HubPro feedback

1. 61

   TessSchlesingerposted 8 years ago

   Well, it's been a few weeks now since one of the editors went through my INTJ piece. Here's my feedback.
   
   1. Definitely improved on a few of my sentences. That said, I truly don't believe that improving a handful of sentences is going to give me more traffic.
   
   2. Added some pictures. I liked them when I saw them, but unhappily, the illustration that attaches itself to the piece when one posts the link isn't a 'come and read me' invite. If anything, it's the opposite. I will need to find another illustration. From my experience as a social networker, people are incredibly visual and the majority will only read something if the photo is gorgeous and interesting. I am going to have to go back and remove the photo because I think that's the major cause for the decrease in traffic.
   
   3. Working with the editor was easy.  Very professional.
   
   4. My figures have dropped quite a bit. I've just checked that on Google analysis, and they have. So far from seeing a 20% increase in traffic, it's more like I've seen a 20% decrease in traffic. As absolutely and utterly to the nth degree, the only reason I would want someone to go over my work is to increase my traffic, I would not use Hubpro again. I do realize that other people have had their traffic increase, but I read somewhere that for some it increases and for others it decreases. I wouldn't take that chance again.
   
   5. I did not learn a single thing about SEO, nor was anything done that I am aware of to improve SEO. That was extremely disappointing.
   
   6. At the same time that the editor was working on my INTJ piece, I went back to edit some of my other pieces with a strict view to SEO. The one about the Green Eyes has upped about 50% with all of its traffic now coming from google whereas before virtually all its traffic was coming from HubPages.
   
   I deeply admire Paul and Robin's commitment to Hubpages, but I'm not in agreement that Google is focusing grammar. I think they're focusing on articles that lots of people read. It's a catch 22 situation. Also Google now focus on professional journalistic sites when it comes to ranking articles. I believe that sites that invite writers to make money draw a lot of people who aren't professional writers and this is why Google is not ranking them highly. The only way out is to only people who write well and to get rid of everything else.
   
   That's my opinion. May or may not be worth anything. In any event, I did enjoy working with the editor. She was 100% right about the handful of sentences she corrected.

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   1. 85

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I agree that the only way out is to get rid of the dross and, in fact, have voiced my views on this numerous times.  I do believe the team is trying to do this, but there is just so much of it!

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   2. 0

      greeneyedblondieposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I didn't have that great of a time with HubPro either. I'm glad I'm not the only one but I'm also sorry it happened to someone else.

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   3. 74

      WriteAngledposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Is the picture you refer to the one in the pukey colours that appears against that title on your list of hubs? If yes, I find it absolutely revolting and, although I am more word-oriented than image-oriented, those foul colours would either put me off reading the article altogether or would make me feel negative about it before I started.

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      1. 61

         TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Yes. Just removed it. I also now recall that when it told me what was changed, it only told me the writing. It didn't show my old photos/illustrations, so I didn't realize until I started looking at it, that the hub is now dull and boring.

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   4. 53

      janderson99posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Pinterest is very, very important for my traffic. Your experience confirms why I have opted out of Hubpro. I would not want any of my images interfered with. After 12 months, no sign that Hubpro is working to improve overall traffic. I suggest HP puts more resources into cleaning up the legacy content by QAPing the old stuff and removing the exemption HP applies for old hubs that break HP rules.
      
      This policy need to be changed IMO
      "Some content is grandfathered under previous site standards.
      Such Hubs are subjected to the current site standards, rules, QAP, etc. once they are edited."
      http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/131465#
      
      So old hubs that break the current HP rules are exempt from modification and sit on the site causing damage until the author edits them. This applies even when abuse is reported!!!!! Come on! The old stuff that breaks the rules needs to be FIXED!!!!!

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   5. 86

      Robinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      We have done a lot of testing on our end and improving grammar and spelling does help with traffic.  Plus, it's a better reader experience.  Your Hub was already well written, so I think you're right,  the improvements in this area for you were likely small.
      
      
      
      If you'd like us to alter the text a bit on that first image, we're happy to do that.  I think you're right, the text could be a bit more inviting and shareable.  I do like the visual, though. 
      
      
      
      That's great to hear!  Thanks!
      
      
      
      Actually, traffic to your Hub is up 2% compared to our baseline on HubPages (similar Hubs, published around the same time).  It's very, very early.  Give it a chance.  Traffic to HubPro-edited Hubs is up 25%, but it takes a few weeks for the traffic to take hold.  It's way to early to be making these assumptions.  If in a month you aren't seeing growth, then I would reassess.     
      
