Tag suggestions

1. STAFF

   pauldeedsposted 16 years ago

   We just recently released a small update to the site.  There are lots of little things, but the two changes that you'll probably notice are:
   
   1. Tag suggestions -- we now have the ability to analyze the text of your hub, and can suggest tags that may be appropriate.  Look for this on your hubs at the bottom of the tag box.
   
   2. Ad Zones - possible ad zones will be displayed as a green box on unpublished hubs.  As soon as a hub is published some or all of the green boxes will be replaced with advertisements.  This does a couple of good things, first unpublished hubs will load and render a bit faster, and second you won't see the poorly matched ads that result from google not being able to access and analyze the unpublished hub.
   
   We hope to open up one more big feature update later this week -- we're just finishing up a little more testing on it.  Stay tuned!
   
   As with any release, please let us know right away if you notice any new problems using the site.
   
   Edit: Also Larry posted some interesting thoughts to our blog today, Is a Blog Enough? No it isn't according to Larry.  Be sure to check it out.

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      funrideposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      You can use it on every hub - new or old .
      
      

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      JYOTI KOTHARIposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      I have tried tag suggessions and it works pretty well.
      I have enough tags in my hub and want to add suggested ones. If it exceeds 40 what will be the reaction of google? Should I keep older ones or remove them? All of the older ones or some of them?
      
      Jyoti Kothari

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         privateye2500posted 16 years agoin reply to this

         Are you saying that tags equal KEYWORDS exactly to the spiders in Google?
         
         Really?  I must be getting a bit dense; I thought it was more *inner circle* for the hubbers than that.
         
         I did NOT realize that TAG = SE KEYWORD
         
         Are you certain of this?
         
         Melanie
         <snipped link - no sigs please>

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   Mishaposted 16 years ago

   Nice changes, thanks guys!
   
   Paul, how do you determine which tags are appropriate? Are you using Tecnorati, Yahoo, etc.? Or is it just confined to the current set of Hubpages tags? Or even just to keyword density of the text itself?

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   1. STAFF

      pauldeedsposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      We're looking at the text of the hub itself and calculating related keywords, much the same way google would to match relevant ads to your content.  Hopefully it will help people choose "better" tags.  We've also got some other ideas on what we can do with the data, consider this the first installment ...

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         Rochelle Frankposted 16 years agoin reply to this

         Can it be used retroactively-- or is it for new hubs?

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   funrideposted 16 years ago

   Great update! I have tried it and it gave me some good tags which I hadn´t "seen". Of course people still have to choose right because some of the suggestions may not be good tags after all .

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   guidebabaposted 16 years ago

   These are EXCELLENT Updates and Additions. We all were looking forward to these kind of Features. These are surely going to be beneficial in the Long Run. We eagerly await the Next Installments...
   
   Thank you HP !

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   len7288posted 16 years ago

   Very good update on tags

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   gamergirlposted 16 years ago

   Pretty cool option! I like it.

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   oxymoronposted 16 years ago

   Nice update

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   premsinghposted 16 years ago

   Tags suggestion is a very useful tool. I found it helpful in improving traffic. Very useful to lazy people like me.

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   weblogposted 16 years ago

   Useful update

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    broalexdotinfoposted 16 years ago

    Awsome new feature. I just gave it a try earlier works perfectelly.
    
    Alex

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    Julie-Ann Amosposted 16 years ago

    Works great thanks - just used it on all my hubs!

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    britneydavidsonposted 16 years ago

    Great thanks a lot.

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    hassamposted 16 years ago

    I just saw the suggested tags on my hubs and have a few questions:
    
    1.Are these tags going to be based on what people search about, on the topic of the hubs or just a suggestion based on the hub's text?
    
    2.Secondly, I use google trends to find out the most searched keywords on a topic but the tags suggested here are somewhat different so are they going to be search friendly?
    
