I'd like feedback on my Hub: Gift Ideas For Horse Lovers

1. 71

   Elsie Hagleyposted 9 years ago

   Hi Hubbers,
   
   I'd like some help with passing the Quality Assessment Process. Will you please give feedback on my Hub Gift Ideas For Horse Lovers. What can I do to improve? Thanks!

   replyreport
   1. 0

      calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Since HP made its rules stricter, this format of hub is less likely to get featured.  Right now it's an unfocused mixture of horse facts and amazon items with horses on them -- which there's nothing wrong with since that's  what your title promises, general ideas.  And it's obviously been helpful to people judging from the number of comments.  But HP now wants products to be very tightly relevant to the content.  You will probably need to rewrite it significantly and reduce the number of items. Best of luck.

      replyreport
      1. 71

         Elsie Hagleyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for your comment.
         I guess that was what was wrong.

         replyreport
   2. 0

      Engeltaposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      I think you should remove some of the amazon links because the hub comes out as too promotional. Or at least make them smaller.
      Another thing: the callout capsule, I think it will look better if you hit the 'quote' button or the 'classic' one, not the colorbox, so the hub will not be much gray. Anyway, I like the hub it is interesting and great photos!

      replyreport
2. 55

   paradigm searchposted 9 years ago

   I liked your topic idea so much, I've written my own hub.
   
   Title: Gift Ideas For Horse Lovers
   
   Content: Buy them a horse.
   
   I've submitted it to QAP. We'll see how it goes.
   
   
   
   Seriously, yours looks like a nice hub. But alas, calculus-geometry is right. On the one hand, HP is plugging Amazon on the stats page. On the other hand, QAP pretty much flunks anything that has an Amazon capsule in it. Go figure. Personally, I gave up on Amazon years ago. However, good luck; I know that others have succeeded where I did not.

   replyreport
3. 68

   Dressage Husbandposted 9 years ago

   Elsie this looks to me like a Lens that did not transition too well the number of Amazon modules that do not appear to relate directly to the textual content is definitely the issue here. HP prefer very targeted articles with just one or two directly relevant products.
   
   You can in theory use one Amazon module for every 50 words, in practice they like no more than three for every 1200 words if you want to get a good score on the QAP.
   
   It would probably help a bit to pad the Hub with personal riding stories so you might be able to bring in items more directly related to the text. Eg. if you talk about grooming then you could have combs and dandy brushes etc as products. If it is about riding then you could bring in saddles, reins etc. The items you need to use.
   
   I have a couple of Lens/Hubs that are gift related and they do not really like them here on HP. I had to reduce the number of items to get them to fly here, and make the items more related to the text. I do not feel I have mastered this fully yet.

   replyreport
   1. 71

      Elsie Hagleyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you!
      It did very well at Squidoo, maybe the best idea is to delete it as it was gift ideas for horse lovers and that is what it delivers as a hub.
      I had a email from the hub team - It's possible that your Hub is not Featured because it contains spammy elements.
      It was featured yesterday until I updated it now it's not.

      replyreport
      1. 86

         Millionaire Tipsposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Don't delete it. I have sales hubs, and they do fine, and are not considered spammy.  Since the hub is titled Gift Ideas, it would be normal for a reader to expect gift ideas, and a convenient to acquire said gifts.  The key is to stay on topic throughout the hub, so any stories you include must be testimonials about how you used the product and why it is a good gift idea. 
         
         You have a good hub, and some great ideas, so it is just a matter of taking out the irrelevant information and beef up the content based on the focus.
         
         Here are some of my observations specifically. The second paragraph is a long run on sentence.  Please review the hub for grammar and clarity.
         
         The hub seems to lack a focus. The focus should be on gifts.  While the horse bloopers video is funny, it doesn't belong in a hub about gift ideas, unless you are selling a video that has more bloopers.
         
         The photo book seems to be just thrown in after the video, and although you do describe the book in the capsule,
         
         Then you describe a horse lover, which you really don't need to do, because the person coming to the hub is there to buy a gift for someone they have already deemed to be a horse lover.
         
         The interesting facts may be fine, but somehow make sure that is shown as extra information and try to keep the focus on helping someone out who is looking to buy gifts for a friend who is a horse lover. Chances are, they aren't necessarily a horse lover themselves and that is why they need your advice.

         replyreport
4. 49

   erorantesposted 9 years ago

   It is important to write about safety. For example, it is danger to ride with a loose seat on the horse. People need to have the correct shoes to ride the horse. And what ever, it is necessary to be safe while riding the horse. How long can you ride the horse.? I. Like your hub. Thank you for sharing.

   replyreport
   1. 68

      Dressage Husbandposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Horses do not need to be shod, in fact today there are many that think shoeing damages the feet (hoof walls) and impedes the frog and bars, which attach to the coffin bone, This system is supposed to operate in conjunction with the hoof to help pump blood back up the horses legs.
      
      Many of the leg issues in older horses are now thought to have been due to the lack of circulation in the horses legs. This point is clearly shown when horses legs are photographed using infra red. Shod horses lack blood in the lower leg whereas unshod horses show good circulation and warm blood in the whole leg. There are now many Natural hoof cutters available. They shape the foot like those of wild mustangs, and roll the edges of the hooves so that the outer wall does not crack and there will be less separation of the lamina from around the white line.
      
      If you are interested look for Natural Hoof Care and the Mustang roll in Google. We are going to be getting all of our horses done this way from now on.

      replyreport
      1. 49

         erorantesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

         Hello mister husband. I was talking about the person who rides the horses. Can you used tennis shoes to go over the horse.

         replyreport
         1. 68

            Dressage Husbandposted 9 years agoin reply to this

            No you need to have proper riding boots that allow you to feel the horses sides and also to protect your ankles in case of a fall. It is actually not as easy as you may think to balance correctly on a horse.
            The saddle is not designed for you to just sit in you have to rise and lower yourself in rhythm with the horses rhythm as it moves in order to not impede its natural movements. Riders have to be fit to ride in a balanced and light way. The height of a horse means that any movements by the rider that are not balanced put enormous stresses on the horses legs so using the right equipment and getting taught correctly are very important.
            
            Unfortunately not all riding centers teach a proper balanced approach to riding.

            replyreport
            1. 49

               erorantesposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               Thank you for taking the time to explained the safety rules on how to ride the horses. You are wonderful mister husband.

               replyreport
5. 83

   Solarasposted 9 years ago

   You're cramming the "horse lover" phrase too much; Google is likely to punish it for that. Use some alternative words like pony, filly, colt, foal, equine, admirer, fanatic, aficionado etc...
   
   I'd remove some of the horse facts unless they lead in directly to why a horse lover would want a particular present. BTW when I was a child with a serious horse deficit, I loved to collect model horses and do paint by numbers of them.

   replyreport
6. 68

   Dressage Husbandposted 9 years ago

   I would not delete the hub, but would use the tips from Millionaire Tips first, and see if you can get it to rank again, it is an evergreen topic and there are definitely a lot of good ideas in there.

   replyreport
   1. 71

      Elsie Hagleyposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for all the great ideas to deal with this hub.
      As I'm still dealing with cancer ACC on my top lip, with many stitches, not able to wear glasses, I think it will be a while before I look at all my unfeature hubs, just very disappointed that this hub is unfeatured.

      replyreport
7. 40

   epraneeth77posted 9 years ago

   I am a newbie at hubpages and after going through the hub i felt that it was a bit more of pictures and the Article content does not look highlighted from my perspective, may be the HP format itself is like that and i have to get accustomed to the format and the reading type.

   replyreport