I have done it all

1. 80

   Bard of Elyposted 11 years ago

   I have tried all the old tips here for improving hubs and recently I have also tweaked all the idled ones, I have deleted a lot and moved a lot more elsewhere...and I have tried waiting, and after all this my earnings are the worst they have ever been!  I was actually doing better before I made the idle ones active, and removed a whole lot of them so what am I doing wrong here?
   
   I used to take a pride in publishing new hubs but that is not the case any more. I used to look forward to seeing my stats and earnings rising but those days are gone too it seems!

   replyreport
   1. 71

      William F. Torpeyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      It's all  about profits, Bard. You can write about anything you want, but if you write about the Gettysburg Address you'll get an idle hub or If you write a commercial for cell phones you'll do a lot better.

      replyreport
      1. 80

         Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         William, sadly I know very little about cell phones, don't have one and apart from knowing how to speak into one if somebody gives me theirs that is about it. I don't even know how to turn one off!
         
         I had a go at writing about commercial stuff and people were asking me what on Earth are you writing this crap for, Steve?. I told them I was trying to make some money. It didn't work and lately that hub got idled so I deleted it.
         
         There is a school of thought that says to write about what you know about and I do but it fails to get the traffic.

         replyreport
      2. 81

         Wesman Todd Shawposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Truth.
         
         I make my bit of money here from acoustic guitars.....the other essays are for my own personal pleasure, it seems.

         replyreport
         1. 80

            Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I have a hub on acoustic guitars but it hasn't worked for me. In fact I think it was one of the many that were idled.

            replyreport
   2. 60

      Hollie Thomasposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I'd give things a couple more weeks Bard. At the moment, we've got Panda 3.0, the latest penguin (or whatever) the problems with the robots.txt files, pending, idle and who knows what else.
      
      I don't have many hubs here (I don't depend on HP for income, I earn it elsewhere) but it does seem that everythings a bit up in the air, until people are sure what, exactly, has impacted their traffic, they can't make the necessary adjustments. Also, looking at the SERPS, it's apparent that G has not settled down yet. Some common search terms are bringing up very strange results which are not likely to please the searcher. I can't believe that G will leave things that way.

      replyreport
   3. 58

      wabondposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Bard, You say you have tried it all, but there is one area not effected by Google updates and that is Youtube.  My videos on Youtube don't seem to be effected by anything Google has done.  So I am thinking about perhaps conventing some of my hubs into youtube videos as they are now doing far better than my blogs and hubs.

      replyreport
      1. 80

         Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I am glad to hear you have videos doing well, William! For me YouTube is another site that doesn't work  and for the same reasons: I don't get the traffic.

         replyreport
         1. 58

            wabondposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I have to admit that it is only my mermaid video that is doing well on Youtube.  But my mermaid blogs and hubpages are losing traffic like anyone else.  So it does show that if you find a subject people like, on Youtube, you do still have a chance of success.

            replyreport
            1. 80

               Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Charlie Veitch gets loads of traffic at YouTube even now he has upset a lot of his old truther and conspiracy theorist supporters. In his case I'd say it is because he is so controversial and  famous.

               replyreport
               1. 58

                  wabondposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  I suppose my ideas on Mermaids are controversial, Bard, so perhaps it helps to be like that.  You do have the advantage of performing on a stage, would that knowledge be a help to you?

                  replyreport
                  1. 80

                     Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     Of no use to me at all, William! As far as I can tell I am simply not 'interesting' or 'celeb' or 'famous' or 'controversial' enough for anyone to want to know what I have to say or post, save for a small circle on Facebook etc. People want to know about people in the news, be they good or bad it doesn't matter.  I am not newsworthy enough to make the grade.

                     replyreport
                     1. 58

                        wabondposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                        I think you sell yourself short Bard.  Yes, you may not be able to compete with people in the news or mainstream TV, but at present all you want is to make a bit of money.  Not to be a millionaire celebrity.  I am sure with your talent, you are disappointed with your results on Youtube.  But keep in mind that people with far less talent than you, have been reasonably successful on Youtube.

