Hubber plea for critiques

1. 68

   IntimatEvolutionposted 10 years ago

   Please tell me how this hub could be adjusted to be worthy of an Editor's Choice hub. I am trying to be a better Hubber and writer and desperately need help. It took me two hours to take pics and edit to be hub worthy, I was hoping that after I republished this hub that it would have been higher than a 78. I made huge changes to this article - and my score for it hardly changed.  Please tell me what is wrong.   Thank you.  http://intimatevolution.hubpages.com/hu … pe-Oranges

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   1. 94

      wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I'd take a hard look at your outgoing links.  A link to an Australian home builder is unlikely to be of interest to a reader interested in decorating in orange.  The one to a hub about small living spaces, maybe, but that's questionable.  To a HP search for cleaning walls, no.  At least one link just goes to HP - worthless to someone visiting your hub.
      
      Use outgoing links judiciously and very carefully.  If they are not going to be of considerable interest to your reader don't use them.
      
      I think you could use some grammar help here - comma usage in particular seems weak to me although others could help you more than I.  "According to today's industry standards, and with the roaring costs of fuel; it is advisable to put in cost-safety nets, into a project estimate." seems clunky, as does "Today's orange color tones are the latest trend, for any body wanting to decorate their office, restaurant or home.".  I find it helpful to read my hubs aloud to myself, following an old tip from HP.
      
      You've got a large white space under the eBay capsule - can you do something with that?
      
      Back to links - the one to your own hub on a Christmas sweater has absolutely nothing to do with decorating in Orange.  No reader will be interested - get rid of it. 
      
      I'd dump the section on orange cats - while it has a tiny bit of relevance it is also a very obvious plug for the Humane Society.  Not something a reader is going to appreciate - it's like a huge billboard plugging dog food in the middle of a conference on new car styles.

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      1. 68

         IntimatEvolutionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Fabulous help!  Thank you.

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      2. 68

         IntimatEvolutionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Wilderness, hi again.  I would like to pick your brain again about links.  (I am on my cellphone so sorry if there are quirky mistakes.)
         
         I always associated backlinks to the meaning of the word I was using, NOT the jest of my article.   Are you saying that backlinks should be only be connected to other sources of the same information?   I have posted two help requests and both times you've checked me on doing that so, I got to looking at all my articles.   If I selected a word and backlinked it, I have it going to something associated to that word.  Hence the wall to the back link about how to clean painted walls.  And one more thing- I thought Hubpages was International.   But your advice IS that I just include links to USA based companies or things- should they be regionally based as well?  I am a Midwestern woman- my area is not exactly trendy all the time.  please advise.  Thanks!

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         1. 94

            wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            That is correct - only put in links where the topic is the same.  You're not writing about how to clean walls, don't link to a hub about cleaning walls. 
            
            What you're talking about - matching the topic of the link to the text being used to anchor it - is a good practice to follow, but there's more to it than that.  The topic of the two hubs should be similar.  I mentioned that the reader is important - that if they are unlikely to use the link then it shouldn't be there. 
            
            Example: I have a few recipes, and they are interlinked together.  One on a pie has a link to making a pie crust - something the reader should be interested in even if they're not!   I also have many home improvement hubs, including work in the kitchen; the recipe hub does NOT link to any of those, including those on kitchen work.  Instructions on microwave installation would not interest many searchers for recipes and is not included.  Same for installing a countertop, although those two hubs are interlinked (or should be) as part of the idea of kitchen remodel.
            
            And were I to interlink the countertop and microwave hubs, I might do it via a sentence like "Leave room on the countertop for a microwave, unless you will be installing an over the range microwave", with that "installing an over the range microwave" being the anchor text leading to a hub about just that.
            
            Make sense?
            
            Yes, HP is international - I get readers from Australia.  About 1%, and that 1% is not sufficient to justify a backlink.  In addition, plugging a local business is probably not something you will wish to do in a hub, as there will be very few readers wanting to know about it - they are there to find out how to do it themselves, not to find someone else to do the work!  Plus, of course, very few readers will be local to that business.

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            1. 68

               IntimatEvolutionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Oh my gosh!  I have a lot of corrections to make...  holy cow.  But now I get it, thank you.  I totally get it.  LMAO!!!  I am sick in bed today and this is the first opportunity I have had to really ask you that question.  I wish I would have asked you this almost four years ago, hahahaha, golly how stupid of me for not making that connection.  I did go and try to fan you earlier but for some reason there is a bug in Hubpages software code, and it never pops up the actual button, it just gets caught up in the loading loop ya know- bottom line though is I also noticed that you have a nice diversity of articles.  I like how you have written a hub for darn near every Hubpage topic, and one for every season.  Like your Christmas hub, Christianity hub, and so on.  I am trying to do that as well.  Hence this decorating hub.  I am glad to be reassured that I am on the right path there.  Thank you.  I have an enoromous amount of work ahead of me.  I guess just taking one hub at a time would be the best way to go about making all the backlink corrections, or any suggestions?

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   2. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I wouldn't have any link right in the first paragraph, especially as it's not adding value to the reader.  If  you want to promote the business of that Hubber, by all means give him a link somewhere but not where it's going to annoy. 
      
      I found the whole "Planning" section odd - what does that have to do with decorating in orange?  People are likely to arrive at the Hub, read the first few lines and think it's not what they're looking for. They'll click away quickly which will cause a high bounce rate and that's not good.  The start of your Hub needs to convince your reader you're going to give them the information they need.    If you feel it's important to talk about planning, create a separate Hub on that topic, and just have a sentence about the importance of planning and a link to that Hub.
      
