Editor's Choice--fame, fortune or zilch?

1. 78

   CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years ago

   My "Inside the Beehive" hub just got the "Editor's Choice" award.  After reading the posts about Editor's Choice, I feel like it is like getting the key to the city.  It is a great honor, but it's not good for any thing.  It doesn't even show up on my profile page, just the accounts page.
   Nonetheless, I'd rather have the award than not.
   
   Has anybody had good things happen because of the award?  Have I missed something?

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      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Here are other forum threads which discuss the Editor's Choice program:
      http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/115372
      http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/115537
      
      I opted out.  (You make this decision by editing your Profile. If you don't opt out, you are opted in and the URL to your Hub can keep changing.)

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         CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for the info. I guess I will just wit and see. It was a thrill to get the award, now I'd like to get HOTD.  That award gets you views.

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      2. 78

         CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for your help. The interesting thing is that the hub score is only 77--that is middle of the pack for me.  Maybe I'll opt out sometime down the road.  Right now, I like the recognition.

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            The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I do not believe that opting out will remove the current award, only prevent future ones.

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               jansharesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Yes, it does, Kevin. I opted out (then in, then out) shortly after it started and lost the accolade. I'm cool with being out as I agree with the OP's observations. Catherine, it's an individual thing so I would wait and see how it works for you, which is what I did before coming to the decision not to opt back in.

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                  The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  Thank you Jan, I only have one and do not want it to be removed. I am waiting to see if any others are chosen also.

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                     Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     If you really want more EC Hubs, you can nominate your own using the link in the right column on your feed page.  HP actually encourages you to do this.

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                        The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

                        Thank you Writer Fox, but I would feel unsure about this. Even though HP encourages it, which I cannot believe. It is nice to know this if I ever do get enough nerve.

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                           Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                           Yeah, they really do.  It was posted on the forum once by a staff member.
                           
                           It doesn't mean you'll actually get EC for your Hub, but it will get reviewed.
                           
                           It's up to you.  (I opted out.)

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                              The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

                              Thanks again, it is good to know.

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               calculus-geometryposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               I can confirm from having opted in and out that opting out does remove the EC designation on the hubs and removes the accolade from your list of accolades.  It is not a permanent award.

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   2. 59

      The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Catherine,
      There are some who have had good things occur to their Hubs when they received the Editor's Choice Awards. No one knows the reason why. If you receive five EC's then an accolade shows up on your profile page - I do not remember if it occurs before this, but I do not think so.
      Below are two links which may be helpful in explaining these awards a little more:
      http://hubpages.com/faq/#Editors-Choice
      http://blog.hubpages.com/2013/08/announ … oice-hubs/

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      WriteAngledposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I have four EC hubs. I have not noticed any difference to views on them. Paradoxically, two of them have the lowest hub scores of all my hubs.

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         Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Sadness.

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         galleryofgraceposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         You might want to check and see if the low scoring hubs have been copied. My personal opinion of Awards of any type on a hub just tells the scammer's which ones are best to steal.

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      Glenn Stokposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I have 37 hubs selected as Editor's Choice and they all  show up on my profile page. If yours does not, then there must be another reason for that. If it's not obvious by examining the status of the hub, then ask HP for help on that.
      
      I really don't see much change in traffic with being EC, but it's not making it worse either. So I'm not opting out since it could take a long time for Google to react to having these hubs in the main directory along with other EC hubs.
      
      It's not a good idea to keep switching the URL back and forth, so just keep that in mind in case you decide to opt out.  Opting out will cause your EC hub(s) to be moved back to your subdomain and a 301 redirect from the EC URL back to the subdomain URL, so any links you may have will still work. 
      
      Besides all that, I would recommend being patient and see what happens. But you do need to find out why it's not listed in your profile. The only thing I can think of is that it became unfeatured and that doesn't make sense since it was selected as EC.

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      CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It doesn't make sense. Why would HP do something that reduces hits? They make money when our hubs get hits.

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         The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         That is a good question Catherine, it is very sensible.

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         CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         It looks like the EC program began 13 months ago. That is enough time for HP to know if it works or not.

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      CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Now that it has been about a week since one of my hubs got the editors choice reward, I thought I would report back.  I'm new, so my hubs were only getting a few hits a day once the initial rush wore off.  The EC hub still gets only a few hits a day,. for me, I see no change.
      
      It's a different story with HOTD.  I immediately got about 200 hits. Even after my "day" was over, I continued to get a  lot of hits relative to my other hubs. Does HOTD come with special perks the EC doesn't get?

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   relacheposted 10 years ago

   I have felt my EC Hubs have benefitted, but it's not something you see right away.

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   firstdayposted 10 years ago

   calculus-geometry … I am curious why do some of you opt out of getting the award?

