Hub traffic dramatically dropping.

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   Buildrepsposted 7 years ago

   Traffic went down like the Titanic, this happened suddenly just over a week ago. What might be the cause? Who is seeing the same? I have a dark scent that HP, which is a critical platform as well, might become a victim of the Fake News doctrines. What do you think?

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      jackclee lmposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Hub traffic is too much dependent on google search results.
      That is the main problem with most websites.
      We are at the mercy of google search.
      If google changes their search engine priorities, we are doomed.
      That is why we needed to change our focus on google and build up our presence through other search engines or social media links...
      Google is king today but may not be tomorrow...
      Look at Kodak, and IBM and see what happens when they ignore changing technology.

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         Solarasposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         +

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         Ashish Dadgaaposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         @jackclee,
         
         Very well said.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Have you checked Google Webmaster to see if you have any warnings?  Have you checked also to see if toxic websites have linked to you.  Have you checked for copied content?
      
      These may or may not be reasons for your problems, but any of them can hurt your views.  Competition can harm it, also.
      
      I had the same problem as you a few years ago and had to completely upgrade and rework my site.  It paid off, but it was one heck of a lot of work.
      
      One thing I did notice when I looked at your titles is that you obviously are quite intelligent and choose many topics that might be above the heads of the average person.  Why not try writing on simpler, more easy to understand topics that respond to people's needs?  It's worth a shot.  I've got an MA and even I had a few problems understanding some of your titles!

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         Buildrepsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for your response TIMETRAVELER2. There is something mysterious going on. One Hub that drew much traffic is still hitting the number one in Google search but it just dived down, without a clear reason.
         
         Thanks for the advice to write on other topics, but that I'm not interested in, I rather die than writing on how to bake cookies. LOL

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            chef-de-jourposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            You heard about the Google algorhythm change called Fred (if I recall correctly) I presume? It was discussed in a long forum some weeks ago. Google hit some writers pretty hard and recovery has been slow or non existent. Could it be this hitting you in delayed fashion? Not sure. Also, there is plagiarism, toxic links, that sort of thing. I hope you can sort it out. Get back to us if you need help, but hopefully your hubs will recover in time?

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               Buildrepsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks Andrew, I heard some things about the changing Google algorithms. I will try to sort it out and ask for help if it gets worse. Thanks for your support!

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

            Wasn't thinking of cookies ...rather something that is easier for people to rid given that the majority of Americans read only on 6th grade level.

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            LeanManposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            Hi Buildreps...
            
            Please note that most of the time when you search on Google you will get results that are tailored to you. So often you will get a false showing that your pages are higher than they really are. You need to make sure that you are totally logged out of Google before you make any search if you really want to see where your pages are in the results.
            Also; where you rank is also not the only thing that you need to worry about. Anyone can rank number one for "How I made my grass turn pink" as there is zero competition by anyone out there writing about it - but along with the zero competition also comes no one actually looking for it. Views always depend on how many people actually search for your keywords and if they are too obscure then you will get no views - not the fault of Google, hubpages or anyone else - just simply no one is searching for what has been written. Unusual niche subject areas are great in that they are low in competition but if your aim is to get views you need to really find out what keywords are being used so that you can get those visitors.
            You may also find that your work is actually far more successful on a website of your own rather than here. A dedicated site will have a clear focus and may even attract a following interested in what you have to share.

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               Buildrepsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

               Hi Leanman, thanks for the effort to answer my question. You're absolutely right. I know I have to be logged out from Google to find the real ranking in Google search. I even used VPN from different countries to check it out. My most successful Hub even ranked number one, with the most simple search phrase one can imagine, so the mystery is still on the table. It's just as if my potential public is suddenly saturated, which coincidentally coincides with Google's algorithms. I don't know, time will tell.
               
               You're also right about the separate website, I recently launched a dedicated website, and that is very successful.
               
               Thanks.

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                  jackclee lmposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                  Not only the number of views dropped but the pay per view seems to be halfed.

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                     Buildrepsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                     True, Jacklee

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   Author Cherylposted 7 years ago

   Are you posting your hubs on other social media networks such as Facebook, Pintrest, Google, LinkedIn, Reddit, Twitter.  Are you going through old hubs and polishing them off and reposting them.  You do have to self market yourself a little bit.  I don't expect people to look for my articles in a google search I just share them every where.  My traffic stays up.

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      Buildrepsposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Cheryl, no I usually don't do that. I sometimes repolish them, but being active on social media is not my thing. Other people usually post my articles on social media. I know, if I don't do it myself, I shouldn't complain about traffic (not really complaining though) going down. But the sudden drop surprises me.
      
      Thanks for the tip.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

         As you've found, if you write good useful articles, then you don't need to post constantly on social media - especially if you're just doing it to promote articles and not because you want to genuinely interact with people on those platforms.
         
         A lot of amateur writers spend hours self-promoting on those channels, but if you sit down and work out the hourly rate of return, it's not worth it. 
         
         The fact that your own website does well, even though you don't do all that stuff, tells you something - it's the platform that's the problem, not what you're doing.

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            Author Cherylposted 7 years agoin reply to this

            Marissa I am a very seasoned writer and have published a great amount of novels, .  I have been writing for many years. Any kind of marketing that someone can do is useful.  I don't spend hours constantly posting but you get out of work what you put in to it.  Not everyone knows what is useful and what is not.  More people are resorting to the how to's on YouTube not hub pages.  What is useful to you may not be useful to me.  I am a firm believer that in order to get out of what you write, you have to go beyond the key board.  Yes hub pages can generate some income but not enough to survive.  That's just my two cents.

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               Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

               I'm talking about the use of social media for HubPages in particular.   It's a very different animal from they way you need to promote if you're writing novels.   Social media promotion for HubPages is really not worth it for a variety of reasons.

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                  Jesse Drzalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                  If you are smart and use it properly, social can drive huge traffic if you are in the correct topics.

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                  TIMETRAVELER2posted 7 years agoin reply to this

                  I don't find it that difficult to do, and once in awhile, as it did with Flipboard last year, it really pays off.  I posted one article and got 16,000 plus views that I would never have had if I hadn't done that.  It took all of 5 minutes to post it!

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                     Jesse Drzalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                     Exactly!! I can't seem to crack the Flipboard code though others seem to do really well there. You should try Reddit T2 I am sure there are tons of RV subreddits you could post to.

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                     Marisa Wrightposted 7 years agoin reply to this

                     It really depends on how much time you spend and whether it's something you would do anyway.   It might take only 5 minutes to post something to Flipboard - but to be a success on sites like Flipboard or Pinterest, you need to post a lot of articles by other people too, and do it regularly.
                     
                     If you're active on social media anyway, that's fine - but otherwise, you can easily find yourself spending an hour or more every day, just "doing" social media.

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   Author Cherylposted 7 years ago

   The one thing I have learned about being an author is you have to market market market yourself.  Let's say I write an article about my family or something like that.  It would never show up in a google search. I didn't think you were complaining at all lol.  If you want more traffic then you have to post your articles all over the internet and there are many social medias that will accommodate us to post our articles.

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      Jesse Drzalposted 7 years agoin reply to this

      Social media can be very powerful. If you do it correctly, and your smart and savvy it's absolutely worth your time. There are factors too, such as your niche  where you are writing. Everyone is different.

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