Greetings New Hubbers From Squidoo - Changes At HP You Need to Know

1. 83

   Solarasposted 10 years ago

   Your arrival has eclipsed a new feature that we were discussing in earnest when the merger was announced.
   
   HubberPro is a new feature. In a nutshell, HP has hired 7 excellent editors to help bring our hubs up to snuff.  They will be doing fact checking, editorial corrections, updating images etc.  You can opt "in" or "out" on your profile settings page. Your default will be "in."
   
   Hubs will be selected for editing based on their popularity with the public. The most popular hubs will be tweaked first. 
   
   I mention this because some hubbers felt very strongly they did not want any hands on their hubs.  However, it may be very useful to those of you with many high profile hubs, to help get a handle the Hubpages layout and its rules.
   
   We welcome you and hope that we will all prosper as a result of this new union!
   
   I invite Hubbers to add other thoughts regarding Editors Choice and other nuances that may not be on the newcomers radar when going through such a transfer.

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      Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      BTW if you opt out of Editors Choice or Hubber Pro, you have to wait 60 days before you can opt back in.

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   2. 73

      Valerie Bloomposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I've got a basic question about earning money on HubPages.
      
      First of all, I totally understand the idea of not having lots of Amazon modules because (1) it looks to salesy and (2) too many buying options can be overwhelming to people.
      
      Even so, I was surprised by how few Amazon products were displayed on Hubs that discussed things like hiking gear, which would lend themselves well on Squidoo to a half-dozen products being displayed. (Say, one for each category of gear: tent, backpack, sleeping bag, etc.) Are you making decent sales even if you only display one of the half-dozen categories of products you talk about in the Hub?
      
      Is the overall main source of income from Hubs through Amazon purchases, or is it more the other ads that may have absolutely nothing to do with the topic of the Hub itself? Is the AdSense an important source of income? I'm assuming it's worth it to have an AdSense account for HP, but I'd like to make sure. At Squidoo, we also could earn money based on LensRank. This means that if you happen to have an article that was, say, in the top 100 most viewed on Squidoo that month, you'd get a little extra. Even articles in the top -- I don't know, 50,000 or so -- earned an extra couple of pennies for that month. Do you have an analogous "tier" system here?
      
      I'm trying to wrap my head around which of my articles will be a good match at HP, how to update them to meet HP guidelines, and how they might make a little money here. My Squidoo lenses aren't huge money makers for me, but I would hate to lose the extra $10-30/month. I'm nervous that some of my lenses get very few views -- not because they are poorly written, but because they just may not be popular topics.
      
      Thanks!

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      1. 83

         Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Valerie
         
         Here you have the choice between Adsense earnings and the Hubpages earnings program. HubPages earnings will earn you much more per view than Adsense, in my experience. For instance I have a blog and HP account with the same number of page views.  I have earned 20 times more on the HP program than through Adsense on the blog.
         
         It varies from topic to topic and time of the year, but 1000 views should [redacted] Last month I was seeing a rate closer to the high end, this month is crummy with back to school, which I don't write about.
         
         HP does not want a lot of Amazon ads per article.  However your can add one Amazon link per capsule. So for each item you would discuss on camping gear, have enough text so that the amazon ads aren't stacked on top of each other if you float them to the right.
         
         That being said, I might split camping/hiking gear into two hubs linked to each other to get more views and keep the hub from being too spammy.

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            Valerie Bloomposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks, Solaras! This is helpful to know!

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            1. 83

               Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Also, we are not supposed to talk about what we make in the forums.  So people beat around the bush with statements like, "I make payout every month." or  "I make payout and several times that regularly."

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                  Valerie Bloomposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  Yes, and I'm so sorry for coming across as being crass. It's not something I would normally bring up, but I thought it would be helpful in order to get advice that would apply to my situation. Thanks so much for your patience! :-)

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                  1. 83

                     Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     Oh no, not at all!  I think it's normal to want to know what you can expect and what the possibilities are. I only mentioned it because it is a rule, and some people are touchy about it. LOL

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      2. 66

         relacheposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         1) it's primarily earnings from the HubPages Ad Program. 
         2) Not like it was back in 2009-2011.  Note, you MUST have an AdSense account to join any of HubPages other programs.
         3) no tiers here.  http://hubpages.com/faq/#royalties

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         1. 83

            Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            The HubPages Amazon Program is relatively new. I have average 80% of HP Ad Program earnings over the last 3 months, so It is not insignificant. You can make money with your Amazon sales hubs here.

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      3. 86

         Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         The reason is simple, really - fear!   Ever since Panda there has been a bit of a witch-hunt about Amazon on HP, and everyone has got the idea that Google hates Amazon ads, which is completely untrue.  You can read that attitude in Solaras's reply.   
         
