Advice for Success on HubPages
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HUBPAGES
I have friends who have recently expressed interest in Hubbing. They asked me a lot of questions about my experience doing it and as I ruminated on it, I decided maybe I could help some folks, though I am far from any kind of expert.
The prime purpose of your Hub is to get your message across in an articulate yet simple way, so that it is easily understood but also keeps the reader's interest to the finish line. I recommend writing your Hub on Microsoft Word first. Do not stop to edit as you go. Just let the words flow until you have written what you want to express. Then be patient.
EDITING YOUR HUBS
To edit my words, I prefer to read them out loud. Anything not well said, fix it. I especially try not to repeat myself or use the same word too many times. If you have made a point, there is no need to make it again. If you notice the same verb or noun several times in a paragraph, think of replacement words to use instead for variety. Look for any words you can simply delete without changing your message. The less words the better. While we are on that subject, let's talk about Hub length.
HUBS
I highly recommend starting out with Hubs that are 500 to 700 words in length. A great feature of Word is that it has a word counter on the lower left. If you start out by publishing 4,000 word Hubs, the odds are slim anybody is going to read them. You are an unknown. Keep it short until you have a substantial fan base. Once you are established, you can safely up the word count to 1,000 to 1,500 without much fanfare. I waited until I had over 100 fans before I wrote long Hubs of 2,000 to 3,000 words—and I try to avoid doing that. I still publish some in the 800-1500 range mixed in with the long ones. You don't want to get the reputation of always publishing essays. Readers have a short attention span.
HUB PAGES
If your message must be longer, break it up into several Hubs; but I do not advise using the same title with "part two" "part three" etc. In my experience anyway, it is better to give each Hub its own unique title. One thing I would not do is publish more than one Hub per day. I publish three per week, myself. You can't expect people to read 100 Hubs a month by one author. I would not have more Hubs than you have fans.
Be sure to run "spell check" before you decide your writing is done. And take a look at your punctuation and spacing. By spacing, I mean I wouldn't write 600 words in one long paragraph. Each paragraph should make its own point in your overall message. Paragraphs break up the words to make reading easier on the eyes. Look at the paragraphs on this page. That is symmetry.
MAKE IT PRETTY
After each sentence ends, leave two spaces before your next sentence starts. A sentence is the same thing as a thought. Now that the writing has concluded, you're going to need photos. Some people use a lot of videos, but in my case I have found that only 10% of the readers actually watch the video. However, photos are sometimes viewed more than the Hub is read. I see Hubs with no photos, but unless you are Shakespeare, I could not recommend more highly the use of photos to make your Hubs interesting.
IMAGES FOR YOUR HUBS
If I don't have my own photos to use that match my subject, I go to Google and search for images that relate to my paragraphs. I try to use one photo for each 100 to 200 words with a minimum of five. I do not use the first appropriate image I see. I go through at least 3 pages of images and sometimes more. Pay close attention to the clarity of the image, as well as the statistics below them (750 X 530 - 65kb for example). You may see the same image available from several sources. The higher these numbers are the better. Notice the source of the photos and try not to use images from other bloggers, especially other Hubbers. Many great images are available from government sites, universities, museums, and encyclopedias (including Wikipedia). I wouldn't use images with a copyright stamped on them. Save the images you want to your Desktop.
HUBPAGES
Now let's go to HubPages and create your Hub. The first step is to select the category that best suits your article. Then input at least 5 to 7 keywords. There are advanced ways of doing this, but the simple version is to look at your paragraphs and use the most important words—or series of words—that best fit what you wrote about.
Once you are on the "Assemble Your Capsules" page, on the upper right you can add capsules for text and photos. It is nice, but not that important, to have close to an equal number of text and photo capsules. Line them up "photo, text, photo, text," leaving the comment box last always (and only one of those please). You can move them up and down with the arrows.
PHOTOS FOR YOUR HUBS
Upload your photos from your Desktop; cut and paste your words into the text capsules. Be sure to label your photos and your text capsules—hopefully with the Keywords you have chosen. When your capsules are all assembled, I recommend that you hit the sideways arrow on each of your photos which will embed the photos into your text (actually to the right of your text). This is pleasing to the eye. You will have words running down the left of your Page and photos running down the right—hopefully balanced. One more important item: If your photos look blurry, there is a little box in the lower right of the open "photo capsule" that says "full width" and drops down to 1/2 or 1/4 width. Try "full width" first, but narrow them until they are clear.
COMMENTS
I will close with tips on how to get your Hubs read. You need fans. First, always check back as often as possible to see if you have comments. If you do, respond to them cordially regarding what they wrote —each one individually. When you get a comment, go see who they are and if you are interested in what they write about become their fan. If you do, read one of their Hubs and leave a comment so they know you were there. If you don't like their work or have nothing to say, it's best to move on. The best comment addresses what you like about their Hub specifically; instead of just "attaboy."
To get fans you have to be a fan. This does not mean to just run around and fan everybody. Heaven forbid. There are so many Hubs and Hubbers that this is not necessary. Use the index of both to find people writing things you want to read. If you don't like poetry, don't fan a poet. I would read 10 or 12 Hubs a day (I used to read 3 or 4 times that many). My title has the word "success" in it. By this I am not referring to making money. I am referring to the joy of writing; being proud of your work; and having your Hubs read and appreciated by other people.
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Comments
Great suggestions James. I appreciate the tips. As a newbie here, it helps to have great advice from someone who has a proven track record.
Hi James! This is exactly what I do. I'm sure it's going to be useful for other visitors as well.I'm getting decent traffic following these techniques. However, I love uploading more than one video in my hubs which works for my kind of hubs. Did you mention the importance of using proper tags? Sorry if I overlooked that.
creativeone59— You are my first reader. What prize do we have for the lady, Ned?
I am glad to be of service. My wife told me not to do this Hub. She said, "Don't give away your secrets! You will be helping your competition!" So, I wanted to write this a month ago because of things I see from new Hubbers that I know are going to disadvantage them.
Anyway, it is not a competition. It is a Community. I love my fellow Hubbers. If you have any questions, email me and I'll be pleased to help.
bayareagreatthing— Thank you. I struggled at first to figure things out and saw lots of Hubs that supposedly were to teach me how to make money but not much on how to truly enjoy the experience and the community. So, as paltry as it is, this is what I wish someone had told me. :-)
anjalichugh— Your Hubs are always well done. Thank you for reminding me I should have mentioned "Tags" which are the same thing as "Keywords." But I should have mentioned that because it is easy to get confused at first. It is always a pleasure to be visited by you.
Hi James, an awesome Hub as always. So many tips I confess I printed this one for reference. Success in writing comes from a williness to not only learn but a williness to share success with others.
God Bless you for your williness James.
I thank you for a well written, well laid out and very informative hub. It is great.
"Quill"— Thank you so much for your kind comments. I am willing.
Hello, hello,— You are welcome and I thank you.
Good morning James,Seems we cross paths at just any hour of the day. I have been wondering how to get some photos and captions on board. Thanks for the tips.Most helpful.By the way, where were you and the better half on top of the tall building?
This is very helpful thank you for this.
Great helpful info. I actually learned that I can move the photos - I like this idea of having them to the right of the text. I wonder how I didn't spot that you could do that! I am still just bumbling along so it is good to get your tips. Thanks.
I found the section on photos most helpful. (I'm not there yet in my own hubbing, but you gave a terrific tutorial.) The point about not having more hubs than fans I found to be a bit arbitrary. (Different strokes for different folks.) Sometimes a writer gets a burning idea for a hub, but this particular rule might keep a hub from being written, just because the writer didn't have enough fans yet. I fully agree with the concept of brevity---make the reader want to come back for more.
