Unpublishing articles

1. 84

   Jonathan Wylieposted 5 years ago

   I have 8-10 articles that have got zero views over the last 30 days. They normally pick up some views, but this month I noticed they got none. Some are recent articles, others less so. Some have thousands of total views, but none in the last 30 days. So, I have decided to unpublish them for now until I decide what to do with them. Has anyone else seen this? Any suggestions other than to rework the SEO? All of these articles are featured and most are on niche sites.

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   1. 91

      Will Apseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Seems to be a bad month all round. I am just hanging on hoping things improve and updating pages in hope of better times.
      
      Having said that, if you have somewhere else to publish why not try a small experiment?

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      1. 84

         Jonathan Wylieposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Experiment? What did you have in mind?

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         1. 91

            Will Apseposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            Sorry to throw a question back at you, but what do you think is the problem with leaving them published?
            
            I think I might have misunderstood your intentions.

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   2. 98

      RonElFranposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      What would be your purpose in unpublishing those articles? I've never understood what's to be gained by doing so, unless you have somewhere else to move them to. Plus, I've had a number of instances where weak performers suddenly took off. For example, I have one that after years of having just a few views per day suddenly experienced a surge. Though it has receded from its high point, it still gets many more views than in its dormant period, and now has a total of almost 30,000.
      
      I don't know why that particular article took off, and could never have predicted it would. But clearly if I had unpublished it because it seemed not to be doing well, I'd have missed out on tens of thousands of views, and never even known what I missed. So, I never unpublish any of my articles.

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      1. 93

         ziyenaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         Great feedback Ron

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   3. 88

      Jean Bakulaposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with Ron. Sometimes an article gets little traffic for a year, and all of a sudden everyone seems to discover it, or become interested in the content. Unless you have a money making blog, you may as well leave it here, especially if it's on a niche. Look at ways to refresh it: Write a more compelling summary, add better pictures.

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   4. 85

      Sherry Hewinsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      I certainly would never unpublish an article just because it hadn't got any views in 30 days, especially if it was relatively new. It takes time for them to get their footing. And, as others have said, unless you have some other use for them why not just leave them here?

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2. 81

   bhattucposted 5 years ago

   The place is crowded much and similar articles are strewn here and there. So many authors might be experiencing this.
   
   This may be a temporary phase. Let us hope for better times.
   
   Let us keep contributing.
   
   Good day.

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3. 84

   Ladymermaidposted 5 years ago

   If you haven't updated in awhile perhaps an update is in order. I've discovered a couple of mine with the old small photos in them so wound up doing a run through updating to insure I have the bulk of them in presentable order.

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   1. 62

      EricFarmer8xposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      I have unpublished a few articles because I could not think of a way to update them and I did not like how they currently looked. I would rather spend more time writing new content then trying to save articles that are not doing well months later.
      
      That being said I agree that you should not do this too often. Maybe this is a mistake but I only have so much time so articles that are forever lingering in views are not helping me.
      
      To be more clear I am talking about hubs I had that have not seen one view in over a month. Even on the networks sites.

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4. 77

   psycheskinnerposted 5 years ago

   I tend to leave articles up until/unless I have an idea to change them.  The weirdest topics will suddenly get popular again.  Last year my article on melanism in animals got crazy traffic because of some blow up about a racially insensitive YA novel.

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5. 60

   daniellepopovitsposted 5 years ago

   I would leave the articles published and hope for more traffic in the future. I know that it can definitely fluctuate. Maybe consider making some small changes/edits to any articles that aren't getting views to see if that helps.

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6. 96

   Deb Vesco Robertsposted 5 years ago

   I have 3-4 I'm considering unpublishing for only 1-200 hits over 6 months, because they are bringing my overall score down. If I remove the ones in the 70-80 range, my overall score will be in the upper 90's. People say the score doesn't mean anything, but it must, else they wouldn't have it. I honestly can't figure out the difference between the article score average and the number on my profile. I've tried improving these low-hit musings, but unless I share them on my Facebook blog-sharing pages or Pin them, I don't see any traffic. They are some of my earlier writings when I was trying to figure things out, so perhaps they don't even belong on HP at this point. What to do!?

