Does anyone have articles on Soapboxie?

1. 95

   Thomas Swanposted 14 months ago

   I've seen traffic on my Soapboxie articles plummet this year. Is anyone else seeing the same?
   
   I had one article getting 100+ views per day. Now it gets about 5. I don't want to bash the editors, but this happened shortly after editing. Normally they do a good job, but I had complained about this edit after it happened because there were many things that I didn't think would work. I also suspect that many views were coming in through the images I had created, which were deleted in the edit.
   
   Other Soapboxie articles, some with tens of thousands of views overall are now getting under 5 per day. My new article is also doing less well than expected, although its only been a couple of months.
   
   I wonder if the downturn is because political speech is increasingly being censored on the wider internet and centralized to within mainstream outlets.

   replyreport
   1. 94

      jansharesposted 14 months agoin reply to this

      I have 3: one about community service, one about Joe Biden and one about race. They've never received a lot of traffic. The one about community service gets consistent trickles of traffic, red arrows at least once a week, especially around spring break. None have been edited by HP Editors. I update them regularly.
      I think you may be right about the current political state regarding censorship/banning of certain topics online and how it might impact traffic.
      
      How are the rest of your articles doing on other network sites? My traffic, like most everyone else's, is terrible across the board compared to the way it used to be.

      replyreport
      1. 95

         Thomas Swanposted 14 months agoin reply to this

         Soapboxie might not be a great place for political content then, at least currently. I wonder if other sites are better suited to it.
         
         I've got dozens of articles on Owlcation. Traffic is down about 20% in the past year. I'm sure it would have been worse if I hadn't spent ages updating them last year. I was hoping for a boost from it, and this is what I got. I updated Soapboxie at the same time though, and the drop there is more like 50%.
         
         My overall traffic has largely recovered due to the "HowTheyPlay" niche (sport). I prefer to write about educational topics rather than soccer, but the latter has been my biggest traffic source for years. I've kept those updated, written half a dozen more, and that seems to have increased traffic a bit there.

         replyreport
         1. 94

            jansharesposted 14 months agoin reply to this

            Wow, 50% drop is a lot. But I believe it's the same or worse for most of us. I have one on Owlcation that's consistently been my best performer. However, the traffic has dropped 50% or more over the last 3 years. It's just a bad time for HP, Thomas. Good you're still writing and seeing a little improvement.

            replyreport
            1. 95

               Thomas Swanposted 14 months agoin reply to this

               Thanks, Jan. Yes, I peruse the some of the other forum threads and have seen that many authors are upset about site-wide drops in traffic.

               replyreport
   2. 86

      Patty Inglish, MSposted 14 months agoin reply to this

      I have five and they've all increased.

      replyreport
      1. 95

         Thomas Swanposted 14 months agoin reply to this

         Nice! Good to see it's still possible to do well there.

         replyreport
2. 95

   Glenn Stokposted 14 months ago

   I have several articles on Soapboxie, but I have a similar experience as you, Thomas, with few views. However, the same drop in traffic is happening across the board for me.
   
   As for editors, I had an excellent experience with the present editor of Soapboxie. He worked extensively with me to get my latest article in a condition acceptable for that niche site since it involved a sensitive subject

   replyreport
   1. 95

      Thomas Swanposted 14 months agoin reply to this

      Yes the editors are normally great. I've only voiced concerns a couple of times over the years, and this Soapboxie article was one.
      
      I think some niche topics are doing ok, but most aren't. I don't think Google values this "network" as authoritative or trustworthy for content anymore. That may be why I can write about sport and do alright, but politics and education appear to be on the way down. I don't think the clickbait "news" they put on the homepages helps at all. But the biggest problem may be political, and attacks on "disinformation" that are just an excuse to promote mainstream sources in search engines.

      replyreport
      1. 94

         AliciaCposted 14 months agoin reply to this

         The clickbait “news” they put on the Owlcation homepage is disgusting.

         replyreport
         1. 95

            Thomas Swanposted 14 months agoin reply to this

            Indeed, it's borderline offensive for a site that's supposed to be about education.

            replyreport
            1. 93

               Kenna McHughposted 14 months agoin reply to this

               Google doesn't support this type of content. I am concerned about TAG.

               replyreport
3. 97

   Shesabutterflyposted 14 months ago

   I had 2. Interestingly enough they removed one back to Discover, I believe back in October. It would be nice to know what their traffic threshold is.
   
   As far as I can tell they have similar traffic, but it is hard to compare when Discover typically does not yield the same amount of traffic as the niches.
   
   The article they moved back has 10x more total views than the niche article and they were published within months of each other 11yrs ago.
   
