What to do with broken link that is from an HP edit?

1. 88

   NateB11posted 4 years ago

   I feel like this is a no-brainer but for some reason I'm hesitant to get rid of a broken link that is from a link put on an article from a staff edit. I guess I know it's obvious you just have to get rid of the link, but I feel like the edit was done for some reason so wonder what to do about the broken link.
   
   So first question is, What do you do about broken links that are from an HP edit? Second question is, Do broken links have any effect on traffic/SEO?
   
   I can see how it has an effect on user experience. Although this can be negligible because often the link will be something like a link to an image source.

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2. 87

   lobobrandonposted 4 years ago

   Not really detrimental from an SEO perspective.
   
   But, as you already pointed out, it's a better user experience if it was a working link. Either remove the link, find a replacement or find the new URL of the page/image the editor linked out to.
   
   Just because an editor placed it there it does not mean you cannot change or remove it

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3. 0

   Marisa Writesposted 4 years ago

   I always thought Google disliked broken links? 
   
   Yes, it's a no-brainer, get rid of it.  Editors are not gods.
   
   I'd love to know if anyone has ever suffered any negative consequences because they decided not to accept an editor's changes. There's a lot of talk about what might happen but does it ever, I wonder?

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      NateB11posted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Kind of a weird place to ask this question, but it popped up in my mind and wanted to ask you: Do you get traffic from Google to your Medium articles? Just curious if they get organic traffic.

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         Glenn Stokposted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Nate, to answer your additional question, yes. Several of my articles on Medium get a lot of Google traffic. Unfortunately, as you know, we don’t make money from organic traffic on Medium since they are not subscribers.
         
         Medium does pay retroactively, however, if a reader subscribes within 30 days. That doesn’t add up to much though, and not worth considering,
         
         The crucial thing I discovered is to try to determine before publishing if an article might do better with attracting organic traffic or if it will attract subscribing followers better. That’s how I decide if I should publish my content on Medium or on HubPages. I discussed that in my hub, “How to Make Money Writing Without Ads on the Medium Platform.”

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         1. 88

            NateB11posted 4 years agoin reply to this

            It's funny after I posted the question I realized that organic traffic doesn't really matter on Medium in terms of earnings. But yes I was thinking of taking on that strategy of putting certain articles on Medium more designed for subscribers rather than Google. This is why I was considering publishing political articles there because my experience is that those kinds of articles don't do well here at HP but would probably be suited for a platform for people who are particularly interested in the subject matter you write about.
            
            I'll have to read your Hub.

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      Jodahposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      I wrote an experimental hub that includes a recipe for scrambled eggs and poetry to see if the two could be successfully combined. The editor said it would be moved to a niche site if I removed the poem. As I am chiefly a poet and the article was an experiment, I refused, but agreed to move the poem from the start of the article to the end.
      They therefore said it wasn’t suitable to be moved so it has languished on HubPages for the last four years where it has been my highest traffic and earning hub every week by far. I have over 100 other articles on niche sites but only three others get even half as many views.

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      1. 88

         NateB11posted 4 years agoin reply to this

         Very interesting. I have some successful articles on the main site too. It's always been kind of funny to me that some people think it's not possible at all.

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            Marisa Writesposted 4 years agoin reply to this

            Yes, that is interesting.  HubPages started the niche sites based on the fact that "Google doesn't like generalist sites".  I believe that is still true.
            
            However, it would be interesting to know what Jodah means by "highest traffic".   If his traffic is generally low and not from Google, it doesn't help the rest of us much.
            
            Can you share some data on your main-site articles?

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               Jodahposted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Views have dropped a little this week from an average of 100 per day a week ago and a gardening hub has actually more views in the last seven days probably due to Spring arriving in the Northern Hemisphere.
               Most views are from Google searches however as this hub has had more views than what I have been getting from HubPages daily. Some may be from Pinterest as well. I admit my views may not be what a lot of others call major but my comparison is merely against my other articles.
               
               
               
               

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            2. 88

               NateB11posted 4 years agoin reply to this

               Here are my stats for 3 accounts that actively get traffic:
               
               1st Site - 93 articles, 1 day     7 days    30 days
               
                     page views             43        244         882
               
               2nd Site - 14 articles           
               
                      page views             37         252         1261
               
               3rd Site - 9 articles
               
               page views                      9            70            367

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               1. 88

                  NateB11posted 4 years agoin reply to this

                  When I look at my overall traffic, it does appear that the niche site traffic is garnering more traffic. It's interesting to actually look at the data and figures. So, yes, at least in my case, niche site articles are doing better than main site articles.

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4. 88

   NateB11posted 4 years ago

   Thanks, folks, confirmed what I suspected. Makes sense.

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