255 Words in my Hub..... Er .... Enough?

1. 81

   earnerposted 8 years ago

   I'd have laughed in the face of anybody posting this question.  Of course it's not enough.  You're idle, that's not good enough. No way.  Breaks the rules.  Dumb farquer - what ARE you thinking?  Go away and write more you moron. 
   
   All valid responses....?   And more....
   
   Yet I've been "Hub Pro'd" - and they've taken my hub from a  600 word "masterpiece" (well, it was working), to a 255 word hub. I can also see no image attribution for the photos that have appeared by magic
   
   Is this what I should be emulating as my template for success?
   
   If so I can bang those out all day ...... !!
   
   
   
   Now, I don't wish to "undo" it, if the professionals believe they've constructed a huge hit .... but it does make you wonder.
   
   Maybe my Tip of the Day should be: tear up the rulebook folks, this is easy!

   replyreport
   1. 86

      agvulpesposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      So which Rule Book do we tear up This Weeks v2  or Last Weeks v3?
      Oh my what is the world coming to ?
      I did read somewhere from an official source that lack of attribution on images does not mean that a Hub cannot be awarded a HOTD ?

      replyreport
   2. 85

      Robinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I think the Hub answers the question, although I think we should have added a section on why it's not safe to reheat chicken more than once.  Maybe you can add that bit; personally, I'd like to know!  Your Hub gets most of its traffic from the keyword "reheating chicken".  I think we should have changed your title to "How to Safely Reheat Cooked Chicken".  I'd suggest doing that.  Let me know if you would like us to take a second pass at editing the Hub.  Editing is a process, and I appreciate you looking at your Hub and evaluating it.  We'd love to work together with Hubbers to get it right! 
      
      The photos were commissioned by HubPages photographers, so we don't need to attribute them.  I hope you like them! 

      replyreport
      1. 81

         earnerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I'm not "precious" about my work .... money talks.  If it works, then great. No fiddling required
         
         I was just startled and surprised.  I'll now sit by the money pot to see what happens next.
         
         

         replyreport
   3. 81

      moonlakeposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      That’s like a Bubblews article at 255 words.

      replyreport
      1. 81

         mary615posted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Oh, yes....I remember them!

         replyreport
   4. 32

      Writer Foxposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I'm speechless.
      
      Do let us know the effect on your traffic to that Hub. 

      replyreport
   5. 32

      Writer Foxposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      You've now got 10 H2 Tags on a 255-word Hub.  Not good.
      
      In addition, you have five images without Alt Tags.
      
      http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/130692? … ost2735826
      
      Your Hub is now in violation of Google Webmaster Guidelines.  I predict your traffic will fall in a couple of weeks.

      replyreport
   6. 87

      Will Apseposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      There is a typo in the quote at the end. You can add at least one more word in perfect safety.

      replyreport
2. 97

   EricDockettposted 8 years ago

   It will be interesting to see how your Hub does from here out.
   
   I'd be even more interested in hearing about the thought process that led the editor to think that 255 words is an acceptable mark. Is there a new case study they should be sharing with the community?
   
   Otherwise, just about every piece of reputable advice I've read over the past several years suggests that articles with a much, much higher word count tend to rank better on average.
   
   The last thing we need is for the HP community at large to start pushing out 250-word Hubs.

   replyreport
3. 81

   earnerposted 8 years ago

   I will, of course, be checking the stats ... but it was "doing all right" before they upped its game.  So, it'll probably be subjective whether any changes/improvements are to be attributed to the re-write, or if it'd have done better as it was.
   
   I think I will "rob" my old copy and bung it on my own page/s elsewhere.  Shame to waste all the hours of time I've spent writing that, finding the images, watching it, tweaking it over the years.

   replyreport
4. 91

   Chriswillman90posted 8 years ago

   Talk about striking gold if that works out well. I always thought it needed to be 1500+ words to generate decent traffic.

   replyreport
   1. 81

      earnerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I used to sweat over hubs - and haven't written any for many months (years?) as it's so daunting. 
      
      I will have to reappraise my attitude and approach to writing and see if I have been "missing the point" all along
      
      Nothing noticeable stats-wise so far....  *twiddles thumbs* ... actually, I shouldn't do that.  The amount I make wouldn't cover the cost of the band-aid/plaster required for a sore thumb!
      
      

      replyreport
   2. 94

      Suzanne Dayposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      If you enjoy your subject, you'd end up with 2500 words easy. The idea on how to write all this is to babble on about every thought about the topic, then edit it to make it sound professional.
      
