2 Years of My Traffic Compared to Quantcast Graph

1. 91

   Blake Flanneryposted 11 years ago

   
   
   This is a side by side comparison of my hub traffic compared to the Quantcast graph for the same last two year period.  So, what are the implications?  What are your experiences?

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2. 71

   Lauryallanposted 11 years ago

   Hi Blake, I am experiencing consistently lower traffic every month. Right now I have hit an all time low in traffic figures. Now I can't even seem to hit 1000 views a day, which used to be really easy. At one point I was up at almost 6000 visitors a day, earlier in the year. It's not as much as someone like yourself, but I felt my account was building nicely and that if you put in the work the rewards would come. Now I am struggling to figure out where to go from here.

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   1. 91

      Blake Flanneryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Lauryallen, I was just trying to figure out if there is anything I should be doing differently.  I have spent a lot of time making my hubs "better" over the last half a year only to watch traffic decrease.  I've tried a lot of the speculative things that have come up in the forums and what the HP people such as Paul Edmondson have suggested. 
      At this point, when I compare, it looks like my own subdomain is at the mercy of the overall ranking the Google is giving the entire site.  I just want to know if others are experiencing the same thing.  I still like Hubpages the best, and I am hopeful that the entire site can bounce back like what I experienced with the subdomain switch last summer.

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      1. 71

         Lauryallanposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I can understand that Blake and would love to see the entire site bounce back too.  I think a lot of hubbers are experiencing the same thing. However, I have heard of hubbers that have more traffic than they've ever had before. I have no idea what it is that they are doing differently, but I would love to know!

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   2. 82

      David 470posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I used to be around 6000 views earlier this year as well....Back in 2011 I was above 10,000 temporarily.
      
      I sure hope I can get 1000s of views again.....

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      1. 91

         Blake Flanneryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I have noticed that I just don't rank for keywords much shorter than three words any more.  I am still ranking for long-tail terms.  I am up for any suggestions if anyone knows something that helps, even though I've tried quite a few different things.

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3. 0

   redwhiskeypeteposted 11 years ago

   I like hubpages. That being said I think I would do alot of posting on my blog instead to get traffic but like many google canceled my adsense account with no explantion so I'm with hubpages so I can use their hubearnings program. My traffic is way down also on here. Seems to be creeping up a littole without me doing anything but still it's way down from a month ago.

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   1. 91

      Blake Flanneryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Redwhiskeypete, I didn't think you could use the HP ad program if you didn't have an adsense account.  Did that change?

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      1. 0

         redwhiskeypeteposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         they cancelled my adsense account but on my settings it says it's still valid so it looks like I'm earning money

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   2. 72

      relacheposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      If you don't have AdSense, you can't use the HubPages Ad Program...

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4. STAFF

   Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

   Google keeps telling us it's all about content quality, but like you said, you've improved Hubs and seen little change.  While I think part of what Google says is true, I think Google is digesting changes very slowly.  For example, when we idled Hubs, the vast majority are still indexed (our guess is 10 to 15% have been removed) over two months later, even though Google has crawled many of them several times.  If reducing content in Google's index changes rankings, It appears Google doesn't want  to see quick changes in a sites rankings nor does it want anything to be obvious that influences a sites rankings. 
   
   We are taking a long term view that long format, useful rich pages, will do well.

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5. 91

   Blake Flanneryposted 11 years ago

   Thanks Paul for giving me hope.  I had no idea that the idled hubs are not being deindexed quickly.  What you say makes a lot of sense, because I am sure Google doesn't want it to be obvious what helps rankings.  I remember when we got relief with the sub-domain switch.  The instantaneous explosion of traffic was an obvious confirmation of what worked.
   
   I've noticed that my traffic has been declining very slowly, but steadily.  I am hopeful for a slow and steady reverse of that trend.

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6. STAFF

   Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

   There are some that are doing better than ever.  It's really hard to tell why when comparing people that do a really good job.
   
   I think we need to continue to raise the bar so that we have the preponderance of really great Hubs, and give it time for the changes we've made to work through.

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7. 60

   paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

   "Right now
   3
   active visitors on site"
   
   I don't know whether to be happy or not....

