The Summary Capsule

1. 81

   CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years ago

   Any advice about the summary capsule?  I see it shows up next to each hub in my profile and it gets picked up when I use the social media buttons. I know that it should contain keywords for search engines to find. I usually try to write something that entices as well as gives an idea of what the hub is about.
   
   Today my "Embracing My Inner Crone" hub got picked up and featured by a poetry newsletter that does not use original content; it links to other sites. To my dismay, my summary did not appear; my first paragraph appeared.  It was not a good intro. (I added a new first text capsule that was more of a grabber, but it is too late for this link. I will definitely be more careful in the future to have a great opening paragraph.)
   
   Is there a way to make the summary appear in these third party links?
   
   The picture I used as the first capsule did not get picked up either. Just the title, opening sentences, and my profile picture.

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2. 67

   lobobrandonposted 10 years ago

   The Summary is basically your Meta Description.
   
   It's supposed to show up in search as the description of your hub, there are times search engines pick text from your hub instead. But in most cases the meta description aka summary shows up.
   
   There's no way to control what the newsletter shows and doesn't show. Hubpages doesn't have the summary in the body of the hub, instead it's in the head (HTML stuff). So I'm guessing this is the reason why your first para showed up instead.
   
   It's basically something you write to make people want to click and read your article.
   
   Also, when you look at the code of your page, it's the profile pic that loads before the other pictures on the hub (I'm guessing, haven't looked at it,) This is the only reason for the profile pic to show rather than the first pic, so I feel it's the right assumption. On my phone atm so can't check the source of any pages.

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   1. 47

      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      This is correct.  If you want to, you can start your Hub with the Description at the top.  Also, regardless of what HP allows, limit your Description/Summary to 160 characters (including spaces), because more than that will not show on search engines nor on most social platforms which post a description with a link.

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      1. 81

         CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you.  That is new info to me. I had a feeling I would get some good advice here.

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         1. 47

            Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            You're welcome.  (I start all of my Hubs with the Description as the first text.)

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   2. 81

      CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks so much.  I understand it better now.  I will take care in the future to either repeat the carefully worded summary as the first capsule or do a much better job of writing a grabber.  Live and learn.
      
      About code. You are right.  I haven't the faintest idea. Can I change it? If so, how? having my profile show up is a waste.  I usually try to make that first picture be a grabber. (as in grabs attention, piques interest)

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      1. 67

         lobobrandonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Nope, there's no way for you to change it. You're best off writing a catchy first paragraph too.

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3. 88

   misterhollywoodposted 10 years ago

   I try to make the summary capsule something that pulls in reader interest and also has some keywords. If my hub is answering a question, I might ask something like: Have you ever wondered how to ....
   
   Good question!

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4. 60

   LindaSmith1posted 10 years ago

   Since we no longer have the keyword box, etc, the summary is all we have left.  I only wish it allowed more text than it does. I believe the one we have now holds less characters than the one we did have.

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   1. 67

      lobobrandonposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The one we have now is more than search engines require so most of it gets cut off. As Writer Fox already specified, there's a limit to the number of characters shown. So you would wanna be specific and let search engines know exactly what you want to say.

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      1. 81

         CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you.  I will try to focus on SEO..

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