What's with this?: Even high scoring hubs unfeatured.

1. 69

   James M Becherposted 9 years ago

   I have 4 hubs that are unfeatured, and no matter how I try imporving them, they remain unfeatured.  Some of them are high scorers: One of them scored 88 today and yet it is still unfeatured.  I can't understand this.  Can anyone clue me in.

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   1. 88

      Cardisaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Are they unfeatured for quality or engagement? If they are unfeatured for engagement post the titles here and I'll take a look. If they are unfeatured for quality place them in the spotlight on your profile page and we'll be able to see them. Without seeing the hubs in question I cannot give you a definitive response.

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      1. 69

         James M Becherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         unfeatured for quality.  I will place the highest scoring one as you suggest.

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         1. 69

            James M Becherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            O.k. I put all 4 in the "in the spotlight."  They are the first 4 listed.

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            1. 88

               Cardisaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               Great! I'll get back to you shortly.

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   2. 82

      Artois52posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Hi James. I thought that there was a limit on the number of Amazon / eBay ads that you can place in your hubs. I Can't remember where I read this, but I think that the magic number was three. You might want to reduce the number of ads in your hubs.

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      1. 62

         tlcsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Is it really three!? I haven't read that in the tutorials, I thought that if the item relates to the content of your hub and is discussed within what you write that it is ok to add a Amazon/e-bay ad, that said I have never sold anything, so have resulted in not adding any!

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         1. 72

            relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Some very sketchy, made-up guidelines are going around, and this is one of them.

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         2. 86

            Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            No, there is no magic number.   The rule is (as I've mentioned before), that your Amazon capsules must feature products that the reader will want to buy.  So long as you stick to that, you can have far more than three capsules in a Hub.

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   3. 72

      relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      HubScores have absolutely nothing to do with being Featured.  Scores are a mechanical metric assigned by the system based on technical achievements that can be determined by a computer.  The sort of quality determinations that goes into being Featured or not is a manual, human review.

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   4. 92

      Stove And Homeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      A funny thing happened to me. I tried publishing a hub once that got disapproved four times in a week. I left it alone and tried publishing it 8 months later, and it was approved.

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   5. 92

      PegCole17posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Being unfeatured can be really disconcerting when it happens. The advice you've been given here will help on these four hubs and on all of your articles here. Cardisa knows what she's talking about and Robin has given you the site guidelines to follow. The learning center takes a lot of effort to plow through, but at least there is one. On other sites, it's trial by error.
      
      I read your Mercy and Grace hub and it does seem a bit repetitive in the use of those three words. Even in the summary, the term is repeated three times. Perhaps a paraphrase of the scriptures you've referenced would be helpful as many folks will not take the time to look them up.
      
      It's great that you want to share the blessings of the Word. Bravo to you for that and all the best here as well.

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      peachpurpleposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      try to reduce the ebay/amazon ads. I put 2 amazon and one ebay in my article. Gets featured with 700 words and video too.

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   7. 78

      Uzochukwu Mikeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      SIR, THESE ARE MY SUGGESTIONS
      -MAKE SURE YOU HAVE UP TO THREE PICTURES IN EACH OF THE HUBS
      
      -EDIT THE PRODUCT CAPSULES TO MINIMAL NUMBER

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2. 88

   Cardisaposted 9 years ago

   The first hub "The Mercy and Grace of God" is bombarded with Amazon and eBay capsules. This makes the hub looks spammy and takes away from the spiritual meaning of what you are trying to say. I would suggest reducing your affiliate capsules to two relevant items. Don't make the hub about selling an item, but rather about the information you are giving. I woudl recommend either eBay or Amazon, but not both for the same hub.
   
   Place the links to your other hubs below your last text capsule. Don't allow your reader to have to scroll beyond all that to read the rest of your article.
   
   Next, you have too many links within the hub. remove the links. The links to two or three other hubs is enough along with your affiliate links.

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3. 59

   paradigmsearchposted 9 years ago

   Do preemptive. It works.

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4. 88

   Cardisaposted 9 years ago

   James, As far as I can see, all four hubs have too many affiliate links. Reduce the amount to three at most.

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      tlcsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Cardisa, perhaps you could take a look at my hubs, you seem to know exactly what you are talking about!

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      1. 88

         Cardisaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I took a look at your How to quit smoking hub. It has six affiliate capsules. Read this blog post about the use of capsules in your hub. http://blog.hubpages.com/2015/01/07/an- … -capsules/

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5. 69

   James M Becherposted 9 years ago

   @Cardisa:Thank you very much. 
   @Artois52: Are you sure about that number.   I did reduce them, but 3 seems pretty small.  Can you tell me where you read that?