                        replyreport
                        1. 80

                           Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                           William, the talent seems to be how to market/promote whatever it is, and this is something I don't seem to have. Yes, I have seen utter rubbish such as a photo-shopped chameleon on YouTube that gets millions of hits but the people who post it know the secret of getting the traffic. JazzRoc told me he ran into some guy on there who posts chemtrails videos not because he believes in it but because he makes money from all the traffic he gets. I can see this is possible because the chemtrail debunking video I posted using quotes of Andre Anglin's has got more views than anything else in my blog but only in the hundreds.

                           replyreport
                           1. 58

                              wabondposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                              Bard, I think half the time, it is probably something you stubble upon.  By far the biggest success I have is my mermaid blogs, hubpages and videos, but I didn't start out thinking there was a market for it.  I was surprised to learn that there was so many people interested in mermaids.  I think for most people their blogs, hubs and videos are not successful, but suddenly you hit on a idea and people are interested.  It is just a matter of trying out things and hoping they work, and sometimes they do.

                              replyreport
   4. 61

      ytbot1xposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      "Cancel AdSense and just keep HubPages Ad Program?"
      
      "Hello! I've seen past discussions on this, but they are from more than a year ago, so I thought I'd see what people think about it now.
      
      I've noticed that I make hardly anything on Google AdSense and haven't gotten a payout for several months. I do pretty well on HPAD and am wondering if I will do even better if I delete my AdSense account."
      
      http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/104822
      
      -Just check who the Original Poster was, of that thread. It's a 'featured hubber who can be found on the "Success Stories page, named glassvisage.

      replyreport
      1. 80

         Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I actually need to make some more to get my next payout from Adsense.

         replyreport
         1. 61

            ytbot1xposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            As the saying goes, you're not a 'featured hubber yet.

            replyreport
            1. 80

               Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               No, never have been and the way I'm doing here it doesn't look likely that I ever will be unless a miracle happens! lol

               replyreport
      2. 85

         Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         That would be a very bad idea.  You must have an Adsense account to be eligible for the HP Ad Program.  So if you cancel Adsense, you lose the lot.

         replyreport
2. 79

   Shadesbreathposted 11 years ago

   Bard, you need a blog and a Facebook page to go with it for pictures and linking to it. What I have gathered about you over the years is you are simply incapable of whoring yourself out to the machine. So don't try. Be you. Make a blog on Blogspot or Wordpress or something, spend the 2 hours it will take you to figure out their super easy layout and design stuff, and you become your own niche. The people who are into your view of the universe will find you in time, and you will accrete an audience if you produce content with a predictable regularity around which they can build a reading habit.

   replyreport
   1. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The Bard already has a blog, here:
      http://bardofelysays.blogspot.com
      
      I helped him sort it out and have advised him to concentrate on building that site up, but I'm guessing that it's not making any income and that's why he keeps coming back to HubPages (he even opened a second account here). 
      
      You're probably right about the Facebook page to link to it.

      replyreport
      1. 92

         Jean Bakulaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I have been to the Bard's blog, and found it really interesting. It's got a lot of facts if you are into environmentalism and nature, as I am. Definitely worth a look!

         replyreport
         1. 80

            Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you, Jean! I am glad you appreciate my writings!

            replyreport
   2. 80

      Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      As Marisa, has pointed out I have a blog she helped me with and I put a lot of articles on there but they hardly get any views or subscribers. I also advertise everything at my Facebook site and pages if appropriate.

      replyreport
   3. 81

      Wesman Todd Shawposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      These things are also true, in my opinion.
      
      I've moved well over fifty hubs over the last year to blogspot where they can live forever....every so often, I make a buck from those from Adsense.

      replyreport
3. 86

   DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years ago

   I have read the majority of the threads dealing with this sort of issue--idled hubs; revenue/view loss, etc.
   
   I don't know what I am going to do either.  Getting my HP account up to where I am finally seeing some income  (about every 2-3 months it builds up enough for a payout), has taken me nearly 3 years, during which time, especially the last year and a half, my blogs have been left untended and ignored.
   (I never got much traffic to them, anyhow--I get better traffic here, even if it is mostly other hubbers).
   
   At this point, though, I'm kind of depressed and discouraged with the idle hub thing hitting a LOT of my hubs  (some poetry; some informational/educational).  I have about 6 titles waiting to finish, and frankly, with all I've been reading, it's kind of killed my writing mood.  I just don't feel like putting in the effort to write new hubs if they're going to end up unseen/un-indexed or idled.
   