    3.On some hubs I saw a lot of suggestions about related  tags so how do we figure out how many tags are appropriate so that there isn't a lot of keyword stuffing?

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    1. STAFF

       pauldeedsposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       They are based on the text of the hub.
       
       
       
       Our goal with suggested tags is to improve the categorization and organization of hubs within HubPages.   I think improving the navigation experience for HubPages users may, as a side benefit, help us with search engines but that is yet to be seen.  Using google trends to help choose your tags seems reasonable as well, just make sure they are related to your hub.
       
       
       
       I'm not quite sure what you mean about related tags, but we don't add any tags to your hub for you, we just suggest some that you might want to consider.   The appropriate number of tags depends on the length and the subject of a hub.  For an average length hub, somewhere in the neighborhood of 20-30 tags seems reasonable to me.

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          hassamposted 16 years agoin reply to this

          Ok Paul, Thanks a lot for answering the questions, this really helped a lot.

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    topstuffposted 16 years ago

    Definitely a good feature is added.

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    Trsmdposted 16 years ago

    Suggested Tags is a easy way to add more tags without searching and selecting..
    
    This way Our Hubs will get more traffics..
    
    Thanks everyone who created this...

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    moonbunposted 16 years ago

    Great new feature - thanks a lot.

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    Stacie Naczelnikposted 16 years ago

    Thanks for the updates.  I'm excited about the tag suggestions.

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    Patty Inglish, MSposted 16 years ago

    I like both additional features - very helpful. Thanks!

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    premsinghposted 16 years ago

    200+ traffic within 6 hrs

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       Ryan Hupferposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Hey premsingh,
       
       Do you mean that you've seen 200+ visits in traffic after re-tagging a Hub?

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          premsinghposted 16 years agoin reply to this

          Yes Ryan, I have seen an increase of 400+ visits in traffic after re-tagging in a day but this is for all hubs not for a single hub and 75 of this could be my own visit for retagging.

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    funrideposted 16 years ago

    I also noticed a traffic increase from hubpages after re-tagging all my hubs.

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       casparposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Just rushing off to retag my hubs - shouldn't take me long as I only have a few, and the new tool will be a great help!

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    2. STAFF

       pauldeedsposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       That's great, but keep in mind that if you went and viewed each of your hubs to update the tags, that would account for 45 more views right there .

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          funrideposted 16 years agoin reply to this

          
          You´re right but it was a little more than that. I only had so much traffic from HP when I publish a new hub (and I didn´t). Now lets`  hope to see more traffic also coming from SE .

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    ProCWposted 16 years ago

    Great updates!

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    Anti-Valentineposted 16 years ago

    The tag suggestions is a great add-on. I tried it just now. Before, I always loathed having to come up with my own by scanning the articles.

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    Ryan Hupferposted 16 years ago

    Here is the new linky-link that we added for the Tag suggestions:
    
    
    
    Here is what the suggestions look like after clicking:
    
    
    
    These were suggested for my Mullets HubMob Hub and I added nearly all of them. I love this new feature...our engineers are like the bomb and stuff.

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    Rochelle Frankposted 16 years ago

    I have a question-- it seems like every time I return to a hub.. there are more suggestions. I know at one time I got flagged for having too many tags on a hub. Will this happen again with all these multiple suggestions being added?

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    1. STAFF

       pauldeedsposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Just don't add too many tags and you'll be fine.  Our suggestions are only suggestions after all.

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    Research Analystposted 16 years ago

    I certainly could use this new feature, now I will be able to add more tags to my hubs, because I think originally I did not have enough tags, so this will be very helpful.
    
    I also noticed that the tags are becoming more of a phrase instead of just one word.
    Which makes sense, because most searches are done using a long tail phrase.
    Thanks again.

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    anime_nanetposted 16 years ago

    Great update!
    
    Already started using it, no major changes in traffic yet contrary to some users feedback.
    
    Hubpages just keeps getting better and better.
    
