Content is the king - really?

1. 60

   C.V.Rajanposted 15 years ago

   Think of this.
   
   People say, content is the king in Hubs (or anywhere where you write articles and aim to get Adsense revenue).
   
   If I write a good article containing rich info on the subject, people will read it, get the info they wanted, appreciate it and go away.
   
   But if I write a "keyword" rich article that can attract search engine ranking but if the article contains very little useful info, then people will look at the google ads adjacent to my article to seek better info, click it and move away, giving me a few pennies in the bargain. That's what we write for. Right?
   
   So, content is not the king! What do you say?!

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      Ultimate Hubberposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Despite writing a keyword rich copy, you will lose your search engine rankings, because more people will press back button than the ones who will click the ads and this can sometimes lead to a site or a page totally vanishing from the SERPs.

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   2. 85

      rebekahELLEposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I say content is king if you want good referrals, google will keep you at the top.
      
      evergreen content that can always be searched.

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      1. 58

         yoshi97posted 15 years agoin reply to this

         As Google measures time on site as well as hits, how you pull people in and hold their attention work strongly into how high you place on Google. If you are on page 153, you won't get any hits ... regardless of how many keywords you have in your document.
         
         You need the keywords to get your initial ranking and you need good content to keep that ranking.
         
         Here's a fine example ...
         
         When I type 'great hook' without the quotes in Google I find my page is number one. Now, I need to tell you that I created no backlinks, I did not keyword research, and I allowed it to place where it wanted to ... number 1 out of 51,000,000 pages.
         
         Does this page make me any money? Not really. Why? Because the topic doesn't sell anything ... except for maybe a book on writing.
         
         The number one mistake writers for adsense make is when they write about topics that can never be identified with a product.
         
         In fact, the best thing an author can do when picking a keyword is check to see what ads will show up for it and decide if they are marketable ... they can even slant the article toward the focus of the ads.
         
         For example, if a keyword phrase on fishing lures presents a lot of ads on fishing in Canada, then one might pepper the article with information on using fishing lures to fish in Canada's lakes and streams.
         
         You silently set the hook that fly fishing in Canada could be fun and hope the reader connects the dots and clicks the Canada fishing ads. That's how you work your content to sell your ads without violating any of Google's rules.
         
         And how does one check for such ads? Glad you asked ... Here's an example for fishing lures:
         
         ttp://www.google.com/sponsoredlinks?&q="fishing+lures"
         
         Now, all you need to do is substitute your keyword phrase for the word fishing lures, being certain to substitute each space with a plus sign(+). Here's an example for ads dealing with canadian fishing:
         
         ttp//www.google.com/sponsoredlinks?&q="canadian+fishing"
         
         And yet another one for cabins in canada:
         
         ttp://www.google.com/sponsoredlinks?&q="fishing+in+canada"
         
         If you get no results, then there are no adsense ads for your keyword phrase, which equates to no money to be had. Also, if there are only a handful of ads, then you can assume the keyword doesn't monetize well. If it did, more advertisers would compete for it.
         
         For each example type http instead of ttp at the beginning ... If I type it differently it ruins the example.

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         1. 75

            sunforgedposted 15 years agoin reply to this

            Just because this is so good, it should be stickied

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            1. 58

               yoshi97posted 15 years agoin reply to this

               Much of what you, Darkside, and Relache say on the forums should be stickied ... My stuff is just taking what you guys and gals taught me and advancing it in speakease for the rest of us.

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                  Laura du Toitposted 15 years agoin reply to this

                  I agree. The forums are very informative and you get a variety of opinions on a subject from successful hubbers. Thanks to those that are so willing to share their knowledge.

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   3. 57

      andromidaposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      You have a very good point and thanks for sharing. But before doing so we need to decide why we write. Some write for fun while some are looking for a sale or a adsense click and targeting the relevant keywords to make money.The key is the intention of the hubs. It is also true that if your contents are poor then it wouldn't do well at all in google ranking,so you may loose organic traffic from google,who are the potential traffic likely to make a click on your hubs.

