Here we go again...

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  1. DzyMsLizzy profile image87
    DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years ago

    I have re-worked this hub several times; I've changed the title more than twice.  There is apparently too much competition for this topic.

    I did a Google search for the subject very generally, and again using some specific words from my title.  Guess what?  The article appears exactly nowhere in search results.  I looked all the way through all 21 pages of results, and the final page said, "no documents match your search."

    I am so frustrated that I just can't seem to get it right, no matter how many people help, or how hard I try to apply the suggestions.  I realize this article is long; however, this particular piece is not a good candidate for splitting into more than one article.

    Here is the Hub in question:

    http://hubpages.com/health/Epilepsy-Wha … -Causes-It

    (The actual title of the article has, "Help!  My Cat Has Epilepsy!" added in before the rest of the title as it appears in the URL.)

    This old dog is having a lot of trouble learning new tricks, apparently...sad

    1. Sherry Hewins profile image93
      Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Have you submitted this to PetHelpful? I bet it would get a big lift if it was moved there. It has lots of useful information, and I don't see why they'd turn it down. I'd be happy to find it if my cat had that problem.

      If it was me, I would shorten the title "How to Treat Epilepsy in Cats," or How to Deal with Seizures in Cats," something along those lines. Think about what someone would search for.

      1. DzyMsLizzy profile image87
        DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

        Thank you, Sherry!

        You know, part of my problem is I was trained in the old school way; use a catchy title as a 'hook.'  I'm not used to putting the hook within the text somewhere.

        When it comes to titles, wordsmith though I am, I just seem to draw a blank trying to decide what OTHER PEOPLE would search for, as it is all so different from how I would search.  (Yes, I also have trouble when doing research, for exactly this same reason.)

        It is so frustrating to me.

        (At the moment, I have a week left before I will be eligible to submit any other articles...and the one I have in the queue next, is a piece on a more common problem with a procedure people request to protect not the cat, but their furniture...I do think it is more important, as the epilepsy is  more rare.)

        I guess that gives me another 2 weeks to re-work this one again; maybe try to decrease the verbiage...brevity is not my strong suit! lol

        1. Marisa Wright profile image86
          Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

          You can easily unlearn the "catchy title" habit, I did.   

          So, if your cat had a seizure today, what would you type into Google to see what it was? 

          I might type in, "Seizures in cats", or "Can cats have seizures?" or "Is my cat having a seizure?"   So I would choose one of those. Personallly, I would go with:

          Epilepsy in Cats:  Is My Cat Having a Seizure?

          That will cover people who are looking for epilepsy and people who don't have a diagnosis yet.

          Now, looking at your title, swap your content around so you are answering that question first.  You can explain how your kitty got epilepsy later on. Start with a short paragraph saying, yes, cats can have seizures and we learned that when we brought home a tiny kitten from the shelter.  Then jump straight to "We noticed her first seizure after we'd had her home only 2 days....."

          At the end of the Hub you can have a section called "Why do cats get epilepsy?" and there, you can explain how the anaesthetic affected your cat.

          Other changes:

          You should know by now, never to include irrelevant links in your Hubs.  The Rainbow Bridge poem link has to go. 

          I would remove all references to human epilepsy - not relevant - and I would not use the human reference links as they could be judged irrelevant too.  Google "cannabis for cats" and you'll find several reference sources. I'm sure if you Google "cat epilepsy" you'll find some too.

          1. DzyMsLizzy profile image87
            DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            Sigh...okay.. thanks Marisa.  You're correct, as usual...I will remove those links and references.   It was due to the cannabis document that I got the idea to ask the vet about trying it on the cat; that, in my mind, was the relevance.  However, I see now that since it is not mentioned as such in the article....

            But, I have added a capsule about using it...and I changed the title to:  How I Helped My Epileptic Cat.

            I also found a video on You Tube, that shows just what our cat went through.

            1. Marisa Wright profile image86
              Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

              So who, would you say, is going to search for "How I helped my epileptic cat"?   

              I suppose I might, just possibly, type in "how have other people helped their epileptic cat", but that's not the same, is it?

              I actually don't like Glenn's title, because no one is going to be searching for that either.

  2. Beth Eaglescliffe profile image96
    Beth Eaglescliffeposted 7 years ago

    The article is really interesting, I'd never thought about cats having epilepsy before. I don't think you should shorten the article at all. It's all relevant and flows well.

    I agree with Sherry's title suggestions. A shorter more factual title should help move the article up the search results.

    There's only a couple of other alterations I'd make:-

    1. Remove the live links to the megalodon super shark and the rainbow bridge poem. They're not relevant to the title of the article.

    2. In the bibliography, only include references that directly relate to cats and epilepsy. For example, are you saying you should give your cat marihuana, because your comment on that ref mentions humans?

