Significant Traffic Increase.

1. 88

   SimeyCposted 11 years ago

   There is a significant traffic increase for Hubpages - a 38% increase in one day! Was there an algorithm update? I happened black Friday - Squidoo did not see an increase.....
   
   http://www.quantcast.com/hubpages.com

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      IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      One of my subs is seeing a pretty big increase in visitors today.
      
      Unfortunately for me, there is not a sales hub on that site at all, so it's not a seasonal thing, and may indeed indicate an algo update.
      
      This account is slightly higher than this time last week, but nothing to write home about.

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   2. 83

      stayingalivemomaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      My traffic increase was during Thanksgiving week. One hub in particular went from 100+ views a day to 2,000+ views a day. It's tapering off now, but can't wait until Christmas gets closer to see how it does then!

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      Denmarkguyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I think it's just a weird week, because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Wednesday-Thursday become "like a weekend," and instead of traffic taking a nosedive on the actual weekend, it spikes because people are starting their holiday shopping. Usually "daily" trends mean very little, aside from people doing different things in their daily lives.
      
      What seems more "trend worthy" (to me) is that Squidoo's traffic peaked about 30 days ago... and has been in significant decline since then... while Hubpages' traffic seemed to "find a bottom" near the end of September (the Panda 20 update?) and is now creeping UP.

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      NathaNaterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hi, everybody, I'm a newbie; just to let you know that right off the bat. That quantcast graph is fascinating; I was looking at the demographics it shows: Looks like HP audience is largely made up of young people, women, minorities, people who are not rich, educated people, and those without kids. That is interesting in itself, but the part I'm wondering is, How do they get those stats? Hope this isn't too far off subject. Also, I'm glad about the traffic increase and hope it continues.

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         mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         HP allow them to access their data, hence the stats they come up with. Quantcast is probably the most reliable provider of data available (forget Alexa etc), which is why Quantcast figures are worth following. Remember to change the options to 'Global' when looking at the figures though, as I noted the earlier graph posted was only US traffic, which will not provide a broad enough range of information.

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         wjack2010posted 11 years agoin reply to this

         They use Quantcasts "Get Quantified" (Trademark of Quantcast quantcast.com) which then allows HubPages to add a tag of code, which everytime the page is loaded, the tag is loaded, therefore, Quantcast can get all this awesome data.

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         NathaNaterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, folks, that is very good information and also fascinating. But what I'm wondering is, How do they know that visitors to HP are women, college educated, don't have kids, are 18-24 years of age, etc.?

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   5. 91

      LauraVerderberposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Personally I've made the most I ever have recently and my traffic has been increasing significantly as well. Whether or not that is due to the normal aging of my Hupage articles or this traffic surge, I have no idea.

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      Xenonlitposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      The only time I get views is when I work my tail off to get them.

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2. 88

   Len Cannonposted 11 years ago

   I'm pretty confident it is just the generic uptick in Holiday sales

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      SimeyCposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I agree - but was surprised that Squidoo didn't see a similar increase. Be interesting to see what the stats do over the next few weeks.

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      Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Squidoo is not doing so well so I reckon that it is more than holiday sales.
      
      Anyway, record traffic and Amazon sales for me in the last week. Fingers and toes are all firmly crossed.
      
      The decline at Squidoo might be helping HP, incidentally. I've seen a few of my pages climb above Squidoo competitors and get big traffic increases.

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3. 95

   wildernessposted 11 years ago

   Shhh, Simey!  I like it and you might chase it away.
   
   Today may (or may not) be dropping slightly for me, but I at least semi-hope to see these higher figures through the year.  I expect that black friday played a part, as will cyber monday, but it looks more like the holidays have finally arrived.  We'll see.
   
   I did wonder if there was an update, but haven't heard anything.  Yet.
   
   *edit*  Looking at today's stats, the 24 hour number is the highest I've ever seen, including the super traffic last Xmas.

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   wjack2010posted 11 years ago

   Looking deeper into those statistics, it shows we reached almost 1 million Global unique-hits Today, just 20,000 off of it.

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   Mekenzieposted 11 years ago

   Thanks for the.quantcast link .. It will be another resource for those of us who are serious about our hubs and views.

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6. 62

   Sapperposted 11 years ago

   It's been said several time, daily traffic means nothing. There are way too many factors to take into account for daily traffic to not be a worthless stat. To see the big picture, change daily to monthly and change the time from Nov 24 2011 to Nov 24 2012.
   
   With traffic, there is nothing to worry about or celebrate until it's a pattern, not a one time thing.

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      IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Maybe not normally Sapper, but you are maybe forgetting that hubbers have been subjected to weird fluctuations in traffic levels for the past year or so.
      
      It just takes one day to lose 90% of your traffic.
      
      It also just takes one day to regain it.

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         Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         They have been seeing "weird" fluctuations because for Nov 2012 HP has 4 million less monthly views over Nov 2011. Nothing weird about that.
         
         The second half of your post just proves what I just said, daily traffic means nothing.

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            IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            No you got me wrong.
            
            Hubbers have been losing 90% of their traffic in one day, and staying at those low level figures for weeks, then suddenly in just one day their traffic is back to their previous high, or higher, and that stays for a few weeks, then it drops 90% again, and so it goes on.
            
