What is wrong with this hub or maybe its title???

1. 92

   DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years ago

   I just finished a massive edit of this hub:
   
   http://hubpages.com/sports/Camping-For- … -and-Enjoy
   
   which was originally published in April of 2011.
   
   It has among the lowest traffic of any of my hubs, and shows up (first on the page), but nevertheless, way out on page 18 in a Google search for the title.  I realize full well that precious few people are going to search that far out; lucky if they look at 3 pages of a search engine!
   
   Is the problem that there is too much competition for this topic? 
   Is the article too broad?  Too much information?
   Title need to be changed?  ... etc...
   
   Even though I just spent nearly an entire day "fixing" this article yesterday (1-26-17), I welcome any suggestions to improve it for better search ranking.  I just don't seem to "get" the SEO thing, no matter how much I read about it...
   
   Thank you in advance.

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   1. 95

      melbelposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Would you be willing to be my hub editing buddy? I've been thinking about a concept like this for a while where I buddy up with one other person and we go through each other's hubs and help each other, help motivate each other, come up with hub ideas, and just stay in touch. I've seen you on HubPages for quite a while and have just popped over to your hub and looked at your other hubs and you seem like the kind of person I would like to buddy up with.
      
      I hope this isn't weird or anything. I don't need a coach, per se, but I could really use something to bounce ideas off of and I feel like I could offer that to another person. Let me know. I'm @MelanieShebel on Twitter if you want to get in contact with me.

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2. 89

   Blond Logicposted 7 years ago

   Hi Liz,
   I've just had a look at your hub, it is very informative.
   
   Here are a few things to consider.  The first picture of the road into the campground, in my opinion, should be changed. You have a nice bright image of a tent, perhaps that would be a better image to use for the first picture. I know they are ones your father took and they add a personal touch but the first image has got to grab your reader's attention.
   
   Also, I think your capsule titles could be improved. Although they are a good indication of what you are explaining in that capsule, they aren't phrases which may be searched for.
   
   For example, instead of "it's not a fashion show" this could be "shoes for camping" or "camping footwear".
   "Suitable Beginner locations" could be campsites for beginners.
   
   The photo of the ant hill is blurry, have you looked on Pixabay? They have creative common images there.
   
   Another thing to consider is your placement of your Amazon ads. Sales are usually made from, 'above the fold', which means when a product is higher up in your hub towards the top.
   
   Regarding SEO and the title. Ask yourself if someone would type in your title.
   I typed in the phrase, 'camping for the first time' into a Google search. That pulled up 35,000,000, that's a lot. However, the first entry hasn't been updated since 2014 so they could get knock down in the rankings with targeted keywords.
   However, I search a few other titles for you.
   The phrase 'camping for beginners checklist' brought back only 697,000. The entries on that page are more recent but you have a lot of information which would, I believe, work well for that title.
   
   Your hub is long and people have short attention spans. Maybe it is worth making it into 2 or even 3 hubs. Perhaps, the camper's checklist and then one highlighting various sites and who they are suitable for and the amenities they offer.
   
   I hope this helps

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   1. 92

      DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Hi, Blond Logic--
        Thanks very much!  I kind of wondered about the length, myself; in fact, I just finished (almost finished; 1 to go) splitting up my genealogy hub into 4 from the original 2...so when I finish the final one, it will be 5 hubs where 2 used to be...
      
        Thanks, too, for your capsule title suggestions!  I will switch those out..and leave the 'fashion show' comment for inside the text. 
      
        Hmmm...the ant hill photo, I think was from Pixabay...and all the others were of those gigantic 5 foot tall things you see in photos of Africa and other such places.  It was the only one I found...or it if was on Flickr, it was the only one that was CC.
      Maybe I should go out and take my own in the yard; we have plenty of them.. LOL  My camera has been collecting dust; but I need to get back to using it, as I find I don't get good photos from my Kindle or my free "smart" phone.  They are too hard to hold still enough, and the pix come out not so sharp.

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3. 86

   Marisa Wrightposted 7 years ago

   Firstly, length:  1,500 words is the "sweet spot".  Much longer than that and it's very likely no one will ever read the latter part of the Hub.  So this Hub definitely needs breaking up.  I'm sure you know, that means breaking it up into stand-alone sections about different, clearly defined aspects of the subject, not just breaking at a certain word count.
   
