Is Google taking longer to index your new hubs?

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   promisemposted 8 years ago

   There was a time when I would write a hub and start seeing it appear in the top 10-20 pages of Google within a matter of weeks or a few months.
   
   I now write hubs and don't see them appear at all. The hubs do get indexed, but they end up in the sandbox for a long time, meaning you can click through search results forever and never find it. Is anyone else experiencing the same thing?

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   Naveed Ahmed 624posted 8 years ago

   Well, as you might know, indexing and ranking in search results are two different things. Whereas a hub might be indexed, yet it must be ranking anywhere from the top to bottom level search results. And this position or ranking in the search results depends upon how better and genuine your hub is, counting its backlinks and recognition too. Thus developing recognition (mentions of your hub anywhere else on the internet) and backlinks take time, and cause a little delay in better ranking your hub, if at all it deserves that position.
   
   However, I also have the same issue with my hubs. I am new at HP and my hubs are not appearing in the top search results even after a couple of months of being published.

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   DrMark1961posted 8 years ago

   Yes, I have seen the same thing happening, and the hubs I have written recently are not being ranked.
   And yes, Naveed Ahmed 624,we do understand the difference.

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      promisemposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I've also noticed that putting extra effort into a Hub that I've already published, such as adding more content, photos and graphics, doesn't seem to have any effect on its ranking.
      
      It may float up and down a few positions, but that's about it. That lack of movement goes against the SEO principle that an article with more depth and quality will lead to better results.

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         Maina Ndunguposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Sometimes you can even improve hubs to achieve better ranking but the opposite happens. The article disappears from Google search, never to reappear again. I guess someday, they might even stop indexing HP articles. Can't understand this apparent hatred for content farms.

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   Greekgeekposted 8 years ago

   AUGH. I may need to rethink an old strategy, yes. I've seen it too.
   
   I used to create preliminary articles a year beforehand to get their URLs into the SERPS. Google would then search them and hang onto them. This was especially effective for topics that I knew were going to be trending in the news some time in the future.
   
   So I carefully crafted a lovely New Horizons to Pluto page last year. This week, I've been updating it furiously, pulling all-nighters, adding all the new photos and summarizing all the discoveries as the media briefings unfold.
   
   I blithely told someone yesterday to Google my name and "Pluto New Horizons," because in past years, that would've been enough to zero in on my article. (Yes, I know, nobody actually searches like that unless it's a friend, but still, IT SHOULD WORK). No joy. I checked when I got home, and it's not showing up.
   
   It's still getting search traffic, but nowhere near what it would have in the past. Sad. It may be because I haven't published anything new in a while, but I fear it may also be Google taking shortcuts to winnow the vast pile of web content down to a manageable list. It has to make executive decisions about, "Is this absolutely the best page for this particular search topic?"
   
   Unfortunately, much as we wish we were all Pulitzer-prizewinning writers, for some topics, Hubpages doesn't offer the most useful content out there. Another site or webpage may cover the same topic more effectively. Be honest: if you do a search, how often do you find better information someplace other than Hubpages? It's not always true, but it's often true. Google doesn't always notice the exceptions.
   
   ...oh well. I'm going to keep updating, but I can't count on any help from Google whatsoever. Social media is still our friend, if used sparingly and wisely.

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      promisemposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I also suspect that Google is cutting back for the sake of its stock price and earnings, which might explain why it's harder to get ranked.
      
      And I agree that diversifying makes a lot of sense, but for me at least, Google provides the vast majority of my traffic. I just wish I could get more from Bing and Yahoo.

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   psycheskinnerposted 8 years ago

   If you want your url crawled by Google  immediately you can just submit it here: https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/submit-url

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      promisemposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the tip, Psycheskinner.

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