75% of 38 hubs receive no traffic

Jump to Last Post 1-11 of 11 discussions (69 posts)
  1. profile image0
    Ben Blackwellposted 11 years ago

    I have made a similar post a while ago, but I still haven't been able to find a solution to this problem.  All of my hubs are currently featured and always have been.  I have 6 poems, 3 short stories, and 29 non-fiction articles.  Many of them are on topics I wouldn't consider esoteric.  I experimented with changing the names of some of them, but that hasn't worked (and some people said that they've liked the names).  I've been getting nothing but good comments from them, and I have 80 followers, but I'm hardly getting any traffic outside of Hubpages.  I have a facebook page with 90 likes on it, and I post to that regularly as well.  I also participate in the forums and Q&A section here (which is probably where most of my traffic comes from).

    I've noticed that people who have been here for about the same time as I have have already received the 10k accolade.  Can anybody offer any pointers or insights?

    Thanks
    Ben Blackwell

    1. Cardisa profile image90
      Cardisaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Starting with your best performing hubs post the title of the top three here (don't post the links) and I will review them and help you improve. I will do three at a time. When I am done the first three post three more.

      1. profile image0
        Ben Blackwellposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        I suppose any of the hubs in my carousal or the first three would do.  I can't post the links here.

    2. ChristinS profile image37
      ChristinSposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      According to your profile you've only been here 2 months, so perhaps expecting a 10,000 view accolade is a bit unrealistic. To be fair, you haven't given it a lot of time or patience.  You need to search engine optimize titles and use good subtitles to get search engine traffic. 

      Fiction like poetry and short stories tend to not do well on HP. Your best articles here will be informational pieces. Featured, doesn't mean they are being found.  Look at your traffic sources - are you getting any search engine traffic at all?

      1. Cardisa profile image90
        Cardisaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Poems and short stories don't do well because people don't optimize them. It's a myth that poetry and short stories don't get traffic or do well on HP. I can attest to the fact that with a little SEO poems and short stories can get as much traffic as articles and I have a hub to prove it.

        1. ChristinS profile image37
          ChristinSposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Perhaps if they are optimized, but even when I did have short stories here that were optimized, they got some traffic, but nothing like my other hubs. The best performing hubs are still informational hubs.

      2. profile image0
        Ben Blackwellposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        I never expected to get 10k views.  That was simply a comparison.  I have been trying to search engine optimise, but I am no master at it.  I am getting some Google traffic, however.

      3. Writer Fox profile image40
        Writer Foxposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        My best Hub right now for Google traffic is a poetry Hub.

    3. relache profile image66
      relacheposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      If you familiarize yourself with what is called the Pareto Principle, sometimes also called the 80-20 rule, you will realize that what you are seeing is entirely standard/normalized/average.  A great many other authors on this site have nearly identical ratios of traffic-earning to non-traffic-earning Hubs.  That same ratio could be seen when HubPages used to display the total users on the site vs how many users actually made Hubs.

      Ask yourself this:  how do you get your information and why?  How do you get your entertainment and why?  Do you explore random, unknown sources or do you use reliable sources with a history of quality and other supportive references?  Most people use the latter, not the former.  In this scenario, you are one of the former:  an unknown person on some site where anyone can write about anything. 

      For example, your Hub about Jeet Kune Do.  Why would someone find your Hub more original, more useful and more helpful to read when compared to the sites that come up on Google's first page when you search for that martial art?  Reading the Hub, you don't appear to be a master of this form, in fact, you don't appear to even be a student of this form at all.  You seem to just be rephrasing a lot of Lee's own thoughts and material, without seeming to have anything resembling your own take or experience with it.

      So that leads to the question, if any random person/reader out there was going to read up on Jeet Kune Do, why would they want to read your Hub?  Unless it's more original, more authoritative and more helpful (useful) than other sources, the answer to that question is "they won't read your Hub."