            So we are not talking about normally weekend fluctuations or whatever. but a general trend, and suddenly seeing a lot of your hubs regain traffic is a good sign (at least for a few weeks).
            
            Seeing an increase that is more that the week before is to be celebrated

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               Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               I understand what you are saying, I think you are just confusing what I'm saying. Probably from how I am saying it.
               
               The reason I'm saying no matter how long it lasts, single day changes don't matter, is because even with those weeks of higher or lower, if you look at it monthly over a year or 2, you will see an increase if you are improving/adding to your writing, and a decrease if you aren't.
               
               In terms of web traffic, you have to look at the long run. Other than overall for all of them, I don't even look at my daily traffic for all my blogs. All I look at in terms of which one I'm going to work on in which order is total views for the last month. Anything shorter than that is just too inconsistent to get any valuable information from.

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               summerberrieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Izzy, this pretty much describes my traffic. There is a pattern of spikes up and then crashes down.

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   cfinposted 11 years ago

   My traffic has doubled and is now back in the 250's where it used to be at its lowest. Feeling much better about hubpages now

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8. 78

   Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

   Heh. I think Squidoo may be experiencing its first traffic drop from a Google algorithm change since summer 2007.
   
   I'm still trying to track down exactly what this algorithm change WAS. I share preliminary theories (plus the numbers and links to some SEO industry posts on this update) on my blog, if anyone's feeling geeky, although I discuss Squidoo's traffic more than Hubpages in that post. One thing we know for sure at this point: Google says that the Nov 17 traffic upheaval for many sites wasn't a Panda update, and that the next Panda update is due soon. I'm guessing it'll be this week.
   
   I'm also not 100% that the minor uptick in Hubpages' traffic is due to whatever happened on November 17, as it's so slight that it could just be a seasonal wobble rather than the result of another algo change. On the promising side, my weekend traffic is suddenly higher than it was mid-week since the September 27 Panda update. Normally, traffic dips on the weekends, but I'm seeing red arrows.
   
   Oddly, my Amazon sales continue to have a record month despite the traffic drop, and have propelled me into the 7% Amazon Associates commission rate. And how many of those sales came from a hub? Precisely 1. The other 187 sales were from lenses.

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      wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Oh joy - another update.  I'm becoming convinced that my normal reaction to any update is to dip in traffic, then slooowly recover till the next one, whereupon I'll dip again.
      
      Congrats on the Amazon, though - I'll not make that 7%, but have made 6.5 for the first time since last January.

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      SimeyCposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Well there was a 33% increase for Black Friday - surprisingly high IMHO - especially as Squidoo had barely any increase for Black Friday. Probably is a blip, but it's nice to see something positive for once, even if it is only for one day!!!!!

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         Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         That increase is more than likely directly related to the contest, which is also why people are seeing an increase in Amazon sales. Just my guess though.

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            SimeyCposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Could be many things-  as you say probably just a minor blip - however if it keeps up for a week then I might just get excited....maybe!

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         LauraVerderberposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Am I the only who really can't stand Squidoo formatting? It looks too chaotic to my eyes. I know everyone recommends it but I rarely read any articles on there just because of all the bright colors and random placements of things. I like how clean Hubpages is, but maybe that's just me.

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            Greekgeekposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            It's not just you. The minimalist layout is the thing I love most about Hubpages, and the cartoons and overaggressive graphics on Squidoo are what I love least.
            
            The sad thing is, when I started there, they had a clean, spartan look as well. Then somebody realized they were doing very well with the work-at-home parents and kids crowd, so they decorated it like it was Toys R Us crossed with an IKEA kids' room.
            
            It seems to be effective at attracting people who buy stuff, but...UGH. Not so great for educational or magazine style articles.

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               Marcy Goodfleischposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Lol!  I love the Toys R Us analogy - still laughing.

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               soni2006posted 11 years agoin reply to this

               I also don't like squidoo's layout. HP is clean and looks clutter free.

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            rebekahELLEposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I can't take their content seriously.  Their format is too disjointed and busy.  I no longer open a squidoo  link if one appears in the search results.  I also don't like the Wizzley format for the same reasons.
            The paragraphs don't flow easily with the large headings throughout the article and the different color fonts.  I don't find that easy on the eyes.
            
            I love the clean look of a HP article.  The hubs are much easier on the eye and look more professional.

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               LetitiaFTposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               I agree, I can't take Squidoo seriously. It's amazing how much form does indeed affect effect how we see content. I'm totally aware of that and nevertheless subject to it. HubPages definitely has the sleekest, smartest look, and that inluenced my decision to write here in a major way.
               Back to the subject, I've had a big increase in views and income too, and am delighted about it.

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                  LetitiaFTposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Oops, guess I need to proof even my forum entries...

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                  rebekahELLEposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Format is an important readability factor.  Even if people land on our page, if it looks too overwhelming, chances are there is going to be a quick click of the back button.  Essentially format is an important element in SEO.  A few days ago, I read an excellent article on seomoz about how to check our content before publishing.  It's a long article with excellent links worth opening.
                  
                  While HP uses a default font size, there is one link that talks about the importance of font size and line length and width.  I'm sure this was a factor when HP updated the page design. I think this is how some sites fail to keep a reader on their page, that first important scroll down the page to see how easy it is to read. http://www.seomoz.org/blog/a-basic-yet- … guidelines

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                     LetitiaFTposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     Great! Thanks for the link. Just scanned it and bookmarked for a later, thorough read.

