Things Every Hub Should Do When Published

Writing Hubs on HubPages isn't hard. The folks at HubPages.com have worked very hard to make sure that is a true statement. The HubBuilder interface used to build quality, good looking webpages, without a single line of code in either HTML or CSS is a testament to good user interface design. It allows all kinds of people from professional writers and technology writers, to grandmas, grandpas, and everyone in between to write and publish their wisdom (or not) as HubPages.

Unfortunately, that means that there are A LOT of Hubs out there, and getting lost in that sea of webpages is pretty easy. Getting noticed can be accomplished either by jumping up and down waving your arms and shouting (promotion) or by making sure your published Hubs are some of the best ones on HubPages.

If you are interested in the jumping up and down waving your arms and basically yelling, screaming, and talking about yourself and what you do every moment of every day, go Google a guy named Guy Kawasaki. Otherwise, here are the Top 10 Things to Make Hubs Better.

Make Better Hubs Checklist

1. Link To Quality (Your Quality) - Read anything about search engine optimization or SEO and you'll hear all about how important incoming links are to a webpage's PageRank and subsequently its search results rankings. But, did you know that what you link TO matters as well? Google isn't dumb, they know that a webpage that links out to 5 different webspam sites or a bunch of Made for AdSense webpages, is probably a garbage page too. Since you can't control a lot of the links on your Hubs, make sure that your links are good ones. Better yet, link to your own related quality webpages out on the web.
2. Link to Your Other Hubs - The HubPage's website automatically links to some of your other published Hubs, but you don't control those links. If you have other Hubs that might interest someone who is reading this Hub, make a manual link. Use that Hub's targeted keywords, and you'll get even more value from each link.
3. Proofread - Nothing says, everything else this guy has written probably isn't reading like a bunch of typos and sentences that just don't make any sense. You don't have to be a grammar pro to publish Hubs, but do us all a favor and at least make sure that they make sense!
4. Edit - Editing is not the same thing as proofreading. Editing is re-doing your Hub in order to make it read better, flow better, or get your point across better. Re-read each paragraph one at a time and then ask yourself if you could make that paragraph better. If so, tweak it. It doesn't take long and your writing will be much better.
5. No Empty Spots - Delete all the modules you don't end up using when you write your hub. You never know just how your Hub will end up looking if you leave an empty 1/2 width text section hanging out there.

1. Socialize - Tweet it, post it, link it, favorite it, bookmark it. You don't want to spam your friends and family with every Hub you publish. You might not even want them to know about some of them! But, posting links on the various social networking sites is a great way to get the word out about your Hubs. Even if you don't have any followers or friends, Google is likely to find your links sooner or later, and those links count too.
2. Pictures - A picture is NOT worth a thousand words. A picture CAN be worth a thousand words . Most of the time, though, when it comes to webpages, blog posts, Squidoo Lenses, and even Hubs, the picture doesn't add a darn thing. It doesn't matter! The initial impression a new page that is opened in a web browser creates in the user's eye is critical to getting them to stick around and actually read it. 500 words with no pictures looks a lot longer and more boring than 500 words with a picture. So, throw a picture on your Hub. It doesn't really matter if it is something lame like, oh, I don't know, a checkmark?
3. Research Keywords - Your great amazing Hub will forever sit in the backwater of the HubPages.com site unless people can find it. If you are linking and participating on HubPages, that is one way. To get to anyone else, you'll need to show up in search results. The key to showing up in search engines is having the EXACT phrase that was searched for in your Hub (preferably in the Title or Subheadings). In other words, that Hub about organic, biodegradable, blood remover could be HUGE, if only you had included the words "non-toxic." Don't try and game the whole system, just be sure you understand how people are searching for what you are writing about.
4. Check the ranking of your Hubs with the free keyword processing tool for Hubpages.

The rest will take care of itself.