So Confused

1. 77

   essensuposted 19 months 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 but keep getting unpublished with the non-specific, "your hub needs improvement."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

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   1. 0

      calculus-geometryposted 19 months ago in 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.

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   2. 95

      Marisa Wrightposted 19 months ago in 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).

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2. 77

   essensuposted 19 months 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.

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3. 66

   ILoveLegosTooposted 19 months 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.

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4. 87

   Jodahposted 19 months ago

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

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5. 77

   essensuposted 19 months 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.

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6. 77

   essensuposted 19 months 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

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   1. 95

      Marisa Wrightposted 19 months ago in 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.

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