How do you REALLY drive traffic to your hubs?

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   pmc255posted 14 years ago

   Yes, yes, I know. Research good keywords, write quality content, etc etc.
   
   But practically speaking, how do you actually drive traffic? I'm looking for concrete, specific answers instead of the generic advice everyone always gives.
   
   * Do you post to certain sites?
   * Do you post on niche/content-related forums and blogs? How do you find these sites?
   * Do you have external web properties you use for linking?
   * Do you increase hubpages-internal linking? How? Do you comment on other's posts and post in the forums?
   
   Please give some practical answers, and list any sites you've actually used. Thanks!

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   1. 86

      WryLiltposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I rarely backlink or promote. I just write more hubs.
      
      I'm getting about 800 hits a day right now, and those are coming from about 20% of my hubs.
      
      Basically keep writing till you find something people (and google) like.
      
      Either write lots (and hope something sticks) or learn SEO and strategies and write just a few but well researched and good quality ones. For example Misha has only written about twenty but he makes plenty of cash off them.
      
      You'll find many of the pro-hubbers have spent hours, weeks and months learning about all the little nuances of SEO and keywords and promoting their hubs/websites. It really can't be put in one post. Read some of the great hubs on the site, by Darkside for instance.

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   2. 0

      Hovalisposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      You need to do some research on your own. There are numerous hubs on backlinking and keyword research on this site. Part of the beauty is finding this out for yourself, so I'll spare giving it to you on a platter. Needless to say, I do both keyword research, using Micro Niche Finder, and I backlink. Using a tool like Micro Niche Finder is only effective if you have a basic understanding of keywords and competition and won't do all the work for you, but will put the information all in one place. You'll still have to do the analysis.
      
      Here's some searches to get you started.
      
      http://hubpages.com/search/include:hubs+backlink
      
      and
      
      http://hubpages.com/search/include:hubs+seo
      
      and a bonus, 'cause I'm generous:
      
      http://hubpages.com/search/include:hubs+60DC
      
      Have fun!

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2. 58

   TerryGlposted 14 years ago

   Funny enough it IS actually all about the keywords. Links work to some degree, not like they used to though.
   
   Yes. The idea is to write that one hubpage focused on a keyword that no one else is using and can quickly take over page one. For instance if you research a keyword and the first few spots don't have the keyword in the url, then your a sure bet to take position one.
   
   I myself use keywords no one else is using because I find those ones that others stop short of searching for.
   
   When you master this, you will get natural organic search engine visitors beyond your wildest dreams.

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      Website Examinerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Interesting. Must be time-consuming.

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      1. 58

         TerryGlposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Not at all. Within about five minutes I can drill down to about four or five choice keywords. It's just knowing what to look for and how to do it.
         
         I use two ready available online resources and what I do is totally free.

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            Website Examinerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            Thanks TerryGl. In that case, would you recommend Hubbers to learn doing this themselves, or rather that they hire a SEO expert such as you?

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            1. 58

               TerryGlposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Nice one.
               
               No, it's the quiet achievers that are enjoying value from their efforts in choosing keywords they wish to target. It's got nothing to do with seo as that comes second hand when you target the keyword.
               
               I think the old addage some people look at what they see and others appreciate what they see, is quite appropriate.
               
               I am of course the latter. Nothing to prove but it is true on keyword selection is half the battle, not seo.

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                  Website Examinerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  Thanks again, one of these days I'm going to get my terminology straight.

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   2. 67

      Dorothee-Gyposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      HI, Terry I agree, it sounds very interesting, but could you go into a little bit more detail for newbies??? That would be extremely helpful, thanks!

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         Website Examinerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         These links to previous forum discussions may be useful:
         
         http://hubpages.com/search/include:foru … d+research
         
         http://hubpages.com/search/include:foru … rd+academy

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3. 93

   Susana Sposted 14 years ago

   I'm on the same page. Find well searched keyphrases that no one (or not many people) are trying to rank for and without a great deal of effort you can get to number 1 in google with a quality hubpage. This is the best way to get traffic naturally and without spending lots of time trying to "drive traffic". I have one page that gets around 800 hits a day and has earnt me hundreds of dollars so far over it's lifetime (and will continue to do so!)
   
   Finding these gold mine keyphrases takes time and effort, much more than the actual writing of the page, but well worth it.

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   Words by Mikeposted 14 years ago

   I found some good information here. Thank you for your post this was a good topic for those of us new to the Hub.

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5. 60

   kiigeorgeposted 14 years ago

   can see what people are saying -
   find keywords few are using -
   
   but it seems to imply  that the articles you write are written entirely for the sake of the keyword ? not because you happen to be interested in the subject ?
   
   for example, suppose your research shows you only 200 people use the long tail keyword " yellow polka dot golf balls " but there's inexplicably, 2000 to 3000 searches per month for yellow polka dot golf balls ( couldn't imagine why ) 
   
   So you get yourself interested and excited  about yellow polka dot golf balls for the sake of the keyword ? and you do that, article after article after article?  Is that the life of a successful article writer ? Is that the model ? Is that what we have to look forward to ? just like to know before i get too deeply into this. Thanks

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      TerryGlposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Well basically yes. If you want to make some money. Lets take your example and put a location keyword in front of it. The yellow polka dot golf balls get 3,000 searches per month. So we set up our main site using the keyword as it is as the url and title of the site.
      
      Then with each page of the site we put a location in front of it. After some time your site will target local search patterns and will get some of the 3,000 searches per month. Such as Austin yellow polka dot golf balls or Las Vegas yellow polka dot golf balls etc..
      
      A good buying keyword, targeted traffic, they have to click something because they cannot help themselves.
      
      Clear as mud?

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   2. 93

      Susana Sposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      I think there are at least two ways of looking at this. One is I write freelance a lot and I have to write about a lot of stuff I'm not particularly interested in. It's hard work, it can be boring, it can also help me develop my writing skills and it pays the bills. Even writing on a topic I'm interested in day after day can become tedious. Still I always write with the reader in mind and try to give them a quality piece of writing to read.
      
      If I'm writing an article for myself ie: for my residual income, I usually come up with an idea of something I'd like to write about and then do the keyword research afterwards to find a suitable phrase that fits with my idea. Sometimes I will write an article because a keyphrase it potentially profitable but I still write for the reader (I aim for writing the best page on the web on whatever the topic is), while the url, title and page optimization is for google. You can easily combine the two.

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6. 85

   Pcunixposted 14 years ago

   I started to write an answer here but it got so long I turned it into a post.  It's titled Do you really think you are fooling Google?
   
   I suppose the title probably gives away my opinion of all this :-)

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7. 60

   kiigeorgeposted 14 years ago

   look forward to the post Pcunix
   
   and thanks Terri GI - yes clear as mud ..
   and i learnt something about location keywords .. thanks for that
   
   enjoyed  the phrase  " they have to click something - because they cannot help themselves "

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8. 78

   Janet21posted 14 years ago

   I write about what I am passionate about and what I enjoy writing about.  I don't worry all that much about keywords or backlinks. 
   
   The majority of my traffic comes from google....

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   Ivorwenposted 14 years ago

   I write about insane things that make an impression on me, and for some reason, people are searching for at least half of them.  Several thing that I thought would never leave HP have been linked to from all sorts of places. Go figure!

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