This site is too much of a dictatorship.

1. 61

   ThomasTrog70posted 3 years ago

   Two blogs written, spent a couple hours on them only to get some nonsense message about their quality check. I compared my best album covers blog to someone else's and if mine can't be published this other person should have his unpublished too
   Its not like I get paid anything for my time.
   Very disappointed in this site.

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      Kyler J Falkposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      If you republish it and/or post the link, members of the community will be able to take a look at it and tell you why this occurred.

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      1. 61

         ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         I am unclear as to whether or not anyone can see this
         or if it is only visible to me:
         
         https://discover.hubpages.com/entertain … overs-Ever

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      2. 61

         ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Kyler that article you wrote about protecting oneself from bad landlords was very impressive.

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   2. 68

      OldRosesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      It sounds like you misunderstand what HubPages is.  This is not a personal blog site where you can write and publish whatever you want.  HubPages is more like an online magazine where you have to pass editorial standards to be published.  This site belongs to HubPages, not to you.  HubPages decides what is acceptable to be published and what is not.
      
      If you want to write a personal blog, I suggest either Blogger or WordPress.  Both can be monetized.

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      1. 61

         ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Your assessment is absolutely on point. I did not have that understanding but i do now.  Thank you (& I do have a word press page)

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      stuff4kidsposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I reckon this might not be for you, then. What's the beef? Move on!

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   4. 89

      poppyrposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      You mean two articles?
      
      The "nonsense message" was likely due to poor grammar, bad layout, and/or wrong information (that's what it's usually about). As others have mentioned, if you can get the link to the article we can help you out. It isn't easy to get it perfect the first time.
      
      Also, you can't really expect to make money from two articles, especially if they aren't featured. It's a long-haul game, I'm afraid.

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      1. 61

         ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         I enjoyed your article on how to be a successful Freelancer. Thanks for your feedback. I write when the mood strikes me (& having the time to do it ) so for now I'll probably just stick with my WordPress page. My user name over there is dogman70

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            poppyrposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Hey thanks, that's really nice of you to check it out!

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            1. 71

               Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Freelacing captivated me for years. That's how I land on hubpages.                                            I take time to read your freelacing article likewise. It's very informing. Thanks for the illuminating read.

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2. 93

   AliciaCposted 3 years ago

   I wouldn’t give up too quickly. I remember that I made a only few cents in the very early stage of my time at HubPages. The money gradually increased as I wrote more articles. In addition, this isn’t a blog site. On a personal blog, a person can decide what to publish. Here, our articles have to follow certain rules.
   
   It would be a good idea to follow Kyler’s suggestion. If the article was unfeatured rather than unpublished, the email that HubPages sent you should contain instructions for asking for help with the article on the forum.

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      Misbah786posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Ahhh! Finally, an answer to my every question.
      I always have thought it’s just me who’s being paid few cents a day and still feels wow... I am a genius

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      1. 61

         ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         You bring up the payment factor. Something I am not completely aware of. A friend of mine told me about this site and said if someone decided to place an ad on some blog I wrote then I'd get paid.  That sounds like nice supplemental income but I generally don't expect to earn a real living from wriiting for fun.  So you are saying every day you get a few cents from things you've written?  This is the norm for everybody writing on this site?

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         1. 96

            viryaboposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            There are some who earn much more that cents in here. Much more.

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            1. 61

               ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks for contributing. I might be underestimating the power of the internet in regards to something I consider to be a hobby.

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               1. 84

                  beagrieposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  People are cagey about giving specific figures, and I'm not sure if there's a rule on it, so I won't do it either, but I make my living entirely through the Internet and I would say HubPages accounts for about 10% of that total income.

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                  NateB11posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  It just takes time and work.

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                     ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     Nate I really enjoyed reading your pieces on portion control and the comparison between owning a home or renting an apartment.

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                        NateB11posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                        Thanks, Thomas.

