Traffic Went Down .... which is sad

1. 83

   earnerposted 11 years ago

   Oh the joy of seeing traffic rise ..... I set out to increase traffic two weeks ago and saw it increase by 40% per day.
   
   Trouble is ... today, for no good reason, it's dipped 20% below the starting point.
   
   Oh such a sad day
   
   Maybe the world is holding its breath because my hubs are so awesome...... and so they're frozen to the spot, unable to read more of them
   
   .... that must be it.

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      WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Having seen three years of HUGE dips, dizzy highs and virality, I can safely say, it's unpredictable but normal.
      
      Seasons (usually you'll get less traffic in summer), sports events, holidays (maybe everyone is out buying mothers' day gifts), news stories, weather events, you name it, they can all impact on traffic.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yesterday I was down 50% from the day before!  Nuts!

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   mistyhorizon2003posted 11 years ago

   Come Thursday until Sunday day traffic usually drops a lot, but starts to pick up by a considerable amount later on Sunday.

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   Will Apseposted 11 years ago

   It looks like a Google thing. My traffic fell later than most and might still be falling. Right now, it is down nearly twenty percent on this time last week. Looking on the bright side, it is still up around twenty five per cent on two months ago.
   
   Maybe QAP has taken HP to a cusp where Panda algo changes can throw it either way. If that is the case, we need to wait for the next change and HP need to plow on with clearing out the junk.

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   Mark Ewbieposted 11 years ago

   Hey earner - it's a Google happening.  Lots of people on HP are down significantly.
   
   The top guys at Google have improved their search algorithm even more than it was before so it is now 100% better.  They have checked each one of my pages and found them to be not so good as they thought two days ago.
   
   Although their search results were already perfect they have since improved them by penalising entire sites in an arbitrary fashion based on a sledge-hammer.  The way to detect quality is by slamming it to the bottom of the pile and seeing if it recovers.
   
   Matt Cutts, makes the algorithm 500 times better every year.  His latest change will check if the site is Google, Amazon or YouTube, and if not will add a Cutts penalty.  He gets very excited about all this and may even tweet or make a self-satisfied video to show us his smug little face.
   
   The man, who talks and writes like a child moron, is to be congratulated on finding a way to sell this to Google - who would not know quality even if they copied it and passed it off as their own content.  Which is what their entire company is based on.
   
   I am personally delighted that such an organisation has a near monopoly on the world's content and is using our personal data to see how miserable we are.
   
   Matt Cutts.  An improvement on perfection.

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      WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Oh shit and I've been madly tweeting at Mark Zuckerberg to fix my rankings for the last three months. Thanks for the heads up!

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         earnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Maybe he's too busy down-ranking all my pages to have noticed

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      Will Apseposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I've always thought that Matt would make a fine Thunderbird's hero. He could drive the thing with the huge screw attachment. I know that my traffic will die tomorrow just for thinking that.

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         Mark Ewbieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Lol - perfect.  It was the Mole I think.

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      earnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Luff you ... always the ability to make me smile.
      
      More genius writing from Mark Ewbie ... how come you're not on the telly yet being interviewed about your latest book/world tour and nights out with top models mingling with the jetsetters?

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         Mark Ewbieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Yep lol.  As yet that scenario exists only in my mind.  I am confident that one day a bitter and twisted old man will appear on a local TV station explaining how he once earned three dollars.  "It was a fortune back then" he will lie and attempt to grope the interviewer.

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      Elena.posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Mark, is this about the (in)famous Penguin, or something else entirely, do you know?

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         WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Don't listen to Mark. It's like taking advice from a stick figure.

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            Mark Ewbieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Lol. I was almost a gnu for a moment there.

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               WryLiltposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Gnu? That's a gnu one to me!

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         Mark Ewbieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I don't know. It is a Google Something - that's what we know.

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      Barbara Kayposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I'm waiting for Matt Cutts to be fired. He keeps making thing worse instead of better.

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   earnerposted 11 years ago

   On the "plus side", if there is one .... the traffic on my website has increased in value this week - even though Google no longer considers my content worth mentioning to its customers..... but 2 years ago I was making a full-time living out of this malarky.... now it just pays half the rent and I'm having to scrabble round my savings to make up the difference and pay the bills.
   
   Something needs to change - and I don't wish it to be for me to change my writing to be more interesting, worthy and high quality.  That smacks of "work"!!

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   Ceres Schwarzposted 11 years ago

   Maybe I'm just missing something here but how can you tell the exact percentage of your increase or decrease in traffic? Is there a way to do that in HubPages? Or are you just referring to the blue and red arrows next to your hubs? I looked around in "my account" but I didn't see any percentages. Maybe I missed something. Can you tell me where it is?

