Changing Keywords

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   Aficionadaposted 5 years ago

   I'm curious to hear from successful-now or successful-in-the-past Hubbers about a question I have.  That is, do you periodically return to your Hubs and revise the keywords because of changes in search patterns over time?
   
   What I mean is that when we research keywords, we get a picture of the terms people use to search for information on various topics, and we see which terms are more or less popular at that time. But for many reasons, the exact wording of a search term might change, and over time some terms might become more or less popular, even if the actual topic keeps a fairly steady popularity. So, do you check every 6, 12, 18, 24 months and change if necessary - or not at all?

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2. 84

   relacheposted 5 years ago

   I don't make the main focus of my Hub content or the point of what I'm doing be a keyword or phrase.  I tend to put a lot more weight to the overall content itself, designing what I'm writing to be useful to the reader with the focus on satisfying a goal for the visualized visitor, not catering to the temporary whim of a machine algorithm.
   
   In other words, I have never researched keywords in the six years I've now been here (actually it will be six years on Tuesday July 31, 2012).  I write what I know and what I like, and in doing so, I use a variety of terms that are relevant to that topic.  I know that doesn't sound like what a whole bunch of "gurus" are telling people to do when it comes to creating web content but as someone who got a variety of instruction and experience with creative and critical writing in high school, college and graduate school and who has been writing online for a decade now, that's how I do what I do.
   
   And given that I pay my rent and living expenses from writing online, by my own standards, I consider myself successful.

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   1. 90

      Aficionadaposted 5 years ago in reply to this

      No question that you are successful, relache!  Congratulations on your six years at HubPages - Happy Anniversary tomorrow!
      
      Thank you for sharing your approach to building content here.

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3. 88

   Will Apseposted 5 years ago

   I don't know about changing keywords but if you have good page that is not getting visitors changing the title can have a huge impact. The Google adwords tool can help with that. So can the title tuner.
   
   I have a page that languished with near zero views for a couple of years that now gets around a hundred views a day simply because I finally worked out what people people wanting the info on the page would be entering into Google search.
   
   Hubpages suggest you check the keywords in the page stats to make sure you are offering the info that search brings to your article.

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   1. 90

      Aficionadaposted 5 years ago in reply to this

      That's actually very encouraging!  I've neglected the process of checking the same sort of thing with some of my unsuccessful Hubs, but that has been on my To-Do list for awhile.  I hope your experience will inspire me to get that done soon.
      
      
      I try to check those every time I access one of my own Hubs.  Sometimes I get some pretty good ideas for other Hubs by doing that, but so far I haven't really changed keywords (or even the title) based on the page's HP keyword stats.  I have used the Title Tuner to change the title occasionally.
      
      The background for my question (in the OP) was actually my own experience.  That is, I often research keywords for some article I am planning, just to be as certain as possible that I am phrasing the title and first paragraphs in the most advantageous way.  But sometimes I don't write those articles soon after doing the research.  On occasion, it has been months before I get to it.  I recently wondered if the statistics on the keywords I researched would have changed enough during the elapsed time that I should do the research all over.  That's what led me to the question.

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