This is good information on the layout and content choices for a hub, you are right about short attention spans as well.
I am sure many people will not read all the content unless they are really very interested in what you are writing about or the hub is configured to break the text up a little.
James it's always good to have a lesson from the master. Thank you my friend.
This hub is a perfect example of why you have so many fans. You have heart, and it shows.
I also like the way you break your hubs up. I tend to just put the information all in one place, but you give it different sections which is nicer looking. You are also right about the pictures. I only use my own pictures, though.
Have a wonderful day!
Ah,,, ok. The editing thing I think I had down pretty good but it is better for me to edit reading it off paper, but I will try to save on ink cartidges so I try to not hit the print button.
I have a weird way editing my writting but have to go the very scenic, long way around something.
When I am reading it to myself if I tend to read it three or four times, Checking for; 1st rd; does it make sense, 2nd is capped and are the words used right (talking about words that have different spellings, (I don't so this often but of all them I WOULD SAY MY BIGGEST COMPLICATION RE THE FIRST ALL BE THERE', THEY'RE THEIRS. But there are tohers
I actually haveto come back it after taking many breaks.
Thank u for publishing this blog,, i wonded how u "pro" "seasoned" and "well,,, experienced bloggers.
Hey u can feel free to post like this as many as u like, If you posted 100 day,,, well I would be impressed. But to me that is like being in a 5 mile traffic game, everybody know itis
This is a terrific "go-by" for new hubbers; very well written and concise. I enjoyed reading it, James.
Thought I'd mention that you didn't point out the new 'quick' capsule adding/inserting when positioning your cursor on the left side of the page when creating or editing a hub. It's my favorite new technique to use to create my hubs.
Great advice James. I wish more people would take the time to check for spelling mistakes. My inbox is flooded daily by people publishing 10 or more hubs a day, then when I get there it's like a five year old wrote it, It's worse then spam in my book.
Thank you so much for this advise I am new at computers all I have is a book on vistas and office and websites. I want to start a website for other patriots who want to have their voices heard and to hunt for our own representatives, we need christian men and women who'[ll work hard to represent the obvious majority, we just dont have a voice.
Thanks James for the tips. It is very helpful for beginners.
Unfortunately, I do not know how many words I have written because I have some problem with my provider and cannot start from Word. I cannot safely transfer the article to the hub site. Now I first type on Yahoo page and have no problem, but have to go back and forth from paragraph to paragraph. I am not a prolific writer for I like to quote a lot and have to check that my quotes are correct.
I am not quite clear about putting the photo to the right, but will look into this.
Your subjects are very varied and I do appreciate them. I am glad you are still writing. God bless.
James, these are some great tips. I wish you would have written it prior to my part one, two and three series. We all aspire to be like you. "attaboy" :)
James, what a great Hub! Like all of your hubs, it was written succinctly and clearly. What I really like most about your hubs is they are easily understood. Even "The History of Art" was easily understood. I read once that "the art of writing is brevity." I think that means the art of writing is saying it with as few words as possible. Being superfluous is bad. No one likes to sit next to two old guys or gals (or young) and listen to how they go over and over the same material or try to squeeze more juice out of a good story, making it boring. But that's what we must guard against in writing. You always use great action verbs and your visuals are outstanding. I learned a lot from this article.
Don White
Rick Marlow— It is always my pleasure to see you have left a comment for me. Thank you for words of affirmation.
That would be the World Trade Center, August, 2001.
i'll follow you almost anywhere, my friend.
jesusmyjoy— I am pleased that you will find it useful. You are welcome and thank you for letting me know you were here. :)
Catherine R— I'm glad you find it helpful. This means I accomplished my mission! :-) Thank you for your comments and you are most welcome, too.
patful— I suppose that is a bit arbitrary. It's not hard and fast, to be sure. I think it just looks inverted to me for the top number below the author's name to be smaller. Might just be a quirk of mine. I have lots of quirks. :D
Maybe what I should have said is, if your numbers are inverted take some time in the community to introduce yourself around a bit more. But I agree it would not be good to hold back on the urge to write. One could explode!
Thanks, Pat. Always a joy to hear from you.
Thx James I need all the help I can get !!1
BrianS— Thank you. Your Travel Hubs always look great. They move right along and have fine pictures. The pic you used of Mayrhofen was gorgeous.
I appreciate you coming by and leaving word.
Tom Whitworth— I am considered a sage—at Bedlam. :D
You are welcome, Tom. You are one of my favorites.
advisor4qb— You know, I messed up there about sourcing photos. I use lots of my own pictures, too, and that's always better. I should have mentioned that. Thanks for bringing that to mind.
You warm my heart with your gracious comments. Thank you!
franki79— I agree with you about printing off your Hubs. I do that sometimes, too. But I still read them aloud. Something about the spoken word, at least for me, makes it easy to pick out things I wish I had said better than I did. I also like what you said about taking a break. It is good to walk away and watch a movie or something and then come back and reread what you wrote. I also read them the day after I publish them and usually find a few little things to tweak.
Thank you for coming and you are welcome.
Lily Rose— Thank you for your kind comments.
I didn't know about the quick capsule you mentioned. I never got the memo. :-)
I'm glad you mentioned that. I'll check it out next time I publish a Hub. I'm not very computer savvy. That's one reason I love HubPages; the platform is so easy to use that even I can do it!
Scott.Life— I had to laugh. I know exactly what you mean. You know the worst, is when the title is misspelled. LOL!
And yea, when people send me ten Hubs in one day—I don't read any of them. It's like: How dare you! :D
Thanks for chiming in, brother. Your stuff is great.
James, I truly appreciate the time you set aside to walk hubbers, new and old alike, through the process of creating a successful hub. Great advice all around my friend!
Good stuff, James. Affirmed some things I was figuring out as I went along.
I'm glad you decided to write this Hub regardless of suggestions against doing it. It shows a willingness to teach as well as learn. And that's a good thing.
You have touched on some topics I have considered writing about, now I will rethink them.
Good work, and it never hurts to remind people how to use spell check.
Taking the time to get it right gives a professional impression and encourages others to come back and read other hubs.
James! Thank you so much for this hub. I actually learned something new about the photos that get uploaded! Funny, what your wife said about "not giving away secrets." Very cute. I do believe that the more you put out there to help people, the more surprises you get in life. When I give extra time or information to people, I never expect anything in return, but a lot of good things have come from it. This is what makes a community. I always appreciate your honesty! Oh yea! LOVe the old pic of you ;
GPAGE
linda-patriot— You are quite welcome. I started a couple websites using WordPress. But for what you are talking about a professional web site designer would be best to attract membership. You have a good idea. Go for it!
einron— You are welcome. It's nice to hear from you.
You could always count them. :D (I have actually done that many times in the past.)
It is very important to get your quotes right. Regarding the photos: if your photo capsule is directly above your text capsule and you hit the sideways arrow on the photo capsule it should drop right down into the text (on the right side of the words).
Thank you very much for visiting. God Bless You!
jiberish— Thank you, dear. Serializing isn't that bad. Probably just me. Dickens did it. :D
Lord, I hope not. Even I don't want to be like me.
attaboy ;)
that was great--now if we could just get every hubber to read this upon signing up lol
All good solid advice James, but how do I make more dosh(aka money)
dusanotes— Why, thank you, Don. I have a brother who constantly repeats himself. I have a brother who constantly repeats himself.