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      IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hey WTG on the Amazon sales. I just hit 6.5% yesterday, with a big sigh of relief because I'd got some really high value sales.
      
      I still remember my very first Amazon sale. It was a $1300 greenhouse, at 4%. Now if I knew then what I know now, I could have been on a much higher percentage, easily.

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         Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I have horrible luck with Amazon. I'm sitting at right around 1500 clicks without a single order. It doesn't help that I link related products and I don't do a whole lot of product reviews, but you would think with that many clicks I'd at least get lucky and get an order. It only took me 45 clicks to get an order from GoDaddy, and that has a much higher commission rate.
         
         I think Amazon just hates me.

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            aa liteposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Are they orders from actual product links, or from "other".  When I look at my Amazon link report, I see quite a few links that are "other".  Anybody got any idea what they are?
            
            I did see somewhere the suggestion that these links are actually from the widgets that go to Amazon to get product info, l guess like Amazon module here when you don't specify your products.  In other words they are bots not people.  Have no idea if that is true or not.
            
            But I agree with your Amazon frustration, I mean I really thought they were good at converting clicks to sales.  All that research they spent on the exact shade of orange to use for their buttons!  You would think that if we sent them the punters, they would convert them to buyers but doesn't seem to be happening that much.

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               wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               I believe that the "other" simply means that someone clicked in through your link, but didn't buy that product.  Instead they found something else they liked and bought that.

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            IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Oh something is definitely wrong there.
            
            I usually get less than 1000 clicks per month, typically 500. In fact this month it has only reached 400 but I have had an especially good conversion rate this month (for me).
            
            If I were you I would double-check that my referral link is correct (though I imagine you would see no clicks if it wasn't).
            
            That is a lot of clicks you are getting, and with the 24 hour cookie surely some of those people bought something?

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               aa liteposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               just out of interest, what do you think is a "good conversion rate", i.e. if 100 ppl go to Amazon, how many of them actually buy anything.  What do you think is average.
               
               I don't know whether this is information that Amazon wants kept secret, like Adsense with the CTRs and CPCs, if it is I guess you can say.
               
               I'm asking because I've been rather disappointed with my Amazon Squidoo lenses, I only have a few so far, but the traffic to them is not bad, and the click through rate to Amazon is pretty good I think, but most of them don't buy anything.  It's frustrating to send so many people to Amazon and get nothing out of it.  Maybe my expectations are too high.

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                  Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Amazon sales on Squidoo can turn up pretty late in their strange system. You might have made more than you think in the last couple of days.

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                  IzzyMposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  You are asking the wrong person. I am happy if I get 8% overall - some days I can get 20%+ and other days nothing at all.
                  
                  There was a great discussion on this a couple of years ago in the forums, when we have had some real marketers in the forums, and they consistently got a much higher conversion rate.
                  
                  Just did a quick search and found this one - http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/58102

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                     aa liteposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     Thanks for that Izzy.   Interesting reading forum posts from 2 years ago, seem a lot more positive than forums now!  Hopefully this will change.
                     
                     So my rate of about 3% is low.  It would probably improve if I recommended more cheaper items.

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                        Greekgeekposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                        I find the second biggest factor in sales isn't the price, but your ability to correctly guess what kinds of items the target audience of a particular page is looking for.
                        
                        For example, if you write a side-by-side comparison of solar chargers for tablets and smartphones, assembling photos of yourself using all of them so that it's clear you really DID do a comparison test, I bet your page would get a lot of search traffic from the very people who are all ready and primed to buy a solar charger, which ain't cheap. Whereas if you wrote a page on the benefits of solar chargers, you'd get people who are interested in knowing if there ARE effective solar chargers, but they're less likely to be buyers. Of course, the more expensive the product, the more you have to earn the trust of your customers.
                        
                        I know a lot of people who make more money through Amazon and other affiliate sales than I do, because they target more expensive items or (a subtle but important difference) audiences with expensive tastes. All those blinking makeover articles tend to get people who buy clothes and jewelry, for example. (Not that I could bear to write one of those.)
                        
                        Or you could go the "volume" method. I've got one page on "Fun Astronomy videos on Netflix" which also includes links to Amazon Instant Videos to provide more viewing options. I didn't realize those Instant Video purchases would pad out my Amazon sales numbers for the month, making it easier to get to the 7% commission rate on sales from my other pages! Also, I sell a lot of used books to college students from my more educational pages, which earn pathetic commissions but again boost my sales volume. Then I just have to prostitute my writing a little bit and write some pages on collectibles from the Lord of the Rings franchise, and hey presto, those make a high commission. My conversion rate for this month is 8.28%, though that's an all-time high for me.
                        
                        (I fear that the biggest factor in sales is presentation, however.  Squidoo's Spotlight module plus its greater flexibility in letting us embed/code our own Amazon Associate links with larger product images tends to blow away Hubpages' Amazon capsule, in my experience. I am not a heavy-duty marketer, but made 48 Amazon sales in the past two days on Squidoo; on HP, zilch.)

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            john000posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I have to agree with Sapper. I "know" Amazon.com hates me. In two years I have earned $6.40 with it. It seems like I have gotten hundreds of clicks. But it isn't on HubPages, it's on Blogspot. Oh, well, some folks have the touch and really write great product reviews. I don't.

