mute or pause button, so I know it's not ideal for all browsing, but from a revenue perspective it is turning out to be a major source of revs for them.  I'm hoping it will for HP as well.

    1. janderson99 profile image55
      janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Linking between subs and mini-subs is external SEO!!!

      1. IzzyM profile image87
        IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        You may be correct, but I don't see it as external SEO when it is something you can do from within your site/s.

        1. janderson99 profile image55
          janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Its only a 'hop, skip and jump' to linking from your own external webpages rather than your mini-subs + Reddit, Digg and Stumble etc.

          1. IzzyM profile image87
            IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Well as you know, interlinking isn't just about linking your own hubs/sites. It is about linking in any hub or site that you think can enhance the reader experience - look at wikipedia to see what I mean.

            None of us write about everything, but if we do have hubs that can be linked in and add to a hub, we should do it, and if we don't, we should add in links from other hubbers or external sites.
            I no longer believe in the old 'page leak' argument, and see all links as good, so long as they are on related topics to the anchor text, and even if they aren't ours.

            1. janderson99 profile image55
              janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

              Welcome to the world of external SEO - it is linking for the right reason and for the benefit of the user - its like providing references to additional sources of related information - nothing wrong with that - using a variety of anchor texts, within the body of text is Penguin friendly. This is a long way beyond 'create good content and let the links build naturally' !
              cheers,

    2. sunforged profile image72
      sunforgedposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      http://s3.hubimg.com/u/6872538_f520.jpg

      I guess, when I head to youtube Im not unprepared for autoplay but from these returns even with Video in the title, I would still be taken by surprise when clicking though in a normal search. You would know referral sources, so if they come from a Video search, I expect they wouldn't feel "assaulted" there either and would be moot.

      So you are considering making a small edit that would disable autoplay if the referrer was not from video search?  I would be be put back even more if I was using a mobile device (with a normal browser) as I wouldnt have the patience for the load when I wasnt expecting it.

    3. IzzyM profile image87
      IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I would be interested in hearing your results on this. I have plans to expand that subdomain as it is on a huge topic and I have many more hubs started, but am nervous that I may halt the success by doing so.

      I have two slapped subdomains, this one with nearly 500 hubs, and another with 80, but more than just numbers they are on a variety of topics and I am not convinced that that is somehow damaging. I have gone through every hub on each account and interlinked them as far as possible,and the slide of traffic loss has stopped.

      I've even seen slight increases but they are from other search engines and not Google.

  16. Will Apse profile image89
    Will Apseposted 11 years ago

    One of the things that hardly ever gets mentioned when it comes to writing online is research skills.

    Scouring webpages, forums, video, news. images and pdfs should all be second nature. If I had access to a library I would probably use that source too.

    Google's search tools make it pretty easy these days but learning to write search strings is still a good idea (good for keyword research too).

  17. rebekahELLE profile image85
    rebekahELLEposted 11 years ago



    I think this is great advice, Izzy. We don't write for search engines, but we do write for people who use search engines, so it's good to remember how our audience is finding our hubs. What kind of queries are they using?  Do they want information?  Do they want a list of facts? Etc.  I think helpful, relevant links respect the searcher.

    I know one of your niche subs, and if it's the one that is doing well, I can understand why.  You may want it private, so I won't mention the name.  I'm glad to hear you're seeing increased traffic!

    1. IzzyM profile image87
      IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks rekebah, and yes you probably do know the specific subdomain I mean, as do most forum posters as I have never kept it secret, but I don't want the whole web to know else it will be copied to Kingdom come!

  18. Peggy W profile image95
    Peggy Wposted 11 years ago

    Izzy's report of grouping a number of related hubs in a single domain perked my ears up.  I hope that Paul Edmondson will let us know if he and the people researching best results at HubPages will let us know if that is a good idea.

    When I attended HubCamp in Houston, one gentleman who attended said that he did just that.  He had various accounts with 10 to 15 titles...all related...in various accounts on the web.  I think what he was doing pre-dated his HP account.  He claimed success by doing it that way. 

    If breaking up our subjects into subdomains is smart and would earn more money, I for one, would be interested.  Am sure that others would as well.

    Hope to hear more ideas regarding this!  Thanks!

    1. PaulGoodman67 profile image95
      PaulGoodman67posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I believe that Paul E has said that mixed content hubs traditionally do just as well as single topic.  It's worth reading some of his hubs on traffic.

      Despite that, I have been experimenting with groups of articles on different sites and a couple of extra HP accounts, some mixed but some with a theme or niche.  I think it gives you a better picture of what's going on, opportunities to experiment, and if something is doing well, you can add to it.

  19. rebekahELLE profile image85
    rebekahELLEposted 11 years ago

    The topic was in the news yesterday, as it normally is this time of the year.  That's possibly one reason it's doing well, plus the fact that it's a fascinating subject and your hubs are well-written with great photos.

