Is Hubpages losing popularity?

1. 81

   GlendaGoodWitchposted 12 years ago

   Is Hubpages losing popularity?
   
   I know that back in September Hubpages views and therefore, peoples profiles took a major dive. I read that writers were leaving Hubpages in droves. Are there significantly less writers here? Is it regaining popularity?

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2. 79

   Patkayposted 12 years ago

   One thing I know is that people come and go. Others like the place and they stay forever. For me, this is the first site to write for and the first site to earn from. So i am sure that i am here to stay since i get a payout every month. There are those who leave because they do not get what they wanted.
   
   For those who have got what they wanted, I am sure they will stay despite the numerous challenges they will encounter on the way. What i am sure of is that those who run Hubpages would like it to be popular as ever. To them it is a business and they have to do their level best to maintain it.

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3. 71

   sharingknowledgeposted 12 years ago

   I personally don't think so. I am new to Hubpages and i guess it is not only me who is new here. I have plenty of idea to write about and it is only the time which affects me. May be to the older members who have written plenty and now they having nothing to add on apart from earning only. I like Hubpages and from outside there, it is mentioned as one of the best sites to make money on which means that it is still popular with regard.

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4. 80

   dailytop10posted 12 years ago

   If we consider Hubpages' standing in search engine results, the answer is no. Most of my hubs managed to get on the first page on infamous keywords without applying serious SEO strategies. This only signifies that Google and other search engines still consider HP as a great resource of reliable information.

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5. 86

   sparksterposted 12 years ago

   There are currently 129,179 published users.

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   1. 0

      Casimiroposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Which is down by about 13% since last September. That's a pretty steep drop. Views are about the same on avg. since then, but down about 25% from a year ago.

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6. 75

   pagesvoiceposted 12 years ago

   HP has not lost its popularity with me. I guess it all boils down to what people are looking for on a writing site.
   
   I started out writing on several different sites throughout the years. I left many because of horrible quality controls, plagiarism, and nonsensical content. Eventually I landed on a site that was primarily filled with writers from the UK, the U.S. and Canada. The community was fantastic and the earnings were phenomenal. Alas, it folded and many were left floundering in a sea of despair when a few of us caught wind of HP. One member joined, then another and the rest is history.
   
   I find that being a member here is not restrictive as far as content and offers an array of venues to be active in. I've been fortunate to have several of my hubs published in a national magazine that is sold in all Barnes & Noble and Book World stores within the United States. So, for me, HP is as popular as ever and the people I follow and who follow me are what solidifies our community here.

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7. 80

   LuisEGonzalezposted 12 years ago

   Popularity goes and comes, but a far as what I know, HP is one of the best (if not the best) writing site. There are many qualities that makes this site great. We may not like all the things that HP does but it is better than many others.

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8. 60

   Goody5posted 12 years ago

   Since September, the month you mentioned in this question, there has been a steady exodus of writers from the hub pages. I've been keeping track of the statics since last year, and the numbers look anything but favorable for the hub pages - http://goody5.hubpages.com/hub/Google-vs-the-Hub-Pages You can use your own judgement on this, but numbers don't lie.

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9. 0

   Vickiwposted 12 years ago

   I suppose the only way to answer this would be to make a comparison of how many writers join Hubpages over a certain time period, and and how many leave, or don't interact. As I have absolutely no idea of these stats I cannot really answer this question. I am quite new to HP, but it certainly is not losing its popularity with me, or, I suspect, with my many new HP friends. I guess as people leave, others take their place.
   It's a bit like walking around in a crowded city, and someone asks you how many people live there. If you're in the middle of them, it feels like a lot, but you really have no way of determining if this is so, and exactly how large the population is.

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10. 71

    LoisRyan13903posted 12 years ago

    some people may joing but not do much on HP.  Others may look at other get paid to write sites to se if there is something better.  Some of those who leave may come back.  It doesn't seem that there are less writers because I believe for every one that leaves HP, another person joins.

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11. 84

    Joelipooposted 12 years ago

    I know that I simply did not have time to get on and write.  I have returned to Hubpages in the past few weeks and hope to remain active.  Other people may simply just go through periods when they do not have enough time either.

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12. 74

    SidKempposted 12 years ago

    Putting together what I see here, I think the clear answer is "no, HubPages is not losing popularity."
    
    Our position with Google is maintaining or increasing, in spite of Panda updates, thanks to the dedicated work of the HubPages corporate team. Those who stay with the program can get increasing readership, even if the growth process is slower than we like.
    
    People who come to HubPages for community and sharing of writing have a great place to be.
    
    People who come to HubPages to make money face a huge challenge. Most will find it more difficult than they thought, as I have. Each of us will either adjust or become inactive or depart. Big events like the September Panda update will create a "shakedown" in which uncertain people will leave rapidly. This gives the appearance of shrinking.
    
    But does a garden have less life in the winter? Can a ski equipment business gauge it's success by comparing January to June? No. Cycles are natural in a growth process. The weeding out is unfortunate, but necessary.
    
    I believe HubPages continues to be strong and vital, and the key factor is mentioned by DailyTop10.
    