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8. 91

   Blake Flanneryposted 11 years ago

   Paul, you have the data on the entire site and sub-domains to see what is going on, and with the graphs taken away that the "success stories" used to display, I don't have much to compare to these days.  Any info you have for us would be awesome.  I think every other week updates from HP staff people could be a cool thing to help motivate me to write more.  If nothing else, you could let us know some of the data you are getting from HubPages as it correlates to Google updates and various sub-domains.  But maybe Google doesn't want you do give this information to the public?
   
   I'll try waiting more months, even though waiting and improving hubs seems to be lowering my traffic by 10-20% per month.  This site has been a blessing and a great opportunity, so I can't rip on HP!

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9. 59

   topclassposted 11 years ago

   It ain't all bad - my other sub
   
   

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   1. 71

      Lauryallanposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Topclass, why do you think that sub domain is doing so well? Is there something you are doing differently on there that others could learn from?

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      1. 59

         topclassposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Publish many hubs.
         I think that Interlinking between your hubs that are related is important as well as linking out to 'authority'  pages on the topic. This builds authority and benefits users who may click and read another page. Google seems to value these links. The best links are those within the body of the text. But a simple list of 5-10 links in a text capsule is next best (don't use the rss links because of duplication issue). Make sure they are closely related.
         Apart from that the key is finding popular competitive topics and carefully crafting the titles by doing keyword research. It seems its a bit of a lottery and hard to predict which ones will work - so buy a lot of tickets! Also try changing the title to try to boost traffic.

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   2. 91

      Blake Flanneryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Topclass, that's a lot of hubs being published.  I don't see anything real spectacular, but I do see that publishing new hubs may be more beneficial than trying to fix old hubs.  That may be where I should focus my energy now.

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      1. 59

         topclassposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I think that Google's freshness test has caused many of the older evergreens to wither and die.
         My guess is that 6 months is a good run now.
         Three things happen - your hubs gets copied, several people see your success and write something similar, and Google says your hub is stale.

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         1. 82

            pinappuposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            "Three things happen - your hubs gets copied, several people see your success and write something similar, and Google says your hub is stale."
            
            I don't think getting copied has any negative impact. Big G knows which one is the original ( spoiler - the first indexed one). If people writes something similar then I think it can be helpful to rank you even better because you would get a back link via related hubs from a highly relevant unique article.

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            1. 59

               topclassposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               "Big G knows which one is the original ( spoiler - the first indexed one)."
               I'd love to see some proof of this! It applies within a URL but not externally. Even worse there is evidence that Google doesn't care!
               Google shows the best ranking one in the SERPS! One of the benefits of HP is that your page may rank a little higher and so stay ahead of the copies. That is ultimately the only way to beat copies - out rank them!

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               1. 91

                  Blake Flanneryposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  I agree with you on this Topclass, and I have seen a lot of copies of my content.  I have reported some, when there are google products involved, but not all.

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10. 54

    ocbillposted 11 years ago

    I never had that many views in a day. I can see with the comment that it is not the topic it is something else driving it down.

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11. STAFF

    Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

    There is very little meaningful data we have from on site metrics that correlate with a good author going up or down.
    
    The best data we have is the characteristics of Hubs doing well. They are much longer than average (850+ words).  Have 5 plus photos and use many additional capsules.

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12. 96

    PaulGoodman67posted 11 years ago

    Some very useful and intersting information in this thread.
    
    I can appreciate that there may well be very good publicity reasons for taking down the 'success stories' graphs.  But I would agree with Blake that they were useful, as they were a reasonable sample of how individuals and the site were performing.
    
    Without the graphs, we are left with just Quantcast and comments in the forums, which are pretty blunt instruments.
    
    Is there no way that the success stories graphs, or something along similar lines, could be made available to HP members only (rather than the general public)?

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13. STAFF

    Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

    I wouldn't describe the freshness algorithm the same way as @topclass, but there does appear to be a benefit of continually improving a Hub.

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14. 82

    pinappuposted 11 years ago

    Sub-domains of Hubpages are mainly depended on the main site for authority. It gives the most link juice to the SDs. The feed and other places have high page ranks 5 or 6. These links used to propel the hubs in SERPs in the past. But after the Panda and Penguin Google does not value page rank so much. That is why the authoritative value of H.P. is a bit lower to big G's eyes. That is why our new hubs are struggling to rank high.

