Moving articles OFF HubPages to your own site?

1. 91

   Wolfyposted 5 years ago

   Just curious, but does anyone have experience with this? How'd you do it? Did you tell Google the article moved somehow or do anything else fancy? Or did you just copy, paste, delete from HubPages, and wait for Google to catch up?
   
   Im guessing there might be some duplicate content penalties from search engines when you do this but I'm not sure.
   
   It would be a shame to break all those incoming links to your articles though. Thanks for any thoughts/experiences.

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2. 99

   EricDockettposted 5 years ago

   Simply unpublish/delete your article from HubPages and post it on your site. It takes a few days for Google to recrawl HP and see that your article is gone, at which time they will update their search results.
   
   There really is no "duplicate content penalty" , but Google does rank what it deems as original, authoritative content higher. That usually (but not always) ensures the original article ranks higher than copies.
   
   That means if you move your article to your website it probably will not rank until the HP article clears out of Google's cache. Some people wait until then to repubish, but it's up to you. Google will figure it out eventually. There used to be a url removal tool to speed up the process but it no longer exists.
   
   It also means you have to make sure nobody has copied your content if you plan to move it. If they have, Google may see the stolen content as the original when you remove your article from HubPages.
   
   In my opinion, moving an article from an HP niche site to a personal site or blog is almost always a bad idea. Few personal sites have the authority and earning power the niche sites have built, and you will probably cost yourself a great deal of traffic and earnings by removing your content from HP.
   
   I guess there could be exceptions, such as if there is already another article on the niche site that is very similar to yours. Or, if the niche site HP moves your content to isn't really a good fit. Or, if you already have a site with some authority and think you can rank just as well there.
   
   Or, if you just want to build your own thing.

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   1. 72

      David Stoneposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I'd like to differ on one point, and it's an important one. I've migrated several HP posts to my WordPress site, and they do much better, including drawing revenue with AdSense. Experiences differ, but I've migrated only the best material and did so because I don't much like HP. I prefer the freedom of WordPress as opposed to the nanny state at HP.

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3. 91

   lobobrandonposted 5 years ago

   Eric answered all your questions, I'd like to add upon the point he did not touch that you were wondering about.
   
   Since there is no way to redirect a URL as a hubber any links pointing to your article will be lost and will not translate over to the new URL on your website.

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4. 59

   paradigmsearchposted 5 years ago

   I have transferred many an article from HP to my own site. In virtually all cases, it was because of something HP did or failed to do. I have already posted many a rant concerning those issues, so am not going to bother doing so again.
   
   Some of my transfers are once again on Google's front page. Others are collecting dust and vultures circling.
   
   Both Eric and lobobrandon have given you excellent information and advice. The only thing I'll add is that when doing a transfer, it is a real pain in the neck when having to deal with the sometimes dozens of stolen copies beforehand. And, yep and a reminder; you do lose whatever link juice you had acquired at HP for that article and it will be starting from scratch once again.
   
   As for my own site, it's been around for I guess about eight years now. Literally every morning I find little and sometimes not-so-little presents from AdSense on my back porch. It's like Christmas everyday; that is indeed fun. And I only have to be afraid of Google; as opposed to having to be afraid of Google, HP, and possibly even Maven.
   
   Don't bother going to my profile to find the link. I removed it sometime ago. I don't need it there anymore and everyone here is ad-blind anyway, including me.
   
   And I should mention, getting rich from one's own website has about the same odds as winning the lottery; written articles about that I have. But the money that does roll in can be significant enough to be important, leastwise to me. Good luck.

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5. 90

   Sherry Hewinsposted 5 years ago

   There is actually a tool to speed up Google's removal of urls
   https://www.google.com/webmasters/tools/removals
   
   I have recently thrown in the towel on my own website and moved a bunch of stuff to HP. It's tough out there, and HP does take care of a bunch of stuff for us that we don't realize until we have to do it on our own.

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   1. 59

      paradigmsearchposted 5 years agoin reply to this

      "It's tough out there"
      
      You are not kidding. And it's only going to get worse. I've relegated the whole online writing thing to fun/entertainment/hobby status. The money is a pleasant bonus; but if that were to disappear, so would I.

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6. 93

   eugbugposted 5 years ago

   Do all these implications apply to articles moving from one Hubpages niche site to another? Or is that scenario no different from moving from the mother-site to a niche site?

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   1. 88

      Jean Bakulaposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I've moved articles from one niche site to another on HP, and didn't lose views. But I was warned by the powers that be it was possible I would lose views. It has been successful in the long run. I wrote a lot of my articles before we had niche sites, as you likely did too. I think that's what you are asking .