    Kudos to the people on the top!

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    spudsposted 16 years ago

    Another nice addition. Good work everyone.

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    Ryan Hupferposted 16 years ago

    Looks like this feature is already paying off...literally.
    
    http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/7872

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    Paragliderposted 16 years ago

    I've just spent a pleasant hour going through all my hubs trying the suggestions. It's interesting to see what is offered. It tells me quite a bit about search algorithms. Or at least I think it does!

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    William F. Torpeyposted 16 years ago

    Another great HubPages feature! I don't know anything about tags and keywords, so I appreciate the help very much. It is not one of my major goals to become a computer geek.

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       flread45posted 16 years agoin reply to this

       =flread45] Good idea,but bad advise,as I inserted more tags and got zapped by hubpages for having to many tags.

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    adrainseanposted 16 years ago

    it is good that you guys are not using technortai tags as  they have a bug itself, Now I have a important question.
    
    How is TAGS used and placed in terms of SEO, what tags are given to h1,h2,h3?? or are they mention in meta-tags /meta-descriptions??
    
    Is there tags mention or association with the summary of any hub??
    
    please admin or ppl incharge if you can answer these queries I think i shall be able to better use the TAGS of hubs.

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       privateye2500posted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Adrian - if you mean what gravity do the h1 h2 h3 html font sizes have to do with SE rankings, then the answer is yes, the good old H1 tag is still loved by all the SE, Even Google.
       
       And it is Great to know that because MOST html editors don't even provide that function anymore!!!  You have to put them in manually if you want them there.

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    thranaxposted 16 years ago

    I like the new tag thing, it really is helpful. Sometimes after I finally finish a Hub I am so brain dead I can't think of a good set of tags to use, so maybe now I will get the words I really meant to put the first time!
    
    ~thranax~

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    BrianSposted 16 years ago

    I got a warning saying I had a lot of tags and was I sure they were all relevant, my understanding is that it is good practice to make sure your tags are reflected in the content of your hub (or website), in other words you are not using a tag that is not relevant and that you are actually discussing the subject the tag refers to.
    
    Search engines check for this, I think, and if you are abusing the use of your tags (or keywords) you will probably be penalized in terms of ranking. So a good practice is to decide on the keywords you want to use to reflect your content and then try and write them into your text, easier said than done but if you can manage it you will achieve the relevancy search engines look for.
    
    I ended up taking out some tags that I didn't think would be used when searching for my subject to reduce the count (even though they were included in my text) and redressed the balance because I didn't like the warnings, but at the end of the day I viewed it as a warning to check and I was pretty confident all my tags were relevant and on that basis I thought I would have been OK had I left all of them in.
    
    Be interested to know if all my assumptions are correct or not and whether I would have been penalized had I not removed some tags ???.
    
    More questions than answers I am afraid.

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    Maddie Ruudposted 16 years ago

    Brian:
    
    The warning is just that--a warning.  Depending on how much content you have on your page, and the relevancy of those tags to the content, it is sometimes fine to ignore that warning.  I've got it on some of my own hubs, in fact.  You were right in thinking that the longer and more comprehensive the content, the more tags are justified.  There's no hard-and-fast rule, however, so just use your best judgement.

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    William F. Torpeyposted 16 years ago

    I have been using many or all the tags suggested by the new HubPages feature because I'm assuming HubPages knows more than I do about it (which is easy because I know almost nothing about tags and keywords.) But now I'm wondering if I'm using too many tags. The tags I started with came almost exclusively directly from my text. Some of the suggested tags do not seem to make sense to me, but, again, I don't have enough knowledge about the subject to be sure. If the tags I use seem to make sense, how would I know how many is too many?

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    1. STAFF

       Fawntiaposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Please don't assume that the tag suggester knows better than you do. It's a computer algorithm that is bound to make silly suggestions sometimes. The purpose of the tag suggester is to help you generate ideas, but ultimately it is up to you to choose relevant tags that make sense for your hub. Good luck!