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      aa liteposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Ok guys I can easily explain what happened here.  Incidentally my HP views have recovered from the Panda 20 hit too.
      
      The reason Squidoo is experiencing its traffic drop is because I've gritted my teeth and decided to write there rather than on HubPages, because Google loved em so much!
      
      The internet basically has a personal interest in making sure I fail at every step.  As soon as I go for the "this is still working for online earning" thing, it stops working. Simples.
      
      Ok will now go and take my medication.

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         wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         

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         sabrebIadeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Then you have to pull a "George Costanza".
         Whatever your instincts tell you to do....do the opposite!

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   rebekahELLEposted 11 years ago

   I tend to agree with you on this one.  The 17th was a big drop, but by Wednesday, views started to increase.  Whatever happened on the 16-17th affected a lot of sites from what I've read.
   
   Keep us informed if you hear any more conclusive details about what happened.
   
   I'm definitely seeing holiday traffic.

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    Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

    Wilderness, if you're making 6.5% on HP, my hat's off to you. I don't have a blinking clue what I'm doing on Hubpages as far as the Amazon Capsule. All of mine seem to have hidden deflector shields scaring away clicks.
    
    And rebekahELLE, I will. I'm crossing my fingers that searchengineland and/or moz will weigh in on whatever just happened once the weekend's over and they've had time to do some more expert analysis than, "Whoa, my stats just went kablooie...what happened?"

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11. 85

    rebekahELLEposted 11 years ago

    My views have gone up, but not to where they were last week.  I just checked webmaster tools to look at search queries # of impressions, and it's still significantly lower than before the 17th. 
    Hopefully traffic will continue to increase these next few weeks.

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12. 93

    Gordon Hamiltonposted 11 years ago

    It's amazing how our individual traffic figures vary, just here on HP alone. Friday past saw my lowest stats for what I reckon is at least three years, maybe four, but they have picked up a little bit Saturday/Sunday. Fingers crossed (for me) that there is a new Panda update due, as I remain around 20% of the traffic I had a couple of months back.
    
    Re Amazon, I will never understand it: I hit the 7% bracket most months but the products sold do not relate to any that I feature on my Hubs, blogs or anywhere else. For example, I make a killing on coffee grinders - but I've never so much as used one, never mind written about them! I have a huge diversity of products that are sold through my affiliateship that in many cases, I have never even heard of!

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    mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years ago

    I had a spike yesterday, but it was all on one hub, and when I checked out Hubpages 'Traffic Sources' in my account it turned out most of the views were from Reddit. Might be worth checking out to see if this is something common to a number of Hubbers who have seen a traffic spike.

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       wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Nope - mostly just a big google dot com number.

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    moonlakeposted 11 years ago

    My traffic was so bad on Nov 22. I figured Thanksgiving caused that but then it took off after that. It would sure be nice to see it stay this way and keep going up.

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    Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

    Oh, aa, it sure does feel like that sometimes, doesn't it?
    
    Hang in there.

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    soni2006posted 11 years ago

    My traffic is also up. I am damn sure it happened due to an algorithm update. Contest happened in March also but there was no increase like this one. Let's pray to God that it keeps going up.

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    Bard of Elyposted 11 years ago

    This is great news though can't say it has made much difference to my traffic or earnings as yet!

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    divacratusposted 11 years ago

    I do see an increase in traffic on Hubpages, but a decline on Squidoo. Sales have increased though via my lenses so not complaining as yet.

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       sabrebIadeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       What's funny is that on their forums, they seem to be going through "The 5 Stages of Loss and Grief" just like HP did all those months ago.
       1. Denial and Isolation (Traffic drop? There is no traffic drop! This is normal!" or "Maybe YOU have a traffic drop because you suck!")
       2. Anger (Spammers and poor quality writers did it! Burn them!)
       3. Bargaining (Okay...let's try this....)
       4. Depression (We are all doomed)
       5. Acceptance (See step 4)

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          paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          I nominate this as best post of the day.

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             Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             I agree, lmao

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             SimeyCposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             I second!

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                sabrebIadeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                LOL...thanks everybody.
                I hesitated to post that because my sense of humor doesn't always translate well onto the page.
                But I figured what the heck.

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          Greekgeekposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Except on the unofficial Squidoo forums, mostly populated by veterans, who do this instead:
          
          1. Is it just me, or are you seeing this too?
          2. Speculate over causes, scouring major SEO websites for news.
          3. Resignation, return to the grindstone.
          
          You can tell who's a survivor of the 2007 Google Squidoo slap. Our traffic recovered and prospered after that, so we treat all traffic drops -- including those on other websites -- with a sort of, "Oh, drat, here we go again" mentality rather than panic and despair.

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             LauraVerderberposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             It reminds me of the real estate market but sped up 20 times.

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          Hollie Thomasposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Oh my gosh, this sounds so much like Parke's study of widows and bereavement.

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    FatFreddysCatposted 11 years ago

    Over the past several weeks my traffic seems to go up and down like a roller coaster. One day it's OK, the next day it's in the tank. Yesterday was a "tank" day, now it seems to be on the up swing. It's making me seasick

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20. STAFF

    Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

    We are seeing a pretty wide uptick in traffic. It seems to have started on Wednesday.  Traffic over Thanksgiving and the following Friday is usually down site wide when people are off of work (in the US) so to get a better idea of the magnitude of the update, it will take a few more days, plus we'll dig into the data this week.  In general, we are seeing increased rankings and more long tail traffic. 
    
