Can foreign or scientific words lower your hub score?

1. 78

   CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years ago

   I just published a hub about quetzals  I used some scientific terms and some foreign words. Do the stupid bots think they are misspellings? ( A human would understand what they mean.) I can't think why else this great hub (I checked off all the boxes and proof-read) gets a starting score of 68.  I spent 6-8 hours on it and it is very disheartening.

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   1. 60

      The Examiner-1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Use parentheses and type the meanings of each word after it. Also go over the entire Hub and check for errors (spelling, etc.); make sure that each photo has a source; each video works; double-check everything.

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   2. 91

      Jayne Lancerposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I've had a similar issue. I have a hub that had a score in the high 90s. One day I added information about ingredients to look out for in cosmetic products I'd mentioned in the hub. Because the ingredients had very long, hard to pronounce, scientific names, I drew attention to their suffixes in order that they were easy to remember--so I had a mixture of complete words and suffixes. About an hour later, the hub was in the mid-70s and has never recovered.

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      1. 78

         Lionrhodposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Wow. Quetzals? Like I know what those mean. Should they be a problem? I wouldn't think so,
         
         But spell checkers are stupid.
         
         In my community we use the spelling "magick" rather than "magic." Yep there's even a very slight tone of difference in the meaning of the word as by the spelling. Sometimes - depending on the author.
         
         If that's making a score difference then I'm pretty ticked.
         
         Apologies for not replying straight to the "quetzal" comment, but your scientific names are equally important.

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         1. 78

            CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks Lion for your comment.  After I published my hub, I did a search of HP and no one has ever done a hub on quetzals before, although a few have mentioned these birds in their hubs.  I am always doing hubs on saturated topics like "corny jokes" or "how to be happy" and now I have finally done one on an original topic. What's my reward? A low score. I'll see if the score goes up in the next day or so . If not, I'll delete the Latin and Spanish words. Or maybe the hub is just boring.  Too much fact; not enough emotion.

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            1. 60

               The Examiner-1posted 9 years agoin reply to this

               Try putting a little emotion or jokes throughout it. When I wrote my first Hubs I was only describing something in detail. As I learned more about writing and writing Hubs I am now trying to write them coming from my inner self, not just a book.

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               1. 78

                  CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks Examiner.  I think you are correct.  Usually, I write with a little humor, not a joke, per se, but this one reads like a text book.

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      2. 78

         CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Jayne.  It is reassuring to know you had the same problem. It really hurts to put so much effort into a hub and then see a lousy score.  The scientific words was the only thing I could think of to explain the low score. There ought to be a place to make a case for a hub improperly rated low.  Unless I'm missing something, and my hub really is bad.

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   3. 92

      Christy Kirwanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Catherine,
      
      Field-specific terminology should not be causing any issues with your Hub's score. I took a look, and it's a well-written Hub with properly cited images. The only thing I can think of that might be affecting your HubScore on this particular Hub is that it contains several loosely-related products, and that the last photo is a bit blurry. Hope that helps!

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      1. 78

         CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Christy: Can you define "loosely related products"?.  Loosely related to each other or to the topic.  I thought all the amazon modules were related to the topic.  If not, I will fix it.
         
         Anyway, the score on my quetzal hub has gone up since yesterday so I'm not so upset as I was.  But still I want to understand the issues for next time.
         
         I am not very good at photography., but I will redo the picture and see if I can get a sharper one and then I will replace it.

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         1. 92

            Christy Kirwanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            Paul Edmondson's recent Forum Post does a very good job of providing guidelines for including Amazon and eBay products in Hubs. It's definitely worth a look.
            
            A good rule of thumb is to only include products that are absolutely necessary or that significantly enhance a reader's experience on a Hub. To use your own Hub as an example, a person looking up information on the beautiful Quetxal bird is not necessarily interested in traveling to Guatemala. While the travel book you included would be perfect for a Guatemala travel Hub, it is not really appropriate on a Hub that gives facts, trivia, and photos about a particular animal that happens to live there. Conversely, the book that offers more information on the Quetzal for young children is a good choice. Many schoolchildren may be researching this bird for a school project or report, and a book that offers more information about the same bird is likely to be exactly what a number of them are looking for.
            
            I would consider the wall decal product a borderline case. It is somewhat related to the Hub's topic, but the reader's experience would not be diminished if it were removed, which usually means it's probably safer to leave it out.

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            1. 78

               CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               Thank you for the detailed explanation. I will change it. My thinking was that a person interested in quetzals might be planning a trip to Guatemala.
               
               Sometimes I use amazon hubs as if they were photos.  I use them to break up the text.
               
               I will read the link you supplied.

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               1. 78

                  CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                  Christy: I followed your advice and edited the hub.  Thanks for your help. I'll look at some of my other hubs with your advice in mind.

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                  1. 92

                     Christy Kirwanposted 9 years agoin reply to this

                     My pleasure. I know some of the product guidelines can sometimes be a bit confusing and frustrating!

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2. 52

   pateludayposted 9 years ago

   Some popular words like, chai, guru, pandit should be in the database but impact of totally foreign language words should be a matter of study. One can get away by naming towns like Jabalpur City, or garam masala (spice mixture) and so on.
   
   Thanks for this topic I better go for a thorough HUB exercise in this regard and rectify to the best of my knowledge.

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3. 93

   SmartAndFunposted 9 years ago

   I don't think it matters.
   
   From the Learning Center article on HubScores: (my bolding)
   http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/hubs … d_13970187
   
   "HubScores are based on a wide range of different factors, including the amount of traffic your Hub gets, your reputation in the community, reader response to your Hubs (e.g. voting them up or down, leaving comments, sharing Hubs in the Feed, and leaving Hubber feedback), and the uniqueness of your content. With this being the case, getting more traffic to your Hubs over time will certainly improve your HubScore, but keep in mind that the quality of your traffic will also influence the metric (if a higher percentage of your traffic comes from reputable sources, you'll see a more positive effect on your HubScore). Keep in mind, you won't have an official HubScore until your Hub is evaluated for quality. If your Hub becomes Featured, then the score may rise as readers engage with it."

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4. 96

   chef-de-jourposted 9 years ago

   You've worked hard to create this article, I wonder why a score so low...but don't put too much into the hub score, it's not the end of the world! And it could go higher in time.
   
   I guess if you're using scientific words and such in a hub you'd need to be something of an expert scientist or a keeper of these birds to convince readers that your page is the bees knees.
   
   I just Googled quetzal and 54m came up so there's also some stiff competition out there.
   
   Best of luck with this quirky beautiful bird!

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   1. 78

      CatherineGiordanoposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Darn.  I'll just have to keep looking for that original topic. But as of yesterday, I think quetzal was unique on HubPages.

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5. 91

   goatfuryposted 9 years ago

   I bet it goes up over time, as it gets views.  If you spent a good many hours on it, it's probably awesome.

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6. 82

   Patsybellposted 9 years ago

   I went to the hub right away to find out what a Quetzal is. I think this is a good Hub. Lots of info. Nice job.

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