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    Marian Swiftposted 16 years ago

    Can't tell you about quantity, but I only use the tags that make sense.  And I even tweak some of those a bit.
    
    Of course, mine may just be coming out more nonsensical than yours.  Different tags for different Hubs.

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    William F. Torpeyposted 16 years ago

    Thanks, Marian.
    
    On many of my hubs the new HubPages "Suggested Tags" feature offers this tag as a suggestion: f. torpey
    
    I assume this is my middle initial and last name. Who would search for that?
    
    Also, who would search for this tag, "instance" -- which is offered as a suggestion on one of my hubs?

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       Marian Swiftposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       Precisely.  I use the suggestions with caution.  That, and the occasional laugh.  But a special few will be golden.

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    Stacie Lposted 16 years ago

    The suggested tags have taught me a lot.
      I've leraned so much about marketing on these forums.
      I am a novice and trying to 
      "catch-  up"   on all the internet has to offer!

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    BrianSposted 16 years ago

    Hi Guys,
    
    Thanks for the reply, I know where I stand with the warnings now and that is a great help.
    
    Just for information I use the google adwords website to see who is typing what into search engines https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal, its free if you have a google account which you can also get free. All you do is type in the keyword or phrase and google gives you a list of suggestions and tells you how many people are typing those words or phrases into the search engines. Quite handy if you are looking for some tag suggestions on your subject matter.

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    JYOTI KOTHARIposted 16 years ago

    I think the web address is
    https://adwords.google.com/select/Keywo … aultView=2
    
    Jyoti kothari

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    BrianSposted 16 years ago

    Jyoti,
    
    Yes you are correct, sorry about that must have missed a bit off when I copied the url.
    
    https://adwords.google.com/select/Keywo … aultView=2
    
    I should also have mentioned when you get a suggestion from hubpages for a tag (keyword) you could use the keyword tool to see how many people put that keyword or phrase into google and then decide if you would like to use it.
    
    Thanks for correcting my error.

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    Just_Rodneyposted 16 years ago

    Excellent updates and very helpful ones too. No problem to report.

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    William F. Torpeyposted 16 years ago

    Thanks, Fawntia for clarifying the suggested tags. I've been going through my hubs to eliminate the ones that make little or no sense.

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    1. STAFF

       Fawntiaposted 16 years agoin reply to this

       No problem. I wish that we would have made that clear sooner. Sorry for any extra work it has caused you.

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    quicksandposted 16 years ago

    Previously I was under the impression that tag suggestion was the result of some calculation based on the requirements of the search engines. I was toying with the idea of deleting all my tags and replacing them with the suggested ones. Then I noticed that the suggested tags were identical to the tags that I had initially inserted, but with the addition of an appropriate preposition or conjunction. The way I understand it now, is that tags should to an extent follow the "tail word" formula, for which reason should stand in small groups.

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    Msvirgoposted 16 years ago

    I think the new tag suggestions are helpful and can bring more traffic to are site.

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    multimasteryposted 16 years ago

    Wonderful addition!

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    Pat Merewetherposted 16 years ago

    I love this new feature!  However I added more tags based only on the new suggestions from hub and also got the message that I have  a large number of tags and am I sure they're relevant?  I was, so i left them - so far so good!
    
    Now if i could just figure out what words or phrases in my articles trigger those "hot Barzilian women!"  or other links to porn-like sites?  Maybe my 'hot' chili recipe and so forth?

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    AEvansposted 16 years ago

    I did not realize that , thank you for sharing

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    dishyumposted 16 years ago

    Tag suggestion tool picks words from anchor text and capsule headings at times, is it ok to accept and add them?

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    DNKStoreposted 16 years ago

    Thanks so much for the addition Paul, although not all of the suggested tags are relevant, it is still a very good tool.

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