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               ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

               I'll share one of your interior design articles with a friend  of mine who does that for a living.  See how much you two have in common Viryabo

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                  viryaboposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  Thank you

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         2. 81

            Misbah786posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            I don't mind those cents coming my way. I mostly write for "Love"
            But dollars instead of cents won't harm either
            There are few writers who earn a lot
            
            Blessings to you

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            1. 61

               ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Misbah you have an incredible range of topics when I clicked your page. I was immediately drawn to the peanut butter article. I have always been a big fan of peanut butter.

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         3. 93

            AliciaCposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Hi, Thomas. No, that's not what I was saying. I was saying that when I had been writing on HubPages for only a few days and had published only one article, as you had done when I replied to you, my payment was low. It isn't now.

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            poppyrposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Some of us earn three or four figures a month, but that's after a lot of dedication, time, and hard work.

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               theraggededgeposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Hey Poppy! xx

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3. 92

   Kenna McHughposted 3 years ago

   I understand your frustration. I don't blame you for wanting to quit. Before you completely throw in the towel, I'd like to point out that you are running into the structure. HP has a structure they want you to follow. If you follow that structure, which is not complicated, you'll be featured. All you have to do is go to the Learning Center and learn about HP's structure and apply it.

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      Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Hey, as others are suggesting, please do post a link of the site to the forum community.

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4. 61

   ThomasTrog70posted 3 years ago

   I am very new to this and I am not treating it as a 'full time job'  - someone suggested it on Linked In and I did review their email with various points and when I go back and compare it to what I did - I couldn't find anywhere in what I had contributed as being in violation.
   Someone suggested I republish (Kyler) I will try to that. This site is kinda confusing at the moment. I compared my "outstanding album covers" blog to another blog on the same topic and mine had a similar format, but somehow "best heavy metal album covers" and "worst heavy metal album covers" passed their quality standard and my "outstanding album covers" was spammy or whatever, their email was so long it almost hurt my eyes reading it all.

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      Maffew Jamesposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Lack of content is probably part of the reason they think it's spammy. The site is for articles and a significant portion of your article needs to be text. Google punishes 'thin content' and that's why HubPages prefers not to 'feature' it, which is just their term for making it indexable by search engines.
      
      I'd suggest talking about each album cover. Consider the history, artistic elements, etc. You can add your personal opinion of each cover too, but make sure this doesn't form the bulk of your discussion.
      
      Remove 'for your consideration' from each heading. That amount of repetition is an automatic keyword spam flag during the QAP or editing process. The staff will reject it as spammy even if it was unintentional. Try not to repeat certain words or phrases too frequently.
      
      All websites that accept submissions/pitches/whatever have editorial guidelines that need to be followed and it's really no different here. Start your own blog or content site if you're passionate about the niche you want to write in. You'll have full control over both the content and site architecture and way more to gain if/when it becomes successful.
      
      Good luck.

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   2. 86

      Sherry Hewinsposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Usually, when I've had that warning about "spammy" content, it's because I have too many links or Amazon capsules. I can't see any content under your profile, but you could try taking out any links or Amazon capsules and see if it is accepted.

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      1. 61

         ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks for the suggestion.  It wasn't links to anything.  1 post was about a Supreme Court ruling in the US and 1 post was about album cover art work.  The content just wasn't good enough. I did tweek one of them and tried again and it was rejected. Honestly I am satisfied with writing on my WordPress for now rather than spending time and effort trying to please this site. Maybe I'll try submitting something else when the mood strikes me.  On WordPress you can find me searching for user name Dogman70.

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         1. 61

            TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this

            I took the time to look for you on Wordpress.
            
            I can see why your work wasn't accepted on Hubpages. It simply wasn't good enough to be paid for.
            
            You see, when we write here, we write according to Google standards. We use CMS (Chicago Manual of Style) and we write to commonly accepted SEO rules. If we don't do that, then Google won't rank us, and the goal is to get to the top three positions on Google. If we don't there, Google won't send us traffic, and if we don't get traffic, nobody will click on our article, and if nobody clicks on our article, then nobody will see an ad to click on, and then we don't earn money.
            