    1. DzyMsLizzy profile image87
      DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      @ Beth:
        Actually, yes, we did try cannabis butter for her; with the vet's knowledge and approval.  It helped her greatly, and she was much more alert and 'normal kitty' than when she was on the phenobarbital. She got a dose of the butter about the size of a pea, twice a day.  It lasted for about 6 hours.
        Unfortunately, I still had to give her the strong stuff overnight, as we sleep longer than six hours!  But in the daytime, it was great!  No seizures, and she even started to play again.

  3. lobobrandon profile image88
    lobobrandonposted 7 years ago

    Change your title to: Epilepsy in cats causes signs and treatment.

    Low competition for the above long tail keyphrase which is exactly what your article is (I hope, had no time to read it). And it also covers the other general terms such as epilepsy in cats, and so on.

    How old is this hub? If it is relatively new I would begin a new hub and delete this one, the URL is not great at all. There is no mention of the word cat in the URL.

    EDIT: It's 4 years old, but as you say its not ranking well, so it may still be worth it to move it over as a new hub and eventually get onto pethelpful. If there is any useful info in the comments add it directly into the new hub as you will lose the comments.

  4. Glenn Stok profile image95
    Glenn Stokposted 7 years ago

    Your title sounds like you're asking for help rather than offering some useful information to anyone searching for answers. So no one would click on it when they see it in the SERPs. That might be why Google isn't showing it in the SERPs. They want to give people something that answers their question.

    A better title: What I Learned About Epilepsy In My Cat

    In addition, your version of the title has too many repetitions of the word "What" and that adds no value for search. It's unfortunate that you didn't simplify the URL, but you can t change that now after publishing it. Your URL also has all those repeated "What-it-is" – "What-It-Is-Not" – "What-Causes-It". Google may consider that keyword spamming in my opinion.

    I always make the URL more simple and generalized to account for future modifications to the title. Keep that in mind for your new hubs. Nothing you can do about it with this one, though. But you can still change that title.

    Remember that you want a title that offers a solution or an answer to something people are searching for. You also want to be sure you deliver on what the title promises. I think your hub does that if you use a title like the one I suggested above.

    1. DzyMsLizzy profile image87
      DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      @ Glen Stok, & @ lobobrandon
        Here are the stats for that hub:
      Score     Comments                         Views
                                            1 day   7 days     30 days    ever             
                                                                                                           

      89              30               16         16             17          231        


            Published          Edited
           09/22/12              02/21/17


      Thank you both very much for your helpful comments.

      1. Glenn Stok profile image95
        Glenn Stokposted 7 years agoin reply to this

        According to those stats you only had one hit in the past month. The 16 others came today possibly due to your post here in the forum. What do your hub stats show as "referrers" over the life of the hub?  Did anything ever come from Google? That could give you a clue if it worked before you made changes.

  5. DzyMsLizzy profile image87
    DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years ago

    Okay, I've gone in and reworked it per the suggestions given here.

    For the title, I'm considering, "How I Helped My Epileptic Cat"

  6. Marisa Wright profile image86
    Marisa Wrightposted 7 years ago

    Here are some links for you to use:

    http://consciouscat.net/2015/03/30/pot- … -your-cat/

    http://www.petmd.com/cat/conditions/neu … eizures%20

    http://www.1800petmeds.com/education/se … cat-38.htm

    I haven't read them, so do check them out first before you use them.

    And remember, this Hub has failed to get readers for a long time.  That means there's a lot more wrong with it than just the title.  I suggest you re-read my other suggestions for re-ordering the content.   Right now, when people visit the Hub, they find themselves reading about WHY your cat developed epilepsy, and they may not scroll down to find out how to deal with a seizure, or why they may need to dig their heels in with their vet.  It's a great shame if that happens as you are providing useful information based on real experience.

    A general note - this is a good example of how our old training counts against us, but once you're conscious of it,  you can change. We were taught to use a catchy title to hook the reader, then provide a good introduction to the subject.  The catchy title would keep people reading through the intro.   

    Now you have no catchy title, so you need to provide the hook in your first paragraph and jump straight into your subject.  Provide background information at the end, not the beginning.

    And also, I'd recommend you make all your capsules full width because that's how mobile viewers see your Hub.  I do use half width capsules, but then I know how to check the Preview to make sure they display correctly, I'm guessing you'd prefer not to have that hassle.

    1. DzyMsLizzy profile image87
      DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you again, Marisa.  I've used one of the links you provided, and completely re-arranged all of the capsules.  I changed the title, and swapped out which author bio I'm using.

      I have only the single right-aligned capsule, and I'm okay with where it displays in mobile preview mode.

