Red Arrow Mission

1. 93

   jansharesposted 10 years ago

   Hey, what if we all visited a fellow hubber who's experiencing decreased traffic and blue arrow blues to lift them up? Several hubbers have shared that things are slow right now. I just stopped by a view of their subdomains, read a hub that appealed to me, and left a comment. How about you do the same? See the forum link below to pick at least one hubber to visit.
   
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/112514
   
   I know, I know. Real traffic is organic, sent by google. That's not what this is about. This is about morale, support, and hub love. Don't forget to click on Like, 1+, Pinterest, and Share with Followers.

   replyreport
   1. 74

      travmajposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I like this idea - I'll give it a go - always good to have some recognition. And it means I read another interesting hub.
      And thanks to LCD Writer - I have now located the share button that was eluding me.

      replyreport
      1. 93

         jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Great to have you on board, it's been fun getting to know other hubbers.

         replyreport
2. 91

   LCDWriterposted 10 years ago

   I want to do this.   I'm trying to figure out how to share when it is not in the newsfeed anymore.  I'm looking around for the share button.

   replyreport
3. 91

   LCDWriterposted 10 years ago

   Ooh, never mind I think I found it.  It is under the pin it button on the hub you are reading in case anyone else wants to know.

   replyreport
   1. 93

      jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Glad you found it, LCDWriter. Give it a whirl, have fun meeting new hubbers.

      replyreport
4. 84

   Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years ago

   Good idea, Jan - I need the diversion, and I always enjoy reading the great hubs here.  It will be a nice break from analyzing traffic patterns and locating headache meds.

   replyreport
   1. 93

      jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Good Marcy, glad to help you get out of the negative zone. I've also had a lot of fun getting to know you better and read your work. Hope you see some red arrows soon.

      replyreport
5. 93

   jansharesposted 10 years ago

   Visit this forum thread as well and give a hubber a boost.
   
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/112557

   replyreport
6. 83

   ologsinquitoposted 10 years ago

   That's a great idea.

   replyreport
   1. 93

      jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Have fun, ologsinquito. Get to know another hubber. Thanks again for visitng me. Very kind of you.

      replyreport
7. 84

   Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years ago

   On my Red Arrow Mission - have visited and shared!

   replyreport
   1. 93

      jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      So glad you're on board.

      replyreport
8. 82

   tillsontitanposted 10 years ago

   It's a great idea Jan and that is what Hubville is all about.  Helping each other out.  If you leave a comment and it shows on your page, someone else might read it too!
   Happy Mother's Day.

   replyreport
   1. 93

      jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Absolutely, tillsontiton, that's the idea. I hope others catch on. I hope you had a great Mother's Day, too.

      replyreport
9. 73

   relacheposted 10 years ago

   I'll be curious to see what happens when Google sees a small group of HubPages users all suddenly visiting a cluster of specific subdomains.  I wonder if that looks like an intentional traffic exchange to them...

   replyreport
   1. 88

      SimeyCposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Got to agree with this~

      replyreport
   2. 93

      jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You think? I doubt that it would be enough to look agregious (although that would be awesome). I don't think we have that much power. As I said, this is really about boosting morale and supporting each other with comments and internal traffic. So many hubbers are down right now with this traffic dip. It's depressing to see. And the theories behind the dip are getting more dismal by the hour. Eye-yi-yi

      replyreport
      1. 89

         WryLiltposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Google Adsense specifically forbids "traffic exchanges".

         replyreport
10. 86

    WorkAtHomeMumsposted 10 years ago

    Don't want to rain on your parade but from a long term perspective this won't help.  It is great to support hubbers, read their hubs etc but what really matters is search engine traffic. Clicking into someone's hubs to give them a view on their stats board won't help their google rankings.  I suggest using the title tuner, tweaking hubs, updating content and spending your time improving your own hubs. But that's just my two cents...

    replyreport
    1. 89

       WryLiltposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       What she said ^ Pointless activity.
       
       If you want to help, go pin their images, share their hubs on your social networks etc (as opposed to a comment, or sharing with your own followers). It may not be much, but at least it might bring them real traffic.
       