      It's more fun doing it this way than worrying about word counts!

      replyreport
5. 84

   Craftymarieposted 8 years ago

   I find this particularly interesting and will be keen to know if the traffic on this hub takes a dive or remains steady.
   
   We were encouraged en masse to produce lots of shorter style articles on Squidoo in the run up to its demise. They did not work and attracted almost no search traffic at all. I know they were pretty much a complete failure from talking to many other writers as well. This is hardly surprising since, as you'd expect, it normally takes a lot more than a mere 255 words to explore a topic properly.
   
   It didn't work on Squidoo and shorter blurbs haven't worked long term on other sites either. I'm not just talking about working with search engines since some of these websites also get labeled as spammy and banned on social media like Pinterest.
   
   I'd be amazed if this new style took off on Hubpages. Would 255 length hubs even remain featured if not edited by a professional? I'm not going to be trying it anyway.

   replyreport
6. 38

   ChristinSposted 8 years ago

   Geez, and I posted an 800 word hub yesterday and thought I was pushing the limits on short length.  I too will be very interested in how that works.  For some things I can definitely see a "less is more" approach to be the best, where other subjects demand more detail.  I personally think that drawing out something that could be short and sweet can also be seen as "spammy" or gaming the system, especially if you end up being repetitive. 
   
   Like anything else, I think there is no one size fits all approach to great content.  This definitely piques my curiosity though, so definitely going to follow along and see where it leads .

   replyreport
   1. 94

      Suzanne Dayposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I believe longer hubs do better. They have more words in them, words you can be found with.

      replyreport
7. 61

   The Examiner-1posted 8 years ago

   Is it a poem? A flash story? You should have at least 750 words. A normal Hub needs 1150 words to begin with. Add photos, etc. and see how many words that you have, then you have less to write.

   replyreport
   1. 94

      Suzanne Dayposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Just get excited about the subject, write heaps of whatever brain dribble you have, then edit and polish to professionalism! I often write 2500 word hubs that way, with almost no effort because I am soooo excited about the subject and want to share my opinions (though these get dumbed down in the edit).

      replyreport
8. 85

   Robinposted 8 years ago

   In most cases, longer, in-depth Hubs do better.  However, we don't think you should add fluff just to achieve word count.  We recommend building out your topic and providing your reader with all of the information that they will need around the topic.  I agree, we probably could have figured out how to add a bit of content to this Hub, but it would be hard to write 1200 words on this topic.  We also think that photos are an important piece of the content.  The original photos in earners Hub add a lot of value.  We are also starting to commission infographics now in HubPro which is really exciting.  We are thinking about photos/illustrations as content and not just a supplemental piece.

   replyreport
9. 89

   Patty Inglish, MSposted 8 years ago

   Looking at this particular Hub and the attractive use of photos and the Classic callout option surrounding important information about reheating chicken, I think it could go viral on mobile - maybe on Pinterest. I'll post it.
   
   I think Infographics are big news on Pinterest as well.

   replyreport
10. 76

    KoffeeKlatch Galsposted 8 years ago

    I agree with the ones who believe that the long articles do better.  I can see it in the numbers.

    replyreport
    1. 89

       Patty Inglish, MSposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       Good to see you! What you say true of my own Hubs - the short ones draw few readers, so I added more material.

       replyreport
11. 92

    Sherry Hewinsposted 8 years ago

    I have always thought that more words are not always better. It depends on the words. If I take a 1000 page article and edit it down to 500 words, I often feel like I have made it better, distilling it to its essence.
    
    On the other hand, if I take a 500 word article and stretch it to 1000 words, just for the sake of word count, I rarely feel like it is an improvement.
    
    Shorter articles are not always the easy way though, fewer words does not always mean less work.
    
    HP has not usually supported this view though.

    replyreport
12. 90

    Kylyssaposted 8 years ago

    How about an update. How is your shortened hub doing now?

    replyreport
    1. 81

       earnerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       I don't know ....looking quickly at the stats graph there was a very noticeable drop in the first instance (probably when I first moaned in this post), it's since gone up to where it was before.
       
       CBA to load up Analytics right now to ponder an accurate answer to that.

       replyreport
13. 77

    colorfuloneposted 8 years ago

    I would hold onto the content that was taken out and save it for updates if the hub does not perform as well as it did or as hoped it might. Best wishes, I hope it does well and puts even more money in the bank for you. I am interested in knowing how things go too.

    replyreport
14. 81

    earnerposted 8 years ago

    I just checked the Hubpages' provided stats again and the graph is showing that it's slumped again, so no real noticeable difference at all so far.

    replyreport
    1. 90

       Kylyssaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for the update.

       replyreport