            Hubpages won't pass anything that doesn't measure up to a professional publication standard. It's life on the web depends on that. If it doesn't earn from the articles of its writers ranking on Google, it doesn't have an income.
            
            Hope that helps to explain what is happening here.

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            1. 61

               ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Chicago Manual of Style and SEO rules. I don't know what that is, what it means to writing.
               Thanks for shedding more light on this.

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               1. 61

                  TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  For instance, when you write a title, it should be like this:
                  
                  How to Fix the Air Conditioning in your Room
                  
                  Note how some letters are capital letters. That's part of CMS. CMS is a style manual. Every publication has a style manual. Most publications use either AP or CMS. The American university style manual is not accepted by publishers.
                  
                  SEO stands for Search Engine Optimisation. This means that one is writing specifically so that Google will rank the piece i.e. put it on page one when certain keywords for used for search.
                  
                  You need to do a lot of reading on this, if you are going to want to be paid for your writing.

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                     Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     Thank you. Make much sense. But I always uue the APA style format. That too is accept by hubpages.

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                  2. 61

                     ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     Thank you Tess for jumping back in to explain that.
                     SEO = search engine optimization  ahhh I knew this already,  just forgot, yes this term was buried in my mind somewhere and I guess the talent is in picking the right words to get on Google search results, page 1 ideally or page 2.  Thank You Tess.

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5. 61

   ThomasTrog70posted 3 years ago

   Good suggestions and nice insight as to what they are doing to me. From what you describe it sounds like they think of me as an "employee" and I need to foillow the company rules. I misunderstand what this site is maybe.
   
   I don't want to have to remove  "For your consideration" because my vision for the blog was that I was talking directly to the reader and asking them to consider a particular piece of art or photography used on an album cover.
   My intention was not to just ramble off my opinion on each album cover, furthermore, the blog was a collaborative effort. I consulted a bunch of my friends, they PM'd me what they thought were great album covers and then I spent a week reviewing suggestions and finally, putting together what I thought was a terrific overview of album covers from different musical genres.
   
   I suppose  I can remove that key phrase to make the website moderators happy.  I also wasn't planning on spending hours researching each and every album cover and then explaining them.  That sounds more like work. Someone should send me an upfront payment if they want me to invest that much time into a fun idea I had.

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      Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      My question is:. Did HubPages commission you to do that much work to be paid upfront? Who really ask you?                          Hubpages is a freelance writing site.

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      1. 61

         ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         No of course they did not. I thought that this was a site to have fun writing on. I didn't know it was like a school where it was subject to being graded and have a generic email with a list of possible reasons for the rejection. It was like having a puzzle handed to me when I woke this morning and had to figure out how to put it together. LOL.

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            Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Most craziest thought here ever! Eh eh eh... Welcome to Hubpages.

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      TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this

      You are misunderstanding something. This is not a blog site. This is a content site. These are very different things.
      
      The readers of hubpages are not the people who are writing here. It is read by the traffic (readers) that Google sends.
      
      And Google only sends traffic to articles that can be read - Hubpages is not for asking people their opinions on things.
      
      You need to write a good 1200 words on a particular topic that you think Google will be interested in indexing.

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         Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         ****** A+

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         1. 61

            ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Miebajagh57, enjoyed the mermaid post (poem) as it was particularly timely for me having just finished the 3 seasons of the show "Siren" last week.

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               Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

               Thanks for the visit, and the nice comment.                                          You're always welcome.

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      2. 61

         ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you Tess for your insightful comment and I got some time this morning to look at your page. I really liked your Tarot card article and the one about loss of jobs. I totally understand now what this site is, content site and not a blogging site, the content is geared more towards "deep" topics. I was going to write a movie review on here  but I guess that won't pass quality standards either so I put it on my WordPress (dogman70)

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6. 88

   theraggededgeposted 3 years ago

   The Learning Center has lots of information about how to write for Hubpages. Click Help, top right, to navigate there.
   
