This is not my audience!

1. 81

   LiamBeanposted 13 years ago

   It has taken me a couple of years and a lot of work, but I've finally come to a realization.
   
   I don't belong here. At least, my articles don't.
   
   Part of this realization comes of frustration and part of it comes from a now precipitously low reader count.
   
   Part of this is due to Google's new algorithm which seems to ignore individual contributor content over putting an entire URL under a dark cloud. But part of it too is that I am not writing to my audience. This is not the place to do it.
   
   So I think I'm going to stop writing so much here and concentrate on my own content on my own blog.
   
   I have nothing against Hubpages. The staff have been very good to me and I'll save my fluffy pieces for here and the more technical content for elsewhere.

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2. 59

   Mark Knowlesposted 13 years ago

   Sorry to see you go Liam.

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   1. 81

      LiamBeanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Mark, but I'm not leaving. Just going to be publishing a lot fewer technical articles here and more what I consider "fluff" articles. Product reviews and such.
      
      I'm going to reduce my word count and concentrate on "sales" here. I've got a blog set up (for years now) that I'll use for my more technical articles. At least I can also publish medical breakthrough stuff there, or on a similar, but more medically oriented blog I can create.
      
      But here I'll back off of the techie stuff and concentrate on things like my camera and laptop/notebook reviews. Those have done well here. The "how to hack" and "how computers work" articles don't do well here. I need a more targeted audience for that stuff.
      
      I am crashingly disappointed in Google's approach to content searches. The worst offender, eHow for stealing content and blasting out thousands of pages of crap, continues to rank well, while sites like this, with real quality content, takes a hit.

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3. 79

   Sufidreamerposted 13 years ago

   ^ Likewise, Liam - At least you are not leaving us completely
   
   Make sure that you post a link to your personal site in your profile - I have used your home improvement guides a few times, as they are many, many levels above the eHow type crap infesting the search engines!

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   1. 81

      LiamBeanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      This is exactly what I'm upset about. If Google's new algorithm is so great why does eHow continue to rank well in searches?
      
      Hugpages has been slighted!

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         rebekahELLEposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         It makes no sense, does it? I'm using different search methods for certain topics.
         
         I hope you're still active here Liam.
         

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         1. 81

            LiamBeanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Oh I will be. I just need to fine-tune my topics. I'll be much less technical here and much more technical elsewhere. Maybe I can do overview type articles here with links to detailed articles elsewhere.

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      2. 79

         Sufidreamerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I just did a search for Torx screws - eHow is 4th on the list. What a waste of pixels
         
         ht tp://www.ehow.com/how_5554117_remove-torx-screws.html (broken because I refuse to give them a backlink).
         
         Anybody who genuinely finds that information useful should never be allowed near power tools, as they are a real danger to those around them! Pre-algo, there used to be many genuinely content-rich, useful sites around - now, we are expected to put up with this crap.
         
         ht tp://www.ehow.com/how_5490217_use-chain-saw-safely.html
         
         This should be titled - 'How to Amputate Your Own Legs.'

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         1. 81

            LiamBeanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I sometimes do searches on topics that I've written about. One of my most popular hubs, "how to paint fiberglass" (which is 2,600 words long), shows up third in a google search.
            
            eHow's article comes in first.
            
            The eHow article is laced with errors. It's not worth the read because of all the inaccuracies, yet it ranks number one in a google search.
            
            At least my article is on the first page.
            
            And the "how to" articles will continue to be a topic category for me here.

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            1. 62

               Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Keep in mind, though, that the world is full of people who, if they see "eHow", aren't going to click on it, no matter where it shows up.  I think it's still too soon after the recent changes for anyone to do much in terms of taking action with existing Hubs.
               
               I'm not sure, though, that on a mixed-subject site like this one, there is any one audience.  Each different piece of writing finds it own audience (or doesn't).  Maybe you're right about the technical stuff.  Maybe there's just a lot of competition out there (or on here) because so many people write technical stuff (and it's often about the same thing).  Maybe I'm wrong, but I find it hard to believe (at least once dust settles and any adjustments get made with algorithms) that a well written, solid, technical Hub isn't going to do well (one way or another) on here.
               
               Technical or otherwise (and there's lot of writing that isn't technical but is far from "fluff"), I'm not sure it isn't premature to make any blanket guesses about any audience on here (even if how each of your technical Hubs finds its audience ends up being a different way than before).
               
