Improving existing hubs to increase traffic. Premium help for 5 people

1. 77

   lobobrandonposted 6 years ago

   I plan on editing my existing hubs, the ones with high traffic to get them to rank even better for terms they already rank for, but not at #1 spot. I have a premium SEM rush account using which I can see what I am ranking for and what I can improve upon. I use this on my own website with a lot of success and I see this as a really good opportunity on some of the niche sites.
   
   What I can see from SEMRush:
   - Current keywords I rank for
   - Search volumes for those keywords (exact match)
   - The current ranking position
   
   What I can give you:
   - The list of keywords you could try and implement into your hub by writing more content and answering queries of people who are coming to your hub and going back unsatisfied.
   
   For example: I just realised that people are searching for "how much water does a tomato plant need". I don't exactly answer this query in my hub. Maybe I can do some research and find scientific answers and answer this query or write something about this in general from experience. A nice paragraph with that heading would move me from #4 where I currently stand to a better position, I presume. Even if it doesn't it would help the visitor and thereby increase dwell time on my site and the person may not go back to google. This is a signal for good user experience and this can eventually rank my article better for this and more terms.
   
   I would love to help everyone, but right now I have limited time on my shoulders and can only offer help to a few people. I'm going to pick 5 people and help them with 4-5 hubs each. If there are others who have a SEMRush account I would be glad to show them how to do this so that they can help even more people here.
   
   What you need to qualify for this:
   - A hub on Dengarden (I want this niche site to do well in general more than others as this is where my hubs go, so this is kind of selfish of me).
   - Average traffic of at least 100 a day during peak season. It could be 100 a day during the gardening season too. Doesn't have to be 100 on average every day. I pick this level of traffic as it's an indicator that you are writing on a good topic and are already doing well with good chances of improving it even more.
   - I would prefer someone who is active on the forums because I want to help those who would help others someday.
   
   If there are no takers for this, I would then help 5 people with hubs on any niche site. But Dengarden is my first choice.
   
   EDIT: Please do not post links here. I do not want this to become a haven for hub stealers who post on other sites. Post here telling me you have some hubs that fit these points and contact me via the contact option on any of my hubs or my profile page. If you comment here, I would post here with suggestions. I don't want to do that as everyone can then see them. You would have the advantage as you already rank well for the term, but why take the risk.

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   1. 87

      Sherry Hewinsposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      OK, I'm in, here's my submission. Thanks
      https://dengarden.com/cleaning/How-to-C … Like-a-Pro

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   2. 83

      sallybeaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Nice offer thank you but unfortunately, I don't fit the criteria.  Most of my writing is on Feltmagnet.

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2. 93

   MsDoraposted 6 years ago

   I commend you for thoughtfulness.  Wish I had hubs in that niche.

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   1. 77

      lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      If I had more time I would have loved to help everyone

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3. 77

   lobobrandonposted 6 years ago

   Hi Sherry, since you posted your link here, I would recommend adding a bulleted list towards the end of your hub to cover this term: "things to clean in a house". Right now you are ranking #7 for this term. It's got a monthly volume of 90 searches. But I don't go by those volumes, I'm sure it's a lot more as 90 is just the exact match. People could be searching for what to clean in a house or maybe stuff to clean in a house and so on.

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4. 77

   lobobrandonposted 6 years ago

   Sherry, I just edited my original post regarding posting links here. There's probably more keywords you could work with, but I'm not sure if you want me to post here or via email or something.

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   1. 87

      Sherry Hewinsposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      You can email me through the contact author button on my hub. Thanks for the advice.

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5. 99

   DrMark1961posted 6 years ago

   If you decide that you are willing to take a non-Dengarden entry, I would love to find out this information for one of my Pethelpful articles. I will follow this forum post and if you reply to me later I will send you a link.
   Even if you only do Dengarden, I want to say thanks for helping out the HP community. It is nice for us to continue learning.

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   1. 77

      lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Will do. Sometime mid-Feb I'll have more time I'll get back to you then if not sooner.

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6. 84

   Solarasposted 6 years ago

   That's a very generous offer Brandon.  Thank you.  I have a Den Garden hub on another account, but it is not worthy lol.  How much do you pay for the SEM program?

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   1. 77

      lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      It's $75 a month. But I use it for a few clients so it pays for itself. I just had this bright idea today and I said why not share a bit?

