Hubs Featured on Profiles

1. 78

   Seafarer Mamaposted 11 years ago

   I have been thinking about how I can give some of my hubs that receive less traffic more light. On our profiles, we can pick a bunch of hubs that feature in a "gallery" that fades in and out, right under our bios and above the published hubs listed in the bottom section.
   
   This year, my goal is to pick a theme a month and to "feature" in my own "hub gallery" toward the top of my profile, hubs that fit that theme. Beginning with this month, here are a few:
   
   December ~ Winter/Christmas
   January ~ Recipes for warm comfort food
   February ~ Love
   March ~ Spring/Ireland
   April ~ Spring/Easter/Gardening
   May ~ May Day and recipes for cool drinks/food
   June ~ Summer....etc.
   
   I think I may also use my WordPress blog to send more traffic over to my hubs, in featuring hubs on a theme, with links.
   
   Anyone else inclined to do this type of thing?

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   1. 47

      Joseph Renneposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Nice Idea, Im new to hubpages and this makes perfect sense.  Thanks for posting.

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   2. 80

      moonlakeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      If you watch your analytics you can see which one of your hubs people are looking at the most. That helps to make the change in your profile. I have already noticed the change from Christmas hubs. They're still getting views but not as much. I've already changed some of mine. Good idea you have.

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   3. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think this is a good idea.
      
      If your WordPress blog isn't getting much traffic, then you won't gain much traffic to your Hubs, so the effort isn't worthwhile.
      
      If your WordPress blog is getting good traffic, then you want to keep those readers on your blog, where you keep 100% of your income - not send them to HubPages.  Also if your blog is doing well, you should be taking every opportunity to give it an extra boost - which means linking TO it from your Hubs on the same topic, not vice versa.
      
      If your blog isn't making money with good traffic, then perhaps you're not monetizing it properly - I wrote a Hub about monetizing your blog which you'll find in the featured section of my profile.
      
      If you're thinking that Google will like the backlinks - Google only counts one or two links from a site.  So if you already have a couple of links to HubPages from your blog, there's no point in adding more.

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      1. 78

         Seafarer Mamaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Marisa,
         
         Looks like I should read your hub about monetizing my blog. I sure haven't yet. I've been writing it as an extension of the book that I wrote, but that is why I thought that linking to to HP would help me earn more here.
         
         Thank you for your insight and recommendations....and happy 2013!

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         1. 85

            Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Having a blog to promote your book is a great idea.  I'm going to give you some unsolicited advice about it, which you can take or leave!
            
            I took a look at the blog.  My first impression was that you make it difficult to get to - when I click the link in your profile, I get to a page telling me what your blog will be about (which I'd advise you get rid of), then I have to click on a link called "Gardening Blog" and then I have to click again to get to the blog.
            
            Readers are easily discouraged - make them click too many times and they'll give up.  And you put them off in your intro - "My blog will present my[i] writing about [i]my journey"
            
            Oh right, no point going to the blog then, she hasn't got started.  Anyway, she's only going to talk about herself so why am I interested?
            
            Readers want to read stuff that addresses their needs, not something that's all about you.  So recast your introduction to put the emphasis on sharing your experience to help others - which I'm sure is your intention.  And I wouldn't make that introduction a page on its own, either - I'd send people straight to the blog, and have a brief "About this Blog" section in the sidebar to do the introduction.
            
            One thing to know is that Google doesn't like websites which are about a variety of subjects, unless they're huge like HubPages.  If Google doesn't like your blog you won't get readers at all, so that's really important.   So if you want to write about music or share links to interesting events, they need to be somewhere else - your gardening site needs to be about gardening.
            
            Once I get to the blog, there's no way for me to navigate around it, except by browsing through the months.  You may have a post which would be really helpful to me, but how am I going to find it?   You have a big, empty sidebar there where you could have a list of categories, a list of recent posts, and a nice banner advertising your book! 
            