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   1. 91

      Ramkitten2000posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      There isn't a limit on Amazon or eBay modules; however, there is a minimum text to sales capsule ratio. Last I've seen, it's 50 words per Amazon or eBay capsule (not IN the capsule per se but a "hub-wide" ratio of 50:1), but many hubbers will say that 50 words is too few, generally speaking. So, yeah, you can technically have 10 Amazon capsules if you have 500 words in a hub, but regardless of the specific rule, that might not -- likely won't--pass QAP.
      
      Edited to add: If you're creating Amazon links using your own affiliate code (not capsules) then the 2-link to one domain limit applies.

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6. 69

   James M Becherposted 9 years ago

   @Artois52: I tried searching but couln't find anything on how many Amazon or eBay products we could have.  I didn find this, however:  Rule 3: Your Hub should contain at least 50 words of text for every product displayed in Amazon and eBay Capsules.

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   1. 70

      Matthew Meyerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Here is a link to the blog post that @rebekahELLE mentioned.
      http://blog.hubpages.com/2015/01/07/an- … -capsules/

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7. 84

   rebekahELLEposted 9 years ago

   The latest HP blog entry is an update on spam and shows examples of how to use product capsules in hubs.  It also shows examples of hubs which are now considered spammy.
   In looking at a couple of your hubs, it looks like you may have too many, and possibly some that aren't directly related to your content.  It will help to look at the example hubs shown here.

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8. 81

   Mark Ewbieposted 9 years ago

   Sorry but...
   
   "Mercy and Grace" is mentioned 25 times on one page.
   
   That's about 24 times more than I can bear on a good day.

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9. 86

   Robinposted 9 years ago

   First off, thanks for writing on HubPages and asking these questions.  I hope I can shed some light and maybe educate you on what works best on HubPages.  I hope you read the blog post first—there is a lot of good information there that I'm not specifically covering and that will provide a foundation for my advice. 
   
   While there are guidelines of product/text ratios, that doesn't mean you should include products in your Hubs.  To be blunt, my advice would be to remove all of your products in these Hubs.  Readers that are searching on these topics probably do not want to buy a product.  Check to see if you have had any products sold in your My Account page, if you haven't remove the products.  Your readers will be more satisfied with your content and you are more likely to remain Featured.    I would also check all of your links and make sure they are relevant and useful to your reader.  Lastly, your inspiring quotes Hub should include inspiring quotes, not lead readers to other sites or to books that provide the information. 
   
   Think about if you were to google the title of your Hub and landed on your page, would you be happy with the result?  If so, you've done a great job!  If not, you should make the edits to make it reader friendly.  I realize it's difficult for former lensmasters that implemented a different set of expectations.  There are a lot of Hubs for you to edit if you've included a lot of products and links, but we think your readers will be happier with the results.   Thanks again for asking the question—that's the first step!  Good luck, and let me know if you have any other questions!

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10. 86

    Robinposted 9 years ago

    Personally, I know when I'm looking up information that is not commercial and I see products, I discredit the content and instead of feeling like I'm being informed I feel like the article is a sales pitch.  It's difficult to look at our own Hubs with a discerning eye.  I recommend asking a friend or family member if they would want to buy a product if they were reading about your topic—it's a good litmus test.  We realize that many Hubbers that have spammy elements in their Hubs are absolutely not spammers, but instead have included products in their Hubs because they thought it was the right thing to do. Removing products and links that aren't useful to the reader will be a better experience for everyone.

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11. 77

    Kathleen Cochranposted 9 years ago

    At the moment, only 58 of my 140 hubs are featured.  It changes from month to month (at least - I don't check that often).  My views, earnings, and hubber score have all stayed consistent for about the last year no matter which or how many of my hubs are featured or not.  HP remains a mysterious and ever-changing phenomenon.

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12. 95

    PaulGoodman67posted 9 years ago

    I was going to say what Robin said, it's not a commercial topic, so why have any product capsules at all?

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    1. 69

       James M Becherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       I'm sorry , Robin and Paul, but I can't agree.  I thing some products can serve to further understanding and or expand the subject.   I don't see the harm if they are offered discretely and relate to the content.   Anyway, I have pared down the products on this hub to 5, which I think is a fair number and all of which do relate to the content.   I have other hubs with many more products and THEY ARE FEATURED, so I fail to see that that is the issue.   The score for this hub went to 93 yesterday and stays there now with 7 visits which is the highest.   I have hubs scoring 60, 63, 64 and around there which ARE featured.  So, what is the thing about being featured?  I don't get it!

