About the Squidoo Thing: Is This a Major Problem for Hubbers?

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   EricDockettposted 9 years ago

   I've had a massive headache ever since reading about this Squidoo acquisition thing yesterday. I'm not even going to get into whether I think it is a good idea or not. It doesn't matter what I think. The deal is done so it's time to move forward, and as always I trust HP management to make the right decisions.
   
   However, I do have one concern that may or may not be valid:
   
   If you're a long-time Hubber who writes in a certain niche, you've probably been battling a few Squidoo pages in the SERPs for certain keywords. Squidoo was just one out of a bazillion sites you had to consider when assessing your competition. That's just the way it is.
   
   Now, all that content that was formerly your competition will be part of HubPages. Nice to have new content here that ranks well, but I also know that search engines generally only rank one or two pages on the first page for any keyword from a given site.
   
   So, for example, if you've been #2 in the SERPs to a Squidoo page for a couple of years, you may now see your page drop out of the SERPs entirely. Bye bye traffic.
   
   This is what I'm thinking, but I admit I don't fully understand the mechanics of the 301 redirect. I'd like to assume everyone would generally stay where they are in the SERPs. Hubbers stay happy and Squids don't lose their traffic. But it really seems possible that some Hubbers could see a major loss of traffic with this acquisition.
   
   Anyway, that's the cause of my headache for the most part. I really hate the idea that HubPages would have voluntarily made a decision that has the potential to hurt the traffic of long-time Hubbers. But I'm also really hoping I'm wrong.
   
   Anyone care to clarify this 301 redirect thing and what we can expect to see with the sudden influx of new content?

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      calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Here's an explanation of 301 redirects and the effect on rank.  http://moz.com/learn/seo/redirection

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         EricDockettposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks. I guess my post was a little meandering. I understand how a 301 redirect works. What I'm wondering about is how it will work in this specific situation. The bottom line question is: Are hubs going to be knocked out of the search engine results when similar lenses are moved to HP? Or will the 301 redirect prevent that from happening?

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            calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            In the linked article it says that the 301 redirect will preserve 90-99 percent of the original page's juice, so if the Squidoo pages lose 1-10 percent of their juice I guess competing hubs will enjoy a little advantage, at least in the short term until Google readjusts its ranking of the competing pages.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That's a good point and really the 301 redirect question is irrelevant.  If that Squidoo lens is better than yours, then when it becomes a Hub it will still be better than yours - with or without the 301 link juice, it will eventually outrank you.  Bye bye traffic, as you say.   Your only recourse is to make your Hub better!
      
      The good news is there's a good chance your Hub will show up in the "related Hubs" section of that new Hub, so you're likely to get a boost from your competitor, which you didn't before.

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      1. 96

         EricDockettposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Marisa: I am usually in agreement with the "write a better Hub if you don't want to get outranked" philosophy, but this is a little different. Here's an example:
         
         I have a Hub that currently ranks #2 for it's keywords. A Squidoo Lens ranks #1. I suspect there are times when my Hub is #1 and the Lens #2, but whatever. It generally adds up to around 50 visits a day and a some sales each month. I consider it a successful Hub, and I think it's the kind of Hub HP is happy to have around.
         
         Google apparently thinks it is one of the top 2 pages on the topic on the entire internet. That's pretty good, I think! And, though I will revise it and improve as I go, if the Squid page always outranks it then so be it. Maybe it is a slightly better page, for whatever reason.
         
         However, if that Squid Lens comes to HP, and suddenly my Hub is cast out of the SERPs altogether, that seems very wrong. It's not a matter of being outranked by a slightly better page and getting a little less traffic. It's the difference between good traffic and earnings, and nothing.
         
         Paul doesn't seem to think there will be a big impact, and I hope he's right. 
         
         Where I'm wondering if the 301 *might* help is if it retains enough of the the distinction between the old Squidoo url and the new HP Hub location. If so, search engines may just keep on ranking both pages as they had before, and everyone is happy.
         
         I don't know if that makes sense though.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            No, I don't think the 301 redirect will help, because it will be a permanent redirect - telling Google the page has moved permanently to HubPages and should now be considered part of HP.

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      CassandraCaeposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      From many a rumor, a lot of squids aren't letting there content come over and they are deleting their accounts.

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         LindaSmith1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Some are simply tired after the Squidoo fiasco and are creating their own sites, or saving the lenses they want and take them to other sites. Some are in such a whirlwind of confusion, they don't know what they are going to do.

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   relacheposted 9 years ago

   It's as much a surprise and headache for Squidoo writers too.

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3. STAFF

   Paul Edmondsonposted 9 years ago

   We are in new ground, but we looked into this quite a bit.  It's one of the major reasons we aren't merging Squidoo and HubPages accounts.  By 301ing to new subdomains, we are isolating certain aspects of this.  We also aren't 301ing the Squidoo homepage.
   
   I also looked into the overlap of our two audiences.  It's very small. 
   