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7. 77

   lobobrandonposted 6 years ago

   I've got a few emails already too. Some from people I've never seen on the forums before. Was very interesting hehe. I'd get back to them too.

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8. 77

   lobobrandonposted 6 years ago

   I just added 450 words of new content to my hub (total word count 3009). Without mentioning the actual keywords, I am going to list down the current ranking positions and after 2 weeks I'll be back to update this post and then again after a month. Just to track the results of this endeavor. I would say there are 3 main keywords with variations that I am targeting through this new content. It's definitely added value to my article and it would help everyone who reads it.
   
   KW1 - 4
   KW2 - 2
   KW3 - 5
   KW4 - 6
   KW5 - 11
   KW6 - 6
   KW7 - 5
   KW8 - 5
   KW9 - 7
   KW10 - 7
   KW11 - 6
   KW12 - 8
   KW13 - 10
   KW14 - 10

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   1. 77

      lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Just an update on the current rankings. The new rankings are in brackets. The last 7 keywords were not really focused on, but I was in the top 10 already for those terms and wanted to keep an eye on them since I added more content to the hub in general. Some of those terms did see changes in rankings, it could just be the regular fluctuations. I need to see if they stabilize at their new position. Will be back after another week to see the new rankings.
      
      I'm really happy with the movements and the traffic has already increased on this hub even though it's offseason in most parts of the world.
      
      KW1 - 4 (4)
      KW2 - 2 (2)
      KW3 - 5 (2)
      KW4 - 6 (3)
      KW5 - 11 (7)
      KW6 - 6 (3)
      KW7 - 5 (3)
      KW8 - 5  (5)
      KW9 - 7 (5)
      KW10 - 7 (8)
      KW11 - 6 (6)
      KW12 - 8 (7)
      KW13 - 10 (8)
      KW14 - 10 (11)

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      1. 84

         Solarasposted 6 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for updating us. This is interesting to watch.

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         1. 77

            lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

            Yup, it definitely is. I would definitely choose to update a new hub than work on a brand new one.

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            1. 84

               Solarasposted 6 years agoin reply to this

               I surprised myself with how few hubs I have written annually the last 3 years.  I need to get some more in the hopper for the future lol.  But I have also been taking a look at some of the older ones, and finding there is a lot more I can add to them with a fresh perspective.

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               1. 77

                  lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                  I'm close to a million views right now. I got some new hub topics as branches of my existing hubs so that I can interlink better. But before that when the time permits I need to work on some of my tomato hubs to get the last one move to the niche site and make the others better in time for tomato season. Got a lot on my plate right now though.
                  
                  If there's a hub you want to work on (to improve it) you can send me an email and I can send you a spreadsheet with the terms you rank for right now and the corresponding search volumes. You can use this info to get new sub topics for the hub or elaborate on some sections with new info to rank better. I added some info on watering tomatoes in hot weather to my hub and it ranks better already. It was already on the first page for this term even though I didn't really write specifically on this topic.

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                  1. 84

                     Solarasposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                     Thank you! You've got mail.

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                     1. 77

                        lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                        Yup, and now you have

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9. 61

   TessSchlesingerposted 6 years ago

   Nice offer. While I have articles that do a lot more than a 100 a day, my lone dengarden one gets very little traffic... Even if it's regular.

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   1. 77

      lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

      Just sent you an email.

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10. 99

    DrMark1961posted 6 years ago

    When I search for my articles based on the keywords I have used in the title, many of them are at the top or close to. For instance one article I just checked only gets about 80 views per day but it has the first position so I do not know how that I can get any more. What I would like to do is edit them more often, and more correctly, so that they answer more questions on a related subject and use some other keywords.
    I would like to know your opinion as to whether you feel it would be worth it for me to purchase a subscription to SEMrush to edit these articles. (I have about 200 I would like to go through this year.)

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    1. 77

       lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       Send me an email Dr Mark. Give me 5 hubs you would like to work on. I will send you the spreadsheets and you can go through them and make changes etc if you see something worth while. Once you make those changes if you see improved rankings for new terms which were not already #1 but somewhere on the first and second page and also increased traffic you could then decide if an SEMRush subscription is worth it for you or not. You could also just get a subscription for a month and do all 200 of them and get the data stored on your computer and then work on it as you see fit. And renew the subscription for round two some months or a year later. For HP alone I do not think it is worth it to have a continuous monthly subscription.