   Edit: There is definitely not enough written content in your article. Aim for around 1,000 words of original writing. Also, eliminate the repetition.
   
   This is the HP network site that publishes the kind of articles you are writing: they are examples of what works: https://spinditty.com/

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7. 79

   lobobrandonposted 3 years ago

   To be honest I am surprised this even got sent to discover. What you have is basically a list. HP is a writing site. You can write lists, but you need to put in more information. Why is an item mentioned on your list. If you want people to have quick access to the list, you can have a bullet list right at the top after your introduction and then write more about each of the songs/albums below.

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   1. 61

      ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Before this album cover blog I submitted a blog with only one picture and my thoughts on a recent USA supreme court ruling on cyber crime. That got rejected too.  Same reasons cited in their email to me which I now know is just a generic email that they send to anyone who gets rejected. Two blogs, two different styles, both rejected.

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      NateB11posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      I was thinking the same thing. This is a site for web articles. That this got on Discover is surprising to me. It makes me think of Tumblr.

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         lobobrandonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

         Yeah, I recalled the post from Ruper the other week where he pointed out some questionable stuff on discover when he wondered about the quality one needs to get published there. I wonder how the article in question even passed QAP, that process is just a pice of c**p if this went through.
         
         No offense meant to the author, just that this format of content should not be published at all on a site that asks for magazine-style articles. The kind which do well and are supposed to be accepted are made clear through the learning center as others have pointed out to you.

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         1. 97

            PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            Brandon - My sense is that they kind of gave up the initial QAP phase. Using just software was too weak for a full assessment, using MTurk amateur editors didn't work out, and paying pro editors to examine every single article that came in was too expensive. So they moved everything that got through software into a "holding bay" and that's Discover. It seems like a practical solution to me.
            
            I see Rupert as coming from the print world, where being "published" has a different meaning and connotation to the online version. Print publication implies a degree of merit, whereas online publishing often doesn't.

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            1. 79

               lobobrandonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

               I think they still use the Mturk folk. Matt or Tess said so. Of course, using the editors is expensive and should not be an option. Those resources could be better used elsewhere.

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               1. 97

                  PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  I have looked on MTurk a few times over the past few years and not found any HP/Maven jobs. That might be me, of course, not using the right search terms or something else. I think my broader point is that I believe that there's a degree of misunderstanding going on with the QAP/Discover and that's leading to upset.
                  
                  Ever since I've been here, HP has been wrestling with the issue of how to be as open a platform as possible, without being destroyed by spam and weak content. (I thought they might've succeeded the niches, but the latest Google algo change casts a degree of doubt.)
                  
                  Perhaps the most interesting question for me regarding Discover is why HP/Maven decided to monetize it and tell people they've been "published". The truth is that you aren't going to get many views or much earnings on there. My feeling is that it was done because they believed it would encourage budding writers. Some writers will progress from there to the niches, even if many won't. Whatever the reasoning was, it's certainly led to a backlash in some quarters...

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                  1. 61

                     TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                     I wonder how many writers are actually active on hubpages these days. Perhaps the reason that some are not getting on to discover is because there is very little writing come from here.
                     
                     I don't know.

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                        Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                        Neither do I. It's only staff that can zero in to tell.

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                        PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                        The main complaint on here is about the stuff that *is* getting onto Discover. People feel insulted that their work is in the same place as spun and spammy stuff, which is understandable in some ways, but it's really a side effect of how Maven/HP has organized things imho. I have stuff in Discover too, but I interpret things differently, I guess.
                        
                        One can find out if individual writers are active by going to their profile page and clicking "activity". Many of the old serious writers don't seem to be doing much. 2018 and 2019 were fine for me, but many said that they were bad. I think 2020 was bad for all. This year was going very well until the weekend just gone...

