The real truth behind Hub Scores!

1. 82

   sallybeaposted 8 years ago

   When I published a hub a couple of weeks ago it reached a score of 96.  Wow! I almost convinced myself that I had finally got it right!
   Wrong!  Two weeks later the hub now has a score of 88!   What should I read into that?  Most people say that one should not concern oneself with hub score but it does seem to me that hub score is much more a measure of how much regular traffic a hub gets rather than writing ability.
   My conclusion, if you want to see if you can improve your hub score you could try an experiment! Start sharing your highest scoring hub on Pinterest, Facebook, Twitter and Flipboard if you don't already do so and see how long it takes before you notice an improvement in score.
   Don't share a hub on Flipboard which has not yet been moved to a Niche Site.  It won't be indexed until it has been.  In my case, the hub was not moved for 12 days after it was published so it lost all the additional impetus that it might have gained by being added to Flipboard right after it was published.
   Have fun.

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   1. 75

      kenneth averyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      "Happy Thanksgiving, sallybea."

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      1. 82

         sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, Kenneth, we don't celebrate it much over the pond but I will save those wishes for Christmas day:)

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         1. 75

            kenneth averyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            @sallybea, "Deal. And if life should end for me before Christmas of 2016, I wish you and yours a Very Joyous and Merry Christmas right here. Right now." 

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   2. 90

      Genna Eastposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Sally.  Hub and Hubber scores have always been a source of, "What the -- huh?"  for me.  The keepers of this Holy Grail  at HP will not disclose how scores are achieved, which adds to the mystique.  I noticed that once HP moved one of my more popular hubs to one of their niche sites, the hits dropped dramatically.  I'm only guessing, but I think this has something to do with the links that readers had established on the Internet recommending the hub.  Could they have been broken once the URL was changed by HP?  Thank you for this very helpful info! Happy Thanksgiving.

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      1. 82

         sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Genna,
         The hub continues to receive traffic and has a score of 89 today.  I still think that score is related to traffic but I doubt we will ever learn the real truth and my hubs on the niche sites continue to do well also.

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2. 93

   EricDockettposted 8 years ago

   I'll be interested to hear about the results of your experiment. In my experience, scores drop following a burst of social media traffic. I reason this is because Hub score factors in things like time on page, which is likely to nosedive when many people are coming in from a social media link.
   
   Of course I'm just guessing like everyone else. I think I'll have better luck figuring out what's in those secret hangars at Area 51 before I figure out Hub score.

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   1. 82

      sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I think you could be right, hanger 18 in Area 51!   There is an interesting question, maybe much more interesting than hub score:)

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      1. 91

         DzyMsLizzyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Hahaha...agreed!

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3. 91

   DzyMsLizzyposted 8 years ago

   My opinion/take on the matter is, if we are "not to worry about" Hub scores, and are told that "they don't mean that much,"  that begs the question, "Then why are they even there?!"
   
   They must exist for some reason, but if we are not going to be told, then it is obviously some behind-the-scenes rating mechanism, and perhaps should not even be shown on our page. 
   Ergo, if you're not going to tell us the significance, insisting it has none, then remove them!
   
   It is just as mysterious as Area 51--that was a good one, sallybea! 

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   1. 85

      WryLiltposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      It's there primarily to stop spammers from getting dofollow backlinks.

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      1. 91

         DzyMsLizzyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I don't understand how that can work....

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         1. 85

            Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Spammers write Hubs to promote their own websites or blogs.  They want to put links in Hubs that Google will see and count towards their site's reputation.  If your score drops too low, the links on your Hubs are hidden from Google. 
            
            So that's a deterrent for spammers - to keep your score up, you need to be active in the community or writing Hubs, and it's not worth their while to do that.

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            1. 91

               DzyMsLizzyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Oh, okay, now I get it...I  wasn't quite making the connection of which way around it worked... DUH...been having a lot of 'senior moments' lately...

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      2. 60

         pumpkincat210posted 8 years agoin reply to this

         When I look at Google analytics there is almost always the city of Samara in Russia on my hub, I guess this coincides with my hubscore drop.  This is frustrating, I know they are up to something but idk what..anyone else see that city parked on their google analytics?

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         1. 85

            WryLiltposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            It's likely spam referrals - they not actually real visits, they just ping the Hubpages server to convince them they are. Most sites get lots of spam referrals.

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   2. 74

      Shyron E Shenkoposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hubber scores are discouraging, especially when you know you have published a good hub and you score drops. 
      I am really discouraged, especially because I convinced two people to join day before yesterday and now I have to call them and discuss my frustration about the hubber score.  Sad: d;-[

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      1. 85

         Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I don't see why?   You can call them and discuss how HubScores are nothing to worry about, they are no reflection on the quality of your writing, they're just there to protect us against spammers. 

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      2. 85

         WryLiltposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Hubscores don't influence traffic or earnings. Google can't see scores. I've earned $Thousands from 'low score' hubs and earned peanuts from high score ones.
         
         Other than traffic and money, what else would I care about?

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         1. 85

            Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            This.

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            sallybeaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Well said Wrylilt

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      3. 87

         Sherry Hewinsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I totally agree with Marisa and WryLilt, but I do understand how you feel. When we humans are ranked by a number, we feel a need to improve it. I too used to be emotionally vested in the ups and downs of my score.
         
         Traffic and money are numbers too, and they do mean something. Those are the numbers to pay attention to. I can't say that's never disheartening. When my traffic takes a nosedive, it's disturbing, but at least I'm stressing about something that's real.

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4. 74

   Shyron E Shenkoposted 8 years ago

   I think it has a to do with publishing also if you publish a hub right now your Hubber score will drop by at least two points. 
   When people say it has no meaning, they are wrong, it absolutely does something to one, self esteem.

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   1. 91

      DzyMsLizzyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      See, that's what I cannot understand; why should a score DROP because of the publishing of a new hub?????
      
      It has not even been given a chance, and the assumption is that it will be poor quality???  WTH?!  Something is very wrong with that picture!!

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      1. 85

         Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Because traffic and comments form part of HubScore, so how can it have a high score until it's received some traffic?
         
         If you're referring to HubberScore, part of THAT is an average of all your Hubscores - and when you publish a new Hub, which generally has a low score, that's going to drag the average down.

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         1. 91

            DzyMsLizzyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Indeed--how can it have ANY score at all?  And so why should it drag down the Hubber Score?  I just published a new Hub this evening, and there is not a zero or low score on my stats page; it simply shows a question mark.  That is not a score, so nothing should be counted for or against, it would seem to me.

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            1. 85

               Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               That's odd.   Hubs usually get a score as soon as they've got through QAP.

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               1. 91

                  DzyMsLizzyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  The arrow was still circling as a "pending" hub...

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                  1. 85

                     Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     OK, well obviously a pending Hub doesn't count.  When I said, "new Hub", I meant one that was newly visible, i.e. has already passed QAP.  They count.

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                     1. 91

                        DzyMsLizzyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                        Hmm.  okay...which then brings up a new question.  As soon as I published it, I sent a link out on FaceBook, and the article was already visible to my husband from his computer, even though it was still 'pending.'  I dunno...I give up... LOL

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                        1. 85

                           Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                           If you sent out a direct link to the Hub, then I wouldn't be surprised.   People wouldn't be able to find it without the link, though.  Nor would search engines.

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                           1. 91

                              DzyMsLizzyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                              Okay--I guess I'm a slow learner about all that kind of stuff.    After 7 years here, I should have gotten it all by now, but nope... 

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5. 74

   Shyron E Shenkoposted 8 years ago

   Even though we know our hub is quality.

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