Improving a Garden Tools Article

1. 96

   eugbugposted 5 years ago

   Any ideas how I could improve traffic to this article? It only gets about 4 views per day.
   https://dengarden.com/gardening/Selecti … -Gardening

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2. 95

   OldRosesposted 5 years ago

   I would re-title the hub.  "Best" articles are very popular now, so something along the lines of "How to Choose the Best Garden Tools For Spring"  or "The Best Garden Tools For Spring".

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3. 96

   eugbugposted 5 years ago

   Ok, I could try that. I can't remember whether I've tried such a title before, but I always include a hidden text module in hubs now, and record the titles I've tried (plus a hidden "to do" list as well).

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4. 95

   Kierstin Gunsbergposted 5 years ago

   I'd change the title to "What You Need to Start Gardening" and then I would make sure there's a list as the first capsule (under the cover photo). Also, make sure that your article totals at least 1200 words.

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   1. 96

      eugbugposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Ok, the word count is 1901.

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5. 96

   DrMark1961posted 5 years ago

   I just came into the house covered in sweat--I have been working in my garden. It would take some modifying but if you are up for a little work you will get a lot more traffic by using "10 Great Tools That Will Make Gardening Easier".
   I do not want you to tell me that I need a shovel and a wheelbarrow. Those tools will not make things easier.

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   1. 96

      eugbugposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      LOL, maybe I'll keep that in mind for the sequel!

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         DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

         I am doing an experiment this month so changed about 20 titles. 10 of them had power words added (effective, proven, powerful, authentic, etc) and 10 of them had parentheses added to the end of the title. Even if a hub is on the first page of the search engine it still needs a good title to improve click rate. I am not sure where your hub is ranking on Google but a title change may help improve traffic.

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         1. 96

            eugbugposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            I totally agree with the power word philosophy approach. I'm sure it does make readers believe they're in store for something wonderful if they click (and hopefully not be sadly disappointed!).

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6. 95

   Kierstin Gunsbergposted 5 years ago

   I'm really bad at eye-balling word counts so I just threw the suggestion out there   I would re-title it though and add the list because those are two things that will help it to be more visible when people are Googling around.

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7. 88

   lobobrandonposted 5 years ago

   I did some keyword research for you, based on what your page currently ranks for and I would suggest the following title:
   
   Essential Tools Used for Gardening and How to Choose the Best
   OR
   Essential Tools Used for Gardening and How to Choose Them
   Maybe
   Essential Gardening Tools for Beginners and How to Pick Them
   
   I have kept the character limit in mind when writing those titles, that is why Choose became Pick in the last suggestion.
   
   This is subjective, but when you say essential, I do not think you can have 20 essential tools. The best keyword does include the word essential, so I would put in a few tools as essentials and then the others as other helpful tools, or something of that sort.
   
   Think of your audience. Anyone who has ever gardened before is not going to come looking for your article using these keywords. It is just complete novices, and if you were a beginning would you want to be overwhelmed with 20 things? Most of which are not used, unless you are a pro or are in the garden often?
   
   I would just re-structure keeping this in mind, but not take away any products, instead put them later in the article.

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   1. 96

      eugbugposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Brandon, That's a good point about beginners being overwhelmed about the "20" figure and my target would be absolute novices.
      I'll experiment with those titles and see what happens.

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         DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

         What about 10 essentials and "10 essentials to add later"? If I am starting out I do not want to buy a a leaf blower, hedge trimmer, etc.
         According to some SEO experts that I have read a number in the title also increases click through rate.
         If you do decide to change the title, you need to check the pixel length since the one lobobrandon gave you fits perfectly into the new Google search title legths. If you add a number you will have to reduce or eliminate one of the other words.

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         1. 96

            eugbugposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            Do you mean have a sequel article with a listing of 10 more essentials tools?
            Or add a "10 essentials to add later" title further down the article with more advanced tools listed?

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         2. 88

            lobobrandonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            His main keywords are going to go out from the title with this change though. No point in having something that could potentially increase the CTR, if no one ever sees it.

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            1. 96

               DrMark1961posted 5 years agoin reply to this

               I was thinking that he should include the "10 essentials to add later" as a subtitle further down the article. That way it would not mess with the title you suggested for him, but would not include so many items at the top that a beginning gardener does not need.
               What do you think of "10 Essential Gardening Tools For Beginnings & How to Pick Them"?

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               1. 88

                  lobobrandonposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  Oh yeah, that's what I suggested too, putting some of them later down, to not make newbies feel overwhelmed. Your suggestion seems fine, but I don't know, 10 also seems like a high number of new things I need if I want to take up a hobby. Maybe that's just me.

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8. 96

   eugbugposted 5 years ago

   So I changed the title to "Essential Gardening Tools for Beginners and How to Pick Them" 5 weeks ago, but traffic is still only about 7 views per day.
   So maybe I should just try all the other suggestions?

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9. 92

   blueheronposted 5 years ago

   I have a hub, called Easy-to-Grow Flowers for the Beginning Gardener, that normally does very well in spring. This year it is getting a couple of views a week. It's just weird. Other gardening articles are doing well.

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10. 88

    lobobrandonposted 5 years ago

    You need to do some keyword research and then write your hub so that it is optimised for those keywords.

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11. 95

    aesta1posted 5 years ago

    Have you tried promoting it on social media? I get more traffic there though, of course, you prefer to have more organic traffic.

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