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                        1. 61

                           TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                           All the other writers that I'm still in touch with aren't writing anymore. Some just grew tired of writing. Others just moved on to other places. Some of us still keep updating (like me), but aren't actually writing new pieces.
                           
                           It would take a long time to go to every writer on hubpage and see whether they're active or not.

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                           1. 71

                              Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                              Is commenting on threads, posts, response or replies, and reactions an only "activities" on HubPages?                                     Or is writing text of 1500 words and more the only activity?                                            I've seen some hubbers who are here for 10 good years plus. But surprisedly, these Indians have not submit a single article featured or not.                                             Bev, our friend enlightened me once awhile that, these set of people just register as "readers" to read stuff and make comments.                                         Okay, if writing long text or read that favour google search result, then, I've not been active.                                     More so, due to the HubPages-Marven changes, I've take my time to make the adjustment. One, I'm yet to reviewed and edit some old articles on both hubpages and discover. Two, I'm learning the rope to write niche site articles(I've write few). Then thirdly, I'll hit the computer keyboard

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                              FloridaFactsposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                              I've actually been the busiest I've ever been over the past 6 months. I've been here eleven years, I think, and there have been periods where I've worked hard, and periods where I've been lazier, but I keep checking what's happening, in part because the money is always useful!
                              
                              I must say that it's easier to write when I feel the site is doing well and I know what to write. When the site is underperforming, or I am not sure what to write, that's when I find it hard work. But usually I enjoy writing and editing. I have tried to diversify but I keep getting drawn back here.

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                                 Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                 I was also busy daily except when they is power outage in my area or locality. As such times, my set could not operate when on low power.                                           But the only activity I set my hands upon were commenting, discusion in the forum and post thread(s) for discussion.                                       Seriously, I had not wrote and post a new story this year. But leveraging on in the forums gives me the mindset to ganer useful  information.                                        More over, laziness to me means first, relaxing the mind and body in a calm environment. Thereafter,  I hangout with relations and friends.

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                                 TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                                 Well, I'll see how it goes.

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                  Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                  Poor quality text materials seems to be over looked or welcomed at dot discover.com                                                            The old hubpages site is a taboo to such. How one such article The Village, by a new writer land at discover baffled me.

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         NateB11posted 3 years agoin reply to this

         I feel I was a bit harsh. The point pretty much everyone has made is the real point: This site requires it's writers to create articles with substantive content, with a significant amount of text and information, with a relatively unique approach, that are instructional or entertaining. Now I'm not saying a lot of the articles are high-minded, many are not. They don't need to have depth of meaning or even a thorough examination of subject matter; often it's better they do not, as far as the Web goes. But there has to be a certain minimum amount of substance. Oh, and use of other media, like images and maybe a video.

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            Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

            That aptly define Hubpages.

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   EricDockettposted 3 years ago

   I suggest your try my three-step method for new writers who can't figure out what they are doing wrong on HubPages:
   
   1. Read the Learning Center
   2. Read the Learning Center Again
   3. Think About What You Read in the Learning Center
   
   When I explained this method in the forum a few weeks back some of my kind cohorts suggested my post should be a sticky. Actually, I think this thread should be a sticky, because you have provided the perfect example of what not to do when you first come to HubPages.
   
   What you've done is the equivalent of showing up to play in a baseball game without knowing the rules. In your first time at the plate, you fling your bat at the pitcher, run to third base, and then declare the umpire a fascist for calling you out.
   
   You have to know the rules of the game, and they are in the Learning Center.
   
   And you can get paid for this. You are not an employee. Think of yourself as your own little business, providing content for another business. It has to be up to their standards. If you can learn to do it right, you can earn a very nice side income here. For every article you write that gets traffic, coins plink into your account each and every day that article remains live on the web.
   
   You only have to learn the ropes once and then the knowledge is yours. I hope you don't quit.

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      ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      Fascinating and Fabuilous explanation. I don't know what I will do ultimately. My personal life is about to get really busy next week and the amount of free time I have this week will be eliminated. Thank You. Thank You.
      Bottom line - I need to make time to really read and understand their "Learning Center" and no I did not come to play baseball, I came to play football, full contact, tackles and all. 