       Also, traffic exchanges break Adsense rules.

       replyreport
       1. 93

          jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          I did mention Pinterest, "Like", etc. But I appreciate your point. What is traffic exchange? Does that mean going to each other's hubs?

          replyreport
          1. 89

             WryLiltposted 10 years agoin reply to this

             Traffic Exchanges are any type of organised efforts to get views. Anything involving "I'll visit yours if you visit mine" mentality. That includes traffic exchange sites where you earn points for visiting people's sites, or exchange views, or pay for traffic. ANY traffic which is organised in any way, other than through natural sharing or organic search.

             replyreport
             1. 93

                jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                Thanks, WryLilit for explanation. However, it confuses me even more when I see a forum here for the past several months to "Recommend Another Hubber's Hub." Is it different if we don't use the phrase 'increase traffic' and the intent is to 'recommend?'
                I guess what you all are saying is that since my intent to support and lift morale was prompted by hubbers complaining of low traffic, that sullies the main point of my Red Flag Mission (as does the title of the post).

                replyreport
                1. 95

                   wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                   Sullied, maybe, but only to google.  Never forget that the King of the Web is a strict (and often completely unreasonable) taskmaster.  When you set up such things it interferes with google's determination of what is good and what is bad content because it's mostly counted by traffic and you are giving traffic without regard to quality. 
                   
                   Your idea was very nice and it was helpful, but it also throws a (very small) monkey wrench into Google's calculations.

                   replyreport
                   1. 93

                      jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                      Interesting, even small wrenches make a difference to the King, huh? Anyway, I read over my initial post and I hope the lines, "Real traffic is organic, sent by google. This is not what this is about," were read by googles bots. It's clear in all my naivite that I had no ill intent to blow up traffic, only to increase morale by an extra red arrow or two. Thanks, wilderness for your wisdom.

                      replyreport
                      1. 95

                         wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                         Actually, I would be amazed if google took any notice at all.
                         
                         The thing is, you never know just what that Giant is thinking.  It's like the extreme prudishness of HP - required because google (adsense) requires it. 
                         
                         Your heart was (is) in the right place, but that's all it takes sometimes.  Best be a little more careful about ideas on providing traffic.  Keep your aim firmly on getting organic, search engine, traffic whether for yourself or for someone else.

                         replyreport
                         1. 93

                            jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                            Got it, Ace. Will continue to support fellow hubbers without using certain words and phrasings.

                            replyreport
                            1. 89

                               WryLiltposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                               Completely agree with what Wilderness said.
                               
                               Threads like the recommend one are personal choice... directly stating you want to exchange views FOR the traffic is different to just saying "Hey I'm going to share something of yours I found AWESOME!"

                               replyreport
                               1. 93

                                  jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                  So if this thread title was, "Awesome Hubs To Read" and I only made reference to
                                  'supporting your fellow hubber and boosting morale with visits and comments,'
                                  with no references to that forum thread, red arrows, blue arrows, decreased traffic, 'click on', or google, it would have been ok?

                                  replyreport
                                  1. 89

                                     WryLiltposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                     I think that's a grey area. And I still stand on my point about low quality traffic being the only result of this.

                                     replyreport
                                     1. 93

                                        jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                        The therapist in me sees another result that has nothing to do with getting any significant traffic. Maybe that's my problem. It's starting to make sense now. Thanks for the lesson, WryLilt. I learned a lot here.

                                        report
                                     2. 84

                                        Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                        I can see where traffic from 'internal fans' is different from organic Google traffic.  But I don't see a problem in reminding ourselves to take a break from the latest DMCA filings and traffic woes to enjoy the work of writers we admire, and to share here and there. I still, however, have concerns about overdoing it by setting up groups that exists ONLY to provide traffic to each other's work.  That's pretty transparent, and will eventually be part of Google's algos - but will affect the whole site, not just the relative few who do that.  In my uneducated opinion.

                                        report
                                     3. 89

                                        WryLiltposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                                        Yes, I have this "maniacal philanthropic steak" which I keep having to bat on the head. As a therapist I'd be awful, I'd want to hand out money and babysit, and bash the bad people.