   I don't keep a close enough eye on these particular articles to know how far they dropped or if traffic has been this dismal for awhile, however this month the one on Soapboxie is averaging a whopping 2 views a day.

   replyreport
   1. 95

      Thomas Swanposted 14 months agoin reply to this

      I'd hate to see that happen to mine. Could the one moved back to Discover be less evergreen? Two per day sounds like most of mine, with a few still in the tens.

      replyreport
      1. 100

         chef-de-jourposted 14 months agoin reply to this

         You're right Alicia. Owlcation has suffered from TAG's ad and text mishandling more than any of the niche sites I think.
         
         I've been looking at my stats covering the past two and a half years and the decline is a shocker. I've lost tens of thousands of college and university students/readers, both regulars and newcomers, and cannot see a way back under the current regime. Crazy frustrating days.
         
         If you're aware of any tech-minded individual with coding knowledge and sound business sense who could put together an Owlcation-like website, a la Paul Edmondson with HP, educational but with scope for a personal slant, please let us know!!!!!!

         replyreport
         1. 96

            PaulGoodman67posted 14 months agoin reply to this

            There were some techno people in the past but over time, they've drifted away to do their own thing.
            
            It also has to be borne in mind that all of HP's direct rivals have effectively gone and HP is really the last man standing as far as this model of content creation goes.
            
            That said, I believe Wizzley is still going! Hehe!
            
            As far as an Owlcation-like website goes, I think it's easier to sell a product or service online than to set up a general info site and try to make money from it. Otherwise, I might be tempted to do something for myself using Wordpress/SquareSpace or whatever.
            
            HP used to be very good at getting good rankings for articles and income generation but for whatever reason, it's now struggling. I tend to see the crappy ads as a visible symptom of the problem rather than the underlying cause.

            replyreport
            1. 95

               Glenn Stokposted 14 months agoin reply to this

               Paul, Since you mentioned Wizzley, I took a look, and I’m surprised they are still online. The site is not maintained. I see lots of broken links and obsolete information in the articles. The registration page gets a script error so no one can create a new account. The video tutorials page is blank. And their forum only had two new posts in the past two years.

               replyreport
               1. 96

                  PaulGoodman67posted 14 months agoin reply to this

                  Yes, I've been by there once or twice in the past five years, mainly to see if I could salvage any old articles. It was a bad site even when it was maintained.
                  
                  I can't see any of the other content creation sites that used to exist.
                  
                  I don't count Medium because it uses a completely different model to generate traffic and revenue.

                  replyreport
                  1. 95

                     Glenn Stokposted 14 months agoin reply to this

                     You're right, Paul. I also was tracking their eventual demise and wrote an article about why Bubblews, Persona Paper, and Niume failed. And I recently updated another article where I predicted InfoBarrel's failure.
                     
                     As for Medium, it will be interesting to see how they perform after August 1st, when their new business structure goes into effect.

                     replyreport
                     1. 96

                        PaulGoodman67posted 14 months agoin reply to this

                        With Medium, the cynic in me suspects that it will be a cost-cutting exercise dressed up as a positive change but I live in hope!

                        replyreport
                        1. 95

                           Glenn Stokposted 14 months agoin reply to this

                           Ha Ha. I agree with you 100%! I see that too, especially since they are removing the referral bonuses and requiring people to pay to earn.

                           replyreport
            2. 93

               Kenna McHughposted 14 months agoin reply to this

               You may have a point, Paul. I write product descriptions for top websites. Some of it involves educating the viewers or buyers, so they’ll buy. Still, the websites are user-friendly for the most part, easy to navigate with them hard selling their products. Amazon is a fine example of sellers educating their buyers with quality content.
               
               With that, people are still looking for answers and help. It might only sometimes be a product that resolves their problem. They need solutions that are easy to read and comprehend. How to make a moist layered cake compared to buying a cake mix that promises a moist one. Or how many calories per slice. Or how to repair a flat tire or flush a hot water heater. These are real problems that need tangible solutions.
               
               The viewers search for answers on the Internet all the time for everyday issues and will read and appreciate the help.
               
               People still need information, but when the ads get in the way of the frustration of trying to repair a flat tire or fix a busted pipe, the reader leaves and goes to a site that is easier to manage, read and comprehend. HP needs to be empathic with the viewers. They need to care enough to help them resolve their problems instead of trying to sell them some obscure product that pops up or slows the loading of the web page.
               
               I hope HP can return to its original purpose or mission statement, which is to give the viewer tangible solutions. Viewers want help and relief so that they can live better lives. Repair that flat tire fast and get on their bike ride. Slow-loading web pages and cramming ads down their throats are not tangible solutions but headaches and frustration.
               
               HP writers can go rogue. It might work. Technology is making it easier to manage websites.

               replyreport
      2. 97

         Shesabutterflyposted 14 months agoin reply to this

         No, at least I don't think so. They are directly related and had links to each other prior to the move back.

         replyreport