Is it bad practice to use the word 'free' in a Hub Title?

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   sallybeaposted 8 years ago

   
   Can using the word as a keyword or in the title have a negative impact on traffic.  If so, are there any other words, apart from the obvious swear words which will do the same?

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      paradigmsearchposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Ya know... I think you have a very valid point here. If there ever was a word that Google would use as a flag-and-pursue indicator, it would be the word "free". I, for one, would not want the unwanted attention. I had a few, e.g., free lesson, free information, free photos, and so forth. I went and got rid of the free part. In retrospect, those phrases do indeed sound spammy. And besides, that word never showed up in my search terms anyway.

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         sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         That is the problem, I have used the word for some of my felting tutorials and I was wondering if I should change that.  When I used the keyword search it seemed rather more positive than negative!

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      Writer Foxposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      If 'free' is part of the keyword phrase you are targeting and that is what people are looking for, then use it.  Some webpage is going to rank for that and it might as well be yours:
      http://goo.gl/E3qwjY

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         sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Writer Fox
         You have a way with words, you sure know how to make a lady feel a lot better.

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            colorfuloneposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            People are searching for "free" things. Free is always good for those who find what they are looking for.

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               sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               colorfulone
               I know I do but I did wonder if it could be considered too spammy.

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                  psycheskinnerposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  Who told you Google does penalize the keyword "free"? I did a quick search of places like the Warrior Forums (a top SEO forum) and they have no such claim there.

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                     sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     I read it here today - hope it is OK to post a link to a forum page.
                     http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/128169

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                        MJ Martinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                        We have some wonderful learning resources here at Subpages.  Fascinating and helpful to know.

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            incomeguruposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            +1

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         MJ Martinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I liked the list of photo resources.  Very useful information about finding free photos to use.

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   psycheskinnerposted 8 years ago

   If "free" is a relevant keyword, I do not see why you would not use it.  I would look for a valid source of that information before assuming it was correct.

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      sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      psycheskinner
      Thanks, I appreciate the feedback, thank you.

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   psycheskinnerposted 8 years ago

   That was talking about what words Hubpages itself might penalize, and a pretty speculative suggestion.

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      sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      which led to the question.  I have often being accused of thinking too much.

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         MJ Martinposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         What I found helpful in this wonderful discussion was it depends on what the free thing is that is being offered.  I too have been accused of such things.  I consider it a play on words in many ways.  Our language and how we use it is very complex.  Thanks for a great question.

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            sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            You are very welcome and I am happy to meet a fellow photographer on HubPages:)

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               Barbara Kayposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               I use the word free for crochet hubs. They do well and are categorized differently on Google search than the ones you need to pay for. Free isn't a bad word.

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                  sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  I completely agree, I use the word to describe most of my tutorials  -  free wet felting tutorials  - which is exactly what they are.  Like your crochet hubs, they do well too.

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   paradigmsearchposted 8 years ago

   I seem to be a cult of one as to the free thing. Oh, well.

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      sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      paradigmsearch - I would not have said it like it quite like that I know that I for one am always grateful for your valued input:)

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         paradigmsearchposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks. In my case, they were low traffic hubs anyway; good of an experiment as any. And, because of this thread, I feel fine about the couple of "free"'s I didn't delete. All is well.

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            sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Good, I am glad.  I never like to offend anyone:)

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               paradigmsearchposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               I feel the same way.

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   psycheskinnerposted 8 years ago

   Free is a great keyword and one I personally use all the time when looking for, well, free things.

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   Sam Montanaposted 8 years ago

   If it is a subject or product I was interested in, I would certainly click on an article that had free in the title. Just make sure your article does deal with something that is free. Nothing worse than clicking on an article that says free only to find that it is far from free.

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      sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Definitely free, I don't have no issues with that at all. thank you.

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