Cant we make longer summaries anymore?

1. 67

   Dannytaylor02posted 12 years ago

   Cant we make longer summaries anymore?
   
   I am limited to 170 characters in my summary, does that go for everyone?

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2. 0

   JThomp42posted 12 years ago

   Yes, hubpages only recommends they be 2-3 sentences.

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3. 78

   Diana Leeposted 12 years ago

   Only a couple lines will show on the search engine or when you post it to another site like Facebook or Google+. You don't want it very long or it will be cut off in the middle of a sentence. Some will get cut off before 170 characters are reached.

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   1. 67

      Dannytaylor02posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      yeah i'm only talkingabout a few extra words so it will make more sense but it keeps saying that i have 0 characters left and i cant type anymore

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   2. 0

      Casimiroposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I've never seen the summary show up in SE results (at least not on Google). The first sentence or two does, not the summary. I think the summary is used for the metadata.

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4. 0

   Casimiroposted 12 years ago

   Good writing is in large part the ability to say what you want in as few words as possible.   I thought the summary box was a little small myself, however, when I was forced to use it the first time. I'm fairly well conditioned, however, by Twitter.

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   1. 67

      Dannytaylor02posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      haha it is hard mate and it's basically forcing me to text type!! OMG  LMFAO ROFL and all that...gimme more space please

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5. 76

   nikhilchandraposted 12 years ago

   Its no use writing bigger summaries. Writing longer summaries is like explaining "pithy" in 1000 words.
   
   The purpose of summary in Hubpages is that it is used by search engines as Meta Descriptions i.e. the snippet of text that you see when you type a search query in Google or Bing.
   
   Your summary will just appear below the Title of your Hub and as per the best practices your meta description should be between 160-166 characters.
   
   Longer copies (more than 166 words) are generally truncated in the search results. You would also notice that the serch keywords are highlighted in your description (Summary) snippet in search result. Your copy should be written like an ad copy and it should be crisp and concise and tell users exactly what your Hub is all about and why should you read it.

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   1. 67

      Dannytaylor02posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      i am finding it hard to make sense at the moment, all i need is about 6 more words and im golden, i guess i'll just have to adjust

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   2. 76

      nikhilchandraposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Whenever you are writing your Hub summary just keep in mind that only 160-166 characters (with spaces) will show in search results. Why write more when nobody else (that's your visitors) may read it except for you.

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6. 79

   MarleneBposted 12 years ago

   Yes. A quick summary is the goal - just two to three sentences. So, we are limited now.
   
   Your question prompts me to go back through my hubs to see what my previous (sometimes longer) summaries look like. I'm wondering now if they have been truncated to fit into the 170 character profile.

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7. 85

   jansharesposted 12 years ago

   I have adjusted some but I found it difficult. I don't think it will hurt if they are over, it just won't be seen by google, right? I like to maintain the integrity of the summary for hubbers to read so some of mine are still over limit. Also, visitors to your subdomain will see the whole summary.

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