      1. profile image0
        Ben Blackwellposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        My hub on Jeet Kune Do is not about the form, it is about the philosophy behind it.  It is my interpretation based on what I have read by him and what I have read elsewhere.  It is my own take, and it is totally original, as much as a holistic reinterpretation can be.  There are things I've tailed about other than regurgitation.

        That is actually one of my best performing hubs.  Thank you for the input, but that is not where the problem lies.

        I am familiar with the 80/20 rule, and I believe you are misinterpreting it.  I shoudn't be getting absolutely no views on 80% of my hubs.

        1. Marisa Wright profile image86
          Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          Relache is right about the 80/20 rule.   Unless they're very good at SEO, most Hubbers have a few Hubs that get the bulk of their traffic and make the bulk of their income.

          If you consider my account.  I moved on to my own sites, so at my peak I had only about 170 Hubs here which were earning about $400 a month. 90% of that figure came from the top 30% of my Hubs.

          1. profile image0
            Ben Blackwellposted 11 years agoin reply to this

            I'm not sure if it applies, because today, I checked, and all but one of my hubs has had either 0 or 1 view.  Only one had 11, and I believe that is temporary.  It's not like 80% is doing bad and 20% is doing well, it's that everything is doing bad.  I merely made the 75% point to send the point across.

      2. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image77
        TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

        relache:  As someone who has had tremendous success here at HP and who has been here quite awhile, I would like to hear what you think about the direction HP may take in the future.  Will it be able to overcome its problems with Google?  Can it survive?  What do you think?

        1. relache profile image66
          relacheposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          In all honesty, I don't know what is going to happen.  I've seen a lot of statements that seem definitive on the part of HubPages admin, but not seen any definitive change in the overall Hub situation.  Tons of low content still makes it onto the site.  Lots of Hubs that have been changed multiple times to repeatedly come into compliance with new standards are still getting the Google cold shoulder.

          Admin doesn't feel to me like they know what they're doing, so at present I have to say "it doesn't seem so based on how things are going right now" to your first question.  Can it survive?  Maybe.  Maybe not.

          1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image77
            TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

            Relache:  This was not the answer I was hoping to see!  Here's the thing:  if the team sees that what they are doing is not working, why do they continue along those lines?  Are they purposely trying to kill themselves off?  That does not make sense.  What does make sense to me is them biting the bullet, hiring some really qualified help, dumping those low level hubs and trying not to further upset the good writers who are still on board.  They put a QAP in place that is supposed to catch bad writing, but apparently it is not working.  The first question I would be asking is "Why".  Thanks for chiming in.

            1. relache profile image66
              relacheposted 11 years agoin reply to this

              According to what you can see from the stats that have been consistently released since 2009 (published users and published Hubs), it would seem that plenty of Hubs have been dumped.  (today's number is about 24% down from where the site was in April 2012)  As for published writers, that's gone from a high of 232,660 in January 2012 down to today's 85,997 (a 63% drop). 

              http://s1.hubimg.com/u/8360392_f248.jpg

              1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image77
                TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                WOW...those are staggering numbers!  However, if they have dumped so many hubs (I am assuming because of quality), how is it that so many low level hubs still exist?  Even with that, one would think Google would be able to take a second look and see that this site is trying to improve.  The other question is, how long can they keep dumping before they go too far and are then unable to financially sustain the site!

                1. relache profile image66
                  relacheposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  I think the drop in writers and the presence of low-quality Hubs signifies that experienced writers have bailed just as much as true spam writers have been shut down, and that much of the newer content is coming from people new to HubPages without significant web writing experience or HubPages history.

                  1. Bard of Ely profile image77
                    Bard of Elyposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                    I am sure this is the case! Experienced writers have gone, bad writers and spammers have gone and new and inexperienced people have joined.   But there are still some of us here who have been on the site for years!

                    I really don't know what has gone so badly wrong here that has caused many former top hubbers to leave or be disgruntled with the site or why whatever new changes are bought in many people still see declining traffic and earnings (myself included).

