How many links to your own articles are permitted within a hub?

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   TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years ago

   Someone recently stated that there are limits to how much you can link to your own hubs.  Does anybody know the limitations?

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      wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Unlimited, presuming you refer to HP hubs, not articles on a different domain.  The links must, of course, be pertinent to the hub they are on.

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         TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I think somebody got confused.  There's a couple of Hubbers currently on the forums who are regularly handing out half-baked advice. 
      
      Recently I've seen someone saying you can have only two Amazon links (an obvious confusion with the two links to the same domain rule), somebody else saying you can't link to your own blog under any circumstances, etc.
      
      As Wilderness says, there's no limit provided they're relevant.

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      peachpurpleposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I usually add three of my hub links, when i add in five, they will send messages that i am promoting my hubs

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         colorfuloneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Really, that is interesting!  I have seen many hubs with more than 3 links to other hubs (not even tightly related). I wonder if that is something the new filters are catching early on newly published hubs. (?)

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         rebekahELLEposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Maybe the difference is in adding additional links in a separate capsule rather than using relevant textual links that flow with the hub content. I've never seen a limit policy.

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            colorfuloneposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Come to think of it, that is how those hubs are written. I tend to think this is right on, "using relevant textual links that flow with the hub content".

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            Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I suspect that's exactly the problem.   A list of links with little or no accompanying text would be bound to trip some kind of filter.

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   4. 73

      Uzochukwu Mikeposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You can link unlimited to your hubs. But do not link repeatedly to the same hub. One link to a hub in a hub topic is encouraged.
      
      Also link appropriately because inappropriate linking will result to your hubs being monitored.

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      relacheposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      If the other Hubs are not tightly, topically-related to the first, the answer is none.

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2. 89

   Rafiq23posted 10 years ago

   When I link to more than 5 of my hubs, I see a message that it is overly promotional. So, you can only link to your 5 hubs only. If you exceed, you will see the message that it is overly promotional and your hub can get unfeatured. This is my experience.

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   1. 79

      CuAllaidhposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I have hubs with links to WAY more than five of my other hubs. The reason you are getting the overly promotional is not just because of the number of links but due to the other content. You cannot create a hub that is just a bunch of links to your other hubs, but you can create a hub with other info that also contains a lot of links to your other related hubs.

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3. 72

   LeanManposted 10 years ago

   Many of my hubs have several links to other hubs within the text, upwards of a dozen or more in some cases as I have many related hubs.. I have never seen a single warning as some are claiming.

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4. 94

   jansharesposted 10 years ago

   I think this forum which re-introduced rules and new rules about links (ads and others) created confusion about what to do. I ended up deleting all types of links (even relevant ones) after this blog post and thread just to be safe and hopefully increase the quality of my hubs. I think somehow it was interpreted that too many were spammy.
   http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/127831

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   1. 78

      Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for finding that forum post, Jan - I have started deleting links due to a concern I might inadvertently be linking in a circle.  Also - the information in this thread is a bit different from something I remember a few years ago - we were told (might have been through the AP program) to be careful linking even within HP.

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      1. 85

         Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         We've always been told to be careful, i.e. to ensure that if we're linking to other Hubs or other sites, we do it for a good reason - not just because we can.  Links must be relevant and helpful to the reader.  There is absolutely no need to go deleting links which meet those criteria.
         
         The worst that can happen, if you get a "spammy links" warning on a Hub, is that it will be unpublished.   If that happens you fix it, it gets republished - so why the anxiety?  By being over-cautious through unnecessary fear, you may be depriving yourself of views and sales unnecessarily.

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5. 80

   tillsontitanposted 10 years ago

   Obviously the answer to this question can go either way.  I have read hubs with many links and yet have been warned that I was overly promotional with way less.
   I don't know if there is a real criteria but relevancy should certainly be it.

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   1. 77

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      A big thank you to all of you.  I have never had a problem with this, but I recently read that there is a limitation and wondered whether something had changed.  Got it now...and it is no different than what I always thought it to be.

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         Barbara Kayposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I'm happy you asked, because I saw that same statement and it made me wonder.

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      2. 89

         wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         There is another potential problem, beyond HP here, as well.
         
         I have two hubs, A and B, with two links in A going to hub B.  A builds on what B has to offer, giving more information in a slightly different matter, and I included those links for people that didn't already understand what hub B explained.
         
         Hub A peaked at around 1500 views per month some time ago but has now fallen to around 300 - a loss of 80% of it's readership.  Looking over it today, it seemed to me that the wording (and double links) might have told Google that it was a gateway hub with no more purpose than driving readers to hub B. 
         
         I've rewritten most of it, extending it from 850 words to over 2,000 and taken out one link while re-wording the remaining textual link.  Hopefully I'll see some return of traffic, but if that doesn't help I'll remove the remaining link and reference the "group" link HP puts at the bottom for readers needing more help.  HP adds another to B, in the "other by same author" spot, but I can neither depend on that or get rid of it.

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         1. 77

            TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Why not combine the best of both articles and eliminate the links altogether.  I have done this on occasion, and it seems to work out well.  Makes a better, more informative article and keeps G off of my back!

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               wildernessposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               They are actually two different topics - "how to's", with A being a different subject that required knowledge presented in B.  As hub B was already well over 3,000 words I didn't really want to combine them, and it would have been really difficult to get the keywords where they needed to be anyway.

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               1. 77

                  TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  That being the case, I think Marisa is correct.  Unfortunately, the internet is always changing, and what was good one day, isn't so good the next.  I should know...I got hammered last summer!!