But you don't have that problem. You do move right along in your articles. I like that quote about the art of writing. Can't go wrong with that aphorism. Action verbs. Thanks for bringing that up. I could do another Hub about the use of verbs and things such as tense and person (not to mention object and subject). But action verbs are the best. Gerunds are somewhat boring in large doses.
Thank you for your fine remarks. You added to the thread.
The Rope— Now this is freaky. I was sitting here this morning thinking about buying a nice rope and I turn on my computer and there you are!
Thank you for your warm words. I feel better now.
tony0724— You don't need any help, Tony. Your Hubs are fine. But I appreciate your comment and that you paid me a visit. :)
Gicky Soriano— Thank you for expressing your appreciation, brother. I am pleased to see your warm words posted here.
Ken R. Abell— That's what I'm doing; writing of things I have picked up along the way. Thank you for coming. You are a fine writer, Ken.
Duchess OBlunt— If you write them I will come read them. How's that for a deal?
I get anxious to hit that "publish" button myself and have to slow down and double check things. You never get a second chance to make a good first impression, as the old adage says.
Thank you for visiting and leaving your comments.
Good pointers James. I've pondered creating a hub, but wasn't sure of the "how to", so now I can hash it about with some guidance.
As a reader, I can assure you that "Readers have a short attention span" is not entirely true. For myself my attention span varies with the writers ability to hold it. I'll also add that I have read your hubs all the way through after I have started and then chased the readers comments to this box where I will stop in and say "hello", in a manner of speaking. I do find great insight by the readers posts. There are two above that made me smile, one of them criticizing poor spelling habits while making the offense. So that bit of humor made up for the insult of my attention span :-)lol.
Keep up the good work!
GPAGE— You are quite welcome, dear. That's why I wrote this late at night when prying eyes were sleeping. :-)
I agree with you all the way. We are here on the Earth to serve. We're gonna serve somebody. Hopefully not ourselves.
Old? That was just last week!
JK—Thanks. You brighten my day every single time I hear from you. Why if I was six months younger . . .
Janetta— I'm so glad you are back with us on HubPages. I missed you. Thanks for visiting my Page.
You may not remember this, but there was a classic scene in a Don Knotts movie where he was giving a speech and some numbskull buddy of his kept shouting "Attaboy Luther!" about every 3rd sentence. Of course, Knotts got all flustered as only he could. That was fun E.
ethel smith— I haven't figured that out yet! I hoped you were coming here to tell me! I think one would have to have about 5000 fans to make money. I don't know if anybody has that many. But it is probably possible. Anything's possible, right?
50 Caliber— Thank you. I've been waiting for you to start writing. Maybe you can tell us if that hole to the netherworld the Apache spoke of is really out there. I think your attention span is the exception, kind sir. And I agree with you about authors. If you love to read, as I do, attention can hold. I can read all day long. The last book I read was over 1000 pages. But you know how this video-game-playin' generation is. Where's the explosions!?
I enjoyed reading this. That said about half way through I started wondering what your definition of a successful hub is? Is it one that gets lots of comments? Is it one that has a high hub score? Is it one that gets you more/new fans? Is it one that makes money? I suspect that what you define success as will influence what exactly it takes to get that success.
kirstenblog— This how the Hub ends:
"My title has the word "success" in it. By this I am not referring to making money. I am referring to the joy of writing; being proud of your work; and having your Hubs read and appreciated by other people."
I agree that the idea of success varies from person to person. I cannot say how to make money. After 40,000 page views I have made $100. I read another Hubber who was proud to be making a couple hundred a week—I would be too, but he 1,400,000 page views after three years of writing.
Thank you for coming.
I think this is why you are a 'success' here James. Your mind and your heart work together. You are intelligent, but not arrogant. You care about 'us' and you stop to share your ideas so we can become better writers. Muchos gracias mi amigo!
For me, when I write different pages I have a different goals in mind when I start out. I do want to make some money here so sometimes pick things to write on with that in mind and it influences what I write. Sometimes I am writing about something much more personal and cathartic and then success is somewhat nebulas for me. I gotta say with this type of writing I think its a success if it felt good to write first and fore most. I do hope others enjoy that type of writing tho and will probably have a quit read of this to include as much of your advice as possible in future personal type hubs. :)
James, This is an excellent hub with great advice. I think I learned a lot. You obviously put a lot of time and thought into your hubs and you explained each step very well. Thanks.
James, the number of comments posted during the short time since publication of this hub is a tribute to your success and the quality of your hubs. This is another one to bookmark.
I have a question about your photo suggestions. Finding appropriate photos is a concern to me. I worry about copy write and giving credit to the photo source. What is your feeling about this issue? There are a lot of online photos that I would like to use, but I am reluctant. I would appreciate your comments.
James,
This is the most practical "how to" out there on Hubbing. I've come to expect nothing less from ya.
All good advice. Your great writing helps.
Keep on Hubbing!
Congratulation. Good hub and great information.
Master,some of us cannot use their own PC so images are little bit difficult to edited.And then we are not writting in mother languanges.But i found some persons that they are great without to be English or Americans.Give some advises for us also.Thanks
Very helpful for a newbie like me and there are lots of advice or tips that I will definitely use. Believe it or not the best thing I read for myself personally is when editing copy to read it out loud. That is going to be really helpful. So glad I came by, Thanks Kimberly
Good hub James. You didn't cover any of the money making potential of hubs.
Excellent hub, but aren't they all?
I read my aloud too. I agree with the majority....all your hubs are good that I've read.
Indeed great advice. I almost follow most of them... Thanks.
Excellent advice, some of it technical, and all in plain English. I really appreciate that, as I'm still sort of bumbling around trying this and that... I learned to walk that way too, so that's ok with me. =)
I most appreciated the part regarding the use of photos, and I was wondering if you wouldn't mind telling me what the proper 'hubiquette' is for giving credit to photographers?
Loved this, as usual, and thank you for publishing it.
Thank you for this (How To)hub James - I especially took notice of the photo placement to the right suggestion.
Evidently this is a very successful hub, by all the comments! Congratulations- and great advice, too!
Great hub Br.James!
I was working on a hub consisting on this moment of over 850 words and not yet nearly ready. I think I need to consider that hub once again.
That advice of simple words is important, but I find it really difficult as English isn't nearly my native language, most of the English I know is from books: Not even near plain I'm afraid. Because of your advice I will look even much better for that.
Thanks for the great and useful advice.
Thanks for explaining the simple way, we all need this sometimes!
Very thoughtfull of you to share your knowledge in writing. This article will be used as a reference to helpfull knowledge. Take good care my friend. GBY
James, I think I have broken every "Do Not :)" Thanks for giving me much needed advise. I sincerely appreciate your advice. I look at you as a mentor, as you are such an excellent writer with such beautifully written and supported Hubs. I really never have looked at us hubbers as competitors, more like peers. We are all writers doing what we love. Some just happen to be a bit more advanced than others! Like you!
James,
This is really so very well done. I have often thought of you as the 'master hubber'. I have so much to learn, and it is easy to become discouraged. However, I found this hub to be very encouraging and informative. So, I thank you!
IslandVoice— You are more than welcome Senora. I thank you for your gracious comments. I'm smiling!:D
kirstenblog— I think you are on a good track. Sort of like actors or directors that mix an occasional blockbuster with their artsy, or personal projects. Well, if I have been helpful in any small way I will be gratified. Thank you for your kind comments.
Pamela99— Sorry for the delay in answering. I am participating in a seminar 12 hours a day this week. Thank you. I appreciate the affirmation. And you are welcome, too.
escritor— Thank you very much for your nice compliments. I do appreciate that.