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7. 85

   Polly Cposted 5 years ago

   I did the opposite - I moved articles from my own site onto Hubpages. It works much better for me. Since then, my own site has built up more traffic but that has not equated into any earnings worth having. I don't really like techy things and I do like the fact that I don't have to worry about anything much except the writing on Hubpages.

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8. 91

   Wolfyposted 5 years ago

   Thanks for the great information guys. I suspected that would be the answer. Sounds like there are certainly a lot of risks in doing that, but it's possible. More curiosity than anything at this point. I just like to have options if things go south someday (hopefully they don't).
   
   Overall, I'm still very happy with HubPages and thankful for their team. No complaints about their edits either, 98%+ of the time their editors do great work with my articles so I am not at all fearful then I get notifications that my article is getting edited... in fact... I get excited!  Just LOVE having plan B's in place is all!

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9. 79

   SweetiePieposted 5 years ago

   I have decided to simply not write anything new for Hubpages and concentrate on my own websites and YouTube. Hubpages no longer offers the payouts for me that it once did, and I can earn more on my own websites and via YouTube videos I create.

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10. 69

    makingamarkposted 5 years ago

    I suspect what works best for people in terms of transfers - from what to what - depends very much on how you've developed your articles in the first place.  Horses for courses etc.
    If you create lots of very specialised hubs on different topics then HubPages is the place to be.
    
    However I always worked on niche topics that are big enough to merit their own website (as a macro hub) - and then tackled sub-niche topics within them (the equivalent of hubs).  Plus I never felt they quite fitted with the HubPages type of site and they needed more differentiation. So I've moved a lot of my hubs off HubPages and put their content on a website. What I developed was a website for the niche and pages for the sub-niche topics. 
    
    The one I've worked most on now ranks #1 in the world for the niche topic and generates more traffic than those built by specialist authoritative organisations on the same topic. I went past a million visitors ages ago - and the traffic curve continues to be exponential.  Plus I keep developing more content for it.
    
    I don't use adverts on it - on principle - but the Amazon earnings are very nice.
    
    The other websites are still being built and developed - and they will have adverts and additional affiliate links as well as Amazon. One is published and most of the way there and another two are still in development - but they will be huge when finished (which is partly why they are taking ages!) . It's a bit like writing a book....
    
    What I liked best about taking content to my own website was that I can construct and design the website and content the way I want to - and then have related Facebook Pages etc etc. Plus the earnings are all mine.
    
    BIG TIP: Save your hubs properly to an archive before you delete them.
    * If you use Apple then save your hub using "save page as" in safari and you get a complete replica to store on your device - with live links (a bit like a pdf).
    * I also saved hubs to Evernote before I deleted them so I had an online archive as well.

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    1. 83

       Solarasposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       Interesting.  I have been wondering how you were doing. And Amazon sales are where you make your smack, while they are almost impossible to get the staff here to allow an ad to pass muster without some smarmy, beggarly statement of personal use.
       
       Good for you. Sad for those on HP that are shackled to an old algorithm that seems not to be a major player any more.  Google has bamboozled them into thinking Amazon ads will mess up their pages, while Google puts Amazon ads on their pages.  Funny!

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       1. 69

          makingamarkposted 4 years agoin reply to this

          I think the other factor which is really influential is the nature of the topic. Is it one which will generate people wanting to advertise their relevant products or services - or not?
          
          Or is it one where tangible products via Amazon is the way to go.
          
          For me I've never ever been happy with the nature of the adverts on my hubs on HubPages - almost all wholly and totally irrelevant to the topic in question.
          
          It's also proved very difficult to tailor adverts for niche sites - but it is possible - if you're willing to sit and sift through all those wanting to advertise. My strategy has been to reduce the pool of advertisers to those who were relevant - and then generate the traffic to make the site an attractive proposition. It's worked and has resulted in a slow but consistent climb in earnings.
          
          With my other "very niche" site it was ALWAYS the case that the affiliate income was going to come through Amazon and not AdSense - and it does just that! Way, way better than anything I got on HubPages!

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11. 87

    swaliaposted 4 years ago

    I removed almost all articles from hp barring a few and moved them to my blog. But now I am contemplating about moving then back to hp. I don't have added se for my blog and I am paying for domain and server fees every year. Moving my articles back to hp would mean saving on those costs as well as some added earnings perhaps. But I am still confused if this would be the right step.

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    1. 69

       makingamarkposted 4 years agoin reply to this

       I suspect the issue for you is that you maybe haven't thought through how to drive traffic to your blog or your hub. Creating a site does not create income per se. Driving traffic to it - often via a blog - does.

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