Confused. Can List Based Articles Have Multiple Amazon Capsules/Links?

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   nomadspiritposted 6 years ago

   I am yet to successfully publish any articles with amazon products. I am trying to be clear on the requirements for these articles.
   I thought articles should be limited to 1-2 products, however I have seen list based articles with multiple products (ideas for gifts) on niche site, Holidappy. Would an article with say 10 recommendations for gifts, and 10 amazon capsules/ in-text links to accompany each item on the list contravene hubpages' policy?

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      Jeremy Gillposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      From what I hear, HP wants Amazon capsules to be both directly related to the main topic of your Hub and for you to offer personal experience with each product.
      
      Assuming both conditions are met for each, I suppose an article with 10 links would be fine, although some readers may feel like you're just trying to sell them something.
      
      In other words, Amazon links *can* have a place in articles, but there are many stipulations, and you may be better served focusing your efforts elsewhere (like on increasing traffic).

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         nomadspiritposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Are you saying then that it articles with higher readership make more than those with amazon products long term?

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      I'm sure there may be some articles like that, but no doubt they have been carefully crafted by experienced writers who know exactly what to do to get hubs like that published.
      
      Personally, I don't like seeing such articles because I think they are spammy.  I also think that if people want to buy products online, they'll go directly to online sites such as Amazon, EBay and others.
      
      We're not here to try to earn a quick buck or become salesmen.  We're here to write thoughtful and well researched articles that help people and/or provide them with information they may be seeking.
      
      If that type of article lends itself to showing an ad or two that is directly related and follows all the rules, then you have a winner.  However, if you don't get it right, your article will never make it to a niche site.
      
      My motto has always been "better safe than sorry", and it has always worked for me here.

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         Will Apseposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         No sign of Amazon here: https://www.google.com/search?q=best+rv … p;ie=UTF-8

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Will:  What you linked to are specialty products, most of which would not be sold on Amazon.  Amazon does not sell recreational vehicles, or any types of vehicles, just RV parts. Sites that discuss "best" when it comes to RVs are generally stating opinions, not  facts, and some are not selling RVs, just having general discussions.
            
            What one person considers to be "best" may be "worst" to another because the truth is that each travel unit, even within brands and models, are different.
            
            This is one reason I don't write such articles. I would never want to tell someone that an RV is a good one because if he bought it on my advice and it turned out to be a dud, he might want to sue me!

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               Will Apseposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               It was meant to be a simple illustration of the fact that not everyone goes straight to Amazon.
               
               Anyway, some writers could make a worthwhile page of that kind of topic. You were starting to outline a page in your answer, lol. Often, the more confused the query, and the more avenues that need to be explored, the better the page will be.
               
               As for straight and simple, product comparison pages, traffic is usually good if you can beat out what is usually fierce competition
               
               You will to need to offer something that is not going to be found on any Amazon page or eBay page, though. And that can be testing with very simple products. I prefer to write pages where the products have technical aspects that need explaining or there are a lot of related products that do slightly different things.
               
               These kinds of page can make a lot of money, and if you have a few high earners, you feel a lot better about writing 'worthy' pages that will never make much money but are helpful to others.

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                  makingamarkposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  That's not very difficult.
                  
                  The categorisation of products on Amazon is absolutely appalling and sometimes quite meaningless in relation to what a category is supposed to be about.
                  
                  So long as Amazon continues to allow people selling things to "game the system" re. categories there will be a place for articles / hubs/ website pages which provide a rationale overview of products which perform well for a defined purpose.

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   3. 92

      Sherry Hewinsposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      In addition to being directly related to the subject of the hub, and the author having personal experience with each of them, there has to be at least 300 words of text for each Amazon product.
      
      I do have an article on Spinditty with 5 Amazon products on it. They are albums that I have reviewed and recommend. So, it is possible, but is is unusual.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Just to clarify - you do not need 300 words of text for each Amazon product.
         
         You need a RATIO of 300 words per product.  So if you have a 1500-word Hub, you could have a maximum of 5 products.  However there is no rule that says you have to write 300 words about each product.
         
         I must say, until recently I thought it was now impossible to have more than three Amazon products in the same Hub, but just this week I've seen two examples of products where four were allowed.  In both cases they were very long Hubs, and the writer wrote more than one paragraph about each product, going into some detail.   I also noticed they were mainly in-text links, not capsules.  I think that's the key.

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

            I do have one hub that has four ads on it, but two are in text capsules.  So I think you're right...using the in text capsules for some of them may be the key.  However, Paul just posted a link to one of his hubs on the forums about gifts for young girls that has numerous ads, but it is very cleverly done because it is based on what he has given his own daughter.
            
            Another thing about doing this is that everybody and his brother will be writing these types of articles with the holidays fast approaching.  Competition will be fierce, and I'm not sure how well such hubs will do given those circumstances.  Also, writers will be competing with the big boys, so I'm not sure this is such a good idea.