I use my own photos if I have any that are appropriate to the subject. If not, I use photos from the public domain. When you search for photos, they will have a copyright stamp on them if they are not public unless: they come from another bloggers site, in which case THEY might have used them without authorization, and then you might without knowing it. There are millions of photos you can use that are publicly shared, however. It doesn't hurt to attribute where you got them in the caption.
C. J. Wright— Gosh, I sure appreciate you for saying that. Thanks!
James
eovery— I'll keep on if you'll keep on! Thank you for your comments. It is always nice to hear from you, E.
Vladimir,
Thank you, sir. You remain one of my favorite people on HubPages. I love your work.
gusripper— When you can snatch the pebble . . . Oh, wait . . . That is before your time. :)
I had not thought of that obstacle. I have read some of your Hubs and I think they are just fine as they are. Thank you for visiting my Page and leaving your remarks.
lyricsingray— I do like reading my copy aloud, as if I am telling the story to a friend who is in the room with me. It helps me realize when I'm not making sense, or repeating myself. I am glad you appreciated that idea. Thank you for coming by and leaving your kind comments. You're welcome, Kimberly.
theguru-reports— Thank you! I didn't cover making money because I don't know how! :) Also, I believe there are plenty of good Hubs out there on this topic.
Nemingha— I hope so! :-) Thank you for swinging by and leaving your affirmation.
Godslittlechild— What a nice thing to say! Thank you for the encouragement. I appreciate it.
shamelaboush— I know there must be a story behind your stage name but I can't figure out what it is. Oh wait . . . it's your name, right?
I thank you for visiting and leaving word that you did.
Linda Myshrall— Thank you very much. I learned to walk that way, too. And crawl.
I am not sure about the etiquette. You could not be wrong to credit the photographer—if you know who it is. On many pics of famous artworks and other things, they photos don't say. There are some sites that do credit the photographer and if you know who took the photo, it would be honorable to credit them.
Thank you for letting me know you appreciated my work here. And you are welcome.
BloodRedPen— You are most welcome. I appreciate that you made note of one of my favorite things to do: embed the photos. Thank you for your nice remarks.
Storytellersrus— Thank you! I am pleased that you came to visit and that you let me know you did. :)
Waren E— Thank you for saying so! :-)
Dutch Hermit— I have read all of your Hubs and I think they are just fine. Everything was clear. I like them very much.
The number of words is not an intractable rule; it is just my advice. Fell free to ignore me. :)
Every author has to do what is right for their own work. If it doesn't hurt your message—I would recommend not making them too long at first. But you gotta do what you gotta do.
Thank you for visiting and commenting.
Miss Markayla— Welcome to the Hub Pages Community!
These are things I learned along the way and wished someone had explained to me at first. So, if it is helpful to anyone, I am happy I put it out there. Thank you for your comments.
stars439— Thank you for your warm words, GBY. You have been very supportive of my work and I am indebted to you for that. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community.
Kebennett1— I wouldn't worry about that. These are nothing more than my ideas, some of which may be helpful to some folks.
I agree—we are peers not competitors. :)
Your Hubs are excellent.
You are welcome. I thank you for your encouragement and the accolades. :D
R Burow— You should not be discouraged. I love your Hubs!
You are quite welcome. Thank you so much for the laudations. Master Hubber. That has nice ring to it. :D
James thank you so much, I really do struggle when I write. Your hub has help me, and it will be something, that I will refer back to often as I write my hubs. As you said, it is not about money, it is about creating great reading and enjoying what you are writing.
Thank you for sharing,
Royal Diadem
Thanks James wished I read this before I started, would've eliminated most if not all of the mistakes I've made, but I'm learning as I go
Thanks for some great tips to consider. I think we all look for some good advice with our hubs. Your advice shows in your success thus far.
James,
Thanks for the great information!
Some very good and sensible advice here - for me commenting is one of the most important aspects - it shows that you actually did read the hub (or at least a part) and have taken time think about a comment - leaving a simple 'nice hub' isn't good enough!
Royal Diadem— You are welcome. Your content is always spirit-breathed. I appreciate your gracious words here. Thank you for letting me know you find the article helpful. :-)
Kenny MG— Welcome to the Hub Pages Community! You have an impressive profile page. I'll get over to read some of your work later. We're all learning as we go. You're welcome and thank you for reading my article, as well as letting me know that you find it useful.
His daughter— You are welcome. I have been truly blessed by discovering HubPages. I love the community here. Thank you for visiting my Page and leaving your comments.
dave272727— You are welcome, Dave. Thank you for your remarks. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community.
SimeyC— I agree with you. I enjoy leaving comments on peoples Hubs. And I always look forward to reading comments left on my Hubs, such as yours. You do fine work. I enjoy our interactions. Thanks for coming.
Some great advice on how to write well. Important point though - if you're going to use Google Images to find photos, use the "labelled for commercial reuse" filter. Photos are copyright unless specifically stated otherwise - the fact there's no copyright actually stamped on the photo means nothing. I'm sure you'd hate other people to steal your work so I'm sure you will extend the same courtesy to photographers.
Hello James,
I am kind of new to hubpages but not so new 2 months or so. I haven't written that many hubs yet. I haven't had that much time and I also struggle. So much stuff to learn. After reading this hub I went over some of my hubs and made some changes that you suggested. My hubs tend to be long. I don't know why. Could you look at some of my hubs and make suggestions. I read your other hub on orthodox icons and I liked it a lot. I am also Orthodox Christian by birth though I don't practice the religion much this days. I also love the orthodox religious art you have there. I have some of it hanging on my walls at home too. And I can't wait to read your hub on uniting America. I read the introduction and I was hooked. Thank you for the great advise and great writings.
Marisa Wright— Thank you. Now we are learning something. I didn't even know that there was a "labeled for commercial reuse filter." I certainly do not, as an artist, want to steal anybody's work. I very much appreciate you bringing this to the fore.
lelanew55— Welcome to the HubPages Community! I am in a seminar today and tomorrow but this weekend I will check out your work. Thank you for coming by and leaving your compliments. And you are welcome.
These are excellent tips, James. One of the things I learned from reading your hubs (early on) is to address each comment individually. I've done this ever since viewing your work.
Thank you for this hub, James. I hope that many read it, and truly listen to your advice.
Thanks James
Newcomers who want to succeed really need all the advice they can get. Hubpages is unique and works by its own set of rules and if you don't try to learn the ropes you can really wind up completely off course.
Thanks for the excellent, concise outlay. It shows us all what a good hub should look like.
As a newbie here on hubpages any advice is good advice. Thanks
@James, the filter is in the "Advanced Search" section. Even then, it's not reliable - Google is relying on how the photo is labelled on whatever site it's on, and that site may already have stolen the work.
That's why I use Flickr for all my online photos. You'll notice what I mean about copyright there - none of the photos is stamped, but look in the right column and you'l see some are "all rights reserved" and others are "some rights reserved". You can use the "some rights reserved" photos provided you include a hyperlink to the photographer. The Flickr advanced search for that type of image is "Creative Commons" and "for commercial use".
Thank you,good guide.
James A. Watkins, this is one of the best hubs, if not the best hub, I have ever read.
You gave excellent advice and you set a good example by doing what you suggested other hubbers do. This hub was very organized, appealing to the eyes, and very informative.
I noticed that your hub was scored 90 and your overall score is 99 at the time of this comment. Congratulations, you earned it. I am so proud of you and I am glad to be your fan. Keep up the good work. I am cheering you on, and looking forward to seeing your 100 score.
thanks for your advice,what we gonna do if our scores going down?
I really appreciate your topics and writing.