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      Mark Ewbieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Google Analytics gives more precise data in a variety of formats.  I am not going to try to explain how to set it up - but there is plenty of info out there on how to do it.
      
      Most of us complaining will have looked at the daily figures reported by Google Analytics and taken a rough percentage from those.  One figure is a day by day analysis.  It is easy to see the crunch points.

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         Ceres Schwarzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Oh. I see. Thanks. I already have an analytics account and it's set up with my HubPages account. I guess I'll just look at that then. I don't really look at my analytics account often though because there's still not much to see there anyway, probably because I'm still rather new to all this.

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      earnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I've been checking my stats in Hubpages each day - and simply remembered my "1 day" stats .... they went up .... then they went down.
      
      Although I do use Google Analytics for trend-term checking (although that can be a bit depressing sometimes).
      
      Every time I log onto Hubpages I go to "My Account" and just peek at that top "1 day" figure as it's easy (and I am lazy).

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         Mark Ewbieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         I use them all.  "My account" is great for a quick view, if it is updating - which is not always.  Mostly though I use Analytics Real Time and a separate screen for the other stats.  Repeat across various blogs and sites and I never get around to writing anything.

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            earnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Yeah, that's the trouble
            
            Loads of stuff that you can find to do .... that means you do nothing.
            
            I'm not really into Real Time much .... it'd be different if I could see 1000 live visitors in there regularly as that'd be better to watch than the telly.

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               Mark Ewbieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               If they displayed people's phone numbers on Real Time I could ring them up and say...
               
               "Wait... don't hang up.  What did you think of it? Too much?  Not enough?  I'll change it - just tell me what you like.  I have some other pages.  They're much better.  Not like this one.  I wouldn't expect you to like this one very much.  I like you.  You have a lovely voice.  Buy my product.  Please"

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                  Ceres Schwarzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  That's real funny. You're always so funny. Maybe some people might be amused enough to buy your product if you did that?

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                  earnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  LOL/Mark.
                  
                  People "in the other place" wish to pass on their love ... and it's been remarked just this week how hilarious you are and how much you're missed.
                  
                  Go on, create an AP and find us .... look for Nice People (that's a clue).... but you can't see us unless you're logged in .... so you need to beat your ban over there.

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            Ceres Schwarzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Oh, wow. Do you see lots of people visiting your site in real time? Whenever I happen to check the analytics real time when I remember to log in to my analytics account, I saw a grand total of 0 people currently visiting my site in real time. It certainly doesn't make me want to check it all that often. But hopefully, when I've been here a while like you guys, I'll also be seeing a huge number in analytics real time.

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               Mark Ewbieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

               Hi Ceres.  A good number of people at any one time for me is 4 or 5.  10 is brilliant.  Sometimes - no one for half an hour.

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                  paradigmsearchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  I just dropped by RT. The number was a lot better than I expected. I can't wait to compare this Monday/Tuesday to last Monday/Tuesday. Maybe, just maybe, I'm not a corpse after all...

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                  Ceres Schwarzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  That's still a lot. And way better than 0. I only wish I can see numbers like that too. Maybe I should check my analytics account more often.
                  
                  Do you mean to say that you always have your analytics account open so you can check for real time visitors all the time?

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                     Mark Ewbieposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                     Hi Ceres.  I have a  few pages that get some traffic.  It's no big deal, and way less than I hoped for.  But it does mean that at certain times of the day - when the Americans drag themselves out of bed - I get enough views to make it 'worth' watching.
                     
                     What is the point?
                     
                     The point, apart from me being addicted to it, is I find it focuses me a little on what I should be providing. Because they are real current visitors I think "Is my page what they were hoping for?".
                     
                     Mostly though - I guess its just a brain-dead opiate which excuses me from writing anything.

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         Ceres Schwarzposted 11 years agoin reply to this

         Oh. Okay. Thanks. Actually, that's what I do too. I look at "My account" and that's where I see the arrows, if any, and then the page views for the hubs. I have analytics but I hardly check there because there's still not much data there, in my case, because I'm still pretty new here and don't have that many hubs yet.
         
         The trend-term checking thing sounds interesting. Is that the same as with Google Trends? Guess I'll be looking into that too.

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   Bill Yovinoposted 11 years ago

   If this trend continues, I'm not sure I'll be able to maintain my two-figure annual income.

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      Barbara Kayposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      LOL Bill.

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   sabrebIadeposted 11 years ago

   Ahhhh...it is SO nice not to see a Google cheerleader thread.
   I swear to God some of these people would make great Communists!
   Sorry...I dont mean to offend any Communists out there.....
   "Everything Google does is good and pure and for the greater good of the people."