            As for monetizing, there are several gardening companies which have affiliate programs, just Google "gardening affiliates" and you'll find them. 
            
            Like I said, I know this advice is unsolicited so I leave it to you whether you wish to follow it.  Good luck with it!

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2. 73

   Abbyfitzposted 11 years ago

   I haven't thought about that but that's a good idea!

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3. 88

   Victoria Lynnposted 11 years ago

   Yes! I just changed some out for New Year's hubs last night. I had just left the same ole 5 or 6 hubs there, but I think changing them out every month for hubs relevant to the month is a great idea! There will be more interest, I think, than a hub that has nothing to do with the month or perhaps a holiday coming up. Great ideas!

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   1. 62

      dianetrotterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I didn't even know we could change what is featured.

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      1. 88

         Victoria Lynnposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, dianetrotter, if you'll click on "edit profile," you will see how you can change them.

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4. 93

   vocalcoachposted 11 years ago

   I'm glad you brought this up Seafarer.  I think this is a good move and I've been concentrating on my slower hubs and how to "rev" them up. Thanks for sharing this.

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5. 72

   brakel2posted 11 years ago

   Do you think we get a lot of views through profile?  If so, that is a good idea. My profile views are down right now. They will get better.

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6. 81

   tlpoagueposted 11 years ago

   I have been using that feature since we changed over to the new profiles. In November I used a variety of my hubs to stay with the Veteran's Day/Thanksgiving Theme. Some of them were recipes, while others were dedicated to our Vets. I still have my Christmas hubs featured, but plan on changing them in the next day or two for the New Year.
   It is a great idea that I firmly support!

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7. 61

   Deborah Brooksposted 11 years ago

   that is a great idea.. I will work on that myself.. Thank you for posting this
   Happy New year to you all
   Debbie

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8. 94

   Peggy Wposted 11 years ago

   I have been changing the hubs at the top on the profile ever since that option became available.  If you have some slow ones needing views, if you feature them, they usually pick up some views and often comments as well.  It is great to feature seasonal ones as well.  I really like this feature!

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9. 78

   Seafarer Mamaposted 11 years ago

   Thank you all for taking time to reply to my query. Glad that it has been helpful to all of you.
   
   Best of luck using that profile feature to attract more traffic to the hubs you've been publishing.
   
   Happy 2013 to you all!

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10. 92

    savingkathyposted 11 years ago

    I think this is a great idea. I have been trying to switch up the hubs featured in my carousel every now and then, but I really like the idea of having specific themes each month based on what people are likely to want to read about. Thanks for sharing your suggestion. All the best in 2013!

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11. 94

    wildernessposted 11 years ago

    I've been using mine with a different concept in mind.  Thinking that most visitors to my profile are probably hubbers, I've included mostly hubs that I think the random profile visitor might find interesting.  They aren't searching for anything in particular - just looking at me and what I write to see if something catches their eye, so that's what I try to give them.  They're won't be interested in how to repair a hot water tank but might be in reading about an ancient flood, for instance.  General interest rather than specific "how to" stuff, which is mostly what I write.  Maybe a sales hub for a new gadget that's being raved about - can I sell one of those new Lamborghinis to a fellow hubber?
    
    In addition, I'll put up 2 or 3 that already have high traffic, under the theory that a good hub might see an increase of a dozen views while something that might need a boost will only see a couple additional views.

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12. 85

    Marisa Wrightposted 11 years ago

    I think Wilderness has the right idea.
    
    Most visitors to your profile are other Hubbers.   So pick Hubs which are going to catch their eye and tempt them to read. 
    
    Personally I wouldn't expend too much energy on this.  Being successful on HubPages isn't about attracting other Hubbers, it's about attracting traffic from the search engines (you won't start earning reasonable amounts until at least 80% of your traffic is from search engines).