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15. 89

    Will Apseposted 11 years ago

    The problem with writing new hubs to make up for traffic loss is that 'pending' really does seem to be a page killer. None of my pages that have been through pending (mainly on my secondary subdomains) are getting any traffic.
    
    On my main domain, I am spared 'pending' and pages get the kind of reactions, visitor-wise that I would expect.
    
    I think idling poorly performing pages is fine, people will come round to it. But 'pending' is a real motivation killer.

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    1. 82

       pinappuposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       It is true that pending means waiting 24 hours for your hubs to be allowed to be crawled is a real motivation killer. No post pending hubs are doing well.

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    2. 71

       Lauryallanposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Will how is it that you are spared "pending" on your main account?

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       1. 89

          Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Dunno.

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16. 89

    Will Apseposted 11 years ago

    One of the things I noticed when I had a hub pending (or perhaps just out) was that someone had helped himself and used twyler to 'create a page' with it.
    
    You tweet a page and twyler takes the first paragraph and picture. It gives you a link to your page but the user gets to put their own link on the page.
    
    The guy who tweeted my page was linking to a chinese gambling site at the time. So my content was being used to provide links to a very bad neighborhood before it had even been indexed by Google.
    
    hxxp://www.twylah.com/WriterSC
    
    The gambling link is down at the moment, which is no bad thing but the guy still likes tweeting fresh content from HP.

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17. 51

    TankMemicposted 8 years ago

    I see that a lot of people are complaining about how their traffic isn't as high as it used to be. There are reasons for this, and it's not all HP's fault.
    
    First of all, I want through a bunch of your profiles and read the names of the articles. They sound boring. No offence, but you're hitting a very small niche audience that just doesn't sit on the internet all day. Go for current news and technology. How to, and things like that. Not "A guide on Tree Bark." Who would read that? Seriously?
    
    When I did see a interesting title, it was written poorly. Not in the sense that you can't write properly, but the keywords aren't as great as the could be. Pick a few keywords and use them every paragraph, if you want clicks. If you don't, then just keep doing what you're doing.
    
    I don't mean to call any of you bad at your jobs, or hobbies, but I just see room for improvement. I don't claim to be an expert, and my work doesn't speak for me, but I'm very new to this field, and I am just now getting into writing. I make a few dollars a month, and I am happy. Now I just want to grow that, but you guys are making tens and hundreds of dollars a month, based on your views, and you're unhappy? Make a website, write there, get a few hundred articles, start a blog, make videos, post your music, work with others, and use some of the money to advertise. That's how you  make a living. If you're complaining about your hobby not making enough money, then it's not a hobby. And if you don't care about the views, it's not a job.
    
    If anyone wants to talk, message me. I would be happy to help anyone with things like SEO and Keywords, and about the best topics.

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    1. 89

       Will Apseposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       'Pick a few keywords and use them every paragraph'
       
       Never thought of that.
       
       How much do you charge for your SEO expertise?

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       1. 51

          TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          I don't charge anything for advice.
          And I'm not an expert, I just read and watch videos a lot on writing and marketing. Eventually I want to launch a website where I can do whatever I want. Instead of conforming to HP's limitations. I just want start up capitol and experience, that's what I'm getting here. Hopefully.

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          1. 91

             Blake Flanneryposted 8 years agoin reply to this

             You need less than $100 to start your own website well. The tough part is taking care of it well. Good luck.

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             1. 51

                TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                It's not hard. It's like posting articles, once a week, but you get to decide what to post, and things like how long it's going to be and things like that.

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                1. 91

                   Blake Flanneryposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                   You can choose to misspell words, copy other people's content, add spammy links, and choose your favorite color. If its autonomy you're wanting, you'll find it. Just keep in mind that there's always someone to answer to. In this case, it'll be your audience instead of HP staff. I think the HP staff are easier to please.

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                   1. 51

                      TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                      No I still want to put the work in, I just want to be able to write about and write how I want, and use the content I want to write with. I still expect to put work in, just in my own domain.
                      
                      And I still have to please an audience here, as well as the HP staff. HP staff has been easy, so far, and I think that the audience is all about your content.

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             2. 51

                TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                And having your own website allows you to do thinks like let friends write, and other people over the internet. I think that overall it's a better idea, and hubpages and websites like it are better suited for being a starting point into the "writing game."

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    2. 89

       Will Apseposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       I just read this a second time and it still made me smile. So, well done for that.
       