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       1. 99

          DrMark1961posted 6 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks so much. With summer almost over the rainy season is about to start and I have a lot more time on my hand. I like the idea of just signing up for a month, finding the information I need, and then maybe signing up for a month next year if I need to.
          I used the free trial period but could not get much information before the message popped up to sign up before proceeding! I am sending you five ttitles and would appreciate any feedback, when your time allows.
          Thanks again.

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11. 77

    lobobrandonposted 6 years ago

    It's been 4 weeks and it's time for an update. I've seen really good gains in ranking for the top terms I was after. Some declines, but nothing unexpected. Overall, very happy with the results thus far.
    
    Keyword - Original (Week 2) [Week 4]
    KW1 - 4 (4) [2]
    KW2 - 2 (2) [1]
    KW3 - 5 (2) [1]
    KW4 - 6 (3) [3]
    KW5 - 11 (7) [3]  (This one actually belongs to the second group (below), but I did mention this subtopic a bit already, I'd have to move it to the new section once that's done)
    KW6 - 6 (3) [3]
    KW7 - 5 (3) [3]
    
    These keywords were not really worked on. I still saw some gains, on account of adding more content to the hub and a mention of the keyword once or twice. An entire section can be dedicated to this batch of keywords. This is something I will be doing in the coming week.
    KW8 - 5  (5) [6]
    KW9 - 7 (5) [4]
    KW10 - 7 (8) [8]
    KW11 - 6 (6) [5]
    KW12 - 8 (7) [6]
    KW13 - 10 (8) [7]
    KW14 - 10 (11) [11]
    
    I'm currently analyzing the competition to figure out why they are ranking at the 0 position and not me for some terms where I am #1 (not on the list here). I did implement some changes just now to try and take over this spot. Maybe Google doesn't show the same article in the 0 and 1 position? I'm not sure about this. Something I'm going to have to look out for. I can't recollect seeing the same website at these two spots.
    
    The next update will be sometime mid or end of March.
    
    EDIT: I just compared the period of Jan 1st to Feb 13th of this year to that of last year on Analytics for this page and this is what I see: Unique page views are up 94.98%. The growth of Dengarden is a big part of this change, I would say. But in comparison when I compare another hub of mine on Dengarden for this same time period I see: Unique page views are down 23.88%. This hub has not been edited or updated much.

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12. 80

    liladybugz26posted 6 years ago

    Since this thread is a few months old, I'm not sure if your offer is still on the table. If it is, I would be so very grateful if you could scan my hubs for consideration. I have one dengarden hub that meets your traffic requirement.
    
    I have spent ample time researching SEO strategies, but for some reason I can't wrap my head around it, and always end in rage quit. I am thankful for any help or guidance.

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13. 91

    Titiaposted 6 years ago

    I have only one hub in Dengarden and it's not doing well. So in stead of giving you a lot of work, I will first try to update/rewrite it with the suggestions you gave here on your tomatoes and see what happens. If it starts to get more traffic I will send you the link.

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    1. 77

       lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       Good luck.

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14. 92

    Kenna McHughposted 6 years ago

    I have quite a few in Dengarden. Let me know if you want to help me out. Thanks.

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15. 89

    RedElfposted 6 years ago

    Thanks for pointing me in this direction, Brandon. I do have an article on dengarden that does OK but could really use some help. https://dengarden.com/misc/What-is-Hard … e-drink-it
    My best performer is on theskyaboveus, but I would love to improve all of them. (Who wouldn't?)

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    1. 93

       Teeuwynn Woodruffposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       Are you still just looking at Dengarden articles? Your offer seems very kind, but I have no hubs on that niche. Most of mine are on Pethelpful or Reelrundown.

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       1. 77

          lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

          Yup been busy so if I do this, it's just dengarden for now.

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          1. 88

             Jean Bakulaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

             I only have one hub on Dengarden, but have two still on HP. But I notice they get attention from our friends south of the Equator in our Winter season. I get a lot of traffic from Google.Australia, so be on the lookout for traffic on your garden work even when it's summer or temperate in other climates.

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             1. 77

                lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                Yes, this year I noticed a lot of traffic from Google Australia in the winter. It was equivalent to the traffic I received from the Northern hemisphere two years ago. So I can't wait to see the levels it reaches this year during summer in the North.

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             2. 77

                lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                If those hubs are getting traffic, why do you not submit them to be moved to the niche sites?