    Of the other major updates over the last 20 or so months, the only ones that have had a significant site wide impact have been Panda updates, so I'm leaning that way, although Google hasn't confirmed it yet.

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       Len Cannonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Really? Huh. I've always had about 4x the traffic on Thanksgiving and Black Friday, and then maybe 2x through to Christmas.   Maybe I have too many Hubs about toys, haha.

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       brakel2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       i read on an SEO site that they checked with Google on Friday, I believe, and Google would not confirm anything.

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          Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Yea, Google is giving a lot of vague answers about it, which is weird because they usually announce updates and what % of the searches it should effect. Kinda makes me think they released an update early, or the wrong one or something.

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             wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             Please delete your post - this update is fully functional and working properly.  It is NOT the wrong one, and it is NOT defective.  Do NOT give google any unwarranted ideas.
             
             Repeat 100 times.

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                Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                What update? According to Google there was no update. Which is what I said. I know reading is hard, but try it.

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                   wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                   Easy there, Sapper.  It was supposed to be a funny, not to be taken literally (although Paradigm may still be repeating it )

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                      Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                      Yea, after I posted that, the thought that you might be joking crossed my mind. I owe you an apology.

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                      paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                      I deleted it.

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    paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

    http://www.quantcast.com/hubpages.com
    
    Sky rockets in flight...

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       Hollie Thomasposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Afternoon delight.

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          paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          My Q&A traffic is up 4X. Looks like 90+% of that is organic. Any Q's that don't perform well this week, I will delete. And that will wrap-up that little ongoing, housekeeping chore.
          
          My author score was at 100 all day, yesterday. Today, I've already dropped to 94. I hope HP didn't misinterpret my "Sky rockets" post... Looks like paradigmsearch has been bad again...

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             Hollie Thomasposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             Ah, PDS I'm pleased for you. You're not bad just a little bit mischievous.

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             1. 61

                paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                Actually, that 6-point drop (so far), coupled with certain other items, has given me what I believe is a major insight into how that thing works. I'll save my theory for a new thread and a slow day.

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22. 48

    Joseph Renneposted 11 years ago

    Must be thanks to me haha. I started using HubPages yesterday. I am very new here and have to hubs up at the moment. I came across this site after reading a few blogs about backlinking. though i would give it a shot. anyways i tried using google find my page (Spying on myself). Anyways Im New, Any tips to help a brother out??

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    1. 86

       aa liteposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Welcome to HubPages Joseph, sounds like you joined at a good time (fingers crossed) we'd been having major traffic problems and Google disliked us but finally it seems to be lifting. 
       
       There is a tonne of useful information in the learning centre, so it is probably the best place to get a good idea about the place.  Other than that write good stuff, and keep your fingers crossed.  If you are serious about getting traffic, a bunch of people here have written very good and informative posts, people like Marisa Wright, Greekgeek, sunforged, IzzyM and a few others (sorry if I don't mention any greats). 
       
       Get on the HubAd program asap, ppl have consistently found that it pays better than adsense. 
       
       A couple of quick points, when you first publish a hub, it goes through a complex quality control assessment (officially known as pending), it has twirly arrows next to it on your account.  If it is found sufficiently good it will be allowed to be indexed by Google and will get a big H next to it in account.
       
       So if it doesn't have anything, you know you have to work some more to "improve it".  Because of the delay in indexing, people have found that it sometimes takes a while for hubs to be indexed, manually submitting it through WebMaster is recommended.  That is if you are hoping to get Google traffic quickly.
       
       The other thing is that if you make links to your site from here, you shouldn't make more than 2 per hub per domain.  Also the links will be nofollow until you get a hubber score of 75, which is actually really quick, if you publish good stuff and "do good deeds".
       
       Sorry if this is a lot of information, you don't have to bother with it all at once, but keep these things in mind.

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       1. 48

          Joseph Renneposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          @aa lite   Thanks! I have setup HubAd, Adsense, Amazon,& Ebay. Following Greekgeek.
          
          So Google No Like Hubpages...
          
          I am mostly trying to backlink my own pages from blogger ETC
          
          This site seems promising

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23. 87

    Rik Ravadoposted 11 years ago

    Its great to have a HubPages thread that isn't all doom and gloom!  My traffic is certainly on the 'up' at present coupled with an unusually high CPM on Sunday (my HubAd Sunday earnings were double my Saturday ones)

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24. 82

    Marcy Goodfleischposted 11 years ago

    I showed an increase starting around Wednesday - I'm around the level I was before the September Slump, so no real net gain yet, but better than the past few months.  I agree with Paul that Black Friday would be a slower day than usual.  I was very surprised I didn't see the usual percentage of decline for the weekend.
    
    But I do hope there's not yet another algo change due this week.  Please tell me that's not true?

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    1. 75

       soni2006posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Marcy google changes algos sometimes without disclosing. I think the present algo that has affected us in a positive way is the one where sites who have abided by the google laws get penalty withdrawn. Fingers crossed praying to God for goood wishes for every hubber here.