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7. 77

   psycheskinnerposted 5 years ago

   Giving up traffic and earnings potential, no matter how modest, to improve an abstract score -- is not something I understand.

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   1. 96

      Deb Vesco Robertsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Are you saying these scores do not mean anything? How much earning potential can there be to an article that has gotten maybe 100 views in 6 months? Looking to educate myself on these questions.

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      1. 76

         Wesman Todd Shawposted 5 years agoin reply to this

         The scores definitely mean something. The thing about the scores is that you and I will never know what they actually mean. Only HP staff knows what the scores mean.
         
         100 views in 6 months is very poor. I would also feel pretty down on that article, but it doesn't mean the topic you chose was bad, maybe the thing needs a lot more in depth expansion.

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         1. 96

            Deb Vesco Robertsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

            Agreed. I've edited and expanded, but it's more of a fluff and feel good article based on a little experience I had; it really has nothing to offer in terms of advice or expertise. As for the score, it stands to reason that whatever it may mean to HP staff, the higher, the better. I believe it is an average of all the articles scores from what I can see. I'm going to take that one article down that has 70 hits and call that one a learning experience! I'll move it back to my regular blog and maybe one day I'll figure out how to make it pop.

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            1. 76

               Wesman Todd Shawposted 5 years agoin reply to this

               I've taken, and I mean this very very literally, probably around 200 articles off this website. I put them on Blogger from here. No, it wasn't always a good decision, but I do not want to completely waste something I put any amount of time into.
               
               I'd make myself a Blogger account, were I you, and assuming you have Adsense, you can run Adsense ads on your posts there.

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               1. 96

                  Deb Vesco Robertsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  I have a blog on Wordpress, with my own domain, and I do have Adsense connected. I finally figured out how to do it; not the most user-friendly platform. I'm starting to see some pennies, but most of my revenue comes from the blogging I do about my cat and her cure from a fatal disease via a clinical trial...which isn't content that would do well here on HP.

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               2. 96

                  Deb Vesco Robertsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                  It must have taken forever to move all that content! With 200 articles, I'd think you'd be making a decent amount here.

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                  1. 76

                     Wesman Todd Shawposted 5 years agoin reply to this

                     I make more all the time, but I had to raise my standards quite a lot. Many of the things I took off of here were good ideas, they just weren't up to my current standards. It's not a problem, as I'll simply re-write them here, in time, and in a much more professional way.

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8. 76

   Wesman Todd Shawposted 5 years ago

   I've literally moved hundreds of articles from Hubpages to Blogger or Blogspot. I'm not sure there is much advantage in this. I've probably burned myself a lot. At the same time, my income has steadily increased over the years.
   
   Anyway, all the stuff still exists, and is monetized. But no, I don't make much from Blogger, even on the one blog which is a total niche blog.
   
   What I do get from this, however, is a better sense of what can be successful. I only want my best stuff on the Hubpages network, and I can always go look at the views the things on Blogger got, and decide whether or not to re-write the thing, and bring it up to my newer and higher standards here.

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9. 77

   psycheskinnerposted 5 years ago

   Do you know what the scores mean exactly?  I don't.  Some secret formula that expresses how pleased Hubpages is with us, maybe.  That's not my primary goal and the formula is probably at least two Google algorithms out of date.
   
   I do  know I am here to get traffic and earn money--both of which I can directly measure and fully understand.  A published hub can get traffic and make money, an unpublished one cannot.  Even my least successful hub has made a cent or two, and I'll take it. Hubs that have had no traffic for years will suddenly do well because the internet is constantly changing,
   
   My Hubscore is average at best but I make payout more often than not.

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   1. 96

      Deb Vesco Robertsposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      Well said! money is money and it all adds up!

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