Is it worth it? All this writing, photographing and editing, and page views are

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   Imogen Frenchposted 11 years ago

   Is it worth it? All this writing, photographing and editing, and page views are still going down.
   
   I wonder if I am wasting my time here on Hubpages, I pour my heart out and share my best recipes, I have written 72 hubs over the last year and a half, I feel that the quality and content of my hubs has improved since I began, but page views are going down instead of up - I've only had 27 page views today! What is going wrong? I do enjoy writing and making hubs, but am starting to feel disheartened.

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   TIMETRAVELER2posted 11 years ago

   I suspect your problem is competition.  You write mostly in an area that is inundated with articles, and the more there are, the more competition you have.  Try some new topics to see if they help, and also make sure to search on Google to see what your competition is and make sure you are using searchable key words and titles.  Hope this helps.

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      Imogen Frenchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks time traveller, that sounds like good advice. I think the whole internet is saturated with articles about everything you can imagine, it's kind of hard to think of a new subject matter without it being too "niche", but I  do have some ideas!

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   Claudia Telloposted 11 years ago

   I wish I could say otherwise but exactly the same is happening to me. I am also now thinking it is not worth all the effort. I´ve written about a variety of topics and the results are always more or less the same. What I am earning in HP for all my work here is absolutely ridiculous.

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      Imogen Frenchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for your reply Claudia. We like to think we don't do it for the money - but a little incentive would not go amiss - some reward for all our hard work.

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   susi10posted 11 years ago

   Hi Imogen French,
   I am very sorry to hear this. I am sure you heard of this before, but I would definitely try out the 'Google Keywords Tool'. You will need a Google Account, which you probably use for Google Analytics and AdSense. Then. type in a word or phrase that you would like to write about. On the left, select 'exact' and then search. You will see a list of keywords you can use along with global monthly searches and competition. Try aiming for keywords with high searches and low competition. Even a slight variation in keywords can impact dramatically on your daily traffic, that is why the keyword tool can offer better variations of the same phrase. It works very well for me!

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      Imogen Frenchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      thanks susi - I'll give it a go. do you just use the keywords in the title?

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      susi10posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, I incorporate good keywords into the title and in the summary. However, I do not overuse them either.

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   Cerebral Aspectposted 11 years ago

   It isn't ONLY about writing good quality material, though that is the most important aspect.  Until you get a substantial regular following, you have to PROMOTE your hubs, I use facebook a lot to do that.  You can also use twitter or pintrest.  The first month I was here, I didn't get a lot of views, until I started to promote...now I get more views with less effort of promotion.

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      Imogen Frenchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I do use twitter, pinterest and my own blog to promote my hubs, but never more than once or twice per hub as I don't like to overdo it, and only get a limited response from this

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   TNT Huskyposted 11 years ago

   Unless you're writing for the sake of writing, it really wouldn't be worth it. you should never subject yourself to something you don't enjoy, no matter the trade-off. It may not be making me a ton of money, but I love the work I do. I take pride in writing about these subjects. I like what little money I've gained with it, but It's all about the writing for me. every extra bit of effort is simply a labor of love.

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      Imogen Frenchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      yes, enjoyment is the main thing

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   tirelesstravelerposted 11 years ago

   I started writing to make some extra cash and discovered it was really fun. Aggravating sometimes. I began with the intention being a travel writer. The field was way too competitive, so I found other areas. The hubs that do the best for me are the ones I enjoyed creating most.

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      Imogen Frenchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Yes, the main thing is to enjoy it. I do get satisfaction out of creating a nice hub, and don't really mind too much about the money side of it. It would just be nice to get some decent stats again.

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   ChitrangadaSharanposted 11 years ago

   I think this is happening with most of the hubbers here.
   Some are fortunate enough, because their followers share, pin or tweet their hub. It is very  important that those who read it post comments,vote it up or share it. In fact this is for mutual benefit. But unfortunately this does not happen to everyone, inspite of writing quality hubs.
   May be people are not getting enough time, as they are involved in the process of revamping their own hubs.

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      Imogen Frenchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for your input, I think the problem is site-wide, and all the changes that keep happening don't make it any easier. While we are all busy trying to keep our own hubs featured, we don't have as much time to support each other.

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   Abby Campbellposted 11 years ago

   Sorry to hear abut the views on your hubs! That's an unfortunate for sure, and I can certainly understand your discouragement.
   
   I use to write blogs and articles for my own websites. Even though my websites were in the top 1 percent of all U.S. websites, I was discouraged about the views of my blogs and articles and decided to stop as I felt I was wasting my time. That's when I began writing for HP because I felt that I could reach more people.
   
   Fortunately, I have not had the problems you are currently having. My views are gradually increasing, and I've been very pleased. With that being said, I've been in the Apprenticeship program since January and have learned a great deal about online writing. With the information I've received and heeded to (which is all the information given to you by the other repliers here in this thread), I believe that has made all the difference. I would encourage you to learn as much as you can about the promotion of your hubs either through the Apprenticeship program or the HP Learning Center.
   
   http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/contents

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      Imogen Frenchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Abby, I think the apprenticeship program certainly helps as you get a lot of support. I applied once but was rejected because I filled the form out wrong or something. sounds like it is working for you

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      Abby Campbellposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Imogen French. I'm sorry you were rejected from the program. Maybe you can reapply? It's certainly worth it. Thinks are working for me right now, but who knows what tomorrow brings. I hope things look up for you. Stay encouraged. :-)

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      Imogen Frenchposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      thanks Abby, I may reapply when I have a bit more time to commit to it.

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