If I might quote you "the joy of writing" is always apparent in your hubs. Thank you for the advice.
Everyone has their own hub style, but a personal style may not always appeal to all readers. Your hub helps to explain how to appeal to all readers. Great advice!
James - I am obviously not alone in believing that this article has great practical value and is very well written. Gus
I have seen many a Hub on this subject, but by far, this is the best I have seen. THANK YOU!
Very helpful! Thank you! I have made 4 hubs and continue to struggle with it. I do have over 160 Squidoo lenses, and I hope I can make at least that many hubs. I am learning! What is your favorite hub for learning? I like the way you kept this one so simple. are there more like this?
broussardleslie— Thank you. You are welcome. It has had a lot of viewers so apparently there was interest in this topic. I have seen a lot of folks come in with interesting subjects and excellent ideas but flawed Hubs, in the sense that there were issues that I feel blocked them from receiving the amount of interest they could have had if they had been constructed better. I do hope this helps some people. That is my aim. Thank you for your kind comments.
Laura du Toit— You are surely welcome. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community!
My goal is not homogenization, of course, but simply relating what I have learned during my time here that I hope can be helpful to improve the quality of the presentation of all Hubs. Thank you for your warm words.
messerc123— Well put. You are welcome and thank you for taking the time to read my article.
Marisa Wright— Thank you for this additional information. I have used Flickr quite a bit as well as Wikicommons. And as I mentioned the government, universities, museums and encyclopedias have a plethora of images available. I search for those first. I will be more careful in the future now that I understand better what the deal is. I appreciate your guidance. :-)
KyonSOS23— You are welcome. Thank you!
create a page— I am surely gratified to read your laudatory remarks. Thank you for the congratulations as well. I am glad to be your fan, too. I have enjoyed your articles about teaching and history, in particular. You are a fine writer. Keep up the good work and thanks for coming.
Filipino girls— You are quite welcome. If your scores are going down I would mingle more in the community to get to know more people who may be interested in your subjects and go read your articles. On top of that, you may want to revise your existing Hubs to make them better and add more Keywords. Thanks for coming by.
steffsings— I enjoy your Hubs, too. If it is apparent to you that I find writing joyful, then I am thankful; for this is one of my aims. You are welcome and I thank you very much for your comments.
TotalReviewGuy— I agree with you. And I think everybody should have a style of their own, to be sure. Otherwise, HubPages could be quite boring. But it isn't; it's very interesting. Thank you for your comments. I appreciate you for swinging in to leave word.
GusTheRedneck— Well, thank you, Gus, for your remarks. I appreciate you for taking the time to read this and for letting me know you found it useful.
James
TheSablirab— I am thankful to read your accolades. You are most welcome and thank you for making my day! :D
moonvine— Thank you! And you are quite welcome, too. I am sure there are many about this topic. I haven't seen many myself about the construction of Hubs themselves but I see tons of them about links, and "how to make money." That is why I wrote this one. I hadn't seen these particular issues addressed. But that doesn't mean someone hasn't. If they have, it has escaped my notice.
I see you have a blind husband. I played in a band 16 years with a great guitarist who was born blind, so I can relate.
Thanks for coming by and leaving your words.
James thank you for this hub. I am new at all this writing. I will read your hub aagain and try to apply your tips to my future hubs
Thank you for your timely comments James and thanks also for your complements.
linda patriot— You are most welcome. I hope you find a few useful items on this Page. Thanks for leaving your words.
create a page— You are welcome. I appreciate your appreciation! :D
thanks I will be sure to take in what I have read and be able to hopefully reach more of the people I intend to reach
very well said.. you are very articulate.. you got great hubs.. thanks for sharing.
darinintheden— You're welcome. I am pleased that you have something here you can use. That's great. Thanks for letting me know.
dyesebel10— Thank you. I appreciate your laudatory comments. It makes a man feel good. :D
Thanks! This is helpful! I'm afraid my first Hub is quite long, but I'm going to post a variety of lengths and now know to keep at least some of them short!
antoniodias— You are welcome. Modernity is deconstructing alright.
I am glad you find this piece helpful. Thank you for letting me know and Welcome to HubPages!
Thank you James for all the info. I am a new hubber and a little lost with it all. I was becoming very discouraged as to how to make my hubs better. You covered everything! Thank you!
wendi_w— You are welcome. Thank you for reading my Page and leaving your warm remarks behind. I am smiling! :D
Welcome to HubPages!
I changed the name of my one serialized hub...It's rating has jumped 10 points! LOL
Hey James, thanks for all this great info. I'm relatively new to the hubbing game and all advice is greatly received!
broussardleslie— SEE!!! What did I tell ya! :D
Ashley Carew— You are welcome, Ashley. welcome to the Hub Pages Community! I look forward to reading your work.
HaHa Thanks James! Finally! 1000 page views!!!! You are such a helper!
Thanks for sharing James. It would be great if all new hubbers could read your great summary. I wish there were more time in my days to write and read hubs. Hubpages has becomee a sort of retreat from the craziness:)
Have a great weekend!
James very knowledgeable hub! Thanks for the tips! I am a new hubber. I have a couple of long hubs and I do believe they should have been shorter. I like to write and express my views and opnions with accurate information. I believe that people will continue to read your blogs if you have accurate data and not just opnion alone.
broussardleslie— Stick with me kid if you want to make the big time! :-)
Congratulations! That is quite an accomplishment. I love your Hubs! They're great.
Timely— You are welcome. Your Hubs are excellent. I enjoy reading them. Thank you for coming by and leaving your thoughts.
smarleygrl7— Welcome to the Hub Pages Community! I agree that it's very important to have accurate information. If you don't someone in here will notice. :)
Thank you for your comments and you are welcome. I look forward to reading your work.
Thank you, James. I enjoy your writing as well.
Blessings,
Leslie
Thanks for the tips. I'm still pretty new here, so this was very helpful info.
broussardleslie— You are most welcome. Thank you for your encouragement.
lisa42— You're welcome. I am gratified you found it useful. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community!
James, EXCELLENT post!!! I'm a bit new myself to HubPages so this piece is helping me a lot. Thanks :)
sicruz— You are welcome and I thank you very much! Welcome to the Hub Pages Community. I looked at your profile page and admittedly the subject of your five Hubs does not lend itself to illustration easily. :D
Many thanks for the post. Good read
James A Watkins, excellent information on writing your hubpage article. Your choice of photos was relevant especially when you used Shakespeare to indicate the importance of photos unless you wrote on his qulity of wriing.
I prefer to cut to the chase and to write within the hubpage to reduce the number of steps in writing a hubpage article. I also write for eHow and when I write on Word, sometimes the mechanics of saving the file for later input to the webpage can be confusing. You may think that you have published the article when the article may still be in your Word File. So I would suggest if you can, to type the hubpage directly in the text capsule provided and save to the unpublished file if you are not able to complete the article at one siting.
You should work with your own preferences, however, if you can produce by writing first in Word then that is what you should do. th processs just does not work for me of writing first in the Word Format and then transferring to th writing site. If you want a word count, you and work in reverse and write your hubpage article and then use then copy and paste to word to get your word count. But that process would make the process of writing a hubpage too mechanical and you want to keep a smooth flow of your thought patterns when writing a Hubpage.
Also, I am a little at odds in having more fans that articles. I suppose it is because I look as Hubpages as a small livlihood and do not want to be talking when I should uld be busy working writg providing advice or information. So, I always make sure that I have more hubpages than fans. Otherwise, I would surmise myself as talking more than working. But of course, as in your case, you write for the pure enjoyment, then you would want to have more fans than more hubpage articles.