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    1. 78

       Seafarer Mamaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I will keep this in mind when I change the hubs in my carousel from month to month. :0)

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13. 60

    cassidy247posted 11 years ago

    This does make sense and sounds like a great idea! This would be nice and easy to apply to my hubpage and incorporate into my health and fitness hubs. Thanks for sharing the idea!

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14. 91

    Millionaire Tipsposted 11 years ago

    I change up the hubs I profile quite frequently - no more than once a week though.  I choose a theme - sometimes it is based on a season or holiday, but often times I will pick a theme that can fit my hubs as family gathering, cleaning, travel, genealogy, arts and crafts, quilting or finance.  (The theme this week is New Year.)  I do choose articles that a general reader, i.e. Hubber will find interesting instead of specific things that are targeted to a particular audience.  It does keep them fresh, and reminds my readers what I have written - plus sometimes it is an incentive for me to revisit them and make edits and make sure they are worth featuring.

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    1. 85

       Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       So do you get readers visiting your profile a lot?  How many on average?   
       
       I do get readers visiting my profile but certainly not enough to justify the work of changing my Hubs around.

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       1. 94

          wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          While I get lots of readers from my subdomain (second only to google dot com), analytics tells me that few of them are coming from my profile. 
          
          It's enough to be worth a few minutes a month in swapping out the carousel, but that's about it.

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          1. 85

             Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             I agree, I can't see any reason to spend more time on it than that.  And I think you also make a great point about selecting Hubs that will appeal to other Hubbers.

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       2. 91

          Millionaire Tipsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          It's not always about the money. I enjoy changing them around and choosing a different theme.  It lets me look at my body of work and see if there are other hubs I can add to a particular niche, and see if any of them can be made better. 
          
          Plus, I think it helps other Hubbers who visit me see content that is "fresh", not the same old carousel over and over again.
          
          Is it the best use of my time?  No, neither is hanging around in the forums, but it provides a nice break when I am between hubs.

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          1. 85

             Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             My concern was that you said you were doing it for the benefit of readers, when in fact it's likely almost no one sees the results of your efforts!    If you do it because you enjoy it, go for it.

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15. 93

    vocalcoachposted 11 years ago

    I'm thinking that this is a step I should take.  Never really thought about it before, but now I can see the advantage in changing y hubs every so often.  Thanks for posting this.

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16. 70

    Monis Masposted 11 years ago

    Seafarer Mama, this is a fantastic idea!

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17. 85

    Marisa Wrightposted 11 years ago

    Vocalcoach and Monis Mas, it's always a good idea to read the whole thread before replying.
    
    How many people visit your profile?    Is it really enough to justify you doing the extra work of constantly changing the slider?   I doubt it very much.
    
    Generally, the only people who visit your profile are other Hubbers and even then, they don't visit often.

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    1. 70

       Monis Masposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Marisa Wright,  my point of switching the spotlight hubs is to attract  readers, and it makes sense to me to make it seasonal, or up to current topics. And I did read the whole thread, by the way. I still think it is a great idea.

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       1. 85

          Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Just so long as you realize the slider can only attract readers who are already looking at your profile page.  Usually that's only a small number.   
          
          When you write online, it's very important to do a cost/benefit analysis on everything you do.   There are countless little things you could do - so many that they can easily eat up your time, and prevent you taking other actions which would be far more effective.
          
          For instance, many people spend hours posting on these forums, reading and commenting on other Hubbers' Hubs, answering questions, etc., in the belief that it will help attract readers.   It will, but in fairly small numbers.  The same amount of effort expended in networking outside HubPages will ultimately give you far greater rewards.
          
          Yes I know I spend a lot of time here myself - but I do it for fun, not because I imagine it will increase my readership.

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18. 60

    paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

    I'm only spotlighting one hub. And I only picked it because I'm in love with the bitch'n  pic.

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    1. 70

       Monis Masposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       haha!

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19. 60

    paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

    Just thought I would toss this out there...
    
    There are folks, including me, who have domain names pointing to their profile pages. Thus, I usually work that slider for all it's worth.

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