How I got my hub to be on Google's first page
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Before I start, I will say this – I am not selling anything. There will not be an offer to buy my ebook at the end of the hub so you can learn my “secrets of success,” for a fee. Nor will I be selling a lifetime membership to my weekly newsletter so I can turn around and sell your email address to someone. Nothing to sell. Nothing sold here :D
I will show you how I got one of my hubs on the front page of google for a particular search term. That’s it, nothing to buy.
SEO Best Practices
Some good advice from this guy.
Why I wrote this hub
I have written this hub in reaction to two things. First, it seems this is an oft-discussed topic, not just on hubpages, but all over the internet. How do I get more exposure? How do I get more traffic? How do I earn more money from my website? You have all seen it.
Secondly, I have written it in response to the staggering number of times I am approached either in the forums here or other sites, online generally, or via email by people saying things such as………Well….., “How I got my hub to be on google’s front page,” for one and others like “I can say this my adsense income is doubling each month and my affiliate sales have so far quadrupled :-) yipee!!”As to the last one, this did not come up in conversation, but was a poorly disguised attempt to get me to look at the person concerned’s website. I personally find these sort of promotional devices at best annoying and at worst offensive. Why offensive you may ask? Because it makes an assumption that I am stupid and thereby insults my intelligence, that’s why. It’s unqualified, and you don’t need to be a mathematician to work out that double 10 cents is still only 20 cents. Also, this one came up during a long thread that had digressed into a personal conversation and was interrupted by someone who had just read the title of the thread and jumped in to do some self promotion.Enough ranting Knowles, get on with it, I hear from the back. OK,OK,
How I got my hub on google’s front page:
- A minimum of 1500 words, of your own, purely original writing
- A minimum of 3 relevant video capsules (YouTube or Google)
- A minimum of 5 relevant non-copyrighted images
- At least 10 relevant, helpful links to other sources, each with your own 30-50 word description
- A news capsule (or highly-relevant RSS feed), or eBay Capsule if your topic is product-related
- 15 relevant tags, including 2-3 common misspellings or spelling variants (if any)
- Maximum 150 word succinct description of the utility of your Flagship Hub in the Summary Text (uncheck the Calculate Summary Automatically box)
- Excellent thematic and aesthetic organization - please use the Capsule Ordering setup to the right (or something similar) when laying out your Hub—trust us, it will look great when you enter all the content
- The content must not be copied from any other source, even if you have the rights to copy from that source. It must be 100% original, and not copied elsewhere after publication and payment, either.
- You should include all links in the Links Capsule, and the links should not be to “bad neighborhoods” (sketchy sites with adult, gambling or other questionable content or ads) or to affiliate sites
- Please break up your text into sections (using the Heading 2 text treatment for each section title) so that it is easy to read.
This is the hub in question:
And if you do a search on google for the term ”2008 motorcycle guide,” you will find not one, but two of my motorcycle guides in the first few results (currently third and fourth.)
So why does this work?
Google’s algorithm.
I am not claiming to be some sort of internet marketing guru, but I asked myself a single, simple question:
“If I was google and wanted to provide the best result possible for a search term, what would I want to see at number one?”
I would want what everyone wants when they search for something on google –
The best quality, most relevant, best written, most well-informed, information packed, good looking web page on that subject.
So, google’s search algorithm is attempting to do that. How they do it exactly is a mystery, although I have no doubt there are thousands of companies telling you they have the secret and will sell it to you for a fee. And some of them may even have it – this week – because it changes all the time. Google spend millions of man hours and dollars developing and “tweaking,” it.
So, how would I rate a web page? I am not saying this is exactly how google do it, but here are some criteria I would use to rate a web page:
- How many good quality links to other useful, relevant resources does the page have? Or is it full of garbage links to affiliate sales sites or porn or spam or gambling?
- How much content is on the page? 2000 well written words that are relevant to the page title and tags or 50 keywords and a page full of advertising?
- How long does a visitor stay on the page? Do they click out after 20 milliseconds or do they stay for several minutes and actually use the page? Scary as it is, google are watching everything everybody does on the internet. Just take a look at the information provided in your google analytics account. They tell you practically the name, address, age and sexual preferences of every visitor to your site; how they found you, how long they stayed and where they went afterwards – Truly Scary.
- Do people return to that page? Do they book mark it and check back when they need information or links on that subject or do they click off never to return?
- How many good quality links are coming into the page? 10 good quality organically grown links that took a month to be put in place or 2000 lousy, paid for links that have nothing to do with the subject matter? If you have got the first four criteria right, this one will come – organically.
If you read the hubpages flagship hub instructions, they are there for a reason and will allow your hub/webpage/blog to fit these criteria and you will be found by google.