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    2. 95

       wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Decline?  What decline? 
       
       Friday was up 30% for me.  Saturday another 17% and Sunday followed suit with yet another 8%.  Total rise since Thursday is 66%, and it is showing no signs of stopping or even slowing down much.  HP stats right now are the highest 24 hour traffic numbers I've ever seen by 400 views per day and if it holds will beat yesterday by about 10% once more.
       
       Don't know about anyone else, but I'm a little (just a little, you understand) excited.

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       1. 82

          Marcy Goodfleischposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Wilderness - that's what I said - no decline over the weekend. Numbers went up midweek last week and have stayed up. Probably about the percentage you mention here on my hubs.  Yeah, I'm stoked!

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25. 61

    paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

    Sunday Quantcast finally came out.
    
    http://www.quantcast.com/hubpages.com
    
    Went down a little, but still looking good!

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26. 81

    Wesman Todd Shawposted 11 years ago

    I had my biggest traffic days ever the past two days.....at least my biggest traffic days from Google and its sub or specific Google's.
    
    I also made the most I'd ever made yesterday on the HP ad program.
    
    I'd tell folks how much it was...but then folks might realize how little success I'm actually having earning a decent income online
    
    Yeah...it is the holidays...no two ways about it.

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27. 82

    Mark Ewbieposted 11 years ago

    I'm always told I'm wrong because I'm not an SEO guru or whatever.  However I do watch the stats and it seems fairly obvious.
    
    In my opinion...
    
    HP's last trump card - subdomains - was withdrawn a month or so ago - and we crashed.  It shows on the graph.
    
    What Google got wrong was that all that happened was the traffic went to Squidoo.  Same content, same sort of farming - no benefit to the poor searchers that Google claims to want to protect.
    
    A brilliant person at Google (I am being sarcastic) noticed this and worked out a way to tweak the Squidoo lot down.  And down they went.
    
    Now we sit fairly close to each other.
    
    What happens next I wonder?  I was hoping that as the content farms improve their, er, content, maybe that is Google's aim. After all, all Google provide is other people's free content to make money out of, so maybe they just want to make it a bit better.
    
    Oh.  I don't need any experts telling me this, that and the other.  It's all a case of what you believe, not what others tell you.
    
    
    
    
    Pic didn't work. Go to Quantcast and do it yourself...

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28. 68

    Rosie2010posted 11 years ago

    My traffic is up too.  It went down by about 300 views on US Thanksgiving, and then it came back really strong. 
    
    Earnings are also up.. even my Adsense which was just bringing in about  30-50cents/day after HP's latest ad layout changes, made it to $4+ yesterday.  I was so thrilled this morning.  My Amazon sales click conversion is 8.5% and just reached 6.5% referral fee rate.  I'm a happy puppy.
    
    It's beginning to look a lot like Christmas.... Yay! 

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29. 60

    wjack2010posted 11 years ago

    Appears I've started publishing here at the right moment

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30. 78

    Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

    It's lovely to see HP on the positive end of a Google algorithm change, even if it's one of the many that Google won't officially admit to.
    
    Sorry, Marcy, in that same post, we have word that Google Panda should be updated within the next week or so (that post was on Nov 20).  But here's some reassurance: Hubpages has weathered most Google Panda updates without significant damage. There's been 21 Panda updates so far. I've only seen Hubpages traffic drops on maybe three of them, with gradual recovery after each drop.

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    1. 62

       Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Yea, I really don't see any update hitting HubPages too hard, at least not for a significant amount of time. But it does remind me of the kid with pudding all over his face, claiming he didn't eat the pudding. We all know there was an update, yet Google feels the need to cover their eyes and say "I don't see an update."
       
       But then again, announced or not, I'm sure I'll need to make little adjustments on my blogs. So I guess in the long run it really doesn't matter.

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31. 63

    CASE1WORKERposted 11 years ago

    And I thought it was just me.................back to levels last seen in February- quite happy now- just hope the readers are getting what they want too

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32. 71

    Natashalhposted 11 years ago

    I got a huge traffic boost a couple of days ago, and it hasn't gone away yet (*knock on wood*).

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33. 63

    prettydarkhorseposted 11 years ago

    The change started 16th of Nov., upward line graph.

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34. 61

    paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

    I'm wagering that there is going to be an upswing in new hub creation starting today. Positive reinforcement is a wonderful thing.

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35. 0

    shazwellynposted 11 years ago

    I noticed a line has been drawn in my hubpages account.  Under the line are the non active hubs and above are the active ones.  I wonder if HP have done something to hide the inactive hubs and this has resulted in a rise of traffic to the active ones.  Maybe the inactive hubs had a disabling effect on the active ones and HP have resolved this by hiding the inactive ones?  Dont know, just a thought!

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    1. 60

       wjack2010posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       That wouldn't change the actual site visitors though, would just change individual stats for specific Hubs.

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36. 61

    paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

    I just had a thought (yes, it did hurt).
    
    I don't think google does global  roll outs of their updates. Therefore, the rest of the planet has yet to kick in. This could be only the beginning.
    
    Hopefully, someone more knowledgeable might chip in about this.

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    1. 88

       SimeyCposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       That makes perfect sense - who are you and what have you done with paradigmsearch? Being serious - looking at my stats - I've seen a 40% increase in Google.com over the last week - but nothing in the other Google.xx.xx - so you may be right.
       
