Not long ago, I was writing Hubs without even thinking about number one Google ranking. Pretty silly, really, since my poetic-humor website was built in 2007-2008 with such things firmly in mind. That site maintains the first spot in multiple search engines to this day, and seldom a week goes by that I don't check to see if it is still hanging in there. But Hubs? They is what they is, isn't they?

Then an increasingly attention-getting need for cold hard cash inspired a paradigm shift. Maybe some Superstar Hubbers might know some stuff that could help out? Oh my and golly gee whiz, what an original thought!

OK, now that we're done with the self-directed sarcasm, let's jump to my "new" awareness (after reading a few key Hubs by Hal Licino, Mark Knowles, Embitca, and others) that targeting the top search engine spots might just be a good thing to keep in mind. By the numbers:

1. Income is obviously (duh) a simple multiplication formula, i.e. [number of Hub views] x [number of clicks per 1,000 views] x [average amount paid per click] = $money$ in the bank.

2. Writing what I want to write is as important to me as to even a purist like Hal Licino (salute, brother), but since I'd once been in the habit of setting up my pages (for the other website) in a way that allowed the engines to like them without selling myself in the hack market, it seemed logical that the "old" skill could be resurrected without unbearable pain. Maybe. Hopefully.

3. While traffic is only one third of the money equation, it does need to be addressed. Zero views won't pay anyone a penny, no matter what the conversion rate or ppc rate.

4. Before you can figure out how to get where you want to go, you need to figure out where you are.

With that in mind, I took a look at my best existing Hubs. The top two (from a 95 Hub inventory), How To Dig A Hand Dug Well and How To Build A Survival Cabin On A Shoestring Budget, currently account for nearly half of my total Hub views. Logically, they almost had to be at least showing up on the first few pages....

Yep. First page, number one. I'd done something right with them by accident.

Note: The photos are all screen shots in the truest sense, actual raw snapshots taken of the computer screen. Not only do I not possess Photoshop; I can't even find the spare ink cartridges for the printer.

How did these Hubs just happen to acquire number one Google ranking? Well, I've not reread them with any attempt at analysis, so I don't have a clue...okay, a few little clues. They (the two Hubs) have titles that state clearly what the pages are about, there are multiple relevant links outbound from each one, and I don't write fluff.

The most startling thing happened when just the two words "survival cabin" were used in a search: Not only did the Hub retain its top slot in the results, but one of my related Hubs, How To Furnish A Survival Cabin, showed up at number two--a magical one-two indented listing Google punch!

Who-o-o-o-oa! Can't get much better than that. Hmmm, what about the well digging Hub? Reducing that Hub's title to just "dig well"--surely a search done by many a would be well digger--did not snag an indented listing, but it did indeed hold onto that coveted King of the Mountain position.

What this illustrated, at least to me, is that we don't need hotsy totsy keyword tools to get the job done. If I could follow the principles I believed were working and duplicate the survival cabin and hand dug well results, then I'd know I was onto something. Those principles, particularly the selection of the title keywords, involved (a) picking a title that sounded good, (b) running a search on the full title, then (c) if the results seemed to fit, try "cinching down" to the title's two or three most likely-to-be-used words and search those combinations.

There were several Hubs subsequently title-searched and written, and the results did seem to validate my theory. Not every time; the writer who can ace the search engines every single go-round is either a mythical being, a fibber, or has a direct tap into the Power of Greyskull. But often enough to keep me encouraged. Five repetitions of the title keywords in each Hub became my mantra, but I didn't even bother to count them before publishing and could easily be over or under by one or two reps on any given page of perhaps 1500 words.

Last night, I decided to write a Hub titled Guns Are My Friends. This was a coming out of sorts, a willingness to announce my Life Membership in the National Rifle Association and let the chips fall where they may. Searching the full title as well as "guns my friends", then "guns friends", and finally simply "guns", I felt I had a winner. Six hours later, the Hub was published (around 2:15 a.m. here in Arizona).

Eight hours after that, following a bit of sleep and helping my wife get her morning medication down, it was time to see if anybody had noticed the new Hub. Mm, a few: Seven views, quite likely all from fellow Hubbers who keep an eye on my writing now and again, as I do on theirs. When I next checked, around two p.m.--roughly twelve hours after publication--the view count showed fourteen. Not a gazillion views a minute, but enough to get my attention: Google must have it showing...and they did.

There are a few things I do with every Hub: Write quite a few words (usually over 1,000, at least). On the early Hubs, include a minimum of two photos or videos. On the recent Hubs, include a minimum of five photos simply because I like the slide show concept and five photos are required to have one. Write only on topics I care about and/or which can be of practical benefit to readers, with no fluff, all meat. Include a minimum of ten links, all in the text, while almost never bothering to add a bottom-of-page link capsule (if a link goes bad, I just delete-and-forget, not bothering to keep a given link count at that point).

In all of the earlier Hubs, links to my poetic-humor website were included but links to my other Hubs were seldom done; that has now reversed completely.

Since it looks like I've at least got a bit of a clue on getting number one Google ranking at this point, it's time to turn my attention to those other factors: Selecting topics that interest me and have major conversion ratio potential...and have nice, hefty pay rates. Figuring out how to write more Hubs per time unit without sacrificing quality. Finding a way to finance a wind turbine--oh, sorry; that's another topic.

Thanks for reading,

Ghost32