Some subjects are harder to achieve. The motorcycle guide, I would class as medium difficult. There are around 200,000 results for this term, so I am happy to be there. One of my other hubs - Forex Trading Guide - is harder to achieve it with.
Basically, the more money to be made from a subject, the more people there are trying to get their site above yours, but I also believe the only difference is it will take longer to get there.
I genuinely believe there is no need for keyword stuffing, long tail keyword phrase research or any other efforts that people use to cheat the system and get their garbage to the top of the results pile. If you write genuine information in a natural way about a subject, you will automatically have the magic number of keywords and phrases about the subject. Automatically, organically and best of all – for FREE!
99% of the Internet is Garbage
It’s true, 99% of the internet is garbage. How many times have you looked for a subject and found nothing but rubbish and advertising? Pages that stop you using the back button? Pages that have pop ups? Empty pages with nothing but affiliate links?
When I began doing research for my forex hubs, I almost despaired of finding any genuine information on the subject. I eventually spoke to a banker friend of mine who told me forex trading is the biggest rip off known to man – even the banks lose money doing it. But the internet and TV is chock-a-block full of people telling you otherwise.
As a writer and internet user, I have to ask myself whether I want to add more garbage to that pile or help to reduce it. I think we all do. Do you really want to be creating spurious pages full of rubbish aimed at generating page views that end up serving no purpose whatsoever other than a few ad clicks - maybe, or do you want to produce good quality, informative pages that draw people back to your writing? On top of that, it’s MY internet too and I want to be able to use it in a way that doesn’t make me want to throw my computer out the window the next time I get a pop up advertisement selling me a penis enlargement cream.
I have made my decision – I am not saying I will write a flagship hub every time I write one, but I will certainly be bearing these instructions in mind when I do. My writing in other places bears out the fact that this works. Search google for the term, “cubicle culture,” or "youcube," and see if you can find me. And thanks for the idea coolbreeze.
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Comments
Very good seo techniques.
Thanks Guys.
thoogun - it keeps the reader on the page longer.
Wonderful, Mark. Provocative title, but no cheating! You gave us the goods.
I can use this advice and make my regular hubs do a hundred times better.
From the bottom of my hubbing heart, thank you very much!
My Pleasure Kenny. It's a little fun too :D
Good info. I got on the first page in October by having a title that everyone searched for, a clearly written hub, and excellent photos (my How to Cook Pumpkin Seeds hub with How to Cook Fresh Pumpkins coming in second). It wasn't hard.
Good for you Stacie.
This will generally lift the quality of hubs, hopefully.
Sigh, why didn't I think of applying the flagship hub rules
to my regular hubs and make them better?
Better late than never, I guess. :)
That is my hope also. I only realized this is what I was doing without really thinking about it. Sometimes the obvious stares you in the face and you just don't realize it. That's partly why I made this hub.
Thanks for the comment, I hope this does help.
Great info Mark! I, do agree that the more useful content, relevant tags, and such, help out Google rank.
I'm blown away by this hub, I laughed I cried I got excited.. especially love your comment about stop rambling mark after you went on about the guy insulting your intellegence .. I laughed.. the tip on using the capsule ordering setup form to the right.. made me stop and thing..huh whats that got to do with- then a bell went off (I later found out that was the microwave- coffee's done) and I realized something new.. duh, I've been importing capsules on the fly as I add stuff then when I have to update I have to go trhough the escruciating process of moving one from the bottom up.. but I realized I can just build the outline first based on my word file.. brilliant, your a god send!
Thanks to both of you. It was fun doing as well.
Mark,
Great advice on how to build a better hub page, I believe it can be applied to many type of web pages.
You are a motivator. 2008 Motorcycle Guide is number one and number 2 in Google.
I will take a picture of my Harley and put it in mysite. I just upload to my server my son's bike, is a HUSQVARNA - FS 450
It is to fast for me.
http://www.isobios.com/rallhs-bike-husqvarna-450.j
Thanks for all these good informaion.
My pleasure Roger. and nice bike too.
Excellent advice. You may be able scam, cheat, or short cut your way to the top but your time there will be short. Quality always wins out in the end.
Thanks Paul - That means a lot coming from you.
Excellent hub, quality information and delivered with finesse and style.
Thanks darkside. I appreciate the comment.
Good information,
I am new here so taking a look around.
Thanks for sharing.
Jewel
Very informative ! thanks !
Thanks for that Mark, we all have a lot to learn. Just wondering I know you can use new tube videos But is there a way of putting up your own movies that we take on a camera ourself. I mean can I put a quicktime movie up on hub pages.
Would that work or not.
Thanks all.
Eileen - No, that wouldn't work. But you could try uploading your video to youtube :D
Fantastic news and tips Mark! Really!!