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         2. 94

            nomadspiritposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            The list type article I was contemplating got accepted to a niche site as soon as it was published. But as soon as the editors got to it every link was removed. This even included links to websites that would make it easy to purchase the gifts I discussed (not amazon or affiliates).
            In the meantime I see other articles on the same niche-Holidappy- with multiple amazon links and tiny paragraphs discussing the products.
            My well written article (it made page 2 for the targeted keywords the same day it was picked up by Holidappy), discussed the gifts with depth, and had only one amazon product in an amazon capsule.
            I just can't help but wonder is the editors are being inconsistent in their treatment of the amazon articles.

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      yogaburnclubposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      This link will help you in understanding all that you need to know about Amazon Capsule
      
      https://hubpageshelp.com/money/Learning … d_22670856

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   Glenn Stokposted 6 years ago

   I have a hub with five Amazon capsules that was moved to ToughNickel with no problem. I have many hubs in niche sites that use Amazon (both capsules and in-text links), and none were ever snipped.
   
   As long as you follow all the rules and use the capsules to the reader's advantage, then, based on my own experience, it's acceptable to have multiple Amazon ads.
   
   In my hub where I have five Amazon capsules, it was necessary to provide all the options to the reader. I was educating the reader about TurboTax and had to discuss all the different versions. So I described each version within the respective Amazon capsules based on my own usage of the items.
   
   I see a lot of Hubbers just place empty Amazon capsules with a semi-related item in their hubs. This makes it look very much like spammy ads since it shows that the author didn't care to add any of their own value to the ad. Empty with no description of your own? Why bother?
   
   Describing your own experience with each item is one of the rules that needs be followed. Placing that description within the capsule makes the ad useful to the reader rather than just being an ad.
   
   Each item also needs to be 100% related to the title of the hub. Not just related, but actually something the title is promising to deliver.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Glenn:  You are one of the "experienced" writers I was referring to in my earlier comment.  Not too many here have your expertise or know how when it comes to doing things like using on page advertisements.  If people would follow your directions, that would be great, but I doubt many will.  It takes a very clever person who is willing to go the extra mile with ads to include them and then have their hubs moved up to niche sites.  Thus the constant complaining we hear!

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         Glenn Stokposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         TT2: Thanks so much for the word of praise. You're right that many don't follow directions. I've noticed so many who have read my hub over the past two years, about making hubs mobile friendly by avoiding right-floating capsules, have failed to follow my suggestions. They even continued using two columns with their new hubs. And now they complain that they have more work to do since HubPages is making it official.

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Yep.  Makes you kind of wonder why you give advice and help in the first place!  I think far too many writers think they can get away with cutting corners, but that never works.  I think my biggest surprise about online writing came the day when the light bulb came on and I realized that every single thing you put on the page matters.  Big lesson there!

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               Glenn Stokposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               Absolutely! Not only everything you put on the page matters, but every way you organize it matters too. I always try to make sure I organize my topics in a logical fashion with no extraneous wording. I like to stay narrowly focused on topic. Adding extra wording that adds no value to understanding is not helpful. Google seems to react to that–because the articles I see that use "bloating" just to add content, don't do well. Sorry, I think we're getting off topic for this thread. Me bad.

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                  TIMETRAVELER2posted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  Me, too...but I think what you've said here is important for people to see.

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                     Glenn Stokposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                     Thanks. That's what I had in mind. You always make useful comments that people should follow too.

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3. 90

   Nell Roseposted 6 years ago

   It seems what they say and what they do is not the same! I recently added an Amazon capsule to my Venice hub about their Mask Carnival which is celebrated every year in February. I added a capsule to buy Masks, as I collect the Venetian Masks. I have at least ten dotted around in my house on the walls. I told this, added how and why I bought them and so on. Next day, snipped! So....!

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      Marisa Wrightposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Ah, Nell, but did you say why THAT PARTICULAR mask was the best one available on Amazon?   That's what you need to do.

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         Nell Roseposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         lol! yep you are right!

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   poppyrposted 6 years ago

   Check out my article on fantasy books. It has 7 Amazon capsules and they were all accepted when the article was moved to a niche site.
   
   If you have personal experience with each item, then you can include as many as you like (I think haha).

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      nomadspiritposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      That's great Poppy! I recently the list type article I was contemplating when I asked this question, the article itself got accepted immediately upon publication to a niche site, but every single link was snipped (even the non-amazon links).  My quest continues!

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   huntnfishposted 6 years ago

   I've experimented with hubs containing various numbers of links, and found that the ones with fewer links convert better. If the hub is a product review or product comparison with Amazon in mind, your reader is likely looking for two or three solid recommendations. If you provide them with seven different options, you're not helping focus their search at all. You provide more value to the reader by distilling what might be an overwhelming number of options to a very succinct list.
   Also, it should go without saying that clear personal experience with any product you are promoting will give you an advantage with both Hubpages admin, and more importantly, your target audience.

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