       Of course it may just be a vortex created by Hubpages to suck away all the traffic from Squidoo!

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          wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          If it is such a vortex, I need to find out how to applaud through a computer screen.

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          paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          

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37. 78

    Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

    Paradigmsearch: Good point!
    
    And I knew that, but I forgot. I wonder...the very first Panda update was US only, and then it was launched to English-speaking gateways around the globe, and then, finally, to non-English sites.
    
    So how many of these changes are US-Google only?
    
    I really don't have a clue! Wooha!
    
    (Also, SimeyC is right; it's all a dastardly HP trick, but little do we realize the joy is only temporary. Sooner or later, Zujava's toucan of doom is going to unleash a zombie apocalypse on all the other article sites and leave our traffic in shambles.)

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    1. 95

       wildernessposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Nooooooo!  I will now keep a salt shaker next the keyboard; watch out zombies! 
       
       (That's right, isn't it?  Or does salt attract the zombie?  I think I may be in trouble here...)

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38. 65

    cfinposted 11 years ago

    It's plummeting again!

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39. 61

    Hollie Thomasposted 11 years ago

    I'm probably an old cynic so boo me if you want, but I always notice a large surge before a plunge. When Google fiddle, which invariably they do, we see weird spikes and get excited and then....Ok, so I'm being negative and I hope I'm wrong.

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    1. 62

       Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       You aren't wrong, that's just how traffic on the internet works. It does it across all my websites. Sometimes the ups are a little higher, sometimes the downs are a little lower, but in the long run they even out to gradual increases or decreases, depending on how much work I've done on them.

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    2. 61

       paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       If you are not wrong, after everyone has been teased like this, there will probably be one heck of a lot of people that will throw in the towel.

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       1. 61

          Hollie Thomasposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          No they wont, PDS. They'll get a bit upset and P***** off, then look for solutions like they always do. Anyway, I hope I am wrong- it's just that my internet history (as short as it is) has taught me that the spikes in traffic are usually followed by plunges.

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             paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             Kind of reminds me of the stock market...

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    3. 88

       Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       One swallow doesn't make a summer but this is starting to look like a flock.
       
       At some point, some foolhardy soul will have the nerve to say that idling those under-performing pages was a good idea. They might even say that vetting featured pages is working out well. Someone might even be congratulating staff on the resolve they showed in pushing those changes through without going for the quick and defective fix of forcing people to write for copyscape or count keywords.
       
       But it is a little early for all that.

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       1. 61

          Hollie Thomasposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          I don't know Will, one way or another- I just don't trust Google. I've been seeing weird spikes on my blog which I've barely touched in the last month and a massive spike yesterday on another site. Only time will tell.

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          1. 61

             paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             Speaking of blogs, google really seems to have started liking one of mine. I've literally been feeding traffic to HP everyday.

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             1. 80

                sabrebIadeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                Yeah I have noticed that my blogs started rebounding when HP did.
                Which is the same time Squidoo started down.
                ????
                I have a few blogs that are earning the same if not more than my Lenses which hasn't happened since before Pandageddon.

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       2. 61

          paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Not hard to tell that this is a writers' site...

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40. 75

    soni2006posted 11 years ago

    I hope that traffic will not decrease further. I don't know but I believe HP is getting out of google curse.

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    1. 85

       TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Well, here's something to think about...weirdly, right at the same time this all started, I found a hub that showed me a better way to organize my work.  As soon as I started doing that, my numbers started rising and have stayed up now for about five or six days.  I thought it was the reworking and reorganizing, but maybe I was wrong.  Time will tell it, but I sure hope all of my hard work wasn't for nothing!

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       1. 62

          Sapperposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          What you did may not have been the reason for this traffic increase, but one thing I can assure you is any work you put into your writing and/or formatting that helps with not only SEO but also readability will never be for nothing. It might not be instantaneous, but you will always see it pay off down the road, if even just a little.

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             paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

             +1

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41. 64

    2uesdayposted 11 years ago

    At first I thought it was an improvement brought on by the time of year. Happily I now think it might be more than that as others seem to be noticing it too.
    
    What I have noticed is that the improved amount of traffic is from Google.com. This may fit with a pattern seen in the past, i.e. if other Google searches in other countries follow. It is Google.com that in the past have shown the first sign of changes (good or bad) in my stats. which it is often followed by some of the other Google search engines.
    
    I am no expert, this is just my own observations based on how things have worked out up to now.

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42. 85

    dailytop10posted 11 years ago

    My old account  is doing very good recently. From 300 to 700 views per day. I guess HP did something really good.

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43. 75

    soni2006posted 11 years ago

    but now the traffic is pretty stable for two days. No dropping, not increasing is the phase now and I like this as it guarantees that you will paid this much at the end of the month.

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44. 95

    SmartAndFunposted 11 years ago

    Perhaps the uptick is a result of spam accounts getting their spammy hubs idled. Could it be that de-indexing page after page of trash is working? I hope so. I hope the idling of all those junky hubs ends up working well enough that HP can do away with the pending phase on new hubs for vetted writers. (Sorry to be a broken record on that, but really, the pending phase has got to go for those who produce quality hubs and don't need to be babysat.)