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   paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

   Bobby Fuller Four - I Fought The Law And The Law Won Altered Lyrics
   
   A') Breakin' rocks in the ... hot sun
   I Fought the Google and the ... Google won
   I Fought the Google and the ... Google won
   I needed money, 'cause I ... had none
   I Fought the Google and the ... Google won
   I Fought the Google and the ... Google won
   
   I love my hubs and I feel so bad
   I guess my race is run
   Well, they were the best ... I've ever had
   I Fought the Google and the ... Google won
   I Fought the Google and the ... Google won
   
   (Instrumental Break)
   
   Making money. . . And having fun
   I Fought the Google and the ... Google won
   I Fought the Google and the ... Google won
   
   I miss my traffic and the ... good fun
   I Fought the Google and the ... Google won
   I Fought the Google and the ... Google won
   
   I love my hubs and I feel so bad
   I guess my race is run
   Well, they were the best ... I've ever had
   I Fought the Google and the ... Google won
   I Fought the Google and the ... Google won
   
   https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OgtQj8O92eI
   Warning, women present.

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10. 68

    Michael Willisposted 11 years ago

    I think Google is more concerned with shareholders, especially those with web pages to be ranked! Quality and "relevant" search results are not the important issues to Google. Of course they always say that is the reason for their actions. Actions show otherwise.
    So many times when searching on Google the page results I get are so far off base with what I am searching for. There are so many results that go to the same page over and over again or the same site with multiple pages. Google images can be even far worse.
    Bing and Yahoo are not always right in their results, but not nearly as bad as Google has become.
    Search on Google and Google "tells" you what to look at, not what you think you want to look at.

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11. 61

    paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

    Well, folks...
    
    Last week it said, "Over 50 Million people discover HubPages every month."
    
    Now it says, "Over 47 Million people discover HubPages every month."
    
    If this is a month data accumulated stat, I guess we will be seeing "Over 30 Million people discover HubPages every month." in due course...

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       earnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Give it a year it'll be saying: "Thank God.... I thought you'd never come back!"
       
       

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    paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

    

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       earnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Awwww!!!

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    davidlivermoreposted 11 years ago

    I views are down 60%.  If it remains like this, writing online will seem very pointless.
    
    I lost 80% traffic on one of my hubs alone.
    
    Very disappointing...

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14. 83

    earnerposted 11 years ago

    I think I started this thread a bit early .... if I'd left it to today I'd have more to moan and whinge about .... traffic's dropped this morning to 3 figures/24 hours instead of the usual 4. 
    
    You get used to having an 'easy life'
    
    I've published LOADS of new hubs in recent weeks - and tweaked others - and actually left the house to get some more images to use in my hubs so they are mine/original ...... I've worked for this dammit.
    
    Worked..... my socks off!
    
    I still believe though .... it'll all work out in the wash.
    
    *crosses fingers*

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    jdw7979posted 11 years ago

    It is a valiant fight, though I would prefer a traffic jam instead of cruising at night with the brights on..

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16. 61

    paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

    Well, the last 10 days have certainly been an adventure. In the final analysis it appears that our lives have indeed not ended as we know it. Although lower, my traffic and earnings are still decent.
    
    I hope the above doesn't turn into famous last words...

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    earnerposted 11 years ago

    Well, in the past two weeks I've tweaked 24 hubs and added new/original photos etc.  I've also published about 12+ brand new hubs....
    
    Looking at GA and comparing Mon-Fri this week with last, I am 22% down this week.

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       jansharesposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       Aw man, sorry to hear that, earner. But I don't think we should let this stop us from tweaking. We have seen it make a difference but there are obviously factors germane to online writing that we cannot control. It is disappointing but we have to think of the longterm and create more evergreen hubs. It will turn around again. Keep on hubbin'

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          earnerposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Yeah
          
          Traffic's still down ....  I'll keep writing - and keep believing.....
          
          It's just annoying as I'd set my mind to committing to Hubpages virtually full-time and this traffic and lack of income's been a bit of a distraction on that front.... so I am in suspended animation until something shifts....

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    Garrett Mickleyposted 11 years ago

    My traffic has been pretty steady lately.  No increases or decreases. Just a steady average for the last 2 years.

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    paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

    My traffic is higher this weekend than last weekend. The week ahead looks downright promising.

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    Barbara Kayposted 11 years ago

    Mine is going up too.

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    earnerposted 11 years ago

    Just checked my stats.... and it's crept up overnight.  Maybe all's well again

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