The editor removed links that don’t meet Network Site guidelines

1. 84

   PegCole17posted 10 months ago

   Um. Thank you for removing the links to other articles that I didn't add in the first place. And I really appreciate your warning:
   
   "The editor removed links that don’t meet Network Site guidelines. This includes links to HubPages.com and/or links that are self-promotional, spammy, low-quality, or broken. We no longer allow Network Sites to link back to HubPages because we've been told that this could be detrimental to Network Site quality. Authors are permitted to put links to personal sites on their profile page, but those who choose to leave promotional or low-quality links in articles will have their work left on HubPages or removed from Network Sites."

   replyreport
   1. 84

      Kenna McHughposted 10 months agoin reply to this

      Yeah. HP has a system that automatically adds links to other sites. It seems it's not fail-proof.

      replyreport
      1. 84

         PegCole17posted 10 months agoin reply to this

         I did not know that the external links were automatic. These links I was talking about were to other articles within HubPages. I really didn't like that it encouraged readers to click off my article to go somewhere else - particularly in the first text capsule. But it seems that has been addressed now, thankfully.

         replyreport
2. 91

   Venkatachari Mposted 10 months ago

   Fascinating thing. You are told that your post is spam-free now. They removed some illusionary elements that can harm you.

   replyreport
   1. 84

      PegCole17posted 10 months agoin reply to this

      Remember when the site editors thought that linking another HubPages article within ours was a good thing? During that phase, many of my articles were edited (not by me) to add links that "related" in some way to another author's work, even within the first paragraph. I was not happy with this policy and I'm glad to see they're being removed now.
      
      What I found as ironic was the warning that I shouldn't add "spammy elements" back in.

      replyreport
3. 84

   Kenna McHughposted 10 months ago

   I have yet to learn about the decline of health and wellness sites, though some of mine are not doing well. HP staff also announced that they had implemented an automatic linking system. HP could have downgraded the articles associated with the links and left them in the network article until they were manually removed.

   replyreport
   1. 77

      Gregory DeVictorposted 10 months agoin reply to this

      I believe that linking back to HubPages.com from a network site could compromise the overall health and well being of the niche site itself, and even the article.
      
      I spend time each day on Semrush gathering information about the network sites, and even maintain a spreadsheet.
      
      Some of the niche sites, like Remedy Grove and Calorie Bee, have very low authority scores on Semrush as well as poor organic traffic totals. Sites like Owlcation and HobbyLark are doing much better than some of the others.
      
      One of our esteemed authors suggested recently that we should check on the overall well being of a vertical site before writing an article for inclusion. That was very good advice.

      replyreport
      1. 84

         Kenna McHughposted 10 months agoin reply to this

         I see. That makes sense. Do you pay for Semrush or use the free version?

         replyreport
         1. 77

            Gregory DeVictorposted 10 months agoin reply to this

            I use the free version for now. You can get up to five free clicks each day with the free version.

            replyreport
            1. 84

               Kenna McHughposted 10 months agoin reply to this

               Sounds perfect. I'll try it.

               replyreport
               1. 77

                  Gregory DeVictorposted 10 months agoin reply to this

                  Once you sign up with Semrush and become familiar with the layout, you will better understand what I was talking about above. You will soon understand which of HP's network sites are doing well and which ones aren't.
                  
                  You might want to keep a spreadsheet to track your data. It keeps things easier over the long-term.

                  replyreport
                  1. 84

                     Kenna McHughposted 10 months agoin reply to this

                     Good idea!

                     replyreport
      2. 84

         PegCole17posted 10 months agoin reply to this

         I'm not tech savvy enough to monitor things like "low authority scores" and had never heard of Semrush until recently. Bad on me. I just want to write and have less inclination to do so with the ongoing decline in traffic.

         replyreport
4. 68

   PaulGoodman67posted 10 months ago

   There's a lot of link removal going on at the moment.
   
   The site's link architecture was always one of the things that gave our articles a boost in the SERPs before Google started changing things up three years ago. 
   
   HP has tried different link strategies since but nothing seems to work. I guess they're going to keep trying.
   
   Google's claiming that it's found a way to bypass certain traditional SEO techniques. If that's the case then nothing may work. Google doesn't always tell the truth, though.

   replyreport