                    I was never a high earner here and admit that I know very little about SEO but I do know that there are those who do and they are no longer able to get good results here.

                    I also know that whatever I do I don't see much better traffic or earnings and HP seems progressively to be asking more and more of Hubbers. I know that it can't be my lack of talent as a writer or online marketer because there are those who are much better than me but they can't make the grade here now!

                    I just don't understand it and I admit that.

                  2. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image77
                    TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                    relache:  I agree, but what good is the QAP if you are bringing poor writers in the front door just as quickly as you are kicking them out the back door?  Makes no sense!

              2. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image77
                TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

                Relache   I would really like to see you write another article similar to the one you wrote awhile back that showed the financial averages, etc. of current writers.  I think many people would like to see those figures as well.

                1. relache profile image66
                  relacheposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                  Almost no one is reporting those anymore.  Which is why I have not updated that Hub this year.

                  Again, that says a lot.

      3. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image77
        TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

        Relache:  This 80-20 rule makes me wonder what would happen if a writer dumped every single article except that 20%.  Would the articles again settle into that same average?  Just curious!

        1. Marisa Wright profile image86
          Marisa Wrightposted 11 years agoin reply to this

          It's a good question.  My initial reaction was "probably not", but then you have to consider that the sub-domain would be very small, and Google doesn't like small domains - so traffic could well drop.

    4. jaydawg808 profile image77
      jaydawg808posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      "Personal" pieces I find rather "boring."  Unless it's informational about something or solves a problem, you won't get much readers.

      1. profile image0
        Ben Blackwellposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        It isn't one of those kinds of things.

    5. iamgoutam profile image38
      iamgoutamposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hello Ben,

      I am very new in Hubpages. I have just published a hub and it has not been published yet. Though I am new here but I think shortly I will be successful in Hubpages.   Yes, like you many people are not getting enough traffic outside Hubpages because they don't know "Search engine optimization (SEO)".

      Keyword research (A part of SEO) is one of the best ways to rank up your articles in Google search engine and we know most of the people around the world use the biggest giant search engine Google for searching, so if you can write SEO friendly killer content then you have a chance to get tons of visitors from Google organic search.


      Internet marketers and SEO experts are really doing very good in Hubpages. You are an awesome writer and if you can use SEO knowledge in your writings then you don't have to turn back...

      I hope I have made you understand.



      Regards,
      Gautam

    6. profile image0
      KenDeanAgudoposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I remember the hub of wrylilt , some reason is that the topic you are writing does not make's money. Topics must be  evergreen, that can be used for decades. I have also the problem with my creative writings. cardisa, help me in making titles in poems. good luck

  2. tamron profile image66
    tamronposted 11 years ago

    I have a Hub that is just now getting G visits.  It has been published on 7/28/13 I submitted the hub to Google a week ago and I just now got 2 G visits. 

    I am seeing more and more of my Hub losing position.  Some I can't even find in search.  This has never happened.

    What happened hubs would index sometimes in just a few hours at most within 24 hours.  Is it hubpages or the Google crawler?

    1. ChristinS profile image37
      ChristinSposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hubs have taken several hits from Google the past couple of years, hence all the changes HP is making trying to appease Google. Unfortunately Panda has done HP no favors.  I still get decent search engine traffic, but I am focusing most of my energy now on social media. Another reason I wish we had the Google plus button back, but that's been covered on other forum threads smile.

  3. LeanMan profile image72
    LeanManposted 11 years ago

    There used to be a page somewhere (In help?) that had percentage figures regarding the number of views that hubs received every month. I seem to recall that something like 95% of hubs got less than 10 views per month.

    Maybe someone can remember where that table is....

    1. relache profile image66
      relacheposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Admin has repurposed that page and while the URL is still valid, it no longer contains stats data about Hub views.  They've deleted or sanitized anything that used to publicly disclose site traffic/performance.

      Which sends a certain message of its own.