This in my take on writing hubpages and without a certifified tutorial, the process of producing a hubpage is an individual endeavor. The article was well written and kept my interest throughout. James A. Watson, I have to give you an Attaboy on such a fine written hubpage aticle.
Nice hub.
articleposter— You are most welcome and I thank you for stopping by.
sukhera143— Thank you!
Nice and informative! Will keep a few of the things in mind when I make new hubs. Andy
lindagoffigan— What a pleasure to hear from you. I agree with you that writing directly into the Capsules will certainly work well for some, particularly if the article is not very long. I also agree that writing HubPages or anything else, is a highly individualistic process. I can only relate what works for me. I have noticed you have found success by prodigious output—634 Hubs published in 9 months!
It's not that I wouldn't love to make a living through HubPages. I think when I hit 10,000 page views and had only made nine bucks, I realized that it wasn't going to happen for me here. So, instead it is simply self-expression, learning the craft, teaching, and waiting for my big break. :-)
I am well pleased you came by and offered your valuable perspective. Thank you!
andhe— Thank you! I am pleased that you found it somewhat useful. That's why I wrote it! :)
A well written hub. I wish this had been available when I first started with hub pages! I look forward to reading your other hubs!
Susan M— Thank you. I wish I had had a guide such as this myself. So, I hope it is needful. I appreciate the encouragement and I will soon read some of your work also.
James -
Attaboy! (hee, hee)
Tina Irene— Thanks! :D
Nice Hub! If you ask me Quality and Consistency is what would help to succeed in HubPages.
You're welcome, James.
Pertinent to your hub subject:
After dinner tonight, I decided to check my hub stats for the last week. My Part I, II, and III of "Pike County PA, nestled in the Pocono Mountains" has not only picked up traffic since the Part III addition, there's a high from Part-to-Part page view correlation.
So, I'd say (in addition to the information in your hub article) that creating parts has worked for me because all parts are included under the same county in the same mountains. Therefore, these findings on "same region" in my management view of these hubs appears to me to be an exception to your suggestion of not creating parts. Of course, there are some subjects that do better not in parts as you suggest.
Also, search engine stats hover around 50% of traffic coming to my hub articles; in other words, the words most use to look for subjects are in my titles, in the first couple of sentences, and placed in other paragraphs of the hub (yes...repeated, because that gets the best search engine results).
Anyway....just thought I'd throw in what appears to me to be working (successful), which to most--and for whatever reasons-means TRAFFIC.
Anamika S— Thank you. I agree with you wholeheartedly. Thank you for this fine addition to this thread.
Tina Irene— hmmm . . . vedy interesting. Well, I stand corrected. I should have said I generally don't read series of Hubs. But I did read yours. :)
James -
It's not a matter of "standing corrected"; it's a matter of TYPE of subject. And since you generally don't...etc...thanks for reading my multi-part subject. You're not the only one, according to the stats.
Also, since my last reply:
I checked the correlation of "length of page view" (length of time a viewer stays on the same page) with my hubs under "Music", all of which contain music videos. The results show that the length of page views for those hubs has increased. So, based on that, I'd say that those looking for respective types of music enjoy listening and watching music videos associated with the type of music they search for.
PS:
One more stat or so...I promise.
The traffic to Supernatural Series (not in "parts"), 50% of which is from search engines, is increasing with double red triangles. This series is connected thoroughly between "sister" hubs within the series, and the page-to-page traffic has increased as well. In other words, viewers are clicking on other hubs in the series instead of exiting the same page they land; thus, the overall length of time viewers spend within these hubs is increasing.
Thanks so much for the hints, James. I think I'd better get to work...
Tina Irene— There is a place where you can see "length of page view?" I didn't know that. That would be interesting to see. How do you get to it?
Regarding music videos, mine were only viewed by 10% of the people who viewed my Hub Page but maybe I picked the wrong songs. :0
Thank you for this information.
Tina Irene— I have had pretty good luck with links to my other Hubs inside my Hubs, too, which I only started doing a couple months back. So, I should have mentioned that in this article. You are a sharpie! Thanks for adding to our knowledge.
lorlie6— You are welcome. Thank you for letting me know you might find it useful.
Wow, this is very informative. I am a new hubber and I am going to keep this as a reference since it answered so many of my concerns. Thanks.
msldkelly— You are most welcome. Thank you for your kind comments. And welcome to the Hub Pages Community!
As a beginner I found this very useful - particularly the comments about length.
Hi, thank you so much for posting these very useful tips on writing for hubpages. As you can see, I'm only very new at this site, so your article have really made things clearer and easier for me.
advoco— Thank you for the visit and the comment. I am gratified that you find it useful. Welcome to the HubPages Community!
spudnik8— You are surely welcome. I do see that are very new. I'll help you get started by becoming your first fan. I look forward to reading your work. Thank you for your kind comments. Welcome to HubPages!
Hi James, The great thing inspired me is answering all your comments without even leaving single comment unanswered(I have gone through all the comments and your respective answers to them)I know why you are writing only three articles in a week.It is because you have to answer all your comments (having this much big fan circle). I really wonder how is it possible for you to have only four days left in a week to answer all your comments? Keep writing. Nice to have in this hub circle.
Hello! It does take time to answer the comments. And to read a lot of Hubs by other writers as well. My sense is, that this is a community and that I should fully participate with my fellow Hubbers. It's just my thing. I have seen many writers not respond to comments at all and many have told me they do not read other Hubs—they are set apart as writers not readers. I enjoy encouraging new folks especially, because I remember well the first people who welcomed me and commented on my work. Also, a number of folks follow me to see what I am reading, so I can help a new person gain some traffic—if I like what they are doing, of course.
Thank you for your gracious remarks.
Thanks for all the good pointers, I'm still pretty new to this, and have yet to figure out how to get keywords, and how to backlink to other sites to increase traffic.
lostgirlscat— freekeywords.wordtracker.com is where I get mine. (Don't tell anybody.)
:D
You are welcome. I wish you all success and I look forward to reading your work. Welcome to HubPages!
James, this hub has made hubbing so much easier.
Wow it took me forever just to reach here, I think the number of comments left prove you are right in your advice, nice one James !
Adorei!!!
Rebecca E.— Why, thank you. It is gratifying to see these words of yours. I appreciate you coming by.
HealthTip— There are a lot of comments, to be sure. I am pleased this article has proved wanted. Thank you for visiting and leaving your remarks.
yesdiga— Thank you! I appreciate the visitation and comment.
James, this hub will help alot of newbies like myself. Thank you for the info.
i don't see why you wouldn't call yourself an expert, james you're a really good writer + teacher! thanx for the infoi think i'lll go edit my hubs rightaway..:)
James, you've provided advice here that will really help me as I begin to write more hub pages. Just getting started here. It's interesting to see that many hubbers appear to be more about the writing than the dollars, evidenced by your taking time to share what you've already figured out. Thanks for writing this hub and for lifting me up as a new member. 3 Cheers!
Sandi 3m— I am very pleased you might find it useful. Thank you for saying so. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community!
Thanks James, I am new to hubbing, I appreciate your valuable information. I am looking for more readers to my hubs.
csd1509— Well, I'm just a poor ole country boy. But your words warm the cockles of me heart. Thank you. And you are welcome.
hey so i have been banned from hubpages and how much accounts we can make on hubpages do you have any suggestion for that ?
PegCole17— Welcome to the Hub Pages Community! I look forward to reading your work. If my advice is helpful to you, I am grateful for that. You are most welcome.
