Hub beginnings - What I wish I knew before I wrote my first hub.

Before you write your first hub read this article

If you're just writing on HubPages

for pleasure and you honestly don't care if you generate traffic to your hubs this article isn't for you.

If earning a residual income writing

here on HubPages is not your goal then your time reading might be better spent reading another Hub.

If you're self publishing of online articles and Hubs

is just for you and you desire no audience to read your stuff, then click off this hub now.

But if you desire to write high profile,

frequently visited , often returned to, and Hubsense relevant articles that generate money making clicks from your readers - than let's get started.

I've jumped headfirst into HubPages.

I became fully engaged in HubPages from my first sign in however I made some crucial mistakes I wish I didn't right from the beginning. It slowed me down in reaching my first month goals I had set. It also caused me to have to work twice as hard fixing small things that I didn't realize were so important. These fixes have amounted to a large sum of time that I easily could have avoided if I used the advise in this Hub from the get go.

I know you may skimming this article so let me get right to the point and establish a few things:

• I am a newbie. I'm OK with that. Everyone was at some point.
• I am just learning. It's been a wonderful experience so far.
• I made some mistakes right out the gate and have been correcting them.
• I didn't take the time to learn before I began. I didn't realize I should have.
• I read more than I write on Hubpages at this stage. If you're new you should too.
• This hub is from those perspectives.
• I'm hoping to help you avoid my same mistakes.
  
  
  

If you just can't wait to start writing
skip to step 3 but don't publish it!

You're excited, you found the HubPages platform, you feel like it's a fit, the freedom and potential sounds like something you've always wanted to do. You are excited to write, you have several things ready to cut and paste and put online. You have some great ideas and your fingers are wiggling ready to begin typing your ideas.
Wait, rewind, slow down, hold on, don't publish anything yet. I'm serious don't publish anything yet.

Top three things to do before you publish.

1) Join the community first. Before you publish start connecting with the community.

• Find like minded Authors and follow them. Leave them honest fan mail and rate up their work. Look for those that have been here for awhile and have a high hub author score. They are successful for many reasons and have usually written about how they've done it.
• Read the Hot Hubs and see how the authors write and the unique styles that are successful here.
• Read the Frequently Asked Questions section and then ask questions you don't see there.
• Browse the Forum section learning from the discussions there. Join a few of those discussions and get a feel of how quickly the Veteran Hubbers reach out and help.
• And by all means spend several days reading and watching everything in the Learning Center.
  
  

2) Learn about basic SEO if you haven't yet.

• Pay special attention to choosing the correct title of your hub.
• Learn about keywords and specifically how to find and use them in your article. This is so important and will dramatically impact the success of your writing.
• You may benefit from this hub I wrote on the subject :
  "Understanding SEO - the Definitive Beginners Guide". (currently being edited)
  
  

3) Wait to publish your hub. Write it, add to it, proof read it, add to it. Sleep on it.

• Let it rest sometimes up to three days.
• Re-edit, re-read, run spell check, let it rest.
• Re-edit again even small typo's, add more keywords and capsules let it rest.
• While it rests unpublished, the Hubscore actually increases. Usually up to 9 points.
• Wait, don't hurry let it be your new strategy.
  
  

Hub Success

I want you to succeed in your writing here.

Just like most authors on HubPages I understand the importance of quality hubs. Its similar to a neighborhood whose home values are effected by the value of those homes around them. I want to share with you why the above three tips have already improved my traffic and hub quality.

1) The HubPages community.

I have connected with amazing people all around the world. Many who have been on HubPages for 3 to 4 years. I have also received quality input on what I'm doing well and what I need improvement in. These tips have changed the popularity of my hubs almost over night. My hubauthor score increased from a low 62 to a 88 in 3 days. The community you engage in has a noticeable impact on the readability and will also help your hubs in search engines. Do yourself a favor and make the best of this community. Its rich and complex. Utilize this community because friends here mean more quality search results out there.

2) Learning SEO.

Upon the advice of many veteran hubbers including lrohner I went back and corrected some of my hubs. I learned basic keyword elements, and began to rebuild my hubs. I did an experiment with my lowest scoring hub at that time. I changed the title, added keywords, added capsule elements such as video, newsfeed and some quality graphic elements. My hub score went from 50 to a 62 within 32 hours. It's still on the rise. Proof enough for me to spend the next several weeks doing the same thing to each of the hubs I've already written that I want to see do well.

3) Wait to publish your Hub.

The first several hubs I published I did immediately. I did so after a solid proof read and a genuine feeling of satisfaction with the content and the overall feel of the article. What I didn't realize is that if you let your hub sit the hubscore rises. I don't publish my hubs until they reach a score of 59. This takes 2-3 days. This also gives me time to adjust, do more research, add elements and finalize any keyword analytics. Don't hurry this step. Your overall score and quality of hubs will increase rapidly.

Do's

• Write about things you love. Research those topics you want to write about. Do it naturally. Don't just be after the higher per click topics. When you are passionate about your subject your readers will be too.
• Keep your hubs evergreen. Think of topics that will stay relevant longer. Use a different simple URL and get specific with your title. This article is an example of that. Look at the URL and title and see how they differ. This allows me to tweak my title if in the future I need to adjust it to make it current or more relevant. This approach will keep my article from getting stale and drop in rank and visits.
• Group your hubs together. Group like subject, group like topics, group like themes. This simple step will lead to more clicks and viewer ranking.
• Use RSS feeds to your hubs. Google loves content that is fresh on webpages. By putting an RSS feed or newsfeed in your Hub the content on your Hub will be fresh even if you don't change anything. If you can't find RSS feeds that match your topic use your own Hub RSS feed.
• Add a video that's relevant. Keep it short but interesting. Use a high quality video. This will keep readers engaged and interested and will slow down your bounce rate.
• Use royalty free pictures. Use credits or attribution if required. Stay on the path of integrity.
• Use HubKarma as many times as it is relevant in each of your hubs. You'll find people using your Hubs in their Hubs soon enough. It really does come back to you.

Do not's

• Don't put a picture in the top field of your hub. This is a prime adsense section.
• Don't delete comments that disagree with you. You want discussion and return readers. Even negative comments can add value. Delete vulgar comments and report them.
• Don't sign up for eBay or Kontera for awhile. Both won't be of any use to you until you are writing and gaining readers on HubPages for awhile. Try it if you want to but you'll have time later when your writing has gained momentum and you can target these tools better.
• Don't overuse Amazon sales. Pick relevant specific items for your Hubs. If you can't really suggest a product, then don't. It will appear tacky. Your readers aren't dumb.
  
  
  

You have so much more to learn on HubPages. It just doesn't stop. Don't become overwhelmed just begin to shift your thinking for the long-haul. Set some goals and look down the road. If you invest the time now, your Hubs will continue to gain readers and will quite possible be earning you income well into the future.

Leave me a comment and let's continue the conversation.

If you haven't joined HubPages it's free and the community is fantastic.

Happy Hubbing -

-saintodd

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