:)
Thank you compu-smart
Mark,
I did smile when you told the twit to stop having you on. Your start was, as always to my way of thinking humorous.
It annoys me intensely when they tell you it's free then at end of 300 pages of gobble "It's only >>>>>>>"
This is the most informative hub I have read, thank you so much. I have not bothered about earning an income from any of the sources. I believe you have to do your apprenticeship first and learn how you the master does it. You are gradually teaching me. You will have to put up with the gray matter.
I have printed to read and study.
Thank you for a great start to 2008
Thank you Mr Marmalade. I always love it when you stop by....You make the best comments.
Yes. I agree with MrMarmalade, couldnt believe my eyes when i failed to come across and E-Book. It felt wrong somehow.
:)
Yes. I agree with MrMarmalade, couldnt believe my eyes when i failed to come across and E-Book. It felt wrong somehow.
:)
Thank you Thank you Thank you Mark!! One of my New Year's Resolutions is to create my Hubs along the flagship guidelines!! It just makes sense and will raise the quality of our Hubs all the way around!! Thank you so much for sharing!! Blessings Always, Earth Angel!!
My pleasure Earth Angel. Blessings on you too.
Mark -
Although I am not a top hubber, nor am I ranking much with google right now... I am convinced right off that you are right-on.
I simply came here to write that which is relevant to my interest. In my little bit of alexa research, I found this site had good traffic. I figured, if I am going to write, I want what I write, to be read. It is that important of a topic to me. The potential for revenue is a big surprise.
I don't know where this will take me? What surprises me, is my scores for being a newbie? It must have to do with my 'epistles' I tend to produce. LOL I have been criticized for being long winded in my writing. Now, I see this has potential to be a positive.
From what I hear you saying -- I need to organize my Hubs. I am starting to realize this by just observation of others Hubs. Kenny, for instance like you, produce a visually pleasing Hub to the eyes of your readers. Always very fresh in appearance.
I plan on working on the technology, so that although I am lengthy, it wil be well blocked and visually engaging to my readers. I will also concentrate on my links.
Thank you. You have given us all valuable information that is very appreciated. You are a gentleman.
tDMg
Thanks for the tips!
My pleasure ladies.
Great information....very useful to us.
Outstanding article Mark. Would you be willing to let us know how much traffic you are getting from google on this page and how well it is performing financially?
Absolutely. Give it a month, and I will add those details.
Thanks for the great advice!!
A very well done, direct, honest, informative article. Thank you!
Excellent article and the best part about it is that you are not selling anything at the end and even the links you have to your other sites are relevant and not just put there to increase your PR. Nice work.
Thank you all. I hope this is of some use to you.
Wow. I'm new to this hubbing thing and got a lot of articles posted in a relatively short period of time -- but the extent of my internet savvy basically stops there. As a professional writer, it is frustrating to be behind the eight ball on stuff like this.
Your list of "to do's" are a little intimidating, but perhaps if I take them one at a time I can make some headway.
Thanks for your detailed account of how to improve traffic and get a better hub score!
Handsome article knowles.Now me have to rethink on my strategy.Thanks
My pleasure guys. Just remember, these are guide lines for attraction the attention of google on a subject.
Thanks Mark...What the future holds for you depends on what you hold for the future...I recon you have a pretty good future.
Thanks highwaystar.
Thanks Mark for sharing these tips. :-) As a newbie, I was quite surprised to see at one time that my hub "50 Inspirational Quotes for Teachers" was on Googles 3rd page. Also this reinforces my belief that it is better to write quality hubs than go for quantity. As the new year starts, its time to roll up the sleeves and get to working. ..with these guidelines in mind :-) THANKS AGAIN.
Happy New Year! All the best.
My pleasure.
Thank you Mark for sharing this information. What a pleasure it was to glean helpful info without having to buy someone's self-promoting ebook that really doesn't give you the info advertised in the first place!
Looking forward to trying it out.
My pleasure, I hope it works well for you.
I've looked at Hubpages a lot over the last year or so and always backed off because of the huge amount of garbage. I didn't know that there were "flagship hub" guidelines, but their presence and your excellent hub are making me rethink possible membership. Thanks.
My pleasure Sylvie.
The internet as a whole has an awful lot of garbage, but hubpages tries very hard to keep it out.
And feel free to sign up through one of my trackers :)
nice exposure. you win over digg when i search using you keywords.
Thanks, I did not know that.
Nice Hub as always Mark..
Thanks bloggerdollar
Hi Mark,
I like your post, it has a lot of good sound advice in it. The only thing I would say (and you did in fairness mention it yourself) is that some keyword phrases are more competitive than others. You mentioned Forex Trading Guide .
