My articles and search engines?

1. 57

   youssefdoukkaliposted 12 years ago

   Is true that HubPages  Doesn't allow external search engine to find your articles unless your articles are chosen as featured otherwise your articles would remain entombed here for forever?
   This is really bad news.

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   1. 84

      Simone Smithposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It's true that only Featured Hubs are made available to search engines. Though Hubs that aren't Featured can always be improved/updated and given the chance to be Featured again! It's not an "entombed here forever" kind of situation; it's more of a "let's not let this thing count against you in Google's eyes" thing.
      
      Also, you can always move non-Featured Hubs to another location if you think they just won't work well here! Options, options!
      
      Also, you can read more about the process here: hubpages.com/learningcenter/Featured-Hubs

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2. 64

   psycheskinnerposted 12 years ago

   That is why you need to keep your hubs featured.

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   1. 57

      youssefdoukkaliposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      But how can a moderator  understand the content of every field?

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      1. 64

         psycheskinnerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         They don't need to. They are rating gross general characteristics like length, grammatical English, and appropriate use of images.

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3. 82

   Marcy Goodfleischposted 12 years ago

   Yes and no - HubPages can adjust settings so that some articles are not 'seen' by search engines, and the internal term for that at HubPages is 'featured' or 'un-featured' - for a while, they used the term 'idled,' but that didn't describe it well, because the hubs are still there, they can be seen by other Hubbers, and you can link to them, etc.
   
   However, The term can be confusing, because there's also an area of the site where hubs are highlighted and posted under the topics area, and those can be considered 'featured.'  So, the term 'featured' as far as search engines are concerned means that HubPages has adjusted the system so those pages don't show up in search engines (although that sometimes happens anyway).
   
   In the first few days a hub is written, it is reviewed to make certain it meets the criteria for being featured (it's reviewed by humans).  They look for the overall quality of writing, for proper use of photos and other things that don't require knowledge of a specific topic.  They do not, generally, review the content for accuracy, etc.
   
   After that, new hubs have a month or longer, depending on the experience of the writer, to gain 'traction' with the search engines.  If it appears the search engines are ignoring the hub, HubPages software can 'un-feature' the hub so that search engines are less likely to see it.  There are very good reasons for this - Google can penalize an entire subdomain or site if some of the pages are not getting traffic.  Sounds crazy, because of course a page can't get traffic if it isn't being seen, but that's how it works. 
   
   But - HubPages has put into place a way for a writer to get his/her hub featured again, by allowing them to edit it and resubmit it, and it will once again go through the quality assessment process.
   
   I'm not trying to speak for HubPages; just wanted to share a bit of information on how it works. Some people have been worried that the un-featuring process can hurt their content, but since it is meant to help the site get the best possible ranking in Google, it's actually a benefit in the long run.

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   1. 57

      youssefdoukkaliposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for your interesting replay. I appreciate your explanation. Does it mean that a non featured hub will never be seen in search engines unless the moderators here decide to put it as a featured?

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      1. 75

         wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yes.  Unless it can pass the quality tests it will not be featured, and will remain unseen by google.

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      2. 64

         psycheskinnerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Yes. Only featured hubs are indexed by search engines.

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