         Some Hubs with Amazon ads did get a spam penalty from Google, but it had nothing to do with the quantity of products.  It was the fact that the products weren't sufficiently relevant to the text.   Google has said it hates unrelated links, and that applies to product links just as much as contextual links, so nobody should be surprised by that!
         
         You are allowed one product per 50 words of text (so a 400 word Hub can have 8 products) - but because of the negative perception of Amazon, most Hubbers don't dare go anywhere near that number.  I can never understand it, because you'd think they'd be more willing to trust HubPages' recommendation.  After all, HP has a record of being conservative in all its rules - it is more cautious than Adsense about prohibited products, for instance.  So I'm sure their limit on Amazon is more than sufficient.
         
         Oh, and by the way - you have a choice between Adsense only, or Adsense + the HP Earnings Program. You must have Adsense to get into the HP Earnings Program.  If you're in the HP Earnings Program, you won't earn much from Adsense because the HP Ads will take up most of the ad space, but you can't turn Adsense off.
         
         You'll find a Hub on the slider in my profile that might help.

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         1. 83

            Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks for clarifying that Marissa.  You know I read something Paul had said on the subject, and deleted a few Amazon capsules.  The score on that hub went down two more points! LOL.  It started at 100 two+ weeks ago and now it's down to 92.  maybe I'll add the products back and see how much lower I can push it.

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   3. 73

      David Stoneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Since I learned to suffer the critical eye of an editor for my online work - I write reviews and articles for our local newspaper - I realize how helpful it can be. I'm not sure of the mechanics in your program but I hope you've left some wiggle room for disagreement or discussion.

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2. 59

   paradigmsearchposted 10 years ago

   My first thought was, "Trim down those Amazon ads!!!"
   
   Google might take one look at all those ads and immediately  categorize your mew subdomain as a spam account. Don't take the chance.

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   1. 74

      Dale Hydeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I just popped in there and visited the "Lens of The Day."  I counted 18 ads all told.  Ten of those were Amazon links.  Seems a tad overkill there.

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      1. 83

         Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Someone here said their sales went up when they reduced the number of product choices.

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            Dale Hydeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Wonder how many they had previously, lol!

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            Millionaire Tipsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Yes,there have been many psychology studies that show that too many choices give people analysis paralysis.  Besides, you want to tell people - this is the best product for the job. Otherwise, they wouldn't need you and could just go to Amazon and decide for themselves.
            
            http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/20 … 111008.htm

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   2. 73

      David Stoneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Many of us coming over agree with this, and I want to add that it was that overabundance of ads that played a big role in Squidoo's demise. Google got fed up with what they considered "catalog lenses" and wondered why they should send traffic to a page that offered nothing more than what anyone could find with a couple clicks on Amazon.
      
      (Some of the Lenses of the Day were almost impossible to read, but Squidoo HQ didn't seem to think so. One of the last was choked with over 30 Amazon and eBay links, plus repeated copyright infringing images, a group of us protested. To no avail.)
      
      Squidoo made some efforts, but obviously not enough, to rein in the excesses, but by then, it was too late. A lot of good writers will suffer for it, but I for one am happy to have HP (and others) to turn to where writing is valued more highly than pitching product.
      
      Just wanted to make the point that what Squidoo was honoring wasn't always the best of the platform and you will certainly see some great writing come through.

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3. 78

   LuisEGonzalezposted 10 years ago

   For Squidoo members, something else you really need to know since it will probably annoy the living daylights out of you is the "featured/non featured" policy.
   
   Depending on traffic (steady) to your hubs you will see a half full circle or an empty circle next to some of your hubs. The circle with the H in the middle means your hub is featured so that's good.
   
   This is to tell you that in HP's eyes the hub is not getting enough traffic thus prompting an edit.
   
   HP wants a steady traffic flow (no matter if the hub has had a million views). Edits prompt new visits which in turn may translate into $$$...........and that's the way the cookie crumbles.
   
   A lot of us are just ignoring these "circles" and are puzzled by the implementation of them since it makes you feel like a trained circus animal.
   
                                                    
   

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   1. 83

      BarbRadposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Actually, Squidoo members have already been subject to this in the last few months, with different symbols. I think Squidoo was already thinking in terms of transfers to HubPages long before they told us about them. I thought it was an improvement over Squido flailing its tentacles and locking lenses with no notice and no way to edit them into compliance.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Let me add here that if you have an article that becomes unfeatured, often you can have it refeatured simply by adding a photo, video, poll or other item to enrich your topic.
      
      I have found that my own most serious problem is to lose focus in an article.  That is a very important concept because you can have everything done perfectly, but your lack of focus can cause you problems.
      