I used a tool called Wordze and its extremely useful at showing the relative competitiveness on a keyword phrase. I guess the point I'm making is that Google puts a lot of emphasis on inbound links to a document (web page). The more competitive a document, the more inbounds links it needs to get a page one ranking (generally speaking).
Anyway, good article - keep them coming!
I agree - that's why I think it just takes longer with the more competetive subject - eventually, you will get there. Thanks for the comment.
Excellent hub, Mark. But I'm sure you already knew that. ;)
Thanks Helena . It's nice to hear it from you.
I agree with the views expressed in this hub. I have been surprised too finding some of my hubs in the front listing of google. A great hub has a mix of everything in a proportinate way and it shuold be written in simple language with original content. Thanx 4 providing valuable information.
My pleasure.
Wow, that was a really great article. I hadn't actually seen the tips for creating a flagship hub yet, so that was extrememly helpful for me. Great to see that you can rank well for these sites. Thanks.
Any time. Check back for the updates.
Absolutely the best - you're a Star Mark. Super hub and so very helpful, with much food for thought for a great number of hubbers - although these principles can be adapted elsewhere.
Thanx so much for sticking this right under our noses (meaning that we really have no excuse now to join or resign the garbage gang). Thanx for sharing in the best kind of way.
My pleasure, glad to be of service.
Very Good Hub. This is some of the best information I have gotten off these hubpages. I haven't concentrated so much on making money, but that doesn't mean I won't eventually. Thanks for sharing this with us.
Some good tips there Mark. Not sure about ignoring long-tail and keyword research. Some basic research will give you an indication of how winnable your targeted keywords are and how much demand there is. Just like "forex trading guide" is a tough one. Of couse publishing to an "authority" site like Hubpages is a great tactic to start with. Like your tips about including videos and pics and will try that with my hubs.
Best regards
Steve
Thanks. I guess it depends what your goals are. Many hubpage users just want their writing to be read and would be inhibited by that. Also, - it very much depends on the subject.
Amen to all of the above. I've found that the pages and blog posts that I have had most success with (ignoring a few flukes) over my time doing this have been with pages that I have taken my time with and are usually topics in which I am genuinely interesting in. I've bookmarked your page as a reminder for when I get in over my head with cuckoo marketing ideas. :)
Thank you. I need to remember that too LOL
Hello Mr. Knowles, A great work indeed.I am with you in this, I really dont like to stuff up my pages with keywords, and want togive my readers original content.I am a writing aspirant myself, and have started on these blogs. I find this article very charming indeed. I understand and value the rules of copyright.
please find my blog here, and say what you think on it
<a href="http://www.lenxworld.blogspot.com">My blog</a>
This is real good info for Newbies and struggling Oldies
This is some excellent content sir. Thanks a bunch and I plan to incorporate these lessons into my hub.
One things that is very important for Search Engines like Google is the content of your articles/stories. You should always make sure that the readers can get something valuable from your site.
Anyways, thank you Mark for sharing this one. I hope someday my hub can make it to the first page of Google...^^
Excellent advice on an excellent hubpage and although this is my first day here with my first hubpage it really gives me something to aim for.
Many Thanks
Brilliant advice, Mark. What's the point of trying to trick the system? You are so right, no tricks will work for very long. Excellent well-researched and relevant content cannot be beaten in the long run.
Thanks Mark for such a well written and immensely useful hub - I want all the people I am coaching to read it because many of them spend way too much time on playing the keyword game in the hope that they can fool the system. Trying to get it over to them that even if they manage to rank number 1 it doesn't make any difference if all they have to offer is garbage anyway.
I am still new to hubpages so will study your advice and strive to give value in everything that I write.
Louisa
I read all of your'e written very nice. Thanks and god bless.
Thanx for sharing these useful info...DrPc-Global
Thank you for all the information it will help me in my future hub endeavors
Excellent hub, full of no bs information. I took a look at the hub in question too and that is really informative and professional, well done.
My pleasure. Thanks.
Excellent post. If people would spend them same amount of energy that they use trying to game the system on producing quality content, everyone involved would be better off.
All the best.
Thanks Mark
I have just put up a motorcycle speedway site http://speedwayracingaus.com ...(yes, I am a rev head too!) and will have to set up a speedway hub although I doubt whether I can match your great achievement.
Cheers
Tony
Thanks for the info. Very informative hub. I appreciate it!
Thanks for sharing Mark. I have been developing my on-line site Jaz Live Cash Culture http://jazlive.com into a Brand. I am still feeling for my niche. Being from the old school as far as marketing [door-to-door]; I have evolved to attending all sorts of socials and distributing self-made business cards for networking. I can hardly wait to share you HUB with my on-line associates!
My pleasure. Hope it helps.
Mark -
You are my new hero! I just wanted to drop by and report on how I have done with you advice.
I am not on the top of google, but my pages are looking pretty good. My last two most recent Hubs, have done much better since taking your advice.