Melanie Hanni— You are surely welcome. I'll come read your Hubs. Thank you for coming by and leaving your words. Welcome to HubPages!
make money online— Banned for what? As far as I know, you can have as many accounts as you want on HubPages. Thank you for reading my Hub and letting me know you were here.
Thank you so much for this little piece of advice and assistance. So far, I've written one hub, and I've done most of the things that you mention.
Thanks Again,
Carrie
Thanks James, You are the first fan that signed up to my hub as fan. I wonder why I dont have comments and fans on my hub? I therefor, appreciate your support. I am still learning the art. You are a great 'hubberlite'.
eirraclou— You are most welcome. I am glad I could be of assistance. Welcome to HubPages!
hybridway— You are welcome! It takes time to build readership. You need to go around, as you are here, and introduce yourself to other Hubbers with similar interests. I haven't had time to comment on your Hubs yet but I will when I get home from overseas in a couple weeks. Thank you for your compliments. Welcome to HubPages.
Great advice, James! I'm still trying to get the hang of HP, so I appreciate any tips that I can get. I tend to be wordy in my hubs, especially my travel pieces, but I have been trying to write some shorter ones to balance them out. I'm going to try your layout suggestions and see how they work out for me.
Thanks James, i'm just starting out and this hub kinda gave me a light to where i should concentrate and how to do it. Thanks.
Very informative and interesting!
Thanks for the insights James. I've written a few hubs, still a newbie at this. Not at a point where I can think of a photo for what I write about. Now I need to find how one becomes a fan...
I liked all the recommendations.well done
WOW, quite some hub James and quite some comments, I commend you friend
Great, loads of information, the bit about using arrow with the photo to embed.
Good hub.
I have just written my first hub and was dreading the idea of uploading it. I'm not a 'Techie', but now, thanks to you I shall be able to attack it with more confidence. Many thanks.
Jean
Great Hub! Being a newbie this information is exactly what I needed, especially the paragraphs on images and photos. Thank you much!
FYI, I linked your hub to a new fan of mine, http://hubpages.com/hub/When-mom-is-in-school
I've only recently begun writing hubs again, and your thoughts are going to be my new rules of thumb. Thanks so much for taking the time to write. Really, this has been one of the best hubs about hubbing I've read so far!
Thank you for your helpful article. You've obviously figured out how to write highly successful hubs, thanks for sharing what you've learned.
I read your Blueprint and was wondering what is success for you ! Is it the money or the readers. IF it is the money then ofcourse you have it all wrong !
If it is the readers then you have it all correct.
For money you will need your hubs to be written so as the readers can click on the advertsisemnets and you can make money.
You need to do keyword reserach and make sure that you rank well in Google for visitors to come to your hubs. And I am not talking about Hubbers. Hubber rarely click on the ads.
To rank well on the Google you need backlinks and that means you will have to work really hard to get backlinks. Well not really that hard too.
Also If you need soem more information on that then read the real master of making money on the internet and that is
http://thekeywordacademy.com/make-money-online-wit
Thank you for your sound advice! I particularly like the mention of reading aloud - helps a great deal re. punctuation, too - and the focus on content / quality.
Thanks for the great tips and information I am sure it will be most helpful.
James; You always hit it out of the ball park. terrific hub and one that i need as someone fairly new to this gig.
I do appreciate your writing. I believe i've said it before but I'll say it agan. You are my teacher in many ways.
James A Watkins,
I think hubpages needs to give you an award for this one!
You have a wealth of invaluable information here! You have provided some very helpful, resourceful and objective ideas.
You are so right there is a priceless Joy that comes from writing! Thank you for sharing this plethora of brilliant information! It is a wonderful gesture to help us improve our hubbing skills.
Blessings
Another wonderful Hub!!! Thank you for the info you displayed here! Thank you for sharing your wisdom. You know I appreciate you, much love and respect my friend! Blessings!!!!
A great deal of good advice in this hub! Thank you very much!
James--Thanks for sharing. I value yor insight. This will make me a better hubber. I agree with you. Success is not measured in how much money one makes.
Once again James, an excellent hub. I found the advice on how to post pictures especially helpful. Personally I prefer to keep my hubs in the 300-600 word range; I have a short attention span and assume most readers are the same. This also helps me to be a better writer by trying to get my message out in as few words as possible.
Great advise! but now I am scared!!! :) what if I do not live up to such great advise? What if I blunder and make a messytake?? oops, I mean mistake:) Anyway Thank you! you are a giver. There are very few like you out there.
Great advise and as always a great hub.
Thank you James.
NaomiR— Thank you! I apologize for the delay in my response. I have been out of the country and without computer access for two weeks.
The layout suggestions are just that. If I have a particularly outstanding photo or too many photos to neatly fit on the side of the text, I will use some full-sized (in between the text capsules). I should have mentioned that. I don't put all of them embedded in the text. I appreciate your comments. :)
soUPERMan— You are welcome and I also want to welcome you to the Hub Pages Community. Thanks for visiting my Page.
magdielqr— Thank you for coming by and leaving your compliments.
TheFootLady— You are welcome! You become a fan right under the Hubber's photo (Avatar). Welcome to the HubPages!
topstuff— Thank you very much for your kind comments. Coming from one, as yourself, who has been around the Community for two years, it means much to me. :-)
katyzzz— Well, you always have plenty of beautiful pictures on your Hubs. :D
Thank you for the visit and the commendation.
roc6— I am well pleased you found it useful. Thank you for coming by and for letting me know it was good.
sukhera143— Thank you for saying so!
Jean Kotzur— Welcome to the Hub Pages Community! I look forward to reading your work. Never fear—just dive in! :-)
I am gratified to be found useful. You are welcome.
GRivers— Thank you! I am glad you found it needful. Welcome to HubPages and you are welcome, too.
LeslieBroussard— Thank you very much. I appreciate that. :)
Stephen Beck— Welcome back and I appreciate the high praise indeed. I am grateful you liked my Page and you are welcome.
marygarrison— You are most welcome. I look forward to reading your work soon. I am just back from a two week trip without computer access. Thank you and welcome to HubPages.
Gurdit Singh— Success for me has come to mean producing work I am proud of; that gets read; conveys a useful message clearly; and is well received. By the looks of my AdSense earnings I have given up on making money here. I do use Keyword searches.
I am learning my craft whilst I await an opportunity to write for pay. But I will go read your article and I thank you for the tip.
Danielle Farrow— You are welcome. Thank you for the visit and the compliments. Welcome to the HubPages Community!
br00my— You are welcome! Thank you for letting me know you found it useful. :)
iantoPF— Well, I surely appreciate the accolades. It makes a man feel good to read warm words such as yours. Thank you. :D
DeBorrah K. Ogans— You comments always inspire me. I so appreciate your kindness. If this Page is needful then I am thankful. I will not seek but I will accept any award I am nominated for. :)
Thank you,
James
drpastorcarlotta— Thank you and you are welcome. I appreciate your encouragement, doctor pastor!
Godslittlechild— I love your stage name, BTW. :)
Thank you and you are welcome.
jimcain207— You are welcome. Thank you for your kind comments. I do appreciate it.
muley84— Thank you, brother. I agree with your 300-600 word plan. It would tend to make one a better writer to have a short leash. And attention spans are shorter every day.
LionessofJudah— Thank you! Have no fear! James is here! :-)
Just take the plunge. There's nothing to live up to. These are merely suggestions that may be a bit helpful, I hope.
I look forward to reading your Hubs. Thanks for the witty words.
msorensson— Thank you, dear. You are welcome. I always enjoy your visits.
so much helpful information here, bookmarked it, and will come back to it probably again and again and again.....