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   4. 59

      wsp2469posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I say you made a good point.
      I say you have to decide if you want to be a good writer or a good advertiser.
      Finally, i don't sweat this place.  I just have fun.
      the score here have little to do with the quality of your writing.
      I dropped from an 89 in the past month or so simly because some people didn't like what i said here in the forums and turned me in to admin who bulk flagged my hubs/took them off the air because I did not know what kind of pictures you could get away with posting and what you couldn't.
      Bottom line is you are correct.

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   5. 62

      Karina S.posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      what if you do both: some article for content some for ads?

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   6. 65

      awareposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      what does it say about anyone in it for the money? the content is a price tag?in it for the money is a after thought i think. i love my trade. but when it became a job . its luster quickly fades.

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      itechposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      u want money or trust,
      Trust can lead sometimes u to such a place in future where you can earn a minimum of 50$ a day & Money always makes u remain where you were presently or a slow upgrade to trust.

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2. 63

   SandyMcCollumposted 15 years ago

   Hi CV,
   I think it's better to  provide good content and hope the reader clicks an ad he likes AFTER reading my articles. If you post keyword-rich useless pieces to make the ad money, you will ruin any reputation as a writer you may have built. And, there are other places to write, so I use my hubs as example pieces, too. Besides, what if they just click the "back" button all the time? I guess it depends on what you're in it for. Just MHO.

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3. 57

   Dame Scribeposted 15 years ago

   Well, little content means less,limited and less focused ads too don't think everybody will find the info specific to their query or the ads. Content provides room for text ads too not just adsense.

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4. 60

   C.V.Rajanposted 15 years ago

   Sandy,
   
   Honestly I am incapable of writing useless pieces (I mean, useless in MY opinion!) but this is just a thought. Perhaps the content need not be useless, but could be "too less informative".
   
   Sometimes, when I read some articles of others, I really feel that way. Perhaps it was a strategy?!

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5. 75

   sunforgedposted 15 years ago

   That is a strong technique for adsense earnings, i.e. keyword rich, poor content , proper ad placement= clicks
   
   But truly good information and writing leads to more actual people sharing your work with friends, bookmarking, referencing and linking which can lead to stronger traffic base and rankings in the long term.
   
   Personally, i write for the long term and look forward to years of earnings
   
   SO content is king for longevity...but as you have noticed good content has very little to do with adsense earnings

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   1. 0

      BookFlameposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I am continually astounded at the amount of crap that passes for content and yet gets high page rankings on Google and, presumably, generates high adsense earnings. These "article writers!"  Most from India, Pakistan, Eastern Europe . . . . who don't know a noun from a verb and get paid $1.00 for 10,000 words!  And people buy it from them and slop that stuff up on websites.  Surely the Apocalypse is near, or at least the apocalypse for the English language.

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   2. 69

      lrohnerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I tend to agree. I'd rather have 1% of 5,000 people clicking my ads than 10% of 50 people!

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6. 60

   C.V.Rajanposted 15 years ago

   Sunforged,
   
   I take your word.
   
   Ahem!
   
   If my income is any indication, well, I can claim myself (irrespective of my true worth!) that I am a "content-rich" writer

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   1. 68

      Hmrjmr1posted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Not to worry lad you're not alone!

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7. 0

   bloodnlatexposted 15 years ago

   CV, this is the way I've gone about writing on here.  I write what I want and how I want.  That way, what I have in the end is something that I am proud of.  If it is of good quality and is useful, the people will come back to see what else you've done.  If you make a few bucks off of it, great.  Once you have a number of decent articles put together, start submitting bids for freelance writing jobs.  Use the articles you wrote here as your portfoilo.  You will make a lot more money from writing jobs than you will here.  But this is still a great place to continue to grew as a writer, and get feedback on your work.