   It's depressing.  And I'm not good at 'niches;' I'm a generalist.  Even my blogs (except for the goofy cat blog) are kind of 'all over the place.'

   replyreport
   1. 80

      Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I find it very depressing too. This idling nonsense hits hubs I spent ages on. Recently a hub review of David de Rothschild's latest book got the zzs and that was in my featured hubs at the time, and a review that David himself was delighted with!

      replyreport
   2. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      MsLizzy, I think it's time to take a hard look at what you're doing and why you're doing it. If income is your goal, then you have to treat online writing as your job.  If you told an employer, "but I can't make blue widgets all day, I'm a generalist,so you'll have to let me wander round the factory and make whatever I like", would you expect to get paid?    These days, a blog will not make money unless it is centered on a single broad subject.   If you can't focus on a topic, then you have to face the fact that blogging is not the right job for you. 
      
      If money is important to you, your "generalist" blogs are a diversion you can't afford, no matter how good the writing.  Be decisive! Save the posts on your PC, delete the blogs so they can't distract you any more.  After a month or so, republish them on HubPages and forget about them. 
      
      Move 90% of your cat Hubs to your cat blog.  It may be "goofy", but it's a single subject you can write about, it has "age" - and people love cats.  So build your cats blog so it has lots of content, and learn how to monetize it properly by signing up for affiliate programs.   
      
      Google "Keyword Academy free trial", sign up for it and make a serious attempt to study it for those 30 days, no matter how difficult it may seem.  Even if you only absorb a small amount of the material, you'll be better off than you are now.

      replyreport
      1. 86

         DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Hi, Marisa,
           Thanks for your explanation, but I fear I did not come across quite the way I meant to.
         
         My blogs are neglected because of the efforts I've been putting in here.  I did not mean to imply that I wished to be making more money from the blogs; indeed, I have not even bothered to monetize them, as that was not my intent on the Blogger platform.
         
         I have very few cat-centered articles here.  Perhaps only 1 or 2 that specifically deal with cats; there are a couple of others that are general animal welfare topics.  My cat blog is 'goofy' as it is written as if by  the cats,  complete with deliberate grammar mistakes and incorrect spelling, attributed to a cat's likely difficulties with English, assuming they could think as we do and use a computer.  It is part of a larger group collectively known as "The Cat Blogosphere," in which hundreds of folks participate, and it's all in fun.
         
         I was not trying to make money with the blogs; they were more for my own amusement, and (hopefully) to try and educate folks on some things.  One was about my crafts/hobbies.  (I've already moved the photo tutorials from that one over here.)
         
         One of the others is for posting more controversial topics, and possibly topics which might be 'on the edge' with HP's rules of decorum..  On that one, I use a different pen name than I have here, so there is no crossover flak.  There, I call a spade a spade in no uncertain terms, and if 'foul language' seems appropriate to the topic, there are no rules against that on blogs.
         
         That is all.  What I was saying, is that I am in sympathy and agreement with many other Hubbers who are not especially thrilled with all the changes that negatively affect our traffic and views here.
         
         I came to HP as a "refugee" you might say, from Demand Studios, where they are nit-picky to a fault, and without even decent title choices on which to write...very obscure and too-specific stuff, such as how to repair a specific make and model of air compressor, for example; unlikely to be a massively searched item.  As another Hubber said, they pretty much limit you to "how-to" articles, and it can take hours to sort through the choices to find something about which you feel halfway qualified to write.
         
         On HP, we can write about pretty much whatever strikes our fancy, and I was finally doing quite well with my generalist approach.
         
         Nonetheless, I'll look up the references you suggest; it can't hurt.
         Thank you for your time.

         replyreport
         1. 85

            Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I do apologise, I did misinterpret.  I assumed you were like Bard, who can't afford to spend hours on unproductive writing, because he has a pressing need to earn income from his online endeavours.   If writing online is just a hobby and the income isn't important to you, then my advice isn't that relevant.

            replyreport
            1. 86

               DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Hi, Marisa,
                 Thank you.  It isn't that all writing online isn't important to me for inocme; it's that  the only income that is important in my online writing efforts is here on HP, now that I've finally started getting some.
               I have neither the time nor the energy to spend trying to write for multiple sites, and waiting to build reputation there.  After all, I'm nearly 65, and I don't have that many more periods of  "3-years-here-and-there" to wait for results.
               That is my main reason for being rather unhappy and agreeing with others' positions on the changes.

