Another hub bites the dust

1. 61

   Angelique Newmanposted 10 years ago

   It's starting to get frustrating that my hubs slip into idle mode and I'm not aware of it until I do a count of them.  I wish they would notify me, not to mention explain why they did it.  I admit my page views are incredibly low lately but this is the second time they stopped featuring my hub on earth day and I was nominated for a Hubnugget on it so I can't see it being a content problem.  I wish they would give me some explanation then I can at least see what the problem is and fix it.
   
   The way it is now I feel it's not doing anyone good.
   
   Also what about seasonal topics? They shouldn't be penalized for lack of views.  Some days do better than others and then it's that time of year again and you get a surge of views.

   replyreport
   1. 88

      IzzyMposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I think that is a great idea, to let hubbers know when a hubs is being idled.
      
      As it stands now, hubbers simply don't realise.
      
      One of my secondary accounts has simply never got search engine traffic. Now some hubs are being quietly idled.
      
      Should have put those hubs on my own site.Can do. Will do.

      replyreport
   2. 89

      DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed--we should be notified ahead of the fact, so we have a chance to fix whatever is perceived to be "wrong" with the hub.
      Lacking that, I simply don't pay much attention.  I have over 200 hubs, and there simply are not enough hours in the day to sit here trying to revise those that have gone idle.  The proportion is probably close to 50-50.
      In theory (I just love theories, don't you?), the idled hubs should not hurt the others..it is said to be the opposite.  I have not studied the matter, though--that's just what staff response is....
      I'm not taking down any idled hubs; I'm only updating some select few, but I have better things to do with my time...like write new hubs.

      replyreport
      1. 61

         Angelique Newmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I agree with you DzyMslizzy

         replyreport
   3. 89

      DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Agreed--we should be notified ahead of the fact, so we have a chance to fix whatever is perceived to be "wrong" with the hub.
      Lacking that, I simply don't pay much attention.  I have over 200 hubs, and there simply are not enough hours in the day to sit here trying to revise those that have gone idle.  The proportion is probably close to 50-50.
      In theory (just love theories, don't you?), the idled hubs should not hurt the others..it is said to be the opposite.  I have not studied the matter, though--that's just what staff response is....
      I'm not taking down any idled hubs; I'm only updating some select few, but I have better things to do with my time...like write new hubs.

      replyreport
2. 61

   paradigmsearchposted 10 years ago

   From what I have observed, there are two main factors in idling.
   
   1. Traffic.
   2. Freshness.
   
   Google has stated on more than one occasion that they are really big on that second one. Four months seems to be their demarcation line; subject to change at anytime of course.

   replyreport
   1. 88

      IzzyMposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Or Google could be talking through a hole in their head.
      
      Not all hubs need freshened or updated.
      
      Facts are facts.

      replyreport
      1. 51

         Joseph Renneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Its always good to go over your hubs to add/edit info/pictures. It does seem to help, I try and add something new to atleast  one hub a day.

         replyreport
         1. 88

            IzzyMposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            We're not worthy!
            We're not worthy!
            
            Obviously a guy who has been on the site less than a month will have all the answers.
            You go for it, Mr Joseph, sir!

            replyreport
            1. 51

               Joseph Renneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Well its the truth, I am a fast learner and a new hubpage user. I have a little understanding on whats going on around here.  Its common since to add new info to your pages on any site (Updating is a must).   What is put into your site is what you will get out of it.

               replyreport
               1. 89

                  Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  I assume you mean common sense. Yes, you are right.  However, think of some of your favourite blogs.   Are the old blog posts constantly being updated, or does the blogger just keep writing new ones? 
                  
                  He keeps writing new ones.  That's because Google looks at the "freshness" of your site as a whole, as much as the freshness of individual posts or pages.  And Matt Cutts himself says that if you're writing about "evergreen" content, then the algorithm doesn't value freshness that much:
                  
                  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o4hH4ZQ_ … e=youtu.be

                  replyreport
                  1. 51

                     Joseph Renneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     Okay that makes sense, The More hubs you have the better... why edit when you can create a new (Fresh) one. I learn something everyday. Thanks.

                     replyreport
                     1. 89

                        Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        You've got it. However, I'm not saying you should never go back and edit.  For a new Hubber, it's a good idea to take a look back at your early Hubs regularly. 
                        
                        Each time you write a Hub, you get a bit more clever at it.  In a month or two, you'll look at some of your early Hubs and see all kinds of ways you could improve them.  By the way, I wrote a Hub on how to optimise your Hubs to make money, which you might find useful.

                        replyreport
         2. 84

            moonlakeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Welcome to HubPages. Hope you enjoy it here.

            replyreport
   2. 61

      Angelique Newmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Google is pretty demanding; to freshen all hubs as well as produce new ones is pretty daunting.

      replyreport
      1. 61

         paradigmsearchposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I know... I take lots of naps.

         replyreport
         1. 85

            agvulpesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Yep it pays to stay fresh . Take a nap about 2pm every day . It works wonders

            replyreport
      2. 61

         Angelique Newmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I noticed a six day old post about FIXED: Security Certificate Expired and I'm now thinking that's why my views were dropping. It explains a lot and I'm wondering if that's the reason why.

         replyreport
      3. 51

         Joseph Renneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I can only imagine, I only have 13 hubs and updating them takes a good bit of time. I pinned all my hubs on Pinterest, I just started using Pinterest and have only received 6 hits.