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   1. 0

      bloodnlatexposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Hub Pages is the ultimate writer's workshop/proving gorund.

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   2. 0

      lyricsingrayposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      I feel the same way Blood, thanks

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8. 54

   wrenfrost56posted 15 years ago

   I think content is king, hopefully if you write well and the reader enjoys yours work, they will want to read more of your hubs, maybe share it or bookmark it and return. Clicks are good but good writing is more important to me

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9. 76

   kirstenblogposted 15 years ago

   I take that advice when starting a hub that says quality original content is a must for a good hub, read it each and every time and am probably being subtly brainwashed (needs a good wash too, way to dirty my brain )
   
   I do write to earn and I suppose if I got frustrated I might try some crappy hub filled with keywords and broken sentences with no real interest but when I started getting a tad frustrated I came to these here forums. Folks told me not to even think about earnings until I had at least 100 hubs! Any earnings made with fewer hubs are impressive but often a fluke so just be patient. I took this advice and I figure whenever I get clicks its a compliment to my writing or a fluke, can't wait until I have 100 hubs or more! The thing is the patience has started to show results, older hubs are starting to be organically back linked and their hub scores are starting to crawl up in the numbers. I saw one of my hubs the other day hit 92 for a bit, whoo hoo! To help me keep patient I usually try to research new topics I might like to learn about/write about or reading other hubs to learn from and comment on and of course the ever popular forums
   
   I think in the long term valuable content, informative or entertaining content is going to be the better earner and is likely to offer surprising opportunities even.

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10. 85

    Rebecca E.posted 15 years ago

    I'll say this content is king if you are looking long term,
    
    if you are looking for fast money and little subtance well, shall we say a 15 minute flash of fame?
    
    My content rich hubs seem to be doing well, and the ones that weren't so content rich aren't.

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11. 85

    rebekahELLEposted 15 years ago

    "Now, all you need to do is substitute your keyword phrase for the word fishing lures, being certain to substitute each space with a plus sign(+). Here's an example for ads dealing with canadian fishing:"
    
    
    
    YOSHI, what do you mean by the above, substituting each space with a plus sign?
    
    BTW, your post is very helpful, thanks.

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    1. 58

       yoshi97posted 15 years agoin reply to this

       fishing lures should be typed as fishing+lures
       
       I'll edit the three examples to make them more useful.

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12. 60

    darksideposted 15 years ago

    I write to give the reader something of value.
    
    When I search for information, I want to find something worth reading.
    
    Content is king.

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13. 85

    rebekahELLEposted 15 years ago

    yes, so very helpful. sometimes in the forums, I feel like I am in class. so much learning.   thanks guys.

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14. 59

    Elijah Sposted 15 years ago

    Writing extra long (and quality) articles also helps. Despite the good content, people get bored, or drift, and click on the ads.

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    1. 0

       R.G. San Ramonposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       This made me laugh!

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15. 60

    Clara Ghomesposted 15 years ago

    Yes, I do believe in the content. it is the real king and rest is illusion. Content must be rich when you do any post. If the content is not real and good the reade's will not find any interest and will simply leave in teh half way. So it indeed is the king!

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16. 61

    Lisa HWposted 15 years ago

    I think it always pays (eventually and in different ways) to aim to produce the best unique content you can.  I think we just need to do our own thing, because that's what will get the best results for us (that and paying some attention to SEO and keywords, which I pretty much don't  ).  I have a mix of different types of Hubs, with some earners and others that don't particularly earn anything worth mentioning.  The ones people like best are usually the ones I do when I disregard any rules about "what a Hub is supposed to be" or "what makes a good online article", and just include whatever I think will pack a little punch.  It's worth mentioning, I think, that it can take a while for some non-earners to start earning; but after they're online for a while even they sometimes start earning.