               replyreport
4. 0

   Lynn S. Murphyposted 11 years ago

   I want to point out that if you have an adsense and amazon account here on HP- you can also set those accounts up on your blog as well. I have mine set up there as I have friends that will go to my blog first rather than HP to place an order.

   replyreport
   1. 86

      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, Lynn
        Yes, I am aware of that.  However, there are no 'orders' to be placed or filled; I don't use my blogs for selling things...I did not monetize them because I did not want to.  I'm not a big fan of ads to start with; I know I don't like ads all up in my face when I'm trying to read something, and I prefer to avoid doing it to others.
        I accepted it here, because it is making me some pocket change, but I don't want ads all over everywhere I write.  At that, Blogger being another freebie platform, there are some anyway--you cannot escape them entirely.

      replyreport
5. 0

   Lynn S. Murphyposted 11 years ago

   Have you tried blog train? Its free and you only need to "ride the train" to up your points by viewing other blogs to get front page recognition. However, you may pick up some new readers there. http://blog-train.net.  As with anything, a blog that stands out is the one that gets attention and there are millions out there vying for the same attention. On my own blog, I have yet to "find" that "it".

   replyreport
   1. 86

      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Had not heard of that...I'll look into it.  Thanks.

      replyreport
   2. 86

      DzyMsLizzyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the info...the link wouldn't load.  I'll try again later on.

      replyreport
6. 80

   Bard of Elyposted 11 years ago

   I can understand your feelings on this because it's like the four years I put in building my hubs here was a waste of time and effort in many ways. It feels that way, and now I am in the process of spending more time moving a lot of them to Wizzley.

   replyreport
   1. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Are you sure they'll do better on Wizzley?   Wizzley is a good site, but I do know people who went there thinking it had greater potential than HubPages, only to be disappointed.  While you're moving stuff, I still recommend that you move your environmental Hubs to http://bardofelysays.blogspot.com.au.    You may not be making much now, but in the long run the blog stands to do better. 
      
      What happened to the Tenerife Islander blog?

      replyreport
7. 80

   Bard of Elyposted 11 years ago

   I have been concentrating on moving idled or low-scoring hubs. The Tenerife Island site I have always had problems with because I don't find it an easy site to edit or, most importantly, put Google ads on for them to display properly. This could be due to my lack of skill, because I am using the free set up, or even because webs.com is not a very good site host to start with.
   My Tenerife Islander HubPage account is catching up with my earnings for this main account, though seeing as they are pitiful, that isn't saying a lot!
   Wizzley I haven't had a payment from as yet so cannot comment. I have been concentrating on adding Wizzes and improving how they are displayed.

   replyreport
   1. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with that - it's an annoying platform to work with. I just noticed you didn't link to it on your Tenerife Islander profile so I thought maybe you had ditched it.
      
      
      
      In that case, surely moving your Hubs is a pretty dumb thing to do?  Why spend all that time and effort moving them to another site, if you don't know whether that site is better?
      
      There are people doing well on Wizzley, but there are also some Hubbers who moved there full of enthusiasm, who are now disappointed.  Just like HubPages, Wizzley works for some people and not for others. 
      
      The other thing you have to consider - which you're aware of, I know - is that some of your Hubs simply aren't on topics people are searching for, so they will never do well on any revenue sharing site.    That's why the blogs make more sense, because they can attract people interested in the broad subject, who will then read the posts.

      replyreport
      1. 80

         Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Marisa, my logic on moving a lot of hubs was based on finding out that hubs that aren't  scoring 70 or over are no good. My understanding is that they can pull down your whole site in terns of ranking and traffic. So I thought, OK, let's get rid of all the low-scorers. From talking to Rae I understood that it is far better to have a smaller number of hubs that work well than a lot that are doing nothing or are now being called Idle.
         
         Meanwhile at Wizzley I noted that the only way I could find of building my percentage there was by adding more wizzes and am now 100%. I also have one wizz that is the Wizzley editor's choice (I think they call it).
         