   Secondly, always remember to check your layout in Mobile preview.  Right-floated capsules appear in unexpected places, so make sure you're happy with them. 
   
   Thirdly, a tip for understanding SEO:  I'm sure I've said before, the fundamental secret of SEO is to think, what would people be typing into Google if they're searching for this topic? 
   
   You have TWO avenues to find that out:  one is to start typing into the Google search box slowly, and see what auto-completes.  The auto-complete options are based on what people are actually typing in.   Also, once you've done a search, look down the bottom of the page at suggested alternative searches.  They are also actual phrases which people are typing in.  Your title should be drawn from one of those two places.

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   1. 92

      DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, Marisa!  As always, you're a big help and voice of wisdom, and I mean that sincerely.  (I wanted to clarify that, as one of my 'talents' is sarcasm, but none is intended here.)
      
      And yes, I recall now you have said that before; but I seem to only remember bits and pieces--getting old sucks!  This time, I learned the bit about where the auto-complete suggestions come from, as well as the alternate ideas at the foot of the page; I always thought those were dreamed up by Google.
      
      I did just recently finish (or nearly so) the breakup of my genealogy article into 5 instead of two, along just the lines you suggest--by stand-alone topic--and all with links to the others.
      
      I guess this will be another one I'll have to print out, and do a re-write/split-up, and re-publish.  Sigh.  I just did a lot of work on this hub--I wish I'd had the brains to post this query first.  DUH!

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4. 92

   DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years ago

   @ Blond Logic --  Wait--I just re-read your reply.  Are you saying that the capsule titles also have to be specific to search phrases????
   
   I thought only the main title... :-(  Okay...

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   1. 89

      Blond Logicposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Liz,
      
      When you write a hub using one of the templates other than the basic one, it does say that the subtitles should be search-friendly titles. I don't know how much weight on the searchability scale they provide but anything we can do to help in pushing it up in the rankings needs to be explored.
      
      Also, regarding an ant image, there is a site called Pexels. They have some good ant ones but not ant hills. I think they are a sister site of Pixabay.

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      1. 92

         DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Ah--okay; I don't use the templates; they get in my way and annoy me with stuff they have pre-placed, and I find it distracting.
         I know there is a way to clear out the capsule sample content, but for me, it's just easier to stick with the basic article format, and put things in where I want them, when I'm ready to put them there!

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   2. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      They don't HAVE to be, but if they are, that will help the Hub's ranking.

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5. 92

   DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years ago

   Next question on this same topic/hub.
   
   According to many people's answers in various places on this forum, comments are considered content by Google.  This particular hub has over 20 comments; about half of which are my replies.  However, the most recent is 2 years old.
   
   Now, if I re-edit the hub as massively as I plan, will it hurt if I just delete them all? 
   
   If I don't even use the original as a base for one of the new segments, the entire thing will be deleted, anyway.  If I do use part of it, many of the comments may be irrelevant to the new, remaining segment.
   
   What is the best approach, here?

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   1. 86

      Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Why would you delete the comments?

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      1. 92

         DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         They may no longer be relevant to the re-edited hub, sectioned off as it will be into more than one article.  With which one would I leave the comments? 
         
         The current title will change into one or several others; that means new URLs for those, etc.
         
         If I don't try to actually edit the current hub, but replace it totally, the comments would be lost, anyway. That's what I'm wondering; would that hurt me?  Should I use the existing hub, with its comments intact, as a base platform for massive edits into a single aspect?  If so, there are things mentioned in the comments as they stand, that will no longer make sense when the hub is edited down to single-topic sections, because things referenced in the comments may no longer exist on that part of the new set of articles.
         
         I'm rambling--a sure sign I'm getting tired, so I hope any of that made sense or clarified my question.
         
         For now, I've unpublished it, and printed it out to work on.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            NO NO NO NO NO!
            
            Leave it published, so that whatever reputation it has (even if it's not much) will be preserved.
            
            Keep that Hub, don't delete it - just rewrite.  Don't worry if it looks a mess while it's in process.Worry about fixing the comments after it's done.

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