               It sounds like you're going through what a lot of the poets have been going through (or anyone who has a lot of one kind of Hub) on here.  A lot of people are blaming their own kind of Hubs and thinking there's "no point" in having their particular brand of Hubs on here.  What you do isn't my business; but, personally, I think (at least for the time-being) you ought to call your technical Hubs "a Hub niche", and see how they do after a little more time passes.  Of course, there are thousands and thousands of different opinions out there in Internet-land.  I know mine may be incorrect.
               
               Either way, though, I still think Hubs that were written with the reader in mind (and not with the writer in mind; or else not with any preconceived, and often incorrect, notions about "audience") stand a chance of doing as well as, or better than, before.  (And, believe me, I've got some stuff I plan to replace or dump too - but not because of any "category of writing", other than "mediocre or worse" that I'd use for those particular Hubs.) 

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            Daniel Carterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

              You crack me up, sufi!
            
            I truly suspect that Almighty Google may have to debug this latest algo. I think there are discoveries everywhere that will result in legitimate complaints. Let's hope Mighty Matt (Cutts) has a good ear to turn and hear.

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            1. 79

               Sufidreamerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I have a sneaking feeling that the owner of eHow must have some compromising pictures of Matt Cutts - that is the only possible explanation for its continued success.
               
               I had to write on a client account there, once, and felt unclean afterwards. Never again
               
               Liam: That is the problem with eHow (apart from the proliferation of truly idiotic subjects). It has articles written by non-specialists with no experience of the topic. I have no idea why it continually ranks above sites constructed by knowledgeable professionals

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               1. 61

                  Daniel Carterposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Find a wiccan and ask for cleansing rituals. I don't trust the other possibilities!
                  
                  In this day and age, WE should improvise some compromising pics of Mighty Matt, if it will get us what we want!

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               2. 62

                  Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Maybe some people trust eHow, but if a lot of people keep coming up with it when they search they're just going to search somewhere else.  Sometimes Nature just has take its course.

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4. 61

   smalikaposted 13 years ago

   For newer hubbers like us it certainly sounds discouraging.. ..  if you don't mind my asking, how much do you make in a month?

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   1. 62

      Lisa HWposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Don't let it be.  A lot of people who have been here a while have built up hundreds/thousands of Hubs that were written according to the old standards/rules.  Now, people are just trying to figure out what they should be doing with any number of, or all of, those Hubs.  When you work at a big company there are often shake-ups at a rate of - like - every six months to a year.  In the "scheme of business", going a few years without a major shake-up (like this algorithm thing) is not a sign of overall instability.  You're actually at an advantage in a lot of ways (coming in not to long after things changed), so just write according to the new standards.  You'll earn.     How much depends on each Hub.

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   2. 81

      LiamBeanposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      So you know we are going through a transition. Starting fresh you won't be subject to the same disappointments I've been facing lately.
      
      If I told you what I made it would disappoint you further. But you should bear in mind that most of my articles are more technical than what you'll find in news articles or even technical sites. At the same time they are less technical than the sciences I report on would like.
      
      In other words, I don't have a huge reader base nor would I expect to have one. Of course this affects any profits I might otherwise enjoy.

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5. 81

   LiamBeanposted 13 years ago

   Thank you all for your support. Over the last four days my hit rate has started to climb again. I'm still disappointed by Google's actions, especially in light of the fact that the very sites they claim to be weeding out still rank high in search results.
   
   As I said earlier I'm going to change a few things. Mostly write shorter articles with links to more detailed articles about the same subject matter.

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6. 60

   Sesshoumaru2stposted 12 years ago

   Utter none-sense!Yeah i'm new here,so i might not have enough experience with this place to make an insightful comment,but at least hear me out,or read me up .There are thousands of people, thousands more articles that touch the same subject you're writing on.What makes the guy who wrote on the same subject better than you?Simple.Effort and the ability to harness one's imagination.Yeah i can write up a nice chapter on relativity,but do i have the imagination that will allow people to appreciate the new added perspective i present to them?I'm not trying to be rude,but if you lack confidence and imagination,then you're better off trying something else.The site is not the problem,if it is then why some got successful off this site?You contemplate about what i said real hard and see if you're just a Loser,or you're a potential Winner(like Charlie Sheen).The choice is yours my friend.

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   1. 75

      shoganposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Sesshoumaru2st--I don't think you understand what has happened here as a result of the changes with Google.  It's always good to think positively, but there's more to the situation than confidence and personal
      effort.

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7. 0

   blake4dposted 12 years ago

   This is not my beautiful house, this is not my beautiful room, this is not my beautiful wife. Burniging down the house....

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