It IS more work, but well worth it. I am tickled with how my Hub looks after doing all that you have advised. I will be all ears:-)
tDMg
LdsNana-AskMormon
I'm ready to go!
I just joined Hubpages and this was the first Hub I read. I have a better idea of how to start out on the right foot and not waste time, so thanks for that!
Susan Payton
The Marketing Eggspert
www.eggmarketingblog.com
www.eggmarketingpr.com
very helpful information to beginner like myself
I'm just getting started on Hubpages and have found your tips extremely useful. Many thanks!
What do you think about hubs page rank ? It seems to me its very hard to build it as you would on a regular blog.
Each page seems to stand alone. Having said that, the hubpages software does a pretty good job of getting the pages found and ranked quickly, so there is some carry over authority to each page, both from your personal profile page and hubpages as a site.
But it seems to me, page rank is no longer the same value as it used to be.
Hi Mark, thank you. Not only are you true to your word about not trying to sell something, but the information you give is useful, easy to understand and implement. I am new around here and really appreciate the help to get started.
My hub does not use the info above, it is straight info, but I will definitely keep your info in mind for future hubs.
Thanks
My pleasure.
A brilliant hub... My mind is brimming with new ideas about how to present my stuff
thank u Sir
Thanks very much for this information, you have amazing ideas, and they can be implemented by anyone! Keep up the amazing work, I look forward to your other hubs.
great article- thanks for the insight to a "novice hubber"
Hey! Guess what? You were right. Not only was your article very very interesting but I stayed on your page thorughout the journey. The topic was relevant, interesting and very well organized. And yep, you know it....there goes the bookmark! Thank you Mark for some great tips. I might not have them all down, but I do intend to review them. Now let me get back to my page and tweak it a bit. (wink)
elleissa
Thanks elleissa - Good luck getting your page perfect :) I hope to see you at number one any time soon :)
Mark, great tips, just got on Hubs yesterday over here in the UK, by the way just googled your 2008 Mototcycle Guide and you are 4 and 5 here in the Uk. Will have to get cracking now and start a hub page !! Charlie
Thanks. Glad to see it works in the UK too:)
Great info - thanks. I just created my first Hub today and this will give me something to shoot for.
http://www.vitallywell.net/Aads.html - Website and Blog Monetization
Cool thanks for sharing!!
Finally someone with good information who doesn't want to sell something. Thanks so much! You've provided a real service.
Thanks guys - I hope this was helpful.
I am a graduate student studying Information Security and I find it interesting that the length for a well written hub page is about the same as the length of a typical academic paper. The length for academic papers runs a parallel with the requirements for journal publication. Thanks for the advice.
My pleasure - It has something to do with attention spans I think. :)
Thank you very much, I almost spent $10 on a e-book about the value of hubs and getting to the 1st page but it seems you did it all for me already, thank you very much.
Hi Mark, add me to the list of people fawning over your hub. And I say that with absolute honesty. What a treat! Funny and informative. I love it. Thank you for spelling it all out. Excellent tips that will help me improve! Best - Steph
My pleasure steph.
Thanks you Mark,
When most of us start out on a project like this we find that there is so much material to go through it can easily become overwhelming. You've managed to cut to the chase and put it all in a context that doesn't require hours and hours of reading and researchjust to figure out. Which saves that time for doing the research and writing we're here to do.
Thanks again,
Steve
Wow! What a Hub! You've inspired about a gazillion comments in just a couple weeks. Do you feel the love?
I've yet to follow HubPages flagship hub instructions, and as a result, I haven't reached #1 or #2 on any of my hubs, either.
My problem is that if I tried to put up 1500 words, it would be nonsensical rambling. My writing is better when done short, and to the point. Then I link them together to create the broader discussion.
I guess I should go back to work and spend a couple weeks writing up the mother of all hub pages and see what happens.
Mark you have done a great job of this and I am very appreciative. Nothing sells like not selling, it woud seem. You may be coerced into doing that e-book or report after all. Thanks for sharing with the rest of us.
Anthony
Thank you all - I apprecieate thye comments. And the ebook? Not gonna happen. Anything I learn here, I will happily share for free.
Mark, in so many words you described the difference between 2 kinds of people
1 Those who have something good to offer viewers and those that don't.
2 Those who are willing to put forth effort to promote and share their product/service and those who want positive effects with little effort.
