Need a makeover on a hub that's not getting traffic

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   NaomiRposted 14 years ago

   If you guys could take a look at my California vacation hub, I'd appreciate it. I've tried to do everything right with it -- arranged it so ads would be at the top, added some nice personal pics and links, I just added some RSS feeds ... and it's getting almost no traffic. My Staten Island hub is way more popular ... I don't get it. Are people not visiting California anymore, or is there something else I can do to improve it? Or do I just have to be patient and wait for it to move up the ranks in Google? Thanks!

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   lrohnerposted 14 years ago

   Well, the keyword 'California Vacation' gets a decent number of searches each month, but it has some really tough competition as well. Every site returned on Google's page 1 has a PR of 4 to 7. That nut is going to be tough to crack.
   
   I try (not always successfully) to find either a niche topic (like "Eco Friendly California Vacations") within the broader topic, or one that has less competition or weaker competition.
   
   Relache did a hub on San Francisco that I think has been doing pretty well. You might want to look at that.

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   NaomiRposted 14 years ago

   Thanks, I'll think about tweaking the title.

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   shamelabboushposted 14 years ago

   I had a look and it's a very nice and organized one, but as lrohner just said, there is maybe high competetion regarding this subject. Try to versify your tages and add more. The overall is just fine. Also, you should share the topic on Digg, facebook, stumpleupon, twitter...etc I guess you already did that?

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   NaomiRposted 14 years ago

   Yeah, I've shared it and have started creating backlinks for it. My NYC hubs are all getting decent traffic with the titles I picked for those, so I'm going to see if this one works with a similar one. Thanks.

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      shamelabboushposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Good luck!

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6. 75

   NaomiRposted 14 years ago

   Thanks -- I'll let you know how it goes!

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   Leopposted 14 years ago

   I have to agree with you. I also have a hub page about reasons to visit california. I am getting a little better now with traffic but not much.. You can take a look at it. I think it takes time to get traffic on hub pages depending on the subject.

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   yoshi97posted 14 years ago

   'California Vacation Spots' could make a better title ... less competition.

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   Fiction Tellerposted 14 years ago

   Yes, I also think you should go more niche.  My personal take on this particular title is not that it's a keyword problem, it's a human-interest problem.  In this case, I believe article titling is more about psychology than anything else.
   
   For Web searchers, the difference between California and Staten Island is, like, well...it's like the difference between:
   
   Fun Things to Do on Rivers
   and
   Fun Things to Do on the Chattahoochee River
   
   The first issue is that people don't plan a vacation to a generic river (or the entire state of California)--they plan a vacation to the Amazon or to San Diego. 
   
   While there are some destinations in the States where people will gladly roam about the region--say, the DC area and environs or even Alaska (because it's *Alaska*, and when else will you get a chance?)--California's an oddly laid-out state, and few people are going to roam up and down the West coast. 
   
   So the article would function not so well as a tour guide, but be most useful to those looking for vacation spots who wanted help brainstorming where to go.  Which is how you target it now.
   
   The problem is, California is a niche state.  It means different things to different people--proximity to Mexico... Hollywood... desert... beach... art... babes... high tech... wealth... Japanese culture... Hispanic culture... gay culture... Disneyland... etc., etc.  And it's got scads of big "niche" cities. 
   
   Which means someone who doesn't know where they want to go will not be saying, "I want to go to California," but "I want to go to a beach resort with lots of beautiful people...how about California?"  They're just more likely to have a particular California city, destination or region in mind---"Fun Things to Do in San Jose" or "Fun Things to Do on the California Beach" or even "Historical Sites of California"
   
   So--here's the point--even if they search for "fun things to do in California" and your article turns up in the search, they're less likely to click on it, because they have a specific idea in mind and they want something answering that specific idea.  Same with if your article turns up in search results because of one of the specific features you include deeper in the article.  Either way, the title doesn't lure a person in with "Aha!  There's what I need!"  Instead it suggests that the visitor will need to scour the article to see if it's got the information they want.  And they're looking for information on the Internet, which means they want it FAST.  Which is why specific is much better than broad.
   
   Hope this helps.  And again, that's my slant as I imagine being the person who searches for California vacations, and what I'd think.
   
   Best of luck!

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      viryaboposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Great advice if i may say so.

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         Fiction Tellerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you, I'm glad it makes sense.
         
         FT

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    NaomiRposted 14 years ago

    These are great ideas - thanks!!

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    darksideposted 14 years ago

    How long ago did you publish it?

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    relacheposted 14 years ago

    My hub on California travel does great.  The trick, IMO, is to focus on something really specific and build a nice niche for the Hub that way.

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    Leopposted 14 years ago

    Thanks everyone for this great information. This really helps me focus on the major points on my hubs especially the one about california. Now I have some ideas on what to do.

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