      1. LeanMan profile image72
        LeanManposted 11 years agoin reply to this

        The way the traffic has been riding the roller coaster here anything they published would be out of date by the time anyone saw it...
        But those stats were interesting, they basically showed that just a few percent of the pages published on HP were responsible for the bulk of the views and thus also the revenue.
        With the many pages that have been deleted or made no-index it would be interesting to see how those figures have changed.

        1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image77
          TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

          LeanMan:  I remember that page.  In fact, I think Relache published an article about that very topic.  I seem to remember that about half of the writers at HP at the time were making less than $10 per month and only about 1 or 2 per cent were making decent money.  Check her hubs out and you'll find the article.

  4. 2uesday profile image66
    2uesdayposted 11 years ago

    Thank you relache for sharing this information. Some names I associate with forum posts that show they know what they are talking about and for me yours is on that list.

  5. felix09 profile image56
    felix09posted 11 years ago

    Maybe you should try writing about topics that people are mostly searching for. You'd be amazed that a post on how to propose to a lady may get more traffic than poetry. Work on your best performing hubs and grow from there.

  6. LindaSmith1 profile image59
    LindaSmith1posted 11 years ago

    I have removed so many hubs, I have lost count. Currently, I don't earn enough in one month to pay for a cup of coffee, a small cup at McDonalds. I might be able to buy a roll of toilet tissue.

  7. LindaSmith1 profile image59
    LindaSmith1posted 11 years ago

    I don't get Simone. HP is not here for fun of it, and their motivation to writers is "Write here and earn money."    Hey, wasn't Ezine Articles where writers are not paid part of the Content Farm hit a few years back?

    1. LeanMan profile image72
      LeanManposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Ezine was hit because every online writer used it to dump "spun" or rapidly written articles to provide links back to their site. It only existed to provide links; no other reason. People put many weak articles there just for the links. Even me lol
      Some people use HP for links also, but HP is actually a good place to earn so more people try to use it for that reason rather than just links. However because it is free and easy to sign up to it is full of people who will throw up lots of rubbish in the hope that they get lucky or just earn from sheer volume.
      Google is not stupid, they know that online spammers and people looking to earn their fortune online without having to invest anything or really do any hard work use sites like HP - so they make it as difficult as they can. I think if HP had not done anything then this site would have zero traffic now.
      I don't think HP have done everything right, but they have the sites (and our) best interests at heart. If they don't do what Google want then we get no traffic, so they have to change and make it more difficult for the spammers and those turning out low quality rubbish. But this does mean that we will all suffer in some way and that some really good writers will get pissed as they find themselves being caught up by the changes.

  8. Millionaire Tips profile image86
    Millionaire Tipsposted 11 years ago

    They did a lot of great things to improve the quality of content with the QAP.  To me, even though some of the rule changes are annoying and arbitrary, they did seem to be ways that the reader may get more value on the article.  But then I think they got greedy and added the related search.   To me, it seems like they are milking the site to get the last of it so they can get out.

  9. 2uesday profile image66
    2uesdayposted 11 years ago

    There use to be a chance for anyone to have an article on the front page  ( in 2009 ? ) but they changed that.

  10. relache profile image66
    relacheposted 11 years ago

    What I find most interesting about this thread is how Ben asked people for their insights or pointers, and how his primary response has been to say that those responses are mistaken or misunderstood and shouldn't really apply to his Hubs.

    Good night and good luck, Ben.

    1. TIMETRAVELER2 profile image77
      TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      relache:  This type of response is nothing new.  It is very hard for people to face their own deficiencies, and is the very reason so many people fail, not only here, but in life as well.

  11. lovebuglena profile image81
    lovebuglenaposted 11 years ago

    What you write about is either something hardly anyone searches for or it doesn't come in the first few pages of the search results on Google and other search engines. Most people don't look past page 1 of search results, some go to page 2 or 3 and hardly anyone will go past that... So if your articles show up in search but far down in page count (page 10 for example) most likely no one will know about them because they won't go that far in the search results.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)