                                        report
    2. 93

       jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, WorkAtHomeMums. I get that, the main focus is support. I appreciate your two cents.

       replyreport
11. 68

    Anamika Sposted 10 years ago

    3 days back I had a Hubber score of 96 and now it is 87. Majority of my Hub scores also have gone down and the traffic too. Can't figure out what is wrong.

    replyreport
    1. 93

       jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       That is frustrating, Anamika. I hope it doesn't cause you too much stress for long. It will go back up in time.

       replyreport
12. 84

    Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years ago

    Since this thread was only seen and acted on by a small group (in the Google and HP scheme of things), I doubt its good intentions had anything other than good results.  To me, the bigger issue is the social media sharing among groups of writers - all sites like this one have groups that almost serve as Click Clubs).  I'm fairly certain patterns such as 20 writers always viewing each others hubs, and all of the views driven from FB, would be picked up in a data mining analysis.
    
    We have groups here of several hundred Hubbers who regularly post their own hubs as well as the hubs of others and regularly give each other 'views.'  They're not clocking on ads - that would be grounds for losing AdSense, but I've wondered whether Google might penalize sites that show that sort of activity.  It's not organic traffic, and it's way different from someone reading an online newspaper and regularly following the humor columnist or sports writer. That sort of behavior doesn't generate what could be seen as reciprocal views.  Or, maybe Google doesn't care.

    replyreport
    1. 0

       calculus-geometryposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       click cliques, lol.

       replyreport
    2. 93

       jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Yes, excellent points, Marcy. Therein lies my confusion about a lot of what I've seen here on HP that seems to be okay to do.

       replyreport
       1. 73

          relacheposted 10 years agoin reply to this

          Just because someone posts in the forums and says to "do something" doesn't mean "it's okay."
          
          Reading all the various terms of use for the sites involved and staying current on how search engines are operating is the best way I've found over the past decade for determining what is "okay."

          replyreport
13. 93

    rajan jollyposted 10 years ago

    I've been wondering about this too, Marcy! Good point here!

    replyreport
14. 59

    Mark Johannposted 10 years ago

    I think all of hubbers these days have decreasing traffic. Let's check our other hubbers around.

    replyreport
15. 93

    jansharesposted 10 years ago

    Good point above, Marcy about seeing nothing wrong with taking a break from all the negative and taking some time to support each other. That was my whole point exactly.
    
    This was a lively and informative forum thread. I appreciate all who took the time to share their opinions and offer critiques on the way this forum post was presented. I learned so much about taking into consideration how things can be perceived regardless of intent.
    
    Happy hubbing and continue to give support to your fellow hubbers.

    replyreport
16. 60

    sharmakartikeyposted 10 years ago

    This is actually a very good Idea, I have not posted many hubs but its heart warming to see that this community actually cares for each other. Now I feel like posting more, and I'd be glad to help in any way and generous for any that comes my way ...
    
    Thanks. Have a nice day

    replyreport
    1. 93

       jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       You too, sharmakartikey. Good luck on HP

       replyreport
17. 80

    Renee Abbottposted 10 years ago

    You idea Jan was in trying to helping the morale around here, and nothing wrong with that. I think though if we learn to understand life has its ups and downs, and so does blogging for any place you choose, a person can ride this wave easier. Use this down period for learning, tweaking, and writing, with the knowing, as with everything, the wheel will turn again, and our hubs will see ups again. Watch what you focus on, for it can deplete your energy or raise it. I prefer to keep my energy up.

    replyreport
    1. 93

       jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Thank you for that, Renee Abbott. I see it the same, great advice.

       replyreport
18. 82

    earnerposted 10 years ago

    Upping each others visits, just to get red arrows is a bit like putting lipstick on, then staying indoors and admiring yourself in the mirror.
    
    You have to get out there and be noticed by people for the adoration to really count for anything.
    
    Maybe another idea might be for people to pick 3 hubs and pin them on Pinterest, share somewhere or whatever.

    replyreport
    1. 93

       jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Yup, earner. Pinterest was suggested as well in the original post. I love my lipstick, my the way.

       replyreport
19. 80

    Renee Abbottposted 10 years ago

    Love Pinterest, and is a great tool for hubbers.
    You are welcome Jan

    replyreport