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17. 0

    pgrundyposted 15 years ago

    Thanks to all the pros here who post such great advice for free. I learn so much here from other hubbers.
    
    If I write an 'evergreen' content-rich hub it usually does well over time, but not always. Hubs with little content (political hubs, humor?} shouldn't earn as much but sometimes they do.
    
    Predicting what will earn and what won't is nearly impossible for me, because I write about what interests me, for me.
    
    If you want to make money, I think you HAVE to do both: content and marketing. I only do one (sort of) and so I only sort of make money.

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18. 72

    CarpetDiemposted 15 years ago

    It really depends on what your purpose is...
    
    That said, I always like to answer this question by saying, Yes, content is KING, and links are QUEEN, and we all know who really runs most households.
    You really need both...
    
    Of course, again, it all depends on what your purpose is in the first place.
    
    

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19. 66

    AdsenseStrategiesposted 15 years ago

    What does it mean to make something sticky -- I saw a reference to that above...

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20. 61

    Jason Menayanposted 15 years ago

    Community members:
    
    Thank you for flagging that spam post.
    
    If you don't mind, though, please do not quote the spam message in your reply; it just creates more work for us as we have to "clean up" every reply with the offending spam. (The spammers hope we won't bother with spam embedded in legitimate users' replies.)
    
    Thank you!
    

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21. 41

    Neil Ashworthposted 15 years ago

    Content is king without a doubt and in Google's eyes your long term value will benefit from sunforged's advice on social bookmarking and your content being shared - if you stuff your article with keywords and poor content, yes you will gain in the short term but if you provide value which is read and bookmarked or shared socially, Google will begin to see your pages as authority and they will show more and more in search for related terms, thereby generating long term income from additional exposure.
    
    I have written a set of articles about a particular business model which is heavily searched for by internet marketers and would-be home business owners - people very likely to click on adsense ads. Initially, my earnings from these hubs was relatively low but after a couple of months the set of 13 articles now generates around $50-$75 per month in adsense income - not huge but the income is growing and all these pages are 1,000 plus words, well researched and although correctly targeted with tags and url, not heavily done on keywords
    
    Content is king for sure - its a long road to wealth but the only one with any real value...
    
    (Great question by the way.)

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22. 0

    Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years ago

    There's always a current method of scamming google placement. Then google catches up and these sites get trounced. (Google Arbitrage is a good example of a failed method.)
    
    As Google continues to learn to analyze grammar and word usage, poorly written sites with lousy grammer, poor vocabulary choices and artifical syntax will fail - guaranteed.
    
    But then the scammers will move on to something else. It's the way of the web.

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    1. 41

       Neil Ashworthposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       Very true - a lot of successful internet marketers who have developed their business using various "black hat" tactics are also running long term "white hat" strategies alongside, that way developing and growing a solid, stable business for the rainy day when Google catches up with them. It's a tough question to answer but given the option of massive traffic for a short period of time over long term stability which would you chose? or would you?

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23. 70

    Cagsilposted 15 years ago

    I prefer to give my followers something of value. I try to project a sense of life form of knowledge, that I want to impact them, so as to get them to talk about what they read.
    
    The best form of advertising is word of mouth. That circle hunts year round and is never boring. People talk about things every single day and when they encounter 'content rich' writing, it forces them to step back and introspect. This is the greatest accomplishment a writer can hope for. Making your reader think about what you want them to.
    
    Therefore, I say content is absolutely ruler. It will bring you returns you cannot calculate. Thank you.

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24. 61

    bojanglesk8posted 15 years ago

    You are a very smart man. Kudos.

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25. 69

    MikeNVposted 15 years ago

    Search Engines are just software.  And what you are missing is that Google will reward poor content with pennies a click and quality content with DOLLARS PER CLICK.

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       Mike Rogersposted 15 years agoin reply to this

       I think that is absolutely correct, MikeNV. Focus on serving the needs of your visitors with quality content and everything else will fall into place.

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