         replyreport
         1. 61

            Angelique Newmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Welcome to hubpages; it is quite fun to create a hub and to check your stats. I hope you enjoy it here and hopefully this new idle thing gets straightened out

            replyreport
            1. 51

               Joseph Renneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               I have made 61 cents since I started Hubpages. Not in it for the money, Just something i do in my down time. I Have not found a Niche yet.  I like it a lot so far.

               replyreport
3. 76

   brakel2posted 10 years ago

   You click on stat page featured" at far right column one click turns4 up featured next click brings up a group without the H or empty. These are either your unpublished or idled. I guess the zzz was a negative procedure.

   replyreport
4. 76

   brakel2posted 10 years ago

   You click on stat page featured" at far right column one click turns4 up featured next click brings up a group without the H or empty. These are either your unpublished or idled. I guess the zzz was a negative procedure.

   replyreport
5. 67

   2uesdayposted 10 years ago

   The man himself on freshness -
   
   http://youtu.be/o4hH4ZQ_19k
   
   Matt Cutts video on the freshness factor - webpages not socks.

   replyreport
6. 89

   DzyMsLizzyposted 10 years ago

   You cannot at once ask for "evergreen" content and "freshness."  The two concepts are mutually exclusive.
   Hub Pages and Google need to make up their collective minds which is the more desirable!

   replyreport
   1. 87

      mistyhorizon2003posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Totally agree, some topics just can't be 'freshened' because the info is what it is, and doesn't update. It is ridiculous to try and make writers alter those kinds of hubs simply to keep them 'live'. The result of people attempting to freshen them may very well result in a poorer quality article because authors have scraped the proverbial barrel to try and find something/anything to add to the article (even if it isn't particularly good or reliable info).

      replyreport
      1. 61

         Angelique Newmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I totally agree!

         replyreport
7. 67

   2uesdayposted 10 years ago

   For me page updating/refreshing is not being encouraged on featured hubs if there is any chance that they may not be featured after being edited.

   replyreport
   1. 87

      mistyhorizon2003posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Featured hubs remain live if you edit them, it is only idled hubs that go into pending once you alter them. Forgive me if this has already been said, I haven't read to the end of the thread yet

      replyreport
      1. 89

         Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         A Featured Hub remains Featured if you edit it, but it does get sent through the QAP.
         
         If the Hub then fails the QAP, it will be idled. 
         
         So editing a Featured Hub is always a risk, depending in how much faith you have on the QAP.

         replyreport
8. 81

   ologsinquitoposted 10 years ago

   Perhaps, then, it's not good to have 400 hubs if 300 are idled, and only 100 show up in your profile. I thought the idea was to write "evergreen" content that could generate views for years to come. So maybe it's better to only write 40 hubs instead of 400, stay on top of them and do the bulk of your future writing on other sites that don't idle your work. I don't know. I'm fairly new and trying to figure it out myself.
   
   If established writers are getting their hubs idled, I can probably expect the same to happen to my account. This is certainly discouraging.
   
   Is HP responsible for the idling, or is it Google? Or is HP responding to something it thinks Google wants it to do?

   replyreport
   1. 89

      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, that was the original intent of HubPages.   However for the last couple of years it's been hard to earn truly passive income here, what with frequent rule changes requiring Hub revisions, and now the need to be vigilant about Hubs getting idled.
      
      
      HubPages idles Hubs.   They're doing it because it's something it thinks Google wants.   Many people disagree.

      replyreport
9. 81

   LeanManposted 10 years ago

   I don't think freshness and updating has much to do with the "featured" / zzzz / idled feature here on HP. When they first introduced the idle feature here I had two two hubs that were idled; I reviewed them, tried to figure out why they received no traffic (they were only getting  a handful each month), updated them accordingly and they now get a little more than a handful of traffic each month! Since then I have had no hubs idled at all.
   I have only 2 or 3 hubs that do not reach into double figures in a month, and I keep expecting them to be idled but so far they have not been.
   I have only updated ONE hub in the last few months as it suddenly dropped out of Google rankings and my updates (which were needed as it is a hub that has dates in it!) bought it back to its previous position in the SERPS.
   Otherwise my hubs have all remained "featured" without any intervention on my part - obviously now that I have written this i will get 10 hubs idled this week!!!

   replyreport
   1. 61

      Angelique Newmanposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hopefully not LeanMan; you're obviously doing something right.
      
      As for mine, I'm going to put my favorite hubs that are currently idle on that carousel thing hubpages introduced recently but I will go over it and update them.

      replyreport
10. 81

    ologsinquitoposted 10 years ago

    Hi Marisa,
    
    Thanks for answering my questions. Perhaps HP will reconsider as the number of new hubs drops. This is still a good platform, although, because of these changes, many people will need to branch out.

    replyreport
    1. 60

       Nurseyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Deleted
       1. 61

          paradigmsearchposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          "N" !!!
          
          More play!!!
          
          Unbelievable!!!
          
          Not even that... Or not...

          replyreport
11. 0

    Anonymous00posted 10 years ago

    You really have to stay active and keep advertising. This promotes rank both within and outside of HP. Stay fresh and keep publishing so there won't be any negative reflections in your metrics.
    
    Great title for a forum post however 

    replyreport
12. 61

    Angelique Newmanposted 10 years ago

    Thanks Anonymous00, I thought  the title would be appropriate
    
    I really should write more to keep the traffic coming to my site.  It looks like it's going to be a busy new year.
    
    By the way, happy new year to all the hubbers out there; hopefully 2013 will bring much success.

    replyreport
13. 81

    ologsinquitoposted 10 years ago

    Happy New Year to you too!

    replyreport