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    1. 75

       soni2006posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I agree with you smartandfun

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45. 80

    sabrebIadeposted 11 years ago

    You know I almost passed out when I compared November 1st-26th this year and last.
    2011-82,214 hits
    2012-19,526 hits
    I need to go lay down.....

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    1. 61

       paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Beware the chihuahua.

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       1. 80

          sabrebIadeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Well the good thing is despite all that I "only" have an $86 dollar difference in money.
          So although traffic dropped like a rock, maybe the traffic I am getting is more targeted.
          
          And yes...I always have to beware the chihuahua..or the chupacabra as we call her.
          
          TT: You have to realize that traffic was from over 200 Hubs and several years.
          It didn't happen over night.
          
          And yes Soni I imagine you do understand. 
          
          This is why I prefer day to day figures compared to long term.

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    2. 85

       TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       sabreblade:  When I hear numbers like yours, I, too want to pass out...from jealousy!  I've been here a year and have never even come close to your lowest numbers...must be doing something terribly wrong!

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    3. 75

       soni2006posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       OMG, I understand sabreblade.

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46. 78

    Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

    So I just bothered to update the 20-odd idle hubs that have been collecting dust on my dashboard, in the hopes that this traffic influx will trickle onto some of them.
    
    Of course, by now, Google will have deindexed most of them, but maybe trickle-down traffic will resurrect a few of them and save me the trouble of moving them to my blog, Squidoo or Wizzley.
    
    The interesting thing is that, despite all the Idle Hubs hullaballoo, Google has indexed 160,000 more hubs now than it had indexed this past June, when I last checked.

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    1. 61

       paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Those were mine.
       
       How's everyone's traffic doing? No plunge/slump here. I've even gotten inspired to start another hub.

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47. 78

    Greekgeekposted 11 years ago

    Lookin' good.
    
    Pre-Sep-27: 500-600 a day
    Post-Sep-27: 300-400 a day
    This week: 600-800 a day
    
    That's why I thought it was a good time to spruce up idle hubs: maybe now some of them can get more traffic than they could when the algorithm was more punitive.
    
    Also, this is a good time for us to spruce up top traffic hubs and update/tweak/add Amazon or other merchant modules.
    
    Always cash in on a traffic surge. It's a little like the stock market, except inverted: when traffic is low, lay away content for the future but don't obsess over low performers; when it's high, put out all the buckets you can to catch as much rain as possible. (Whee, mixed metaphors.)

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48. STAFF

    Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years ago

    Updating good Hubs with more/improved content seems to be fruitful.  A few things we are seeing - Hubs that are over 700 words are doing much better than Hubs with less on average (there are of course outliers).  We are also seeing more traffic for incremental content up to about 1250 words (that's a lot of words).  Hubs with more photos are also doing better on average - 3 to 5 seems to be the sweet spot.
    
    This doesn't take into account other factors that make a Hub good, but a recent conversation I had with Google they mentioned that they are trying to judge the amount of effort that went into making a piece of content - longer and more media assets appears to be a signal.

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    1. 61

       paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Permalinked and bookmarked. Tweaking commences.

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    2. 68

       Rosie2010posted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for the update, Paul Edmondson.  My holiday hubs are doing very well.  I'm feelin' Google love right now.  Also getting good traffic from Bing and Yahoo.  Life is good! 

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    3. 94

       Melovyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Paul, thanks very much for this information. I wonder if you know if there is such a thing as too long when it comes to hubs? I don't think I have any hubs below 700 words, but I do have some over 2000, and my traffic has not yet recovered to what it was before the September drop.

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       1. STAFF

          Paul Edmondsonposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          On average we see traffic increase to about 1250 words and slowly start to decline.  I wouldn't call a 2000 word piece too long if that is what it takes to cover the subject.  However, I think layout really matters for long pieces.
          
          - Break sections up with photos and capsules
          - Use subtitles
          - Use bullet points to make important data scannable

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    4. 91

       NathaNaterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Good info.

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49. 82

    Mark Ewbieposted 11 years ago

    I think those several hundred pages of spam, copied, spun, advert packed content that I put on Squidoo - and then got all my Squid mates to like and fawn over - probably helped.
    
    As a serious note - Squidoo feels like a clique - where the 'top' 'writers' have it all sewn up. 
    
    Content a bit shoddy?
    
    Doesn't matter.  Get your Squid mates to like it.
    
    Newcomer with talent?  Ignore them - they are not part of the clique.
    
    Just maybe - you reap what you sow.

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    1. 88

       Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I have had a few little rants about my recent experience at Squidoo so I won't say too much.
       
       Except, for this.
       
       There were several pages I couldn't bring myself to gut of info and fill with empty words for the sake of getting them past the Squidoo dupe filter. Instead, I put them out on some new sub-domains here, and, at  an average age of one month, they got 1800 views yesterday.

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          Rosie2010posted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Awesome, Will.  1800 views a day for one month old hubs, is absolutely awesome! 

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       2. 91

          NathaNaterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          I got stuff on Squidoo that's wasting space. I might follow your example.

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    2. 91

       NathaNaterposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I'm taking notes. Actually, not fond of Squidoo at all.

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50. 85

    rebekahELLEposted 11 years ago

    It's so nice to see a continual increase in traffic. Those few days starting with the 17th were frustrating, but midweek traffic began to increase. I'm hoping for last year's levels.

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