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      calculus-geometryposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      When I opted in, the traffic decreased on my hubs that were selected as EC. Traffic and earnings are the real rewards, more meaningful to me than accolades and special elite status designations. When I opted out their traffic returned back to normal.

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         CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Good to know.  I'll see what happens.  My traffic is pretty low anyhow since I am new. I'm still waiting for google to "find" me.  Actually, I think part of google's algo is longevity. they don't give high ranks to new domains.  (At least, I like to think that is the reason for my low traffric.)

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      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      If you go back and read the old forum threads on the links above, you'll find many reasons why people make the choice to participate/not participate in the program.  One bad thing about it is that it uses a 301 redirect for the URL to your Hub.  Google advises that this only be used for permanent redirects.  The EC designation is not permanent.  It can be changed at any time which will change the URL yet again.

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      relacheposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It's not so much as an award, as your content gets moved to be in the HubPages topical subdomains and not in your subdomain.
      
      Some people like this, some don't.  It helps some Hubs, but not necessarily.

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   LindaSmith1posted 10 years ago

   I thought maybe it would be on Hub Page page when someone searches for Hub Pages.  There is a slide show with Lens of the day hubs, but nothing about Editors Choice.  Looks like I am going to opt out.

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5. 86

   susi10posted 10 years ago

   My EC hubs tanked - which is why I opted out.
   
   After becoming EC, they took a severe drop, so I opted out and as a result, they are back to their usual numbers again.
   I guess it's to do with the URL change, it would probably take about a month before rankings and traffic re-stabilize with the new URL.

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      CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      URL change. Does that effect links that our out on the web in other webpages websites? Mayybe that is why traffic drops if the links don't work. But you said it redirects. Does that mean the links elsewhere will still work?.

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         Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         The links do redirect with a 301.  However, some websites that link to other webpages will block the link if it is redirected because of the fear of spam or being redirected to a porn or gaming site. 
         
         But the problem is that a 301 should only be used for a permanent redirect.  With the EC program, your Hub can fall out of it and revert back to your subdomain URL, which puts another 301 redirect on it.

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   SmartAndFunposted 10 years ago

   Traffic to my EC hubs went down just a bit in the beginning, but IIRC, EC designation coincided with a Google algo refresh, didn't it?
   
   Anyway, out of laziness/apathy I left them EC, and now traffic is back to normal.
   
   That's probably not helpful. I really don't know which way is the best to go.

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   QuoteAmberposted 10 years ago

   It may just be a coincidence, but I have several Editor's Choice hubs now and I've noticed I get next to none page views from google or any other search engines. It's really weird because almost all of my page views come from search engines, except for on those three hubs with the Editor's Choice.

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      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You can opt out of the program by editing your Profile and clicking on the box there.

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         QuoteAmberposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I just did, thanks! I am going to try it and see what happens.

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            Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Let us know in a few weeks if your traffic numbers changed.  Your experience might help someone else make a decision, too.

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   Cari Kay 11posted 10 years ago

   Just opted out.  Already have redirects from Squidoo and the fewer the better.  Thank you for the heads up.

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      Writer Foxposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That was my choice, too.

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   LongTimeMotherposted 10 years ago

   I had a bunch of ECs and couldn't understand why the traffic dropped significantly, but I waited for a few months to see what would happen. When stats didn't improve I opted out. Traffic returned and has stayed reliable. I don't know if it is just coincidence, but I'll be staying out.
   
   Also, to those who are excited by the thought of getting hotd, I don't want to discourage you from your goal but don't get too excited about the traffic they generate. It is only hp traffic ... which doesn't bring you money. Nice to get, but won't help your wallet.

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      CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      HOTD doesn't bring money? I thought all views were views and all views earned.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, they are.  However the only views you'll get from HOTD are from other Hubbers, and we're a small community.   So you may get a few hundred hits, but that's nothing in the grand scheme of things.  After all, you're earning only $2 to $5 per thousand views.

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    janderson99posted 10 years ago

    I opted out after HP reported an average 2% increase in traffic for EC. Better to have the cream on top of your own subdomain milk in my opinion.
    
    http://blog.hubpages.com/2014/06/update … oice-hubs/

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    Susana Sposted 10 years ago

    My experience of EC hubs has been mixed. Some hubs have done really well and others are about the same as they were when on my subdomain. Overall though, traffic is up and back to pre-panda levels even though I have less content now and a number of hubs that are well out of date.
    
    I think EC works quite well for me because I have quite a mix of topics in my account. If I was very niche focused then taking the best/most trafficked hubs out of my sub would lose me some account authority with Google and that wouldn't help overall traffic in the long term.

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       CatherineGiordanoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Really good answer. Thanks for helping me understand this better. I don't have a niche so perhaps EC will work for me. MYEC hub seems to be doing about the same as before, but it has only been a day or so.

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    taiwokareemposted 10 years ago

    congrats Catherine

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