      Now, I hope all of this helps.  smile

      1. Marisa Wright profile image86
        Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

        Better!   However, your epilepsy references all relate to people not animals, so irrelevant (that's the purpose of those other links I provided - there are others if you Google). 

        I'd still like to know how likely you think it is that people will type "How I Helped My Epileptic Cat" into Google.   If (as I do) you think it's unlikely, then all your other changes are a complete waste of time.

        1. DzyMsLizzy profile image87
          DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

          Yes, I did read all the links, but I was looking for one with a cannabis reference.

          Okay..but "How I Helped My Cat" is what the article is mainly about.  sigh.  So, not only do we not use catchy titles, but not even titles that say exactly what the subject is???? 

          This learning curve is awfully steep....

          I may have been around HP for 7 years, but I don't have 7 years true experience, as before, I would just write and not care about SEO.

          1. Marisa Wright profile image86
            Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, the Hub is about how you helped your cat - but as you found, no one is interested in your cat.  Why should they be?

            What they ARE interested in, is THEIR cat. They want to know how your experience can help THEM.   You wrote the article because you thought your experience would be helpful to other people, right?   Therefore, rewrite it with that purpose in mind. 

            I know it's a pain to have to rewrite rather than just rearrange, but you know it's not successful as it is - there are no easy solutions.  So if you started with this title:

            Epilepsy in Cats:  Is My Cat Having a Seizure?

            You would start by saying, here are the signs your cat is having a seizure.   If your cat is having a seizure, then my experience of our kitten may help you, etc.  Then much of your article could be re-used as it is, but in a different order. 

            The bottom line, really is that you should be thinking about the Google-friendliness of your title before you even start writing.   If you create a title which accurately describes the Hub, and then think "but no one is likely to search for that", then it's a waste of time writing that article.

            1. DzyMsLizzy profile image87
              DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

              Okay,, I'll shift the title again.  I already did a lot of rearranging, to the parameters you suggested, Marisa, so I'll see how it goes with that.

              I guess my problem is, I don't think like other people.  For me, if I see and article about how someone or their pet was helped with a certain situation, my mind says, "Oh, let me see what they did--it might help me or my pet."  And I will read the article.  I am a bonafide cat lover/crazy cat lady, so if it's about cats, or helping them, I'll read it. wink

              Ditto when I was trying to do craft fairs.  I made things I thought were cute or useful, and made nearly zero sales...the stuff people were buying from other vendors was stuff I thought was ugly crap.  I did not want to make things I didn't like, and end up stuck with it if it didn't sell.  Worse, people would often pick up one of my items, praise its cuteness or usefulness, then put it down and not buy it.  Made me madder than hell! 

              But that's neither here nor there...

              1. lobobrandon profile image88
                lobobrandonposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                For me, if I see and article about how someone or their pet was helped with a certain situation, my mind says, "Oh, let me see what they did--it might help me or my pet."

                This is not just you, that's what most people do, I guess. But the thing is how are people going to ever see your article? It needs to show up on search engines for them to even begin clicking it. And for it to show up, you need to change your title to include something directly related to the words they search with.

                Your meta description (The small summary box when you edit the hub) is where you could try and convince them to click over. Here is where you could write (in short) how you overcame the problem. That would definitely get them clicking because they know you wrote to help them (from the title) and they know that you faced the same issue (from the description).

                1. DzyMsLizzy profile image87
                  DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                  You are correct; I see what you mean.  Okay, so one more revision, this time to the summary.   Sigh..

                  Then, I guess I'll sit back and find out.   

                  It would appear, however, that HP counts all views to an article, including those of the author themselves, and any others who take a look to help out.  Because last night before I signed off, I saw that hub had double red 'up' traffic arrows!  LOL

                  1. Marisa Wright profile image86
                    Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                    Lobobrandon beat me to it!  I was going to say the same - that yes, other people do feel the same as you, and are interested to see how your experience can help them.

                    But there are two issues to consider.  One is that people are impatient today.  So when they arrive at your article and they are keen to see whether your experience is useful, they don't have the patience to read through an explanation of where you got kitty from and how the epilepsy developed.  None of that is helping them, and unlike an old-fashioned magazine, they have a choice - they can easily click back and see if another result will give them better information.  So that's why I say, make sure the helpful information is right there at the beginning.

                    Also, as Lobobrandon says, they have to find your article.   And there's your problem.  I would still love to know what you would type in, if you needed help with a cat that was having seizures?

          2. Sherry Hewins profile image93
            Sherry Hewinsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            I think maybe mentioning cannabis in the title, and focusing more on that may get you more traffic. "How Cannabis Stopped Seizures in my Cat."

  7. DzyMsLizzy profile image87
    DzyMsLizzyposted 7 years ago

    Okay, I think I'm finally finished with the revisions!  WHEW!!  What a wild ride!

 
working

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