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            Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I think that's highly unlikely if there was solid information in Hub A.   Have you taken another approach, and looked at how your competition has changed, both within HubPages and in the search results?  It may just be that you've been knocked out of top spot by someone else.

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6. 61

   Gek Akaposted 10 years ago

   This is interesting topic as to how many links are allowed by Hubpages.. I personally do not think its unlimited as the hubpages system flags it out there are too many links on the hub unless it has changed..

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      Gek Akaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I am really expecting Hubpages officials or moderators to come confidently and highlight on many links a hub needs to have so that all these speculations will be sorted once and for all..

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7. 0

   abrodechposted 10 years ago

   I put links to all of my own articles at the bottom of each hub because all of them are related to the same topic of dancing

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8. 64

   tlcsposted 10 years ago

   Hi timetraveller, take a look at my index for tlcs hubpages hub, it lists all of my hubs by way of links, and I update it every time I write a new hub to make it easier for my readers to find what they want to read about. I haven't had any problems with the hub so far so, that said, I don't think there is a limit.

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   1. 77

      TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      tics:  I used to do something similar, but on the hubs themselves and only for those directly related to the specific area a particular hub covered.  I never had a problem, but I removed them when HP indicated this was unacceptable.  The truth is that directing readers to your profile page will do the same job and save you a lot of work, too.

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         CuAllaidhposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I still do this for my medieval games hubs, but primarily because I run a group and post the articles to the group once a week, if anyone in the group misses a week they can go to my index page and find any article from any week they missed. It works well, the hub is mainly links but still contains other info so seems to be avoiding the overly promotional tag for now.

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      2. 85

         Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         It's illegal to put a link to your profile in a Hub, because it counts as an "unrelated link".
         
         I've never seen HubPages say that linking to your other Hubs on the same subject was unacceptable, that's a misinterpretation of the rule.  There is an automated filter that will pop up if you try to list several links together with no text between them.   Split up the links or add description for each one and you won't have a problem.

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         1. 78

            Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Marisa - I am glad you're clarifying things - here's a question (related to the misinformation I appear to have gotten) - it's my understanding that creating a 'circle' (or a roundabout way of being reciprocal) in your links is lethal to a site, and I was also told it can be a big problem within one subdomain.  Similarly, I was told 'reciprocal' links between two subdomains are a no-no.
            
            So, if a subdomain has, say, three hubs on related topics, can all three be linked back & forth to each other?  Does Google see this as a problem? 
            
            Since links within HP are permitted, what happens if two Hubbers unknowingly link to each other? 
            
            I appreciate your information (and I certainly have never intended to share misinformation).  I recall clearly being told sometime early on that the linking I mentioned above is not permitted. I know we can have up to two links to the same site, but the subdomain thing seems to have had varying answers over the past few years. 
            
            Thanks!!!
            
            Marcy

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               Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               I find this advice strange.  Take a look at the "Related Hubs" on any of your Hubs.  Then click on one of those and take a look a the "Related Hubs" on it.  Chances are you'll see a link back to the Hub you first looked at!  So HubPages is absolutely chock-full of circular and reciprocal links created by HubPages itself. 
               
               "Link wheels" were a SEO strategy which Google now frowns on, but that refers to writing one article on Site A, one on Site B, and one on Site C etc. - different sites, not several articles on one site.   And as the name suggests, the idea is that the links should go full circle - I doubt a semi-circle would trigger any of Google's filters.
               
               Reciprocal links are NOT frowned on by Google, but they do cancel each other out - but again, that's between two sites, not within a site. 
               
               I know we have sub-domains and those are, in a sense, separate websites - but since the last update, Google seems to be regarding HubPages as one big site again, and our sub-domains aren't quite as separate as they used to be.

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                  Marcy Goodfleischposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                  Marisa - this is hugely (HUGELY) helpful.  Yes, I was given some confusing and contradictory information.  It was given on the site, but I cannot recall from whom - it's been a while.
                  
                  Another question (related) - I asked sometime ago and never got an answer on this, but never got an answer:  In the past, I've linked some hubs related to academic work (writing term papers, etc.) from my online syllabi at the university where I teach. Over a period of several terms, this would amount to multiple links to the same hubs from the one website (the university's) but no more than one link from any given page on which a syllabus is published. The syllabi are published on pages anyone can see (and Google could, I assume, find in a search).
                  
                  After getting the information (or misinformation) on how links are viewed by Google, I stopped including my hub links in the syllabi. I also asked here on HP if having multiple links one site was a problem - never got an answer.  Any idea if that's a problem?  Since that time, which is a few years ago, I have only linked within secure course websites, which Google would not see - but again, only one link on the whole course site. 
                  
                  Somebody needs to print a simple guidebook for those of us who don't haunt the SEO blogs and news stories.  I guess it would have to be updated constantly, though, because then it wouldn't be Google's Secret Sauce.
                  
                  Thanks, again, for your help and your patience -
                  
                  Marcy

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                     Gek Akaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     I share your frustrations for all these years not finding an answer to a simple question, however, we hope some miracles will happen one day to know nothing but the true..

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                     Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

                     My understanding is that multiple links are not a problem, but for the purposes of counting backlinks, Google counts only one or two links from one domain to another.

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         2. 77

            TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Marisa:  Really?  I was unaware of that, unfortunately.  I just spent the entire day and part of yesterday setting up a text box in numerous articles that has a link to my profile page.  Thought it would be a great idea, but obviously not.  Glad you mentioned this!

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