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9. 84

   bravewarriorposted 3 years ago

   The article is live on Discover. While the covers you feature are indeed interesting, simply posting album covers does not an article make. Try giving background to the covers. Tell us how and why the artists chose the images. Tell us why you think each is an outstanding album cover.
   
   This is a writing site, not a place to post a string of images. Inform us. Entertain us.

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      ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

      After reading this I clicked EDIT, jumped back in and added some extra information that hopefully will entertain.

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10. 96

    Rupert Taylorposted 3 years ago

    When I read the word "dictatorship" I thought "Uh oh, we've got another one." From time to time, people come here with the attitude that HubPages should bow down to their magnificence and let them do whatever they feel like doing. It doesn't work that way.
    
    You persist in calling HubPages a blogging platform although others have pointed out that it isn't. It's a place where writers can publish magazine-style articles, rich in information, of at least 1,000 words of original text.
    
    And, by the way, do you have permission to use those album covers?

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11. 97

    PaulGoodman67posted 3 years ago

    This site is not a dictatorship! For this critical remark, you will be stripped of all social privileges and taken down to Discovery Dungeons. At noon tomorrow, you will be taken before our Supreme Leader and publicly lashed. A thousand curses upon you! If the secret police catch you doing this again, you will be executed.

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       ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

       Ha ha ha.. I am going to buy new locks for my door. Thanks for the warning.

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          Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

          I'll come with a big hammer and break your new padlocks. Think of it. And you got catch and sent to discover dungeon!

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       Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

       ***** lol

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    Rupert Taylorposted 3 years ago

    You are right about Discover Paul. I've raised this issue but the response from HP has been - what's the word?- unsatisfactory. So I spent a lot of time over the past two weeks in contact with our cousins on the Indian subcontinent. It's very dispiriting.
    
    "I am excellent student of high quality riting with pasion for and etc..."
    
    Recently, I was taken to task by a would-be contributor for saying their writing was not up to the standard required. She complained that she suffered from dysgraphia, the "inability to write coherently, as a symptom of brain disease or damage" (Dictionary.com). It's as though I complained to the England Test Cricket selectors for not including me in the team even though I can't bat, bowl, or field.
    
    I'm insulted that absolute rubbish is on Discover next to my offerings while some of my articles, that are at least written in good English, languish in the old HP with no way of lifting them into money paying positions.
    
    Perhaps, if we the natives, continue to be restless change may happen. I won't hold my breath.
    
    I didn't see a precipitous decline in traffic from last weekend. Lower a bit, but I put down to the usual summer doldrums.
    
    Cheers

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       PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

       Being "published" in the internet world just means something being put into the public domain. There is no intrinsic merit associated with being "published". Just because there's spun work around is not automatically a huge cause for concern. The internet is full of crap, we just don't see most of it, because the search engines weed it out. But if you go looking for it, you will find it. Not just on here, but everywhere.
       
       HubPages have explained in the past that it's not economically feasible to pay a multitude of editors to check articles every time someone hits the "publish" button. They have been searching for years to find a balance between the site being a publicly accessible platform for writers, and not getting dragged down by spam, spun, and weak stuff. Discovery seems to have the potential to be a reasonable and practical solution, in my opinion.

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          TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this

          ++++

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       eugbugposted 3 years agoin reply to this

       Let's sharpen our spears. My spade sharpening hub could come in useful too.

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          PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

          There has been a distinct lack of ranting and raving since the traffic drop. It's times like these that I miss Will Apse. I hope he's still alive and doing well.

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             lobobrandonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

             My traffic seems to have bounced back for now.

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                PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                Mine is still around 20% down overall. Looking at Alexa, there seems to be variance in how the different niches are performing, so that might be part of the explanation for discrepancies.

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                   TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                   I looked at Alexa the day before yesterday. Overall, hubpages has been going up for some months now. it's actually doing well., I think.

