Help Me Get This Article Featured, Please!

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   Rebecca Rizzutiposted 16 months ago

   I'm previously known as Everyday Miracles on this forum. I have multiple accounts but this is now my primary Hubpages account. I wanted to offer full disclosure.
   
   I've been writing on Hubpages for what feels like forever at this point, and I have never had so much trouble getting articles featured.
   
   Here is the Article How to Learn to Read Tarot Intuitively.
   
   This is the second (or is it third?) time I've received an email saying that the article contains spammy elements. I removed one Amazon capsule that wasn't necessary to the article. It came back with spammy elements. I removed the other Amazon capsule that was highly relevant and probably quite important to the reader, and it came back with spammy elements.
   
   I've now removed the link to Tumblr because I guess anybody can find Tumblr if they want to (but I was trying to help my freaking readers here, okay?).
   
   That leaves a link to a video on YouTube that explains how the RAS works and an inline Amazon link to a book on Tarot that I highly recommend my readers purchase and read.
   
   I've never had this many problems before and I can't imagine that quality is the issue here.
   
   But also, I'm kind of ticked because how the heck can these people say the relevant links in the article are spammy when the ads on the page are splitting up the text on some of my articles in odd places that make it so difficult to read?
   
   Which is spammier? Too many ads or relevant links? Ugh!
   
   Can somebody give me some insight on what else I can do to clean this up so that they'll accept it?
   
   15 years or so of writing on this site and I've never seen this much drama.

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   1. STAFF

      Matt Wellsposted 16 months agoin reply to this

      I've reviewed your article and it is now featured.

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         Rebecca Rizzutiposted 16 months agoin reply to this

         Thank you. I've now got another one caught in Unfeatured land and an email about spam.
         
         Two Amazon links, both highly relevant, both thoroughly explained. The only thing I can figure is that one of them is a produce I do not highly recommend but thought might interest readers.
         
         I've made a couple of changes for "quality" according to Hubpages standards, but I'm still lost.
         
         In 15 years writing on this site I've never had this many problems.
         
         Is Gratitude Sabotaging Your Personal Development
         
         It just KILLS me because I see so many featured Hubs that don't use capsules properly, don't break up the content with lists, stuff keywords and all of that, and I'm struggling this much :-/
         
         The form emails are a trainwreck, by the way. If the writer can't figure out what they need to change, they can't work with the editorial team, and if they can't work with the editorial team, quality is necessarily going to plummet.

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   Rupert Taylorposted 16 months ago

   A couple of things. Two sentences at the top directly contradict each other. At least, it seems that way to me.
   
   "You don't have to memorize the meanings of all 78 cards in the Tarot at the same time. It's tedious, it's exhausting, and not everybody has an excellent memory.
   
   "But if you want to be able to read the cards fluently, you have to have a firm grasp of the meanings of each card."
   
   Also, images need to be credited as to source, and free of copyright restrictions.
   
   The spammy thing is puzzling. It's a phrase overworked editors pull out of form letters and often doesn't seem to apply. And, you have a right to be ticked off by the over-the-top ad placement - we all are.
   
   My suggestion is to kill the article, let it lie fallow for a few weeks so that it's de-indexed, then re-submit. You may get a different editor who has a more nuanced view of spam.

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   Glenn Stokposted 16 months ago

   Rebecca, The emails from HubPages are often canned and don't necessarily provide precise details on the actual problem.
   
   I just quickly scanned your article, so I could have missed crucial issues, but here are a few things that stand out:
   
   1. Your remaining Amazon link doesn't clarify that you actually read Rachel Pollock's book. So you may have had the same problem with the other Amazon kinks you removed.
   
   2. The top image needs to be landscape.
   
   3. I don't see any image credits. If they are your own, it's best to mention that.
   
   4. The first text capsule should also have a subtitle.
   
   5. Not crucial, but why don't you use a video capsule instead of that YouTube link?

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      Rebecca Rizzutiposted 16 months agoin reply to this

      This is so frustrating. I've published one article a day every day in September and this is the only one that's getting so hung up on these issues.
      
      1. The Amazon capsule I removed included a brief review of the product and my experience with it. I can remove the Pollock book from the article but it's going to harm the reader experience to do so.
      
      2. I can fix this. Hubpage editors have also been inconsistent with this.
      
      3. They're stock images I've paid for and that don't require attribution from the seller's end. I've been using the same source for several previous articles with no problems from the editors. The inconsistency is confusing.
      
