Zero ...ZERO.....clicks :-(

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   marlena1974posted 14 years ago

   Hello, first and foremost, I've not written many hubs.  And most of the clicks I have on those, I've clicked myself as I review them.  The next set of clicks is from co-hubbers.  And then I do have like a total of 8 clicks from search engines.
   
   Granted, I am not at all an expert in technology nor marketing strategies.  I know not how to optimize these capabilities. 
   
   What are some good pointers?  I have been reading a lot of hubs on the topic and I have seen that these are ways to put one's articles out there:
   
   -write a lot of quality and interesting hubs
   -backlink
   -use good keywords and phrases
   
   The questions I have are about clicks from other hubbers and friends.  If friends and friends of friends etc...  read my hubs, and click on the ads, does that get me in a heap of trouble with adsense? 
   
   Are the important clicks the ones that come from search engines? 
   
   If I am getting zero clicks, I must be doing (or NOT doing) something....
   
   Help please.
   
   I know that when it comes to technology I am quite challenged....
   
   Can you all offer me some good pointers and/or direct me to hubs on the topic?  Thank you.  I have read several hubs on the topic, but I obviously need to learn a whole lot more.

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2. 61

   marlena1974posted 14 years ago

   To clarify:   when I say zero clicks i mean within the last few days.   when i first post, i do get a few clicks here and there.

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3. 99

   leahleflerposted 14 years ago

   The important clicks are the ones coming from search engines. Some people are SEO whizzes and manage to get organic search engine results right away, but I'm still in the learning phase and it took me a while to build up organic search results. I'm still not getting a ton of traffic, but I do earn some Adsense $ almost every day.
   
   I would build up a profile of high quality hubs: it takes a while to figure out which ones are going to draw the most traffic, and you can refine your topics as you figure out which subjects are drawing the search engine hits. Join the weekly Hub Mobs and all contests, as these are generally centered around traffic-drawing topics.
   
   Have you tried using Google's keyword tool? It might help you refine some keywords, to see which ones draw more traffic for the subject you are writing about. Make sure the keywords are in your title, and hand-write the summary (click over on the right-hand side, a tab labeled "summary"). If you don't enter the summary manually, the information is auto-generated by snagging the first paragraph of your article (which might not contain a lot of keywords).
   
   Make sure your friends and family are not clicking your ads: Google tracks the IP address of the clickers, and suspicious activity could get your account banned.
   
   Try linking to a specific hub on the Extreme Makeover forum to see if anyone has pointers on how to improve one of your hubs for search engine friendliness. There are a lot of experienced hubbers out there who are willing to help!

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4. 61

   Jason Menayanposted 14 years ago

   Leah's response is excellent.
   
   The biggest weakness--and something that's easily fixable--among your 4 Hubs so far is that they're not titled correctly for search traffic. I would read this Learning Center post:
   http://learningcenter.hubpages.com/vide … -your-hub/
   
   Your Hubs are terrific otherwise - well-written and very useful.
   
   Try for titles that match what people might be Googling, instead of the sort of eye-catching titles you might see in a magazine.
   
   I would focus on trying to get real traffic (Hub views/reads) and not worry about clicks just yet. Those take a long time to develop. And you will absolutely get in trouble with Google if your friends and family are clicking on ads--please tell them not to do so if you've encouraged them to do so in the past.

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5. 61

   marlena1974posted 14 years ago

   leahlefler and Jason:  Thank you very much for your informative responses!  Also, I think when I said zero clicks, I also meant ZERO VIEWS.  That is, in the last few days, I've had zero views.  No views at all.
   
   I notice (with the four hubs I have) that the little traffic I had came from the first days of publishing.  After, it all dwindles down, all the way down to zero.
   
   But I will definitely be putting into effect the pointers you have given me.  Thanks!  I've got a lot of learning to do!!

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      Jason Menayanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Oh, I see - yes, OK. You can certainly encourage friends and family to read (and comment on) your Hubs.
      
      Your long-term traffic will always come from searchers, i.e. people who don't know you. The same goes for earnings.
      
      But you're off to a strong start, even if it doesn't necessarily feel that way. Check out our success stories. They were also getting close to no traffic at the beginning, too.

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