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          Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          I have a Hub about the whole Featuring and unFeaturing process.  You'll find it in the slider on my profile.  Maybe that will help you understand it.

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13. 72

    relacheposted 9 years ago

    James, on HubPages your own visits to the Hub are counted, so with an inflated seven visits, that Hub seems to be riding really close to not drawing traffic, which is another reason it can become unfeatured.

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    1. 69

       James M Becherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Then why aren't my zero and 1 visit hubs un-featured?

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          Matthew Meyerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

          Hubs are given a period of time to find readers. If they do not in the allotted time period, then they can be de-featured for lack of engagement.

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14. 59

    paradigmsearchposted 9 years ago

    Just as a side note, all my hub scores have been dropping like skydivers without parachutes. Perturbing to say the least, especially what with Google being fond of many of them.

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15. 69

    James M Becherposted 9 years ago

    I still don't understand & it seems nothing I do helps.  I pared down the product hubs to 3 --took out the music productrs altogether, and eliminated some of the links.   Still it's unfeatured, even though yesterday it hit 97.   I can't imagine--a score of 97 and still unfeatured.  Of course it then went down to 93, and then 88, but that's the range it stays at consistantly, and yet remains unfeaturred while my lowest scoring hups, those in the 60's are fetured.   I just don't understand.

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16. 0

    calculus-geometryposted 9 years ago

    Hi James,
    I read your hub about barbershop quartets and it is a very interesting article with lots of information that a barbershop quartet enthusiast would like.  I see two problems why your hub may be unfeatured.
    
    (1) You have some errors in spelling, punctuation, and capitalization throughout the article.  Run it through a spelling and grammar checker.
    
    (2) The bigger issue is that there are just too many products. I know that you have more than 100 words per produce as per the new guidelines, but what always gets lost in the discussion of minimum word counts is that writing at least 100 words per product only guarantees that your hub won't be unpublished for being too promotional.  It has never guaranteed that hubs will be featured!  It's something that staff really should make more prominent.  There's no magic number that is too many, it has more to do with how the products are worked into the content
    
    Your products are germane, but most of them are plopped here and there without any explanation.  What I recommend is selecting a few that you actually own and talking about them more in-depth, giving them a stronger connection to your article.  A lot of your products are albums.  Which ones do you like best and why?  That makes your article less advertorial and more informational.
    
    Hope that helps, best of luck to you!

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    1. 69

       James M Becherposted 9 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, I appreciate your comments about the Barbershop hub, and I was planning to check it and go over it deeply before July (that's when the holiday is) or before if I get a chance,  but the one I was referring to is "God's Mercy and Grace."   It consistently scores high, even sometimes being the highest scoring hub, and yet remains un-featured.  Do you have any thoughts on this?

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17. 72

    relacheposted 9 years ago

    James,
    
    First off, stop equating your HubScore with being featured or unfeatured.  That is irrelevant.  HubPages has recently changed a LOT of their quality standards due to how Google is treating the site.
    
    Being unfeatured for quality is due to a manual, human review of the Hub.
    
    Personally I think linking to utterly unrelated Hubs such as one about the musical Les Miserables from a Hub on religion is what is screwing you up.  Just becaue you mention it off-hand in the religion Hub does not make a hub about the musical relevant to your discussion of God's grace because the Le Mis hub does not continue or support that discussion as it's main focus.  All links must be tightly relevant.

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18. 93

    SmartAndFunposted 9 years ago

    I second that about the hub scores. I wish HP would either make them relevant or do away with them. The main purpose hub scores serve seems to be to confuse and anger people. Maybe their purpose is simply to keep the forums alive -- there are so many questions pertaining hub scores.
    
    Work on getting your hub featured, but try to put its score out of your mind.

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19. 69

    James M Becherposted 9 years ago

    FINALLY!!!   I Can't believe it.   Thanks God!  Finally, after numerous edits, "God's Mercy and Grace" finally made it to featured.
    Now, I'm going to work on the one about "Inspirational Life Quotes."     
    But, you know, so far I don't see that being featured has made a difference in traffic.  Perhaps that takes time, but I'll see what happens.

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20. 77

    colorfuloneposted 9 years ago

    Good that you got the one featured again, James.

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21. 69

    James M Becherposted 9 years ago

    I think something wierd is going on.   Again my most popular hub is unfeatured, but this after being featured, then unfeatured (and I revised it), then it was featured again, and then suddenly unfeatured. Now I have been doing everything I can think of but it still remains ufeatured.  Let me know what you think.  It's the on "7 Last Words of Christ on the Cross."
    Another amazing thing is that another unfeatured hub, which shall remain nameless, suddenly went to featured without me doing a single thing.  Is this wierd or what?

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