So Confused

Jump to Last Post 1-6 of 6 discussions (9 posts)
  1. essensu profile image60
    essensuposted 9 years ago

    Hi,

    My hubs are transfers from when HP integrated Squidoo pages. I feel my hubs are well writen, etc. but keep getting unpublished with the non-specific, "your hub needs improvement."

    I'm now wondering if my link list is the problem. Are we limited to how many links we can include in the link list capsule? On Squidoo we could have as many as we liked.

    Otherwise, I have no idea why they keep unpublishing my hubs, and I'm just going to move them to my own blogs, because I don't have the time to try and keep guessing what the heck the problem is.

    These hubs used to be featured hubs when I first transferred over, so I'm very confused as to what is going on now.

    Thanks so much for any assistance on this,
    Tami

    1. profile image0
      calculus-geometryposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, the number of links to other sites is a problem if you have too many.  For any one domain you link to in a hub, you can only have two links to it. That means you could have two links to Site A, two to Site B, two to Site C, etc.  But HP seems to consider most sites spam, so even if you follow the rules you might still have a problem.

      It's best to publish the hub with no links at all, then add them back in slowly  til you discover what the limit is.

      edit: also if you are linking to your skincare site, you'll have trouble because HP considers it promotional activity.

    2. Marisa Wright profile image86
      Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Tami, I wrote a Hub for ex-Squids. It's called "The Basic HubPages Rules - things you really need to know" and you'll find it in the slider on my profile. 

      HubPages' rules can be confusing, especially if you try to understand them by reading the forums (where people often distort or exaggerate what the rules really are).  The rules aren't as confusing as they sound and hopefully that article will help clarify what they are.

      Having said that - looking at your Hubs, I'd say you have two problems. One is links and the other is Amazon. 

      Amazon rules are very, very strict.  One capsule per 300 words, and they must be COMPLETELY relevant to the main topic of your Hub.  For instance, you have a Hub about a pumpkin honey face mask:  the Amazon ad for books about the life of bees and about pumpkin
      as a food
      have nothing to do with face masks or beauty and are therefore "illegal". If a moderator notices it, it will be unpublished. On that Hub, you could have an Amazon ad for a pumpkin or honey face mask, or for other face masks made of food products (but you'd have to mention the alternatives in your text to make those allowable). 

      Your links must also be relevant.  In the case of the Pumpkin Hub, you link to the front page of a Beauty magazine - yes, it's related to beauty but it's too general.  If you'd linked to the page where they actually provide more DIY recipes, it would be fine - but as it is, it's risky.

      Finally, your links to your own website - by sticking them out on their own in a "Links List", it makes it blatantly obvious that they're self-promotional and that's not allowed.    There are ways you can include it without any problems:  in your Mineral Spa Hub, for instance, all you need to do is remove the "Links List" and instead, turn "European Mediterranean Sea Salts" in the previous paragraph into a hyperlink to THAT PRODUCT on your website (i.e. never link just to the front page).

  2. essensu profile image60
    essensuposted 9 years ago

    Thank you for your advice. I removed all the links except for two. Still getting unpublished. I have now gone down to one. If I still get unpublished, when they used to be published and featured hubs, and received great scores, then this isn't the place for me then.

    I understand they don't want spammy posts, and mine are not. However, I'm also not going to take the time and energy to write a great hub and not be able to put my shop link or my blog link in the link capsule.

    They shouldn't even have a link capsule if they are going to ding you for using it. Seems dumb to me.

    Anyway, thank you for taking the time to offer your assistance.

  3. ILoveLegosToo profile image64
    ILoveLegosTooposted 9 years ago

    I am a transfer in as well. The link list isn't the problem as long as the links haven't been flagged and there aren't multiple links to the same site as a previous poster indicated.  My hub with the most traffic has a link list with 53 links. 

    Typically I've found that the number of Amazon modules has caused many to be unfeatured due to quality.  Otherwise, if they are just unfeatured due to traffic, and you publish an update, they will stay published for a while and then go unfeatured again, unfortunately, that's just the way HP works.  The URL will still work, they just won't be seen by the search engines via HP.

    The other perplexing thing is that a hub could be in featured status now and not meet quality standards so when you make an update you have to bring it all the way up to HP standards otherwise it gets unfeatured.

  4. Jodah profile image84
    Jodahposted 9 years ago

    Just make sure you have at least 300 words per Amazon advertisement.

  5. essensu profile image60
    essensuposted 9 years ago

    Thank you Marisa, very helpful and informative. It has been confusing as an ex-Squid. I'v taken your advice, and made those changes. Hopefully, that is what I needed to do.

    Thank you all for your help! Much appreciated.

  6. essensu profile image60
    essensuposted 9 years ago

    I made the suggested changes and still all three of my previously published hubs keep getting unpublished. I don't understand the reasoning behind writing interesting and informative articles just for the heck of it. I included only one relevant link and they still were shot down.

    What is the purpose of writing here anyway, verses posting on my own blog, where I can include backlinks to my shop or a product? I see absolutely no advantage to posting on HubPages. The rules here are beyond stifling, and the canned warning in red saying a hub needs improvement is no help.

    I'm venting a bit, I apologize. I'm a carry over from Squidoo, and did not start here, so I guess I don't get the appeal here. I gave it a shot. Who has time to keep making changes and trying to guess if it will finally be the right one? I don't.

    I do however, appreciate the assistance offered to me while I was here.

    Thanks again,
    Tami

    1. Marisa Wright profile image86
      Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this

      Your Pumpkin Hub still has a "link list" - that's a problem.  You're making your self-promotional link far too obvious.   You previously referred to that product within a sentence - put it back in the sentence and just create a hyperlink with the name of the product.

      Your Amazon product is better, but you also need to put something in the description explaining why you're recommending that product to the reader.

      The attraction of HubPages for most people is because they can earn directly from their Hubs. If that isn't your goal then yes, I think you do need to rethink your strategy.

      Ask yourself, what (before the unpublishing!) was getting most traffic - your blog or your Hubs?  Write on the one that gets most traffic, as that's the one which will drive most business to your shop. 

      If you are writing to "get backlinks" then forget it, because Google counts only one or two backlinks from each website anyway - so there's no benefit to having more than one or two Hubs here.  To get backlinks, you'd be much better off writing one or two articles on as many different sites as possible, not lots of articles on one site.  Participate in forums where you can post your signature, network with other beauty writers and ask if you can provide a guest post on their blogs, etc.

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)