How long should one wait before officially declaring a hub dead?

1. 60

   paradigmsearchposted 8 years ago

   How long should one wait before declaring a hub dead traffic-wise and deleting/moving it?
   
   This is premised on the assumption that the thing has already been tweaked and updated to death.
   
   1 year?
   2 years?
   3 years?
   4 years?
   5 years?
   
   I'm curious as to how many answers would be the same as my current best guess. And possibly if there is some sort of consensus estimate.

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   1. 92

      Millionaire Tipsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      My guess is that a hub that won't get traffic here is not likely to get traffic elsewhere either. 
      
      I don't use a timeline to decide whether to delete a hub.  I generally just try to see what I can do to make each hub better - all of them, not just the ones with a lot of traffic or no traffic.  If it doesn't get traffic even after all the work, or I don't feel like the hub is worth all the extra effort, then I unpublish it.

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      1. 88

         Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         True, but if the Hub is suitable for moving to your blog, it's still worth doing.
         
         Even if it doesn't get traffic, extra articles on your blog add more content, more keywords relevant to your topic and more depth to your coverage, all of which Google will like, so your blog as a whole can rank higher.

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         1. 95

            viryaboposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            This is what I'm hoping, so I use my un-featured articles to build up my blog and website. Anything I delete here, I re-work and use elsewhere.

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   2. 88

      NateB11posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I have waited more than 2 years before deleting/moving a Hub. But now I think that I waited too long. I guess depends on the potential of the Hub. I've found certain subject matter has almost no potential at all; people are simply not searching for certain things on the Web.
      
      I usually move them to one of my blogs, not because I think they will perform well, but because visitors to other articles might visit the moved one too. Plus gives the site more content.

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   3. 93

      Susana Sposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      My own approach has been to give a hub 6-8 months and if it's not getting traction by then look at changing the keywords/title to something less competitive.

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   4. 82

      peachpurpleposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      i have a christmas hub that wasn't bringing any traffic for two years, no views at all. But i kept it there and unfeatured

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   5. 65

      mickshaw555posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      It probably depends on the view count you are getting in the last three months

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2. 0

   calculus-geometryposted 8 years ago

   At least 11 hours
   
   http://www.cnn.com/2014/11/14/world/eur … ?hpt=hp_t2

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3. 60

   paradigmsearchposted 8 years ago

   I likewise am thinking 2 years.
   
   I've seen dead hubs come alive after 1 year, but I don't think I've ever seen a dead hub come alive after 2 years.

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   1. 95

      viryaboposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      If we are talking 2 years, then I have some house cleaning to do.

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   2. 74

      Barbara Kayposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I have one that suddenly got 300 a day after 3 years.That lasted for about 6 months.  Now it isn't doing much again. I usually move mine after a year or two.

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4. 94

   watergeekposted 8 years ago

   I've had one that didn't do much of anything for over a year, then suddenly rose nearly to the top in the 90's. Don't know what happened, unless someone bought something. Alternatively, it might be smart to write another hub that's a more popular topic, but can link to the dead one. That might get you some cross traffic.

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5. 60

   paradigmsearchposted 8 years ago

   One of these days I'm going to wake up in a really bad mood and do a massive hub slaughter. Or not.
   
   Meanwhile, generally having a good day today.

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   1. 76

      Kathryn L Hillposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I leave mine alone. I call it history. Oh well.

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6. 68

   biblicalivingposted 8 years ago

   I play it by ear. If a hub just isn't attracting any readers after 18 to 24 months, I consider it dead. Then I unpublish it to help my hubber score. I've only unpublished a few hubs though, only the one's that I thought my topic and writing was of questionable interest. Otherwise, I allow hubpages to work it's magic and list the hub as "do not follow" or not featured. Honestly, I've been surprised which hubs have generated massive traffic and which ones have been duds. It's a bit hard to predict.

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7. 80

   LeanManposted 8 years ago

   Why is it dead??
   
   If a page is going to work it will work very quickly if your account is established and you are getting traffic to your other hubs..
   
   
   
   Is no one searching for your keywords? - change your keywords and your focus to keywords that are being searched for.
   
   Is there too much quality competition for your keywords when you search for them in Google? - change your keywords to those that you can rank for.
   
   Are there many other pages here on HP also targeting those keywords and how do they compare to yours? Do they rank in Google when you search? - move the hub to another site where it has no competition (Your own site / blog)
   
   
   If none of the above - what is ranking in Google? - Make your hub better than everything that you see on the first page, improve your on page SEO and cross your fingers.....
   
   Still no luck -.... Google hates you!!
   
   That should cover most of your options...

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   1. 60

      paradigmsearchposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      

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8. 93

   FatFreddysCatposted 8 years ago

   That's why I've never deleted anything.  Sometimes I take pity on an older Hub that's just been quietly mouldering away by giving it a quick tweak/edit and a Facebook share just to see if it gets a kick in the butt, but otherwise I just post stuff, throw it out there, and if the Internet Gods don't take to it, oh well, I just write something else and try again.

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9. 68

   Hendrikaposted 8 years ago

   I can only agree with all the comments here. If I find that a Hub is just not worth the time I give up on it. Others are really good ones and I tend to keep on trying to improve them. Most of the time I succeed.

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