         Marisa, I have hubs that don't do well that are on philosophical subjects that don't fit in my Green Bard blog either. I have a lot of stuff that doesn't fit there so I thought, and was being encouraged to do so, why not stick all the stuff that is failing her on Wizzley. I have already had enough of Squidoo which I see can swiftly 'idle' a lens and call it a WIP even though, like here, there is nothing wrong with it! The site has just done that to a lens about reusable cloth bags.

         replyreport
         1. 85

            Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Bard, you should know by now that HubScores are totally, completely irrelevant to earnings potential.  And the idea that low-scoring Hubs bring down your ranking is questionable.  Low quality Hubs bring down your ranking - but you don't write low quality stuff, you just write stuff that people don't search for much.
            
            Think about it: if articles which aren't searched brought down your ranking, news sites would be in big trouble -  because who searches for last month's news?  Yet those old news posts remain on their site, many months later.
            
            My take would be this.  If you have Hubs which never did well, don't move them.  If they didn't get much search traffic on HubPages, they certainly won't do any better on Wizzley,so it's a waste of effort.  If you have Hubs that used to do well - then they are worth moving.

            replyreport
            1. 73

               relacheposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               The crux of the matter.  .

               replyreport
               1. 80

                  Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  So advice that I have often seen about writing what you know about and want to write about is not correct? You have to write about popular stuff? But not too popular because it is already covered elsewhere.

                  replyreport
                  1. 78

                     Greekgeekposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     Evidently someone hasn't yet seen my dumb little diagram...
                     
                     
                     
                     -- Greekgeek's sole useful contribution to the web

                     replyreport
                  2. 73

                     relacheposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     Bard, for the last few years, I've seen you post repeatedly in the forums, mostly with one of the two following gists to your post:  "Nothing works!" or "Eureka, I've got it!"  In the end, you seem to just pendulum swing between the two points.
                     
                     What you have never seemed to achieve is a balance somewhere in the middle.  Greekgeek and her Venn diagram have nailed it.  You seem to either write about things that you really know, but that no one else cares about in the slightest which gives you good content and no traffic.  Or you have tried writing about things you think are popular but which have no connection to your personal experience, which just gets beaten out by people who have a lot of personal experience in those areas and know what the audience for that materials really is looking for.
                     
                     You have to write about things you really know, but which also happen to be useful and helpful to other people with those same interests. 
                     
                     You might also want to start to consider that writing for this site is not going to be something you do "successfully" unless you radically change your definition of success from whatever criteria you are using presently.

                     replyreport
8. 58

   Christa Michelleposted 11 years ago

   I am new to this site. Do you think that this site does not pay off in the long run? Do hubs overtime just stop getting hits all together, the older they get or do they continue to get more hits? What is your experience?

   replyreport
   1. 80

      Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Christa, I don't want to put you off because you may well have more success here than I am doing. In my experience it doesn't matter whether hubs are old or recently published ones because both can get idled. I was doing well on this site last year but have been getting worse and worse results ever since the Google Panda and later updates and changes. I hear that some newcomers are doing better though. I don't claim to understand all this stuff because I am mainly a writer.

      replyreport
9. 58

   Christa Michelleposted 11 years ago

   I heard about squido and some other sites. I'm just trying to pick the right site to invest my time in.

   replyreport
10. 78

    Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

    It's a PITA, but instead of moving content, I just try... building more content. That way, the old content can continue to earn some money, even if the ROI isn't what you hoped, and the new content will tell you whether a new website is worth the effort or not.
    
    ...I say, after banging on the image uploader on Zujava for about 20 minutes. Meh.

    replyreport
11. 80

    Bard of Elyposted 11 years ago

    Well, yes, I take your point about old news reports. They don't get idled or converted to WIP! This is what I find annoying about all this, that it is nothing to do with the quality of the writings at all!  I have also noted in the past few weeks since all this idling system was brought in that a hub that is doing well can suddenly get the zz applied to it even though it has a high score above 70, and that idled hubs that were down in the 50s can suddenly go up into the 80s with a minimum of attention to tweak them alive. This makes a nonsense out of it for me!
    
    I recently had my review of David de Rothschild's recent book on the Plastiki idled and I know that is a good review and David himself was very pleased with it. It still got the zz here. Does this mean people are not searching for his book?
    Re hubs that used to do well, in my experience all of them do well for the first few weeks and then many drop with many of these continuing downhill never to recover.  This is reflected in the comments section too, that when the hubs are doing well you get a lot of comments and then after they have slid way down  no one posts anything. In the process of moving idled hubs I have seen a lot that had a lot of comments so were clearly of interest at one point.

    replyreport
    1. 85

       Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Are the comments from other Hubbers or from outsiders? If they're from other Hubbers, then they mean nothing.
       