      Edit* I miswrote on your traffic numbers; I was looking at another statistic—sorry.  However, when I isolated your Google traffic to this Hub I noticed a significant increase in traffic to the HubPro Edited Hub.  I recommend looking at Google Analytics to compare traffic over the period before and after editing, with 8/25 as the time editing started.  I think you'll see you had a spike from another source that had a one day increase.                                   
      
      
      
      Our purpose of HubPro is not to teach SEO.  We are careful to not remove traffic-driving elements, but our focus is to improve the quality of the work.  Having a Hub that relies heavily on SEO can cause a decrease in traffic, e.g., keyword stuffing.  Google is incredibly sophisticated now with its recognition of similar words.  Many times you will see results that match your query but not with the exact same keywords. Repeating one word throughout a Hub to match it with other keywords is not as necessary as it once was.  There is a balance and when SEO interfers with readablility, Google will know.  (This is more general advice—not specific to your Hubs.)     
      
      
      
      Congratualtions!  That is great news! Keep on, keeping on!
      
      
      
      There are many factors in Google's quality rating—grammar and spelling is one of the main factors.  We are working on improving Hubs and defeaturing low-quality content.  It's a lot harder than it sounds.  We have defeatured millions of Hubs, and we are down to 280,000 featured Hubs.  That's a lot of work we've all done!   
      
      
      
      She enjoyed working with you, too.  You are both very professional people! 

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2. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 8 years ago

   It's a concern that traffic has dropped - one can only assume it's because one of those rewritten sentences contained a phrase that was being searched for?  Perhaps it's worth taking another look at them?

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   1. 61

      TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      You probably have a point. I thought it might be the photo. I was going to change it back to what it was. I have a record of the sentences. There were about five.

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      1. 86

         Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Perhaps you could ADD back the photo as an extra image rather than replacing?

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3. 70

   makingamarkposted 8 years ago

   Did you get a chance to make a proper archive before they started work?
   
   Google is not focused on grammar - that's just one tiny aspect of all the things it looks at.
   
   If you want one word to describe what Google is looking for it's VALUE - Does a page add anything new or improve on what we already know from the perspective of consumers searching for information on that topic?
   
   Tidying up a few sentences really does not cut it.

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   1. 61

      TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I think that google focuses on pages that already have good traffic, and if the traffic either keeps coming back or people stay on the page for quite a while, then it goes up in the SERPS.

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      1. 70

         makingamarkposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         It's actually a LOT more complicated than that Tess

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4. 61

   TessSchlesingerposted 8 years ago

   I know that we were supposed to be able to revert it to the way it was. I want to do that. Only about 5 sentences were changed. The rest had to do with artwork, and while I was okay to try it and see what happens, now that I look at it with a professional eye, all of them are visually unappealing. That detracts a hell of a lot. I'm also not sure but I think some videos might have been removed. I need to check this as it has been a while.
   
   Can anyone tell me how to get it back to what it was?

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   1. 70

      makingamarkposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      You email the Techie people or do a post in their Techie bit of Forum and ask them to revert your hub to the way it was before
      
      It's your content and you have the final say on what it is

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5. 61

   TessSchlesingerposted 8 years ago

   Actually, now I'm really angry with myself. I should have taken a closer look at the illustrations. My feeling at the time was to let the editor have free reign as they wouldn't have been hired if they didn't know more than I did. I didn't have anything against the illustrations and they were okay. I just really wasn't thinking. I also can't remember what photo was attached to my hub title. That photo is absolutely vital. If it isn't hugely colourful and attractive and if it hasn't got keywords, etc. then it doesn't work. Oh, dear.
   
   I know I would have second guessed myself all the way if I hadn't accepted the hubpro, but the bottom line for me 100% is "Does it double my traffic." I was told that there is an average increase of 20%. The bottom line is that it was climbing steadily and now it's dropping.

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   1. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      The original photos will still be in your photo library somewhere - though if you're like me and never thought to classify them, it will be a slog to find them.  But they are there.

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      1. 61

         TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks. No, I didn't classify them. Is this a hub library or a google library. Just my own photos are in excess of 10,000.

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         1. 86

            Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            It's the ones you've uploaded to Hubs.  Yes, it would be a big job for me too, because it includes every photo, even ones you've long deleted.

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            1. 61

               TessSchlesingerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Okay, thanks. I've just redone the videos and photos. The one's that hubpro did just didn't work because they were too dull - didn't catch the eye. I'm hopeful I will get back some of my traffic now.

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6. 61

   TessSchlesingerposted 8 years ago

   I am pleased to say that my INTJ stats are back to normal this morning. I deleted all the Hubpro illustrations and put in illustrations and photos that caught the eye, plus were attached to the article when the link was posted elsewhere.
   
   I suspect that the problem was that the places were my link was posted had the dull picture that Hubpro put in and people had no inclination to click on it. Also people often do not read what they don't find visually pleasing. Any publisher will tell you that the cover of a book is what sells the book - not the story inside.
   
   As I said previously, I was very happy with the few sentences that were rewarded as they read much better, but I don't believe that would increase traffic.

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