    1. IzzyM profile image87
      IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks and you are right, it is a hot topic at the moment. These are photos I will never take myself, nor videos, but that can't be helped.

  20. waynet profile image69
    waynetposted 11 years ago

    I've learned that you gain more views as a result.

  21. Nouveau Skeptic profile image61
    Nouveau Skepticposted 11 years ago

    I don't agree that users searching for video expect it to auto-play.  Is there data on that?  Even when searching specifically for video I do not want it to autoplay.  It annoys me that Youtube does this.

    1. Will Apse profile image89
      Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      You Tube vids auto-play. I think most people would expect it. If I click on a video in search I don't want to be hanging around waiting for it to start. Or hunting for the button.

      Maybe visitors from related pages in the site would be unpleasantly surprised if they were not aware that they were heading for a video.

  22. ktrapp profile image93
    ktrappposted 11 years ago

    In addition to all the things that have already been said about gaining traffic I also consider the following items:

    (1) Google Snippet
    I pay careful attention to the words and length of a hub's URL, title and summary. I think it's critical to get these three elements "right" not just because they sort of serve as road signs to Google as to what a website is about, but because these are the three elements that make up the Google snippet (although the summary is sometimes replaced by relevant text). The snippet is a searcher's first impression of a hub and affects click-through and therefore traffic.

    Additionally, regarding the Google snippet, if I have a recipe hub I include an enticing first photo since it will also be part of the snippet.

    Finally, regarding the snippet, I have set up Google authorship so that my avatar appears in my snippet. The avatar photo can draw the searcher's eye to my hub in results over other results that are just plain text.

    (2) Image Captions
    The captions entered for images are coded into the alt attribute for the img tag (for those that know HTML) and Google uses this code to index images. Searchers may come to a hub via a Google image search. I have one hub that is relatively new and has almost 11K slideshow views. I can see that a lot of this traffic is from image search queries.

    (3) Search Query Analysis and Making Changes
    I think this is a step that a lot of people really don't like to do, yet it can have a huge impact on traffic. I like to analyze the search queries that real people made where my hub had an impression in results. Google Webmaster Tools is the best way to do this, in my opinion. If I see repeated search queries that include words or ideas where my hub doesn't rank as well in impressions as I would like, I then may edit the hub's URL or subheadings or change/add a word here or there in the body text. For me it's been as simple as changing the word 'teen' to 'teenagers' or adding the word 'biography' or changing the word 'discectomy' to 'microdiscectomy.' Webmaster Tools "tells" you the information we are trying our best to make an educated guess about during our keyword research. It's there in black and white and taking advantage of it can really impact placement in SERPs and traffic.

    1. Rosie2010 profile image68
      Rosie2010posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, ktrapp.  Great info here.

    2. SincerelyT profile image60
      SincerelyTposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      This is awesome information. Thank you for sharing ktrapp.

  23. WriteAngled profile image75
    WriteAngledposted 11 years ago

    I do avoid sites which thrust videos on me.

    This is one reason why I rarely look at hubs any more.

    I have never had BBC force feed a video when I have consulted their news or weather pages.

    1. Will Apse profile image89
      Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Try this vid chosen at random: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-18775080

      It is possible you don't get auto-play in the UK. I have to sit through an ad in Thailand before the news item. That is annoying.

      Same story CNN, Aljazeera, MSNBC and every other news broadcaster I just can checked. Newspapers seem to take a different stance.

      1. WriteAngled profile image75
        WriteAngledposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        I go to http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/

        If any story there is marked as a video, I avoid it.

        1. Will Apse profile image89
          Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          As a fairly cynical money grubber, the value of video to me is that there is a lot of info in video form that does not exist in text.

          The more info I can locate that has not been put out in web page form, the more likely that my page will out perform other web pages.

          Also video often gives you personal opinions, insights into how devices work, a sense of places you have never been etc etc.

          In other words, if you avoid video as a writer you are ignoring a deep well of data.

          I don't watch online videos for pleasure much and I don't like my info that way but it is a good research tool.

  24. Mark Ewbie profile image80
    Mark Ewbieposted 11 years ago

    Are we still talking about poached eggs?

    This is one way to keep your eggs safe while poaching them.
    http://s1.hubimg.com/u/6874972_f248.jpg

    1. ktrapp profile image93
      ktrappposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I was wondering that myself. This drawing is a classic big_smile

      1. Mark Ewbie profile image80
        Mark Ewbieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Thankyou!  If you are wondering what he's wearing - it's a stickmankini.

        1. Daughter Of Maat profile image93
          Daughter Of Maatposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          lmao ha ha ha lol stickmankini! LOVE IT!

  25. WriteAngled profile image75
    WriteAngledposted 11 years ago

    I'd like to say that not all videos are offensive, provided I have the option to choose when I view them.