       You have over 2,000 followers, who get notified when you publish a new Hub.  So a lot of your early traffic and comments comes from that, not from your Hub showing in search engines - which means you can't use that early burst of traffic as any judge of the Hub's potential.
       
       Do you use Google Analytics to see where your traffic is coming from?

       replyreport
       1. 80

          Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Mainly from other hubbers.
          
          I don't understand Google Analytics so I don't look at that.  I look in Traffic Sources to see where the traffic comes from.

          replyreport
          1. 85

             Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             For Hubs which have only ever got traffic from other Hubbers, there's no point in moving them to Wizzley, or any other rev-sharing site - because the communities elsewhere are even smaller than here.    The blog is your best bet.

             replyreport
             1. 80

                Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                Well, I thought it was better to stick them there than delete them. I have a lot that get idled that do not fit my blog's niche at all.

                replyreport
                1. 85

                   Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                   If you reactivate them (which you can do by changing one sentence), how long does it take for them to go idle again?   I revived all my idle Hubs and they haven't idled again yet.

                   replyreport
                   1. 80

                      Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                      I can report the same. And also, which surprised me, a couple have shot up into the high scoring hubs. So there couldn't have been much wrong with them to start with. It all seems very random.

                      replyreport
                      1. 85

                         Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                         That's my point, Bard. I feel you're giving yourself a lot of work in moving Hubs, when I'm doubtful they will do any better on Wizzley.   Far quicker to reactivate them and then get on with new projects on Wizzley and elsewhere, as Greekgeek suggests.
                         
                         I've suggested we should get an email when a Hub gets idled, and I'm told HubPages have added it to the list to be considered.

                         replyreport
12. 80

    LeanManposted 11 years ago

    Hi Bard
    
    The ZZZ has little to do with the score of a hub and more to do with the traffic that it receives from the search engines. If it is getting no love from Google it will make little or no difference to your total views if it is active or idled as you will still get no views!
    However what people seem to forget is that the reason for introducing the ZZZ was to take out the hubs that Google does not like so that what is left are all "loved" by Google. The theory being that you will be left with the good stuff and that Google will start to send you even more traffic than before!
    So all of those that un-ZZZ a hub by adding an extra word to a capsule or some other minor edit are defeating the purpose of it!
    If it goes to sleep take a long look at it, if it is on a subject that no one searches for then leave it to snooze, if it can be improved then IMPROVE it, not just make a minor tweak to get rid of the ZZZ..
    
    But if you are writing in areas that are not searched for you really cannot expect to gain visitors nor make money no matter where it is published. As has been suggested move it to a blog and spend the next few months networking with like mined people to grow a following and readership.
    If you want money you have to write in areas that people are searching for. Simple as that!

    replyreport
    1. 58

       Christa Michelleposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       what does zzz mean? that it is not longer posted to public or just that it hasn't been read in a while?

       replyreport
    2. 80

       Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Last year I had a hub about Spanish singer-songwriter Lidia Guevara ranking higher than her official site  and my other hub interview with her was on the same page.  Recently both have dropped out of sight and the interview got idled. How do you explain that?  Why last year did these work but not now unless the Panda and later updates didn't destroy the traffic?

       replyreport
       1. 78

          Greekgeekposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Google is trying to serve up what readers are most looking for on any given search. Fans of a celebrity are usually looking for the celebrity's own website more than someone else's website about them.
          
          So if your page was ranking higher than a singer's official site, then yes, a Panda algorithm was liable to catch that and correct it in a future update.
          
          In fact, you're very lucky you managed to outrank the singer's official site for a while -- you broke the Google algorithm! Be proud.
          
          Google divides searches into levels of relevance, which we discovered when someone accidentally leaked the internal quality rater guidelines they use to assess how well the Google algorithm is working.
          
          Google classifies webpages according to levels of relevance for a given search query. "VITAL" is the top of the ladder: this is the official website for a given search term. Normally, the very best we can hope to achieve is the next two rungs of the ladder: "Useful" (which Wikipedia tends to hog) or, more likely, "Relevant." Google programmers' job is to design and refine an algorithm that automatically spit out sites in an order that matches those criteria.
          