    Now, I also trust Goody5's reporting of the number of Hubbers. But I disagree with Goody's metaphor. I don't see a battle. I see Google, HubPages, and each of us Hubbers who wants to make a significant income as an online writer working together to provide real value in an increasingly noisy Internet. Also, a 10% drop in the number of Hubbers over 6 months is not a big issue. Many companies go through such cycles and succeed. In fact, all great companies do.
    
    For each individual who wants to make money on HubPages, is the number of other Hubbers a significant factor? I don't think so. Rather, the quality of new hubs is key. So, if there are fewer hubbers, it may be because writing stellar hubs is essential to success now, and that takes a lot of work, and most don't want to do it.
    
    But each of us has our own sub-domain. So our success is not keyed to the number of other hubbers. It is keyed to our own commitment to succeeding in online writing.
    
    For me, that's here on HubPages, though I will also diversify.

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13. 81

    Wayne Brownposted 12 years ago

    HubPages is suffering some of the issues that many companies suffer when they institute "change for the sake of change".  Having been here for over three years as a writer, I have seen format changes which did not improve but actually made things worse. The change you mentioned being one of the worst.  At one time there was a way to view all "hubbers" and see their scoring levels....all gone now.  HubPages continues to have some level of success because most of its competition is far worse in terms of functionality and format.  So what it boils down to is that HP is not so good...to the contrary, the competition is just so bad.  Many of those that I started writing here with have lost interest because HP and Google have so choked down the exposure as to make their efforts rather worthless....not in terms of money but just visibility as a writer.  ~WB

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14. 0

    lesliebyarsposted 12 years ago

    I think it's more popular now than ever before.

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15. 80

    Greekgeekposted 12 years ago

    I haven't been recording the "regulars" vs "passersby" stat over time, which would allow us to cut through subjective impressions and look at the actual numbers, but you can study overall traffic for the site over time here:
    https://www.quantcast.com/hubpages.com
    
    it's doing much better than it was during the first year of Panda, but as with so many sites that were hit, its traffic has never totally recovered.

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    1. 0

       Casimiroposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Actually, if you look at the total graph, the trend is not our friend. Not only hasn't it recovered, but the views are slowly declining.

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16. 34

    wqaindiaposted 12 years ago

    Bring retired executives like me to come into the fold of HubPages announcing special incentives and recognition the the golden oldies. Senior persons have rich practical experience and if experience and technology shake hands the end result will be superb. HubPages knows how to achieve it. At least I am not going to leave the HubPage till I live...

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17. 72

    michiganman567posted 12 years ago

    I think that Hubpages is still popular.  Popularity rolls in and out with every Google panda change.  Views come and go, but every site experiences the same ebb and flows.

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18. 63

    rclinton5280posted 12 years ago

    Hub Pages has definitely lost some of it's popularity. The site as a whole had a drop in page rank due to people writing too much spammy/press release type material. Another issue plaguing hubpages is the manner in which they manipulate the earnings. I personally stopped writing on this site when I found out that hubpages keeps all of the income from sales from ebay. They promise a 60/40 split, but don't mention that means they keep all profits while handing you pennies. I had an $80 commission on a sale from a hub, which hub pages kept all of. I have had hundreds of dollars in commissions credited to my articles, and hp has kept every penny. I can't speak for anyone else, but I will not write anything else on this site until they change that policy. They are cheating the writers out of what should be their money, and that makes me sick.

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    1. 81

       LauraVerderberposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       That doesn't sound right. Is that true? I got commissions from Ebay sales.

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19. 77

    Barbara Kayposted 12 years ago

    Glenda, When they talk about September, they are talking about September of 2011 when Panda hit all of the content sites. The writers that are leaving now are the ones that are unhappy with hubs being put in idle. It does seem to help to update hubs that are not getting traffic, so it is a good idea. It just should have been carried out where it warned you that the hub needed updating instead of de-indexing it.
    
    I've been here almost 3 years and I still find Hubpages the best place to write.

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20. 83

    peachpurpleposted 12 years ago

    i don't understand why people are leaving HP. I find that HP has the most interesting hubs and are popular in google search.

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21. 87

    Chuckposted 12 years ago

    I don't think that HubPages is losing popularity as it remains a major site for people searching for information.
    
    As to writers leaving, I have been writing for HubPages for a little over six years (I joined HubPages a few months after it started) and have seen some good writers and many poor writers leave.  I have also seen a large increase in good writers joining HubPages and regularly writing great Hubs.
    
    I imagine that most good writers who leave do so for various personal reasons.  In many cases, HubPages is a side job for them.  This is probably true of part-time writers as well as professional freelance writers. 
    
    For others, like me, writing for HubPages is a part time affair engaged in during spare time while working 40 hours or more a week in another profession. 
    
    I can see people leaving or at least stop writing for a while because they are busy with other commitments (my friend Jimmy the Jock stopped Hubbing for a number of months due to the press of other responsibilities and then returned after a few months). 
    
    In other cases HubPages may have been a starting point for someone wanting to move into a writing career and once they established themselves moved on to other writing jobs.
    
    So I don't think that HubPages is losing popularity.  With thousands of part-time amateur writers publishing on HubPages there is bound to be a degree of turnover as some current Hubbers leave and new people discover the site and join thereby replacing those leaving.

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