Excessive promotion?

1. 60

   Cattleprod Mediaposted 15 years ago

   Hi guys,
   
   Sorry to bother. I just wrote a hub on QR codes and Kylie Minogue's latest video... can I post a link to the hub, cos otherwise how else will you know which one?
   
   I got this warning:
   Overly Promotional: This Hub excessively promotes another site.
   
   I'm thinking this is maybe because I put in an Amazon text link? I'm assuming the ban because those links will only credit my Amazon affiliate account and thus bypass HB getting a cut?
   
   How can I put in correct Amazon text link?
   
   In the mean time I have removed all links in the copy and put a few helpful links at the bottom in a Links capsule.
   
   Which sites can I link to? Why even bother having the ability to link in the content if you can't link out to other sites? Or was it just the Amazon link?
   
   Appreciate your feedback.
   
   Thanks,
   
   Rob

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2. 0

   Website Examinerposted 15 years ago

   You can link to virtually any site, but only two links to the same domain are permitted, and certain other restrictions apply as well. You providing us with a link to the hub will not help, supposedly, if the hub in question has been unpublished.
   
   If you have an Amazon affiliate account, you can insert unlimited links to that site by using the Amazon link capsule.
   
   I suggest you take the time to better understand the concept of over promotional, hope this helps.
   
   
   http://hubpages.com/faq/#overly_promotional

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3. 0

   shazwellynposted 15 years ago

   Yes... only two links per external outside sites.  Just as Website Examiner says

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4. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years ago

   Uhmm the link capsule can be used to link to your other hubs or other hubbers' links - with a referral tracker so you can some monetary reward.
   
   If you've come here thinking of Hubpages as a place to post endless links to other sites, this is the wrong attitude.
   
   I understand how you could get the idea from other websites that say this is a good place to do just that. (In fact, it's what brought me to HP in the first place.) But the advice they give is very wrong.
   
   HP has such great traffic because they limit external links. Yes you can stick text links to amazon and ebay in your text. I personally don't do this, partly because I'm very supportive of the HP team and the website they've created.
   
   I use the Amazon and Ebay capsules for affiliate links, and it has been very profitable for me.

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   1. 67

      relacheposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      You shouldn't think of referral trackers as automatically bringing monetary reward.  They only truly pay out if you manage to sign up a person who goes on to be an active Hub author who makes a lot of high-quality Hubs.

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      1. 0

         Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Perhaps I used the wrong word. When I link to someone's hub, I use the link in the bottom of the page that has a code it in. It is my understanding that that gives me some of the impressions for an hour or two.

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      2. 60

         Cattleprod Mediaposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         I came here to publish good content, and as far as I'm concerned providing external links to sites which either augment your content or provide proper sourcing of information is essential.
         
         I understand that HP wants to keep people within the site, but I had maybe 4 links on that hub. Two text links to Amazon (keyword Kylie), one to Wikipedia to credit the info I got from there on QR codes, and one external link to UpCode.com which is the app I use on my phone for QR codes, which is therefore an applicable link.
         
         I don't see how that could be over-promotional... unless it's the two text links to Amazon.
         
         Now in the Link box at the bottom, I have links to Kylie's official website, QR Code official website, a site that lists different QR code apps for different phones, and the Upcode app link... none of which are affiliatee links, or promotional links, but informational links. All of these are applicable to the content and helpful links for people who would like more information on the topic.
         
         Anyway, I'll read up more on overly promotional, but I can assure you I'm not that kind of Hubber.
         
         Is it just me or are these forums a tad antagonistic?
         
         Otherwise, thanks for the advice. I appreciate dealing with n00bs can be frustrating.
         
         Cheers,
         
         Rob

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5. 73

   LeanManposted 15 years ago

   Just the two "self serving" links.... as everyone says.. I had same problem on my very first hub too.. Just corrected it, submitted for approval and no problem..

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6. 77

   kirstenblogposted 15 years ago

   I had problems with being overly promotion once because I was using an rss feed to my shop. It counted as more then 2 links to the same domain. I emailed the HP team about it and got a lovely response from someone who had had a look at my hub and could tell me just where I had gone wrong and they even thanked me for leaving it unpublished until I had sorted it. Hopefully you will have a similar response and figure a creative way to promote yourself tastefully

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7. 0

   Website Examinerposted 15 years ago

   Sounds like several of your links are promoting the same product, directly or indirectly.
   
   I think most people have been trying to help you out, wishing you all the best.

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   1. 60

      Cattleprod Mediaposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, yeah, maybe just me :p
      
      Okay, I think I've figured it out. Some of the content was previously published (last week) on my own blog. I see the TOS says that if it's duplicated then NO external links allowed. Does this also mean that that I should remove the "Links" capsule? I'm not trying to promote anything. It's just an interesting post on QR codes. I don't need or want to promote anything in that Hub. Just thought some external links would be good for people to explore futher if they wanted.

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      1. 0

         Website Examinerposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         That may be necessary. Providing the URLs outside the links capsule, and without using the linking feature either, should enable you to give the relevant web addresses as references without falling afoul the rules. As long as the URLs are not hyperlinked, they would not be considered links technically speaking in terms of promotional content.

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8. 0

   Nelle Hoxieposted 15 years ago

   Wow, well perhaps you should contact the HubPages team directly and ask your questions. Or read the HubPages TOS and see if this is the right place for you to be trying your affiliate marketing.
   
   BTW I've been making my living in Affiliate Marketing for 10 years, have over 70 of my own sites, and will tell you - follow spirit of the rules here and there's a lot of money to be made with Amazon and Ebay.
   
   But pushing the rules to the limit doesn't work well for most people.

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   1. 60

      Cattleprod Mediaposted 15 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Nelle,
      
      I'm not pushing anything to the limit?
      
      I had two links to Amazon that linked Kylie Minogue's name to her album. The Hub is about Kylie's new video from that album. I have one Amazon capsule on that Hub.
      
      Anyway, I've removed all the links and I'm presuming it's due to it being duplicate content and thus restricting the amount of external links.
      
      The reason it's duplicated is because I just started here and thought that would make a great hub. I'll be writing exclusive content from here on in.
      
      But as I said, I'm not even here to make affiliate money or do "affiliate marketing". I'm a content producer, not a marketer. If my content is decent enough, then yeah in time I might get some return, but it isn't my focus. I'd like to believe HP is more about offering valuable content on the internet, than people slavering over affiliate payments.

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      1. 85

         Marisa Wrightposted 15 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, it's the duplicate content that's created the problem. If it had been original content, you would've been fine as all the links were going to different websites. 
         
         Because you earn money at HubPages only when people click on your Adsense/Amazon/eBay ads, not by page views, you'll find you can't ignore affiliate marketing.  If your Hub doesn't lead your readers to click on ads in some way, you'll make no money no matter how valuable your content.

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9. 61

   eltravoseposted 15 years ago

   this helped me too thx

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