       Anyway, I suppose I should update my 'Which Tree Barks do Birds Like Best?' hub and stuff it full with keywords. Then I can do something interesting like play a video game.

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       1. 51

          TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          No that's not how it works. You need to write the whole thing to make it sound good, with keywords. I tried to do that in my most recent Hub, and I think I did well. It's not all about stuffing it like a turkey, but instead adding keywords in place of words, where it makes sense. 
          
          Like if you're talking about you Lamborghini you might say something like this: "The car goes 150 milers per hour, compared to the...." but instead you could say: "The Lamborghini Gallardo goes 150 milers per hour..."
          
          You see my point? Not like this: My car, the lamborghini gallardo is really fast, almost as fast as my ferrari f5... The laborghini is a really good looking car. The lamborghini has 18 inch tires, and the lamborghini also has two cup holders.

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          1. 97

             theraggededgeposted 8 years agoin reply to this

             LOL! Very funny thread. It's like a sitcom with everyone at cross purposes.
             
             "Milers" - Smilers!

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          2. 89

             Will Apseposted 8 years agoin reply to this

             I think that you are entirely sincere and I hope that Hubpages works out for you. I think you should try to ease yourself into the whole forum thing a bit more slowly though.
             
             Read a bit more about SEO, perhaps. Especially more up to date stuff. The whole keywords thing has moved on a long way from the time you had to shout at search engines to get them to understand what the page is about.
             
             Mostly these days keywords in the title and then just natural usage of English is enough.
             
             Also, try not to tell other people that their pages are boring and they do not have a clue.
             
             If you do that they will start making fun of you. And, for better or worse, you do not notice irony.

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18. 81

    Mark Ewbieposted 8 years ago

    That keywords in every paragraph is good advice.
    
    First thing I learned was putting keywords in every paragraph.
    
    Some people said "Don't put keywords in every paragraph".
    
    "Why should I not put keywords in every paragraph?" I replied.
    
    "Because you sound like a moron... putting keywords in every paragraph" they said.
    
    So I bought a thesaurus.  Now my paragraphs have keywords in all of them but in a slightly different order.  Sometimes using different words.  This is called brilliant SEO and it can only be a matter of time before I can start charging people to use it.

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    1. 51

       TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       I love that you brought one, when there is google. But whatever. I like the tip, simply it can't hurt.

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       1. 81

          Mark Ewbieposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          We differ on that.
          
          Yes the page needs to be about something.  But if it is sufficiently about something and pleasing to viewers it may get traffic.
          
          If it is keyword stuffed - it won't.  It will irritate your readers - if they bother to read and may get a Google penalty.
          
          If I was talking to someone and they used the same phrase or nearly in every 'paragraph' I would assume they were a moron. This feeling would not help them sell their message.
          
          Once again though I have falling for thinking there is any point in posting on forums.  Apologies for that.  Carry on.

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          1. 51

             TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

             Let me explain a bit better.  It's to be used in moderation but if you're going to stuff every sentence with a phrase, it won't work like you said.
             
             Google likes to use the words, the words in phrases, phrases, and synonyms. So If i was talking about Apple, I could use iPhone, iOS and Oranges. Google isn't smart to make know what kind of Apple you're talking about, so it uses keywords of both.
             
             Doing a bit of research on what Google likes can go a long way. I suggest it, so you know what it's thinking at all times, so when you write something like My favorite computer is the MSI... you can instead go My favorite PC is the MSI... simple changes matter.

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             1. 81

                Mark Ewbieposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                OK thanks.
                
                What are your views on copyright and your Breaking Bad profile picture?

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                1. 51

                   TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                   I just loved the Breaking Bad show while I was making the account, so I just threw a picture into illustrator and messed with it a bit. I thought it looked cool, left it on the computer and finally found a use for it.
                   
                   When it comes to copyright, what do you mean? Like copying someones work and posting it, taking someone else's work and changing it a little and posting it, or are you talking about using other people's work to get facts for your work? I like copyright, I don't want to be doing other's peoples work for them and I don't want handouts. I'd rather read about a subject, learn about it, then write my article about that topic, in a new creative way or something like that.

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                   1. 81

                      Mark Ewbieposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                      I love Breaking Bad too.  They are pretty hot on copyright issues but maybe altering it and using it for fair use is OK.  I'm not a legal expert.
                      