      I felt the lighting section strayed too far from the topic, too.  Readers will get to that section, think you've stopped talking about orange and leave - when in fact, there is more relevant information further down the page.  Either cut it out altogether or move it to the end. 
      
      The layout is strange.
      
      - Why do some paragraphs have a bullet point and some don't?   
      
      - Putting text in two side-by-side columns isn't a good idea, because two blocks of text side by side don't make for easy reading.   Right-floated text capsules are meant for short, punchy information that you need to highlight - not for long stories!
      
      - It's not a good idea to have a full-width photo followed by a full-width video so high in the Hub, because it may discourage readers from scrolling down to find the rest of the text.

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2. 91

   OanaWriterposted 10 years ago

   Although the hub looks really great to me, I will team with wilderness on the point about the eBay capsule. Maybe put it underneath the text so it comes as a small rectangle?
   
   Here I am also going to suggest something like a poll...I am not sure exactly how it may fit in into your hub but it always seems to increase my hub scores.
   
   If you decide to keep the link I would put it at the end, but that's personal preference and I am not sure how it may help your score.
   
   Hopefully any of this is of some help.

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   1. 68

      IntimatEvolutionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Awesome advice!  Thank you so much.

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3. 49

   Claire Roachposted 10 years ago

   Perhaps it would help if there was a summary before the first set of pictures?

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   1. 68

      IntimatEvolutionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Oh yeah!  Good call.  Thanks for suggesting that.

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4. 93

   jansharesposted 10 years ago

   Hi. Are you currently working on this hub? Your text capsules seem to be out of sequence. As is, it sounds like an intro is missing. Seems that it would flow better if "Decorating with Sunkissed Orange . . ." was your first paragraph, followed by "Planning is the Key."

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   1. 68

      IntimatEvolutionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I wrote this article about three years ago and quite frankly, it was bad.  I see that now.  I am trying to go back and re-edited all my hubs.  I have read a lot of the new articles In the help section and trying to implement what I have learned.  BUT I am having terrible luck.  Like my Lost history of the Bible hub, I think it is fabulous and have no idea why it is not an editor's choice.  I tripled the number of words, added new summary,  information,  took it to a proofreader,  added tons of historically accurate info, a table, adjusted backlinks...  and for what?  A 82 score?  I put in twelve hours of work to bring it up 2 points.  I am so so so confused.  2 points. Same for my Hersey article.  Idk.   But I am trying and I am not a quitter so I will keep plugging.   All advice and criticisms are welcomed.  I learn best by making mistakes and being told what I did wrong.

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5. 83

   Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years ago

   You have a really interning topic - I do see a few small errors (such as one header that says, "an Wow Factor" rather than "a Wow Factor"), but they're not deal-breakers.  If this is a hub you originally published a while back, it may simply have not been screened for EC yet.  Try making the adjustments suggested here, and then nominate it through the online form HP posts.  We can indeed nominate our own hubs - so go for it!

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   1. 68

      IntimatEvolutionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You can???  I didn't know that.

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6. 68

   IntimatEvolutionposted 10 years ago

   Ah!  Good information to know.  Thanks.  I added a summary in last night and rearranged the video and pic thing already...

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7. 82

   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   It stuck me as odd that you devote the first two pictures to a scene where there are just a coupe of orange appliances not really worked into a decorating scheme. 
   
   I suspect someone googling these terms will be basing their scheme on orange and more interested in rooms where orange is repeated in several places and well integrated into the overall look of the room.

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   1. 68

      IntimatEvolutionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Ah!  So you don't like how I decorated with the orange.  Well its my taste and kitchen.   I am a minimalist and cannot afford a bunch of things.   I had fabulous pics of orange decorated rooms- properly accredited but professionally taken.  BUT was told I should take PICS of my own, in my own home.  Well when the construction industry took a nose dive, Instead of getting on welfare I went back to school and became a Surgical FA.   My husband may be wealthy but I am pooooorrrr!  Poor.  Especially now that I am paying him back for giving me the $11,000 tuition money- I haven't been able to afford a Better Homes and Garden decorated kitchen.  SO,  do I need to go back to using those other pics?  Is that what you're suggesting cause its not garage sale season- and frankly hubbers who read my articles know I am all about closeout sales, bargain finds and garage sales.  But I also just like a few eyepopping items on my counters.  I HATE cleaning.  More items mean more dusting.  and yes I didnt have to write a decorating hub but, I also wanted to show that just because your poor, doesn't mean it has to be decorated In beige.

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      1. 82

         psycheskinnerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         IMHO buying two counter top items is not "decorating with orange".  Decorating suggests a more holistic approach to the room and all the things within it.  Surely you could find a better example online?  As a reader I am not thinking about you and your circumstances, just whether the hub helps me with my decorating goals which are likely more complex than buying a single rug or appliance.

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         1. 68

            IntimatEvolutionposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you for this advice but I am going to defer from taking it. 
            
            My summary clearly states that this is a budget project...  NOT a make-over.  For people like me, adding colorful nic nacs is decorating with orange on a budget.  This article is not a HGTV do over hub, and I am happy it is not.  For a bigger project like that I would not want someone using this article.  Its not the target market I am trying to reach. 
            
            Did you bother reading this article?  i clearly list a $400 or lower price point, not $401, not even $402.  $400 USD not Euros or English pounds.  "Don't go broke using color..."  "My project cost me less than $400 USD...", just a few direct quotes from the hub.  I did include a few "picture perfect" images as you suggested.  I had them in before but was advised to can them.  But am glad you mentioned it cause I thought the same way.  Thanks, appreciate the advice.

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