This is Gooooood! I really enjoyed it. Very concise and very germane. It reminded me why I'm a big fan of yours.
I have a lot of catching up to do, after my old laptop went the way of all silicon and I only now have a PC that actually works properly and stays connected more than four minutes. Hubbing was a real effort on the old jaloppy, so now at last I can read, read, read.
poetlorraine— I appreciate the wonderful note you left me. Thank you for visiting. I see that you have 128 fans in only 3 weeks time! That might be a record! Congratulations!
Allan McGregor— Great to hear from you, Brother. I just got home from Israel last night. While there, our guide mentioned that Scotsman you commented about on my Israel Hub!!!
Thank you for the laudations! I appreciate you coming by.
Thank you for a well written and informative article. I joined hubpages a while ago and somehow never stuck around long enough to get enough feedback. I think you have inspired me to write once again.
Minilady— You are surely welcome. I am pleased to be inspiring. I look forward to reading your work during your comeback. :-)
Israel?! - You lucky dog!
Whereabouts?
Do you go there often?
I take it the Scotsman was Major General Orde Wingate, DSO, friend of Field Marshall Montgomery and cousin of Lawrence of Arabia.
Yup, he's famous because he founded a commando group from the Jewish Haganah, and has been called 'the father of the Israeli Army', who even Moshe Dyan said, 'taught us everything we know'.
Great hub James! I've learned some wonderful tips from you. I never gave much thought to how many photos verses text or how to break up the text in different capsules. I'm anxious to try these things on my next hub. Great to have you here on hub pages!
Allan McGregor— Yes! I could hardly believe it but our tour guide, himself an ex-Israeli soldier, started taking about Wingate training the Isrealis and I immediate recognized the name from your comment. He spoke in glowing terms about Wingate.
We went from Tel Aviv north to the Lebanese border; over to the Golan Heights; Nazareth; Galilee; Jordan River Valley; Dead Sea; Jerusalem. I had never been before so it was quite a thrill. I'll be writing about it soon. :-)
Thanks for checking back. I look forward to reading your work since I've been gone.
Born Again 05— Thank you very much! I am well pleased you found some of my tips useful. It was my pleasure to share. I look forward to seeing your next Hub. I'm glad to be here.
Attay boy,
Just kidding. Great suggestions from one of the best out there.
Thanks for the read.
bgpappa— Why, I am grateful for you gracious compliment. Thank you and you are welcome. I surely enjoy your Hubs.
Thanks bunches! I have lots to learn about hubbing. Your article helped meet that need. Looking forward to implementing your advice and reading your other work.
RTalloni— You are most welcome! If you find my advice to be needful I am gratified indeed. Thank you for letting me know.
Nice tips .i have learned alot from this hub.thanks for the article.
NZUNG SERAPHINE— Thank you. I am glad you found it useful. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community!
I've been writing on HubPages for about 2 months. I'm improving, gradually. You have made some very interesting points in your hub. I need to work on properly inserting my photos so they are next to my text; the way yours are.
Larry Ivey— Thank you much for visiting my Hub. I am glad you found my advice useful. I will come over and read some of your work.
Goodness, you get so many comments it takes 3 minutes to scroll to the bottom! and you moderate all of them! So, what was I gonna say? Oh - your advice is perfect for my friend who is still hesitating about making her first Hub - I will forward this too her. She isn't convinced of the quality on HubPages - but this should convince her! Thanks!
mega1— Yes, I moderate them all. I love to receive company. I appreciate the forward. Tell your friend to just jump in! I think the writers in here are pretty good. Thank you for leaving your comments and you are welcome.
Thanks for this hub James. I relate to everything you say about writing hubs. I try to do those things too and I see you definitely practice what you preach. The high score of your hub proves it works.
I REALLY LEARNED HOW TO PRESENT MY HUBS IN THIS ARTICLE. I LEARNED PROPER APPROACH TO THEM AS WELL. THANK YOU FOR TAKING THE TIME TO WRITE THIS PIECE. I AM PROUD TO BECOME YOUR FAN.
Glenn Stok— You are most welcome, Glenn. And welcome to the Hub Pages Community. I appreciate your kind comments. Thank you so much for coming by.
John Cain— Thank you for your gracious words, John. It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Hub Pages Community. I'll come check out your work soon. And you are welcome.
This is a wonderful hub for "newbies" and also for those of us who just leaped in and learned along the way as to how best to make our hubs attractive as well as interesting. Many of my earlier hubs need some intensive care to bring them up to your great standards.
Peggy W— What a pleasure to hear from you again! Thank you for your gracious comments. I'm not sure about my "great standards" but that is surely nice of you to say. I appreciate the visit.
some great information weldone budy
tracy_alfred— Thank you very much! Welcome to the Hub Pages Community. :)
Thanks James I appreciated the link to your Hub.
rondre64— You're most welcome. I hope it is useful.
I am surprised why I didn't see this hub earlier; it would have saved my time of experimenting. I learnt a very important thing from this hub that how important the pics are. I have also noticed how one can use a variety of closed clinked pics in writing.
Thanks.
Bhawna Sharma— Better late than never! I believe pictures help keep someone's interest. You are welcome. Thank you for visiting and leaving your comments. I am glad to be of service. Welcome to the Hub Pages Community!
Thanks so much James for sharing! I truly believe those who give shall receive. I am new to Hub Pages and appreciate the advice very much. Happy Thanksgiving to you and your family.
Teacher106— I have to get over and read your Hubs. I have them bookmarked. Just been in a writing mode lately. And when the muse strikes, I must act.
You are welcome. Thank you for your kind comments. Happy Thanksgiving to you and yours!
James, this hub was very useful to me and I plan on refering back to it from time to time. I have a question that doesnt have anything to do with your hub. I am asking you because I feel that you might know the answer. I have seen your work and I have trust in your judgement. I heard about this thing concerning 30 hubs in 30 days. How exactly does a person benefit from this. Does it raise a flag and direct more traffic your way or what? Im just wanting to learn the pros and cons of doing so. I have about 190 hubs already written. I have 94 on another website in which I have been slowly transfering to this one. The other website just isnt doing what my expectstions were. Can you give me any info concerning my question? Bless you
John Cain— Thank you. I am well pleased that you found it useful.
I didn't participate in the 30 Hubs in 30 days thing. I was concerned about committing to deadlines and turning out shoddy work just to put something out there. Now, in your case, you say you have a ton of Hubs already written, so that is different. I believe it will drive traffic your way. Those participating are sort of in a little club and if you make it known to the others that are in this effort with them, they will probably read your work—if you read theirs. There is sort of an unofficial quid pro quo in the Community, not absolute, but it is there. I think you are off to a good start here.
Very good hub,..I always had wondered about word count. Mine varies depending on the subject. Alot of great tips,..Bookmarked !!! Thanks !!!
Army Infantry Mom— Thank you! It's nice to hear from you. My word count varies also, from 550 to 3300. You are welcome.
Nice info Mr. Watkins, I'm new to hubpages and that's exactly what we should do for a first attention.
In particular we do that on our lives every day, and is great to open my acount and get comments in my hubs from people that is reading and giving value to my work.
motricio— Hello! Welcome to the Hub Pages Community. I am your newest fan and I look forward to reading your work. Your titles look interesting. I'm not sure if I have run across anybody else from Colombia on HubPages. I'm glad you're here.
creativeone59 says:
2 months ago
Hey, James great information, where was it when I started, all new hubbers need this valueable information. Thank you for thinking of the new people. I know I can use this ,even now. thank you very much for sharing. Godspeed. creativeone59