      4. Why? Is this required by Hubpages? I never subtitle the first capsule because the title of the article is almost directly above and it's visually confusing to me as a reader/browser.
      
      5. Because the video in question isn't directly related to the topic (Tarot) but is a good resource for explaining how the reticular activating system works for people who have no base knowledge. It seems that it would be odd to me to make it a video in the article since it's only tangentially related to the topic of a single section of text.

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         Glenn Stokposted 16 months agoin reply to this

         I see you made those changes, but I'll reply to your questions:
         
         1. There is no need to remove the Pollock book link, just as long as you add some text indicating your authority on it. Meaning that you say you read it.
         
         2. I noticed the editors have given up trying to get all the top images landscape since few people followed up with that after it was announced. But that doesn't mean you shouldn't endeavor the effort. Good work, though—I see you did it now.
         
         3. I understand. But it's usually beneficial to mention it's yours. 
         
         4. Usually, when the top image is at the top, the first text capsule is under that and looks better with a subtitle.
         
         5. If the video is a good resource as you said, then why not make it visible instead of a link?

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            Rebecca Rizzutiposted 16 months agoin reply to this

            Just answering your 5th point: Because the article is about Tarot and the video is about neuroscience and the Law of Attraction. It's relevant to the reader, but not relevant enough to embed it in the article, in my opinion.
            
            I try to put myself in the mind of the reader when I write my articles and I'd find putting that video embedded confusing if it was me.

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               Glenn Stokposted 16 months agoin reply to this

               It's good that you try to put yourself in the mind of the reader. That's what helps tremendously.
               
               But since you are saying that video is about neuroscience and the Law of Attraction, then as I see it, it is spammy to include in an article about Tarot. In that case, it makes no difference if it's a link or a video capsule.

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               1. 83

                  Rebecca Rizzutiposted 16 months agoin reply to this

                  I think in the context of the article you'll see it's relevant to the particular passage, which is about the reasons we should not focus on something the cards predicted when attempting to learn this method.
                  
                  It allows me to explain the effect without having to divert attention from the main topic.
                  
                  I'd say that's exactly the right reason to use a link this way.

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   AliciaCposted 16 months ago

   It’s a good article, but perhaps the editor (or editors) thought that there wasn’t enough information about your links. You could add more information about the linked items and see if that works.
   
   Edit: I see that Glenn published his reply while I was preparing mine. I really suspect that you need to add more details about the linked items.

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      Rebecca Rizzutiposted 16 months agoin reply to this

      Links, or Amazon links?
      
      I've seriously not had this problem in 15 years on Hubpages and have published 5 articles just this month so far. I'm baffled.
      
      The user experience is deteriorating more and more on this platform. You can block ads if you must, but it's hard to get around lousy editing.

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         greenmindposted 16 months agoin reply to this

         These days in my experience ALL links need to be deactivated before submitting. Once it's featured I go back and put in quality links like the ones you mentioned.

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            Rebecca Rizzutiposted 16 months agoin reply to this

            Really? I'd ask what the team is thinking but I don't think any of us know. It just keeps getting worse and worse.
            
            I have links in all of my articles and this is the only one that keeps getting stopped.
            
            I guess I could completely butcher the user experience to make the editors happy, but I'd really rather find another platform than do that (even if that platform doesn't pay me, and I'm here to get paid).
            
            It's funny how their standards are that we should think about the user experience and not how we can make money from our articles, but they wreck the user experience and put too many ads on the page!

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5. 83

   Rebecca Rizzutiposted 16 months ago

   I made some changes so we'll see how this goes. I think we're down to two links in the entire article, one of them going to a very informative YouTube video and the other being the Amazon link (with some additional text. I've attributed the images, added a subtitle to the top text capsule, inserted a landscape image as the first image of the article, and changed the wording of the first couple of paragraphs.
   
   We'll see how this goes. :-/

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      Jan Stepanposted 16 months agoin reply to this

      Best of luck with your article, Rebecca!

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      Jan Stepanposted 16 months agoin reply to this

      Let us know if it got featured.

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      1. 83

         Rebecca Rizzutiposted 16 months agoin reply to this

         Matt got it featured for me, but now I've got another one stuck on "Spammy Elements" with only two links in the entire article.

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         1. STAFF

            Matt Wellsposted 16 months agoin reply to this

            I've also reviewed this one and it will be featured soon. If you have anymore issues send an email to team@hubpages.com.

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               Rebecca Rizzutiposted 16 months agoin reply to this

               Thank you Matt!

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