The ability to write a flagship hub will sift out both of these groups. After all, Who can BS for 2000 words about a worthless product/service? I mean you could I guess, but I don't think too many people would be fooled. by it
If you do have something really great to offer, you should just focus and take the time to do it. Yes, I'm included in that little sermon....:)
Thanks Mark
Allen
All good stuff. Personally, I can't stand u-tube and rarely if ever click on a movie link. I don't doubt that they help your SEO and all that, but in my experience, if 99% of the text/pic internet is garbage, that rises to 99.99% of internet videos. That's why I was disappointed in the Flagship Hub initiative. It seems to militate against quality writing. Pity ;)
I have to agree. I rarely put YouTube videos in my normal hubs because it is so hard to find decent stuff. But, as HP says, it does keep the viewer on the page longer, and I go out of my way to find relevant good quality videos.
I love your hub, especially the part about the internet garbage, it's so true.
Thanks. Way too much for all of us I think.
YouTube isn't the #3 rated site on the entire internet for nothing, you know. For every person who refuses to watch a YouTube video because they think it is a senseless waste of time, There are a thousand more who spend hours upon hours, every day, doing little but sitting and watching YouTube videos.
I advocate thoroughly searching YouTube for good videos that are on topic and put them on your site. If you can't find one that fits, make one.
Thank you for the very informative article. I am going to experiment by using the recommended layout for flagship hubs on my own websites and see if it results in higher rankings.
Mark, I have just signed up to Hubpages, I'm blown away by your article/guide. I am making a copy to hang on my wall.
Thanks!
My pleasure, thanks.
Great hub, thumbs up! SY
More quality information. Thank you for writing something worth reading.
Thanks for the useful information for newbie like me. You are a motivator to all hubbers here. hehhehe..Thanks once again for remind me. Cheers from Malaysia
My pleasure every one. Hope it helps.
Yipeeeeeeeeee!!!!!!
Thanks for this Mark, Only have a blog at the moment but want to look at devolping my own web site in the future and it is nice to see somebody being so honest.
Today the weather in this little English Devon Village is wet and windy and a bit chilly round the willy!
Thanks once again Mark!!!
Byeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!!!
My pleasure Martin. I hope this will help you.
The Sun is shining where I am. Beautiful, 70 degrees and a gentle breeze.
Ciaooooooooooo!!!!
This is a hub I'll make a hardcopy off. Thanks Mark.
My pleasure.
I have the dumbest question ever. In your title you say How I got my hub to be on Google's first page.
What do you mean by google's first page? Do you mean if they type in 'motorcyles' you are the first listing? Or is there some 'first page' of google I don't know about?
I agrees with you on this whole Internet bandwagon to be "googled". I am figuring out a much better approach myself. You are doing it.
I enjoy your hub immersely. I want to read more of your other hubs but it is so late in the night. I shall come back. Geez, I am so ashamed of my first hub posted recently after seeing your. My face is so red already. Smile.
Thank you.
I greatly appreciate the integrity of your approach. If only everyone posting on the internet would abide by your standards!
woow what a writing,pal,just great.very useful article indeed.
Thanks for the tips, trying to have my hub on google
wow 300,000 pages competition. I like your non-typical approach to this, that is using no SEO techniques. A normal hubpage seems to rank very highly in Google and you normally get a double listing. I guess you cant use this for selling stuff but if you want to get some ad revenue, it cant be badm bet you get good traffic!
Great stuff -There's too much rubbish out there. The sooner people realise that providing good content combined with simple basic SEO page design will give better results the better.
I am new to hubs and blogs. This guideline (hub) is awesome.
Thanks,
Paul
Thank you all. I hope this helps.
Thanks for the advice, it was a pleasure reading your article. I just hope now I can implement your advice into my Hub pages.
Thanks
Tom
This is very informative.
Thank you for that info!
Bernard Hoa
Great Stuff Mark! Thanks for taking the time to share this.. Being a new hubber, I needed it. :-)
To your success!
-Joe
Mark -
I just wanted to tell you that as I suspected... you are right on!
Currently, I have two of my most recent articles on the first page of Google. One is actually in the number 1 position on the very first page of Google.
Very exciting!
Thanks again for the outstanding advice given here. I must say though... this type of Hub, is work! LOL
But a good feeling when publishing as you know you have put your all into what you put out there.
tDMg
LdsNana-AskMormon
Thanks all.
Nana - You must also remember that some subjects are harder than others to get there :)
Yes my friend. I am aware of this. Quite a few of my articles are on the first few pages of Google, thanks to many of your suggestions, I am sure.
tDMg
LdsNana-AskMormon
My pleasure.
Love it, love it, love it. As a new hubber, you've given me hope that one of my hubs can reach the masses. Thank you!! - Blogger Mom
My pleasure. Hope it works for you.
Thank you Mark. Clear concise and easy to follow. I just joined a few hours ago and answered my first request. Looking forward to the journey.
Thanks. Good luck.
Thanks Mark,
It's fantastic that you took the time to outline this information for everyone. It is informative and extremely well versed. It has made a lot of things much clearer for me.