   It is true that multiple articles that target the exact same word are less likely to show multiple pages from the same site.  There are different terms for this like "domain crowding."  That said, Google seems to be pretty good at figuring out which page is the best these days.  In some cases they will show multiple pages.  We are going to have to wait and see how it washes out.  I suspect that there won't be a substantial traffic change either way.

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      EricDockettposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for the reply, Paul. I appreciate that you guys considered this issue before making the move. It does make me feel a little better.
      
      I think it would be a major slap in the face for veteran Hubbers who gave their best content to HubPages over the years, to see their traffic drop when new content from a competitor is brought in.
      
      HP has had success where other sites have failed because of smart moves by yourself and your staff, but also because of Hubbers who have worked really, really hard so they, and HubPages, could rise above every other platform out there. Now that is happening, and it'd be a tough pill to swallow if writers from another platform reap that reward in the place of veteran Hubbers.
      
      I really hope that doesn't happen, and I'm sure HP staff does as well.

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      LindaSmith1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      This is a bit off topic but I have a huge question.
      
      It appears that we have to have a second Hub Pages account, the second one being for Squidoo content.  However, Google Adsense is part of our earnings here and we can only have one Adsense account.

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         spartucusjonesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         You can use the same Adsense account. I have two HubPages account, both linked to the same Adsense, no issues.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Yes Linda, why is that a problem?  The whole point of having one Adsense account is that you use it on every account you have, whether here or at Blogger or anywhere else.  There's no problem with having multiple accounts with one Adsense ID.

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            LindaSmith1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Marissa:  I am in a brain fog.

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4. 92

   jansharesposted 9 years ago

   Good question, EricDocket. It will be interesting to see how it pans out. Based on what you've shared and Paul's response, it seems to make sense that traffic would be affected before it stabilizes.

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5. 0

   swilliamsposted 9 years ago

   Hi Eric! I actually tried to rally support through a forum. However I was badgered by some  writer who is wearing a frog on top of her head in her profile picture. I mispelled Squidoo , and what an uproar.  I believe the merge will strengthen our community. The Hubpages has a great community, however there are some writers who are very rude and unwelcoming, and sometimes I believe they think they have a right to be rude  because of their impressive score. However being a snob is a turn off. Kindness goes a long way. Phyllis is doing a great job at welcoming people. I can't believe some of the rude writers actually have accolades for being helpful. That being said, There is strength in numbers.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      swilliams:
      
      I thought she or he was talking to me!  I had trouble with that spelling too because I always thought it was spelled another way.
      
      I do not know who you are referring to here as being rude because I have seen no rudeness from any HP writer on these forums.
      
      There is a difference between being rude and expressing justified concerns, so perhaps you are incorrectly interpreting something someone said.
      
      I think everybody wants this to work out for the best, and I suspect it will...once we get through the initial growing pains of it.

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         swilliamsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Hi TIMETRAVELER2, no, she was talking to me. I feel that there is a way to correct people without being...what is the word i'm searching for...oh yes! Rude. Shake the dust off I always say. I do realize that Eric, is talking about SERP concerns. Which he seems to be attracting kind feedback. This is nice to know.

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      LuisEGonzalezposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      There are always those who will agree and those who will disagree. For my part I wish all Squidoo members the best of luck and it sounds to me as if HP is on the right path. Think of how we would have felt if the shoe were on the other foot.

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         viryaboposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Now in my case, if the shoe were to be on the other foot . . . I'll be in a 'state' by now!

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   3. 61

      LindaSmith1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      swilliams: Don't worry about it. Fortunately there aren't many of them. I wonder if that one realizes that there are many hubbers who are also from Squidoo? I doubt it!!!
      
      I bailed the ship long ago so I was one of the lucky ones at Squidoo.  It is too bad that the person who was acting this way wasn't at Squidoo during the time when we all were scrambling, going crazy, going without sleep to work on lenses before the changes with the filters started.  Now, it is the same thing all over again for many lensmasters so they can get their lenses to fit this platform.

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         Ruby H Roseposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         I have lens over at squid that are being transferred and have spent the last 6 months working through all the challenges.  I also write here on hub pages.  I have really enjoyed the two platforms.  I am happy to be back focusing my writing world again at hub pages for awhile.

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   LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago

   Thanks spartucusjones.

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7. 74

   Valerie P Davisposted 9 years ago

   Oh, there is much to worry about! The Squids are coming, and we will smash your puny hubs down the SERPs and suck the link juice from their writhing bodies! Bwahahaha!
   
   <Looks out to check reality. Nope, still not that easy. Sigh.>

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      Sed-meposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      That skeerd me.

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         paradigmsearchposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         
         Actually, they do need to be watched...

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            Sed-meposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            It took me years to try one of those. I wouldn't eat anything that dangled, I made my husband eat those. I only ate the circles. Circles seemed safe. It never occurred to me the circles was just the body cut up. So gross. Of course, deep fried, it tasted good so now I just don't think about it. But just so you know, you can't go by the "circles are safe" rule.

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