    This one brought me to tears:

    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GBaHPND2QJg

    Freude schöner Götterfunken,
    Tochter aus Elysium,
    Wir betreten Feuertrunken,
    Himmlische, dein Heiligtum!
    Deine Zauber binden wieder,
    Was die Mode streng geteilt.
    Alle Menschen werden Brüder,
    Wo dein sanfter Flügel weilt.

    They were singing it in Spanish on the video. I think Schiller's original German text works best, since this is what Beethoven had in mind when he wrote the music, but notwithstanding the event was beautiful and potent.

  26. rebekahELLE profile image85
    rebekahELLEposted 11 years ago

    Video gives the reader another form of engagement without having to read a block of text.  I know that I myself get tired of reading while online.  It's a nice break to watch and listen.

  27. Gordon Hamilton profile image92
    Gordon Hamiltonposted 11 years ago

    I think this is a wonderful topic and I hope no one minds me sharing what I believe to be a very pertinent fact. I see comments relating to video, slapped domains and much more but my own best success online relates to something very different...

    A few months ago, I was asked by a friend (a fishing friend who has quite literally no knowledge of the online world - he has never used a computer in his life!) which topics are most successful to write about on the Internet. I gave what I believe to be the best answer and one I can easily back up: the ones you know and love. We've all heard it before - but is it any accident that the biggest part of my online income (by far) comes from writing about fishing and cooking fish and seafood?

    I am a self-confessed technophobe and would never presume to argue the ifs and buts of the technical issues mentioned in this thread. I couldn't make a video if my life depended on it and I was given specialist assistance! smile I do believe, however, that by ignoring the technical stuff and concentrating simply on writing about what you love, you stand a far greater chance of success.

    As the technical stuff becomes ever more important, I may sink rather than swim but I hope to be able to deal with those concerns as and when they arise.

    1. SincerelyT profile image60
      SincerelyTposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Great job Gordon. I just visited some of your hubs and they're fantastic!

  28. Paul Edmondson profile imageSTAFF
    Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

    If you haven't seen Gordon Hamilton's Hubs, you should check them out.  I think they're some of the very best.  Great details, images and very pleasing to look at.

    Good advice....

    1. IzzyM profile image87
      IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      So we can forget the technical stuff, and video hubs, and just concentrate on writing?

      1. janderson99 profile image55
        janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Good luck to him. Great images, lot of work. Lovely hubs. Uses links extensively + backlinking. Not sure about traffic and earnings though.

    2. ktrapp profile image93
      ktrappposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed. His hubs are authentic. There is no doubt by looking at his profile picture, his bio, his recipes, and his original photos that Gordon loves fish, fishing and cooking. A reader can sniff out authenticity in a second. And I think when you write about a topic that you are passionate about and have firsthand experience with, a lot of SEO just takes care of itself.

      1. janderson99 profile image55
        janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Yeah but - SEO is done via the linking - it doesn't just happen! Read his hub about How to Start a Successful Food Blog - lots of good seo advice
        .

        1. ktrapp profile image93
          ktrappposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Gordon's original comment was about writing about the one topic he loves and is passionate about. When he sticks to that niche, linking is a very natural process. Obviously, the linking is deliberately done but it's logical and useful to the reader, and also happens to help with SEO.

          1. SincerelyT profile image60
            SincerelyTposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I agree ktrapp. Doing it Gordon's way does make the linking process very natural and easy.

      2. wavegirl22 profile image47
        wavegirl22posted 11 years agoin reply to this

        + 1 (and then some)

  29. Paul Edmondson profile imageSTAFF
    Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

    GH may learn to make videos one day;)  I'm very bullish on video.  Links matter as well, but it doesn't take that many.  If my poached egg hub gets picked up by a few food bloggers, it has a good chance of cracking the top 10.  I put a lot of time into that hub:)

    1. ktrapp profile image93
      ktrappposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Was that a pun? smile

    2. SincerelyT profile image60
      SincerelyTposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      And you did a great job Paul! I enjoyed the hub.

    3. rebekahELLE profile image85
      rebekahELLEposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I just read an article this morning about how Vevo (most watched video channel on YouTube) may leave YouTube (Google owned) if agreeable negotiations are not met.  The article says that in less than 5 years video will be the most searched item - or method for finding information, music, etc. 
      Whether we take the time to make our own or utilize relevant videos in our hubs, they are an integral part of search. http://technology.gather.com/viewArticl … 4981472733

      http://www.digitaltrends.com/social-med … e-youtube/

  30. Will Apse profile image89
    Will Apseposted 11 years ago

    Gordon is lucky to have a passion that he can write about well. But there is nothing wrong with researching topics that you have only a vaque connection with and producing a decent page. Most content is produced this way and if the research is diligent and the writing is up to scratch there is nothing wrong with this.

    1. ktrapp profile image93
      ktrappposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I couldn't agree more. There's more than one way to achieve the same goal.

      1. janderson99 profile image55
        janderson99posted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Tight Lines!
        Cheers,

    2. SincerelyT profile image60
      SincerelyTposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I totally agree you with you also Will.

 
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