At least most of the time, that is what I try to do. I an relatively new at hubpages.com (less than 10 days at this stage) but I have noticed that my rating is running from 85-90 so I think it's working fine.

My thoughts on making a good design are to include at least one relevant graphic. I prefer to make it not so dominant by using the half page and quarter page modes and moving it into the upper right hand corner. It seems to help balance the ads better. Play with arrows in the photo capsule until your get something you like. "Borrow" graphics from the Internet if you don't have your own. You can learn how to modify them if you load my favourite editing program which is Picnik.

Learn how to add links but not too many. The change in colour breaks the flow of your hub.

To add a survey, load Google Documents (it's free). Using the spreadsheet layout, you can turn this into a simple survey or opinion poll and embed it into your hub and it records the responses in your spreadsheet. They do a good job of explaining it and you will need to learn a little about HTML and pasting the code in the right place.

Keep the survey short. No more than 1 or 2 questions. Start with one until you get the hang of it.

Avoid making your hubs look too busy. There is already plenty going on with the addition of adds and other information boxes. Hub, blogs and websites are all becoming like the grocery store bulletin board—too much content makes it impossible to find anything relevant. White space is important in any graphic design project.

Make your paragraphs short so each one is a little story unto itself. And do use spell check before you publish.

Have fun hubbing. I am. (Spell check doesn't recognize the word hubbing. It will soon enough.)