Thank you, MAXINE46
You are welcome.
Dear Mark,
I'm new to HubPages but not so new to building websites. This hub is excellent advice for a beginner such as myself, and your motorbike hub is an inspiration (I'm a pushbike fan, but appreciate the depth of your knowledge and clarity of your site).
I wish you good luck in future ventures!
pjd
Thanks. I like pushbikes too LOL
Mark - as a Realtor who blogs a lot this is excellent advice - I got some great new tips to incorporate so thanks for sharing in such a direct way - loved it - looking forward to hearing how you did making money too!
I will do an update after a month or two :)
Mark - Thanks! I am brand new to this whole blogging thing and am finding it a bit overwhelming, especially all the site that want you to allow uncontrolled ads to be placed on your page. This was an excellent read, I too love to write and really am not looking to "get rich" with my muse. I'd just like to share my thoughts and have people exchange theirs on the subjects. I believe your correct...99% of internet info is garbage!
Thanks. Good luck. Maybe between us we can reduce the garbage to 98.99999999999995%
Terrific advice! I'm going to bookmark this one to use as a reference for my future HubPages publishing. If only there were a printable version.... ;)
There is a way of stripping out the images, but it's complicated. There was a forum discussion on this recently:
http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/1334#post12100
Boiling it down: write good content. Excellent advice Mark. The search engines really are pretty good at figuring out what is quality content and ranking it appropriately. So all you have to do is write something interesting and unique. That really puts you on the path to search engine success.
There you go. It might not get you on the front page every time, but it can't hurt LOL
Thank you very much. I just started writing online. It helps a lot
Thanks for the great information Mark. I really enjoy your approach of am I adding great content or just more trash? This hub is now a bookmark and I will use some if not all of the guidelines as I move forward in my creation of hugpages!
Yes! Thanks for spelling it out , Mark. The lightbulbs are flashing. I'm seeing stars!
No idea how I've not read this hub before now but I have today and its great, thank you
stubbs
This is great advice. Thank you!
You mentioned there are 200K results for "2008 motorcycle guide." What is the number of daily searches?
One point you may wish to add is that to get traffic, there have to be people searching.
=D
It loads for me no problem :)
Thanks Misha
seamus - quite right - this is not massively serched for, but I also get traffic for these search terms also:
2008 motorcycle guide
2008 sport bikes
2008 motorcycles
2008 street bikes
2008 motorcycle
motorbikes 2008
motorcycles 2008
2008 motorbikes
best 2008 motorbikes
And a lot of models/manufacturers names combined with 2008
Combined, they add up to about 2,000 visits a month for this hub, and 11,000 visits to all my m/c hubs combined - in the winter :)
I will post more as the spring comes and people styart looking for bikes.
Mark,
Thanks for the great content and the eithical way of promoting. I appreciate all the great tips here. I am new to Hubpages and the ins and outs of what I can and can't post is great.
As far as promoting stuff, I do love to recommend high quality products, authors, teachers and resources in lots of different areas. I don't want to get in a jackpot of pushing links or affiliating myself with others in a non-ethical manner ever, but I've been very fortunate to have found the 2% of internet marketing teaching that is not junk, having taken a year or so to sort out the rest!
Looking forward to learning and doing it the right way: to do what I love to do, write, share, learn, and promote the good stuff! I am so impressed with your interaction with each of your readers too!
Since I haven't started my first hub yet, this is a fantastic way to get it right, from the start! Thanks, Again, and thanks for all the comments.
Best, Mary
Thanks Mark i really enjoy your article. It's good to see if you follow the rules, they work. Why does everybody try to reinvent the wheel
cheers
Rowan
Mark,
Thanks for the great information. We've used this guide in publishing our first couple of hubs and it has helped us score very well. In fact, we're including some of your ideas in our regular websites as well.
Thanks again.
Travis and Shaun
Debt Free Project
Hi Mark - I'm brand new at this, and I really appreciate the clear, no-nonsense advice you're presenting here. I don't know if I'll ever get a hub on Google page one, but I'm sure that by following your advice I'll do a lot better than I would otherwise! Thanks again, - Deanna.
hello
My pleasure everyone - thanks for the positive comments.
Ouch, those are some hefty minimum requirements Mark, does that mean my own hub (just created my first one yesterday) or anyone else's who don't meet these minimums can't rank well?
As a rookie to Hub Pages I'm certainly grateful for your throwing this information out there for everyone to learn from and I hope to do better as I go along.
I noticed that this very hub you created to tell us of your HUB strategy doesn't seem to meet all the minimum requirements you mentioned such as the min. 3 video requirement and some others. Is there a reason you held back on this particular Hub page?
Thanks again,
Stephen
LOL - Yes. These are not minimum requirements - they are just how I got this hub where it is.
