little traffic from Google

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   letstalkabouteducposted 8 years ago

   I've now written 52 Hubs but have less than 300 views from Google. I've read and taken the advice about titles, key words, niches, and high interest topics but am going nowhere fast. Is this the way it is or am I doing something horribly wrong? It seems like I'm missing a huge piece of the puzzle here. Any suggestions?

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      NateB11posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      It is hard to tell if and when traffic will start coming from Google. Using the right keywords in titles gives you a better chance, though sometimes you can accidentally use the right titles/keywords. I've had Hubs that got lots of traffic within a few months, others get traffic after a couple years.

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         letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks. Titles seem so important and I've tried catchy ones and generic key word ones. I haven't found success with either.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I checked your profile briefly and noticed that your titles are way too general.  For example, you cannot cover the topic of parenting in one hub.  You need to be more specific so that people can see what you are writing about and decide whether this i what they are searching for.
      
      I am seeing this problem throughout your titles, so you may want to do some tweaking.
      
      I have had that same problem myself and have found that making a small readjustment to the title can really up the readership on a hub.
      
      For example, instead of making a general statement about sending your child to preschool i, you should say something like "10 Reasons Why Preschool May not Be the Best Choice" or "Can Sending Your Child to Preschool Be Harmful?"

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         letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks! I started with more specific, catchy titles and recently switched them to things that people would type into Google. I haven't had success either way. It looks like I'll be changing them yet again!

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            Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            You're right to steer clear of catchy titles, and you are right to use titles that reflect what people might type into Google - BUT you are not thinking hard enough about that. What SPECIFICALLY would people be looking for?  Vague, general titles are not enough.

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      letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      All the titles changed. Check! Now what?

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      lawrence01posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I've noticed with the hub that I've written that about 75% of my traffic comes from other hubbers. Of the remaining about all except for around 2% comes from other forms of social media (Facebook, Google+, Pinterest and Empire Kred are mine) with very little coming from Google
      For me this is okay as I'm seeing HP as a learning curve and building good friendships with other writers. I'd agree with the one who said Google doesn't give a stuff about what we write, they're the biggest kid on the block and can be that way!
      For me the big thing is write what you love! If folks can see you love what you're writing about they'll come back for more, not only that but they'll bring a friend along and then Google will take note!
      One of the first hub I read here talked about writing only what you're passionate about, and it really works! OK we probably aren't going to get a million dollar paycheck but people will see the passion and respond.
      A friend in sales once told me that if people get good service they'll come back and bring a friend, that's what we want, for folks to bring friends to our hubs!
      My thoughts anyway
      Lawrence

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         letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks Lawrence. Going with passion seems like a good plan.

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            lawrence01posted 8 years agoin reply to this

            I've just looked at my stats and of 7k visits in a year and a half 100 were Google but there's quite a few other places like mturk and Bing they've come from!

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         lawrence01posted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Recently read that HP is actively trying to break from the 'content mill' mold Google has. It might mean we need to learn different ways to write our hubs to make them more appealing, meanwhile keep writing and building profile!

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            letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, I just read about the changes at HP. Hope it helps.

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      brainprotipsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      You're sort of asking: how can I increase my search visibility and garner more traffic from Google?
      
      All the same factors that would affect your ranking in the search engine results pages (SERPS) for any other website will also generally apply for your hubpages.
      
      Your ranking in Google's search results will depend on hundreds of factors. Some of these factors include:
      
      Backlinks - how many internal and external links are pointing to your hubpages? If you don't have any links, you might consider trying to build links from other websites.
      
      User engagement - are users spending a lot of time on your page, sharing your content and commenting on it? Google collects this data because many people are using Google chrome, and so Google can "see" how users are behaving on your page. If content quality is low, Google can sense this via high bounce rates, etc.
      
      Relevancy - does your content match user intent? If you're writing about depression - as in the mental health condition - but Google users are searching for information about the great depression - Google won't send traffic to you because it doesn't match user intent.
      
      There are hundreds of other factors, but these are just a few.

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         letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for the information!

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   Chriswillman90posted 8 years ago

   A good approach is to think about what you, as a reader, would click on. I'm in that same boat too though and need to change a ton of titles so don't worry. It's trial and error and eventually you'll see Google traffic go up. I've only seen mine go up a few months ago and I've already been writing here a year.
   
   Others are more successful because they know SEO and which articles/titles work and don't work.

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      letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks. The titles are driving me insane because I keep reading conflicting advice. Some say use a title that someone would type into Google. Others say use something that will catch someone's attention. I'll hang in there and keep tickering with the titles. Thanks for the encouragement!

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         Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Hi letstalkabouteduc,
         
         As a general rule, Hubs are either optimized for search engines (like Google) or optimized to be shared on social media. If you're writing informative articles that solve problems, you want to optimize for Google, which means a detailed and informative title rather than a catchy one. Most people type in specific questions when they search like "How do I cure yellow spots on my houseplant's leaves?" or "How can I fix soup that's too salty?" Reflect those queries in your titles. If you choose a title like "Salty Soup" readers won't know if it's a recipe for a type of salty soup, a poem about salty soup, an article on the health benefits or dangers of salty soup or what. But if your title says "How to Fix Soup That Is Too Salty," your reader knows immediately that they have found exactly what they are looking for and are more likely to click.