          The fact that you managed to bump a "VITAL" website off the top of Google results for any time at all is impressive. However, sooner or later, fans linking to the official site would give it an SEO advantage your page can't beat, unless the official site is really, really awful.

          replyreport
    3. 85

       Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       That assumes that you believe the theory.  Some of us are dubious about it.  To my mind, there is an enormous difference between "hubs that Google does not like" and "hubs with low search traffic".
       
       "Hubs that Google does not like" because they are spammy, low quality or on dubious topics - by all means, let's get rid of them, because they are definitely harming your sub-domain.  "Hubs with low search traffic" may be excellent quality, and may even be ranked high on Google - it's just that the topic doesn't get searched much.  It's unlikely they're harming your domain and by leaving them ZZz'd, you've lost the steady trickle of traffic they were getting.

       replyreport
       1. 70

          sunforgedposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          You could be losing high amounts of income on expensive niche products with small target audiences.
          
          You could be losing "link juice" on an aged, well established article that provides support for an external resource or another hub
          
          You are losing a statistical tool for catching and evaluating search terms (i.e. analytics data , keyword history) that you may not have specifically targeted
          
          You are losing the ability to be "ahead of the game" and/or make intelligent seasonal decisions.
          
          Was a hamfisted policy decision.
          
          OT - but it still irks me!!!

          replyreport
13. 80

    Bard of Elyposted 11 years ago

    I was very proud of it at the time because Lidia has a large fanbase  and was in a signed group before she went solo so is already a Spanish star. So to think my hub was doing better than her official site made me think, well, I must be doing something right here!  I followed with an interview in Spanish which I translated into English, and even more impressively, she got a deal with a record company after all the publicity I had generated...at least I am pretty sure it played a part in it!
    But then after Panda it dropped down badly and the interview was doing so badly it got idled.

    replyreport
14. 80

    Bard of Elyposted 11 years ago

    Rae, you won't have seen me posting much at all about success with this my main account for a long while. It has mostly been moans. My Green Bard account was a different matter. It got off to a great start but again it isn't making the money so I haven't bothered so much with it lately.
    
    My main way of defining success has been how well my hubs are doing financially and they are not doing well at all. This is very important to me because I was depending on money coming in from here which went with the first Panda update and has continued downhill since.

    replyreport
    1. 58

       Christa Michelleposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I've never used google adsense  etc. before. Can someone tell me exactly how to set this up. It says it is active on the hub pages side. When i go to google as sense do i just need to put my hub pages address under "URL channels"? Do i need to list each individual hub article or only my main profile address? And also in google adsense under "Ad Units" do i need to create the ads? and if so how do i connect them to my stuff? I haven't been getting any $ and i think i don't have it setup right. It was showing the number of visits I have had but no $ and I had connected anything I thought it did that automatically when i applied for it since it shows "Active" on the hbpages side.
       Please help I am wandering through the dark on this one....

       replyreport
       1. 90

          Rochelle Frankposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Look through the learning center-- if this doesn't help, ask in the "need help" forums.

          replyreport
          1. 58

             Christa Michelleposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             thank you

             replyreport
             1. 90

                Rochelle Frankposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                Now that I answered you-- I'm having trouble finding the learning center-- but found out there is still a link if you go to "faq" or frequently asked questions, at the bottom of the page.

                replyreport
                1. 58

                   Christa Michelleposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                   go to your name at the top right and if you click on your name a column opens up and it is right above sign out.  You have been hubbing for a while and I see that your hubs are well written and on a variety of topics. How well do they pay off after investing a few years. How long has it taken? Are your old hubs still getting lots of hits or do a lot of them go idle? Does the money kind of stay around the same or does it actually continue to grow?

                   replyreport
                   1. 90

                      Rochelle Frankposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                      I don't want to answer here-- we are taking over the subject of the original poster. Will answer privately.
                      {Sorry Bard-- please feel free to delete my post. here}

                      replyreport
                      1. 80

                         Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                         I'll leave your posts up as I am pleased to see you have been helping Christa here.

                         replyreport
                         1. 58

                            Christa Michelleposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                            Thank you Bard I really appreciate everything.

                            replyreport
15. 80

    Bard of Elyposted 11 years ago

    Yes, that is surprising. I mean, I would never have thought that mermaids were a good subject for getting traffic so that is very interesting.

    replyreport