My personal preference is against YouTube videos - I think the quality is poor and there is too much opportunity for the hosting service to put advertisements in that are not going to do me any good - you heard it here first - they don't do it yet - but they will do. BUT - they keep the reader on the page longer - a trade-off.
There are other things to consider also. This format for the m/c guide is not a great earner because there are too many other links for the reader to click on.
I will not be doing a "flagship hub" withe every hub I write either, but I keep these guidelines in the back of my mind.
Hi Mark,
I'm brand new here and found this article. It certainly makes sense. Can you point me to the spot where it says that we should have a minimum of 3 relevant video capsules?
Thank you.
I found the requirements here Greg http://hubpages.com/help/flagship_hubs_moreBy the way Mark I see they have a "Flagship Hubs Topic Pool" of topics to pick from here http://hubpages.com/help/flagship_hubs_pool but I'm wondering if we "have to" pick from this pool of topics for any given month to write about or do the administrators allow us to suggest one we would like to write about?Thanks,Stephen
There is actually a link in this hub - :)
It depends on who you are and what you ideas are LOL They have a pool, but I have also done a few that are not on the list that I have suggested myself.
Sorry Greg my links to the flagship hub criteria got screwed up for some reason, let me try one more time. If it happens again the first link ends with the word "more" and the second with the word "pool" so you can just copy and paste if need be.-Stephenhttp://hubpages.com/help/flagship_hubs_morehttp://
Interesting Mark so you're saying that perhaps a rookie Hubber like myself may not be given as much leeway in selecting my own flagship hub till I "earn my stripes" so to speak like yourself. Is that your theory?
I don't know - I guess it depends on the suggestions you have - Hubpages are looking for high traffic/high paying subjects but they also look for good work. One of my hubs:
http://hubpages.com/hub/Top-Ten-American-Recipes
I did this and sent it to them and they liked it, so they paid me for a flagship hub - and this is not high paying subject :) Like I said - it depends. Why don't you email them and ask? It certainly can't hurt :)
Stephen & Mark,
Thank you both!
"Why don't you email them and ask? "WHAT, why should I be the one to ask? Isn't that what I pay you all this money for Mark!? Oh, wait, .......... that's right, I don't pay you anything. :-) Ok I guess I'l ask. LOLThanks for your input Mark, much appreciated, and I like the pic of the BBQ ribs in your link above. Makes my mouth water.-Stephen
Great article!
Great article
hi allow me to do a little bit analysis (& of course may others too find it helpful)
1) everyone is selling something, but we should have moral principles not to fool someone into making us a sale. (i don't think so there is any harm in honest selling, afterall you too have adsense, so honesty is best policy).
2) link to authority websites: i think by linking to hubpages rules, you have generated confidence in everyone.
3) i found it weird that you don't have bio pages, contact you link, & all other stuffs found on right side.
THIS IS INTELLIGENT, there's this "related hubs" things, now this won't distract people. Really intelligent. will follow.
4) Writing style: i don't know it helps people or not, but i've natural analytic mindset (i've done it here again), but your writing style is certainly such which everyone would identify with. i'll certainly improve here. your PRO.
5) so far as i know about SEO'S i would agree with you only in few points.
Feel free.
1. last time I checked, selling something involved money being passed from one person to another. Adsense ads are a little different. :)
2. I agree.
3. It is there at the top right hand of the article.
4. Thank you very much.
5. I didn't understand this comment.
Thanks for stopping by :)
HELP PLEASE
iam not that used hubpages, i saw your profile on right side. i tried my hands on my hubs, but simply couldn't make it look like yours. how you make it this way. please guide.
& for that SEO, google guidelines for webmasters say that one must do just a little bit of key word search or otherwise people won't be able to find it. certainly we must do, do not stuffing.
Take a look at darkside's hubs - he has written a great selection about how to use the hubpages software:
http://hubpages.com/hub/capsules
Excellent! And also very easy to see how you're getting and keeping your own personal score here at Hubpages :)Now to find the time to get a flagship done! They give 7 days I believe (?) to get one completely done (or was I misinformed). How many hours would you estimate you put in to create the motorcyle hub? Just curious :)
Yes, I think they give you a week - But I don't imagine they will be upset if you took 10 days, LOL
I honestly don't know - Much of the time was taken in research, and I wrote a bunch of smaller hubs around it, using the same research, so it's hard to judge. These are all related hubs - not a bad idea to do if you do a FH :)
http://hubpages.com/author/Mark+Knowles/motorcycle
Interes
thooghun says:
4 months ago
Thank you Mark. I mean it, a no-nonsense, here-ye-are approach, which makes perfect sense to me.
One question though, why on earth are 3 relevant youtube (or video) links important? (maybe I missed it)
Thanks again!
Thoog.