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            makingamarkposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Put simply - use a title that accurately describes your content
            
            The other thing that brings you traffic is when Google notices that your site provides a good response to queries and people linger long i.e. the bounce rate is low. So the more accurately you describe your content - and make sure that it is good - the more likely people are to VISIT AND STAY!

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               Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Exactly so.

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               letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks for all the valuable input, Hubbers!

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            letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks! That helps.

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         aesta1posted 8 years agoin reply to this

         My experience about changing titles after Google has indexed my article is that when people click the indexed post, they can't find the article. Maybe, a site has already linked to it and you lose that, too. You can create a redirect, of course. But it is better to really think out the title well before publishing it.

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            letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Good to know.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Your title is for Google.   Your summary and first sentence are to catch people's attention.

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            Chriswillman90posted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Initially when I changed a title I had that problem but it was fine a couple days later and the new title became indexed by Google.

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   calculus-geometryposted 8 years ago

   Titles are often a matter of trial and error, and sometimes the what-would-a-person-type-into-google approach works and sometimes the eye-catcher works.
   
   I think what your hubs do really well is demonstrate your expertise, which is something that a lot of wannabe writers struggle with, often because they are generalists who unfortunately aren't really an expert in anything.  Your education hubs are well-written and thought-out; I would continue with them and maybe leave aside the other things like recipes and such. Anyone can write about them, and everyone does, so it's much much harder to get traffic to those topics.

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      letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks so much for the advice and encouragement. I agree with you that I should skip the recipe Hubs. I'm not a professional baker/chef so I don't have the authority with those. I wish I could get more readers to my education Hubs, but I'll keep trying with that topic. I appreciate your input!

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         calculus-geometryposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I don't think you're doing anything wrong, you are a much better writer than most who come to the forums to ask for advice and like Nate says, it's often unpredictable.  Hubpages as a site does not have such a great reputation with google and that's also part of it.  A lot of people move hubs to their own sites and get better traffic, so it's something to keep in mind if it's not working out for you.

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            letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Why does hubpages have a poor reputation with google? Are they taking steps to improve it?

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               Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               I don't believe Google has anything against HubPages in particular - BUT back in 2011, Google announced it was "declaring war" on "content farms" (sites full of low-quality articles on a variety of subjects by unqualified authors).   At that time, most people wouldn't have considered revenue-sharing sites like HubPages or Squidoo to be content farms - but Google made it clear that they did.  Our readership was cut by more than half overnight - and ever since then, Google's search engine has been designed to disadvantage generalist sites. 
               
               That's why nearly all of HubPages' competitors have closed down since 2011!  Helium, Squidoo, Yahoo! Voices and many more - all went bust because they could no longer attract enough traffic from Google.  Ever since 2011, HubPages has been continually making changes and improvements to try to recover its traffic, with only partial success.

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                  letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks for the explanation, Marisa. Thanks, too, for the input on my titles. It's back to the drawing board for those (again)!

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   Millionaire Tipsposted 8 years ago

   My personal preference is the title is something that will help Google find my hub. Because if Google can't find it, then it is dead in the water.  Then it has to be informative and interesting enough for the reader to click on when they see it on their Google listing. Since these are mostly people searching for the content, it is just a  matter of making sure the reader knows that the contents of the hub will help them.
   
   I like to make a pinnable image with a catchy title so that social media traffic can also come to the hub. Since this comes from people browsing, the title here doesn't have to be content specific but of course it shouldn't be misleading.

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      letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the helpful advice. I think I'm starting to get it!

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   Miking 009posted 8 years ago

   I'm new I wish I could help you..

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      letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Welcome to HubPages, Miking. I suggest you save yourself a lot of time and heartache by reading the wonderful advice I'm getting from everyone about titles. Good titles are crucial.

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   Rochelle Frankposted 8 years ago

   I  have articles on a variety of subjects, and I find that my education articles don't get much traffic. My theory is that teachers just do not have a lot of TIME to read.  
   A quick glance at your titles makes me think you have a lot of good stuff, and perhaps it will just take more time. I wouldn't delete your recipes-- they look good, too.

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      letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, Rochelle. As a former teacher, I know you're right -- teachers don't have time to read! I'll continue to be patient and see what happens.

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   FatFreddysCatposted 8 years ago

   Over the past couple of years I've had to accept the fact that aside from a few random pieces, Google flat-out doesn't give a crap about the things I write about. So I keep pluggin' away on Facebook and other avenues. Sometimes I get lucky and the Google God shines its light on me for a week or two, then it banishes back into my cave to wait for the next time...

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      Chriswillman90posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Maybe it's time to start praying to Google so they can go easy on us. They own the world already.

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      letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      That's discouraging but rings true.

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   Asher143posted 8 years ago

   Sometime, it's the topic of article matters a lot either you are going to get traffic or not. I've my own experience: I'd written a very simple blog with a little information in comparison to a  blog where I spent my mid night oil to make that quality content and I ended up with a few people visiting the later one in comparison to former one.

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      letstalkabouteducposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I think it's safe to say I haven't found the topics that interest people! But I keep trying!

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