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                      PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                      I don't see any easy way to get an overall picture? How did you assemble the info for the multiple niches? It seems especially awkward, as some of the niches have much larger amounts of articles and readers than others?
                      
                      Without confirmation from HP, it's difficult to be certain, but I think that was a serious Google hit at the weekend. My experience is anecdotal, of course, but I feel like I'm a reasonable guinea pig, given my numbers and spread of hubs,

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                         lobobrandonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                         I don't know about Alexa, but I use semrush and you can see the trend of traffic based on rankings. That gives you an overall picture.

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                            PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                            It's easy to see traffic/rankings for individual niches. My point was in reference to the idea of viewing *overall* traffic. For Tess, that apparently means what's happening in Discover. For me, that means a summation of all the niches associated with the platform. I don't think there's any straightforward way to do it nowadays.
                            
                            I have multiple accounts, so I can understand how people's experiences vary sometimes. Views and CPM's can vary considerably between accounts, but that doesn't mean there's no bigger pattern. Many of the these algo updates relate to technical issues like site architecture, layouts, etc and not (just) the writing content.

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                         TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                         I just went to Alexa and keyed in Discover?  I didn't do the niche sites. I don't even look at my personal figures anymore. Short of barely making payment every month,I'm going nowhere here. In fairness, I don't do anything.

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                   lobobrandonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                   Mine is still like 20% lower than last year.

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    Miebakagh57posted 3 years ago

    With all that said, should  HubPages phrase out dot discover com/?                                 Old Hubpages is no longer monetized. Dot discover is. Throughout the times, I can understand the marven/hubpages alliance in monetizing discover.                                          Seriously, me think the discover thing is like the LetterPile which receive a little income.                                              But I likewise hate it that too many dirty stuff that seems to evade(?) PASS QAP process land on the discover site. Long life discover.com/!

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    TessSchlesingerposted 3 years ago

    Is it possible that an algorithm is just transferring everything to Discover based on whether Google sends it traffic?

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       NateB11posted 3 years agoin reply to this

       I don't know if it's automatic but I've suspected it does have to do with traffic and also whether the article is getting crawled.

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          TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this

          +++

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             ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

             I'm looking at the exchange between all of you who have been doing this for awhile and am delighted I was able to inspire all of this dialouge between you all on what the direction of this site is, etc
             And Tess I really enjoyed your tarot card article and the one about loss of jobs (changing society)
             Point taken on this being more of a content site that requires more thought put into what the author is writing.

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                TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                No worries. Writing to market is a difficult skill to learn. It doesn't help that the guys who slect the articles (Google) aren't that open about what they're looking for.

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                PaulGoodman67posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                If you have any practical skills, Thomas, I would recommend writing "how to's". For example, how to fix a certain model of washing machine, or how to change the start menu in Windows 8, or how to restore a certain type of furniture. That sort of thing does really well on HP. I wish I had more practical skills.

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                   TessSchlesingerposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                   ++++

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                   ThomasTrog70posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                   That's a good suggestion Paul however, I'm not the guy for that. I call someone to fix things that break.

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                      Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                      OMG!

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                      lobobrandonposted 3 years agoin reply to this

                      Those are just examples. There has to be something you are doing in life, write a how-to about that. Even if you are a kid playing on the computer all day, write a guide on how to play that particular game.

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                         Miebakagh57posted 3 years agoin reply to this

                         I like the idea. Really cool. I'll try my hand on 'How to...' articles in due course.

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    Miebakagh57posted 3 years ago

    Good advice indeed. I will think along the line.

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    Gyanendra Mocktanposted 3 years ago

    Go to the learning centre.

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    Miebakagh57posted 3 years ago

    SEO-Search Engine Optimization? That made Google to be the foremost giant search on the internet.                                        Many online writers have yet to realize that online contents should be more specific or near specialization.                                Therefore, the first 10 results on a search, are more significant than those below the Google ranking.

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