                      I do know that Zazzle rejected a cartoon I did of Breaking Bad - that's why I mentioned it.  HubPages don't seem to care much.

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                      1. 51

                         TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                         Yeah if you change something a ton; like 55% or something, it's then considered different enough. Great show by the way, how did you like the ending?

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                         1. 81

                            Mark Ewbieposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                            I guess it had to end some way and they probably did the best they could.  But I didn't want it to end bitch.

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                            psycheskinnerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                            If the original can be easily identified by eye, it is a derivative work and thus violating the copyright of the original.

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                            1. 51

                               TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                               If you watch this video https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Yb4nKFKKcGQ
                               by film theory you might like the show a bit more, or maybe not.

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    2. 89

       NateB11posted 8 years agoin reply to this

       Lol

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19. 51

    TankMemicposted 8 years ago

    I see now that people liked that tip "a keyword every paragraph" so I though that I could help some more people by doing some peer review. If you want message me, over hubpages, and we can get into contact over skype or something and do some proofreading and bounce ideas off of each other. I find having people to talk to about your hobbies is nice, especially when they do what you do.

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    1. 97

       EricDockettposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       Why in the world would anyone seek advice from someone who said:
       
       "I don't claim to be an expert, and my work doesn't speak for me, but I'm very new to this field, and I am just now getting into writing. I make a few dollars a month . . ."
       
       ???
       
       There is already enough of the blind leading the blind around here.

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       1. 96

          DrMark1961posted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Oh come on, play nice. He did earn the accolade for 5 featured hubs, and he has only been here 18 months.

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          1. 51

             TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

             Thanks man, I appreciate it. I'm quite new to writing articles. I started this account a while ago, but I recently just started to make hubs because I saw that there was actual money in it. Before I just did it because I was testing different websites, to see if they would actually pay, and hubpages did.
             So now I see that it works, so I'm going to dedicate more time into writing articles, hopefully something like one a day or at least a few a week. That's my goal.

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       2. 51

          TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Alright. I see how it is. Make assumptions about someone just because they're haven't been on the website for even two years. I have written 7 articles. I'm good at what I do, or at least I'm trying to get better. You've written like 20 articles about birds. Who reads about birds? Do you research.
          When they say "Pick a niche topic" they mean something like technology or art or sports, or pets and animals. Not something so specific that you limit yourself to like 5000 readers. Seriously, who reads your hubs, half of them are about birds...
          
          No offence to birds, they are quite resilient, but people don't want to read about birds, they want something new, and exciting, or informative. They want action, easy to read, not long and complicated. Not saying that you're doing all of that, but probably some of it. My goal: When I have 50 hubs, I will be doing 1,000 visitors daily. When I have 100, I want to have 10,000 visitors daily. I plan to improve, not replicate an old model. It's all about evolution, not replication.

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             EricDockettposted 8 years agoin reply to this

             My comment was not so much for your benefit as for the benefit of any poor soul who might read your statement and take you up on your offer.
             
             Thanks for the expert advice, though.

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                TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                Are you telling me that my advice is false? I like you to prove your claim. I don't think I'm an expert, that why I said that exact phrase, but you SOMEHOW got the exact opposite idea from that. I just gave people a tip, and you refute it without any explanation.

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20. 89

    Will Apseposted 8 years ago

    I will feel guilty tomorrow if I get involved in this.
    
    I can't help offering some advice, though.
    
    Don't always assume people mean what they say.

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    1. 51

       TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       What do you mean?

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       1. 89

          Will Apseposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          It is hard to say.

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             makingamarkposted 8 years agoin reply to this

             'Irony' is a good word.
             
             (P.S. Yet another old thread resurrected! I do wish people would learn how to start their own threads rather than digging up ones which are 3 years old! When is HubPages going to start locking up threads which haven't had a post for over a year?)

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                TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                Yeah I'd rather them delete the threads, so I can't find them, start reading, and want to post my own thoughts but not be allowed to.

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                   makingamarkposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                   I think we'd all rather you looked at how old they are first....

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                      TankMemicposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                      Selfish way of thinking.

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21. 91

    Rock_njposted 8 years ago

    My traffic has been rising slowly but steadily over this time period.  I attribute this to adding Hubs that include more searchable topics.  Not a big increase for me over this time period, but a noticeable increase.

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