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                1. 88

                   Jean Bakulaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                   Hi lobobrandon,
                   
                   I still have around 30 hubs on HP, all my others are on niches. My main niche is metaphysics, and for a while I wrote a lot about Greek Myth, I got fascinated with that. Moving two a month is such a slow process.
                   
                   When the niches first came, they snapped up about a third of my hubs, and since then I still had to continue to make each new change as it came. I am up to date for the most part, but didn't usually get all the ones still left on HP up to speed until I was ready to move them.
                   
                   I've changed my mind about that and am redoing and making them better, in hopes that maybe the administration will just move some of the remaining hubs not on niches on their own. Even 30 at two a month is fifteen months. It discourages me from writing new ones, although I wrote a new one last month and am in the process of writing another new one now.
                   
                   Take care .

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                   1. 77

                      lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                      Haha I can imagine. I'm lucky I didn't have to go through that process. Just a few hubs here and most were moved on their own. I think I submitted 2 or 3 of them. One was refused and I don't know why, never bothered trying to move it. No one on the forums could figure out an issue with the hub.
                      
                      When you write new hubs you do know that they are automatically added to the queue to be moved to the niche sites right? Only if they are not good enough are they left on HP. Sometimes this takes long, 2 weeks maybe. Other times it's fast like in 2 days or so. Depends on the niche and the load on the editors at that point in time. It should not stop you from writing new hubs, just make sure that they are the best and don't publish if they are not completed 100%.

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                      1. 88

                         Jean Bakulaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                         Hi,
                         Yes, I know when I publish new ones, they usually get moved to a niche as long as there is nothing really bad or lazy about them. I guess it's psychological, I just wish the old hubs would get moved, I've been looking at them for years now.
                         
                         I have deleted some, but kept the ones with good bones. I am now fixing them, as I said, so maybe I can decide I did my best, and move on. Maybe I'm just stuck.
                         
                         Take care.

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                         1. 77

                            lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                            Considering the amount of work and how busy we all get, those 15 months will go by real quick. I would edit the old ones and set them up so that they can be moved. Then begin with the new ones. Don't bother with the updates. The niche sites are good and strong, high quality. Updates by Google will move our traffic up and down, but in the long run, the articles are doing fairly well I would think.

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                            1. 88

                               Jean Bakulaposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                               Good idea. Then I can forget about the old ones and know I did my best (until the next batch of changes comes along). That's where I'm getting stuck.
                               
                               You are very young to be so wise .

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                               1. 77

                                  lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                                  Hehe. Thanks for those kind words.

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                               2. 77

                                  lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

                                  Jean, I posted a new thread about this issue, as I think it deserves its own. If you could help out by checking some terms you used to rank for (if they were how-tos) it would help understand this update better: https://hubpages.com/community/forum/33 … in-traffic

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16. 94

    nomadspiritposted 6 years ago

    I vote you HP citizen of the year.
    I don't qualify but would have loved being part of this. Maybe you could consider doing a hub on keyword planning and the tools you use for those of us who want to improve our craft for the internet when you have the time?

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    1. 77

       lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       I'm actually working on that for the past month now. But to be honest there's nothing new in there, I've already covered it all on the forums and I know for sure that DrMark and theraggededge do pretty much the same thing as me when it comes to keyword research.

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17. 78

    Bills Placeposted 6 years ago

    I know you've likely picked your 5 people, but if you get time for any advice I recently posted a hub that got moved to DenGarden in less than 10 days (wow).
    
    It's the 'Most Common Garden Pests' hub. This has motivated me to make a list of similar topic ideas as well.
    
    I'll have to look into SEMrush for sure.

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    1. 77

       lobobrandonposted 6 years agoin reply to this

       I limited myself to 5 people because I had the time to help 5 people the day I posted. Been busy, but I'll try and send emails to the others who commented here. But like I said on the Op it is most fruitful for people already getting 100 views or so a day. New hubs definitely won't have any suggestions because I am showing you what you already rank for but have not focused on or thought about. Maybe in a few weeks when I get back to this I'll give this one a try.

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       1. 78

          Bills Placeposted 6 years agoin reply to this

          Sounds good, thanks.
          
          After commenting, I did check out SEMrush, but can't afford $99/month. Know of any decent alternative tools (possibly free)?
          
          Oh, I did search Google for a couple keywords last night, here are the results:
          
          Most Common Garden Pests - 2nd page
          Common Garden Pests - 5th page.
          
          I was really surprised it ranked that quick!

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