      In short, if you are writing about apples, don't add a capsule about oranges!

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         LuisEGonzalezposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         To add to what you said, just changing the title will make it featured once again, albeit for a short time.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Luis, I fear that explanation of Featured vs unFeatured is more confusing than helpful!   This is how it works: 
      
      Every time you publish a new Hub, or edit an old one, it goes through the QAP (Quality Assessment Process).  If it's good enough, it gets Featured - and it will stay that way, provided it gets a trickle of traffic.
      
      However if it doesn't get much traffic, it will eventually become unFeatured, because HP has taken the view that poor traffic might mean Google dislikes the Hub, and they don't want anything on their site that Google dislikes.  Squids will learn that this is not unusual for HubPages - when faced with a possible problem, they always err a long way on the safe side.
      
      Often, the reason a Hub isn't getting traffic is nothing to do with Google disliking it:  it's just a topic that people aren't searching for.  If that's the case then there's no point editing it to get it Featured again, because it won't last long.  Give up and move it to your blog or somewhere else that doesn't worry about such things.

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      1. 78

         LuisEGonzalezposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I know that traffic is the main driving force. My point is that it is time consuming to keep editing a hub once it becomes un-featured so I just ignore it and maybe edit some that I feel have hope at some point or simply deleted them....plain and simple.
         
         I never suggested that they should edit anything just responding or rather adding to what the previous post has said. Did I not say  that "I (and many others) just ignore the "circles" ?
         
         I also don't think that a lack of traffic has anything to do with Google liking it or not but as you said "people are just not searching for it". Although I can move articles somewhere else I don't currently believe there is a better place than HP for my work, so at least for me it does not make sense to move them anywhere.
         
         So far as changing the title and so on it was a simple explanation as to how to get a hub featured once more. Whether the author chooses to edit or not it is up to them.
         
         Does HP always err on the safe side??? Hard to say (I choose to trust them on that) but they own the site and we have to live with it ...or leave.
         
                                                                            
         

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            Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            You say you know it's a waste of time to make those small edits, so why suggest it to newbies?  Surely it's better to tell them there's no point. That's what I mean by confusing!
            
            
            
            As for erring on the safe side - what I meant is that if they think there's a problem, they generally go over the top in trying to fix it.  For instance, cutting back on Amazon capsules farther than necessary, being overly careful with prohibited words/subjects for Adsense, unFeaturing Hubs just in case Google doesn't like them etc.

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      2. 78

         Sed-meposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         My hubs don't get a lot of traffic, but that's how I designed them. I'm a very private person.

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         1. 83

            Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            And this is why we love you!!

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4. 53

   favoredposted 10 years ago

   Thanks for the information. This is all new and we don't want to upset those already here. 
   
   I appreciate the head-up and look forward to meeting everyone.

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      Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Favored nice to meet you!

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5. 83

   Solarasposted 10 years ago

   If you are wanting to see some successful hubs to see layouts and content, and get a feel for what is getting page views on our site, here is a sampling of writers with 10 million+ views.
   
   Relache
   Crazyhorsesghost
   Alexandry
   
   Wrylilt has been very successful here especially with her made for pinterest images. Here is her Hub on how to make them and what they can do for your page views.
   
   http://wrylilt.hubpages.com/hub/How-to- … -Pinterest

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      Margaret Schindelposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Solaras, thanks for recommending successful Hubbers and hubs for us to look at. I tried searching for Alexandry but no Hubber by that name came up in the search results. Are you allowed to post a profile link here?

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      1. 83

         Solarasposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Sorry for the Typo - here you go
         http://alexadry.hubpages.com/

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         1. 97

            Margaret Schindelposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Thank you!

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6. 66

   relacheposted 10 years ago

   Squidoo has a Featured feature, thingy, you-know. 
   
   By the way, if any Squids drifting by this thread would like help or advice from someone who has been writing for both Squidoo and HubPages from day one, I've got a Squidoo To HubPages Mover's Guide spotlighted on my profile. 
   
   As someone who understands the HubPages process in-depth, and who has a few hundred lenses about to be imported too, I'm sharing tips to get ready and then I'm going to offer advice and troubleshooting as we all cross our tentacles and they move the first wave of content.

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      Ilona1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I read your Squidoo to Hubpage Guide, Relache, and found it very helpful. I think such tutorials really help clarify things for writers here.

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7. 68

   ThreeQuarters2Dayposted 10 years ago

   Very helpful post, thanks a bunch. I like the support over here and I was worried I couldn't get Hub pages to look pretty. I'm more of a visual person than a writer.
   
   But taking a peak at some of the best Hubs I'm very encouraged. Formatting is different, but that's okay. I'm looking forward to getting creative.

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