Loss in Traffic?

1. 72

   Cagsilposted 12 years ago

   Hey Hubbers,
   
   I would like to take this opportunity to possibly give you a bit of help. Now, I'm not the greatest at SEO or even understanding Google.
   
   However, almost everyone who has probably had massive amounts of comments on other peoples hubs and/or had hubs that received massive amounts of comments, then you are likely to have been affected by the most recent changes on HP.
   
   Now, if I am correct, the most recent change was to the comment section of hubs. If you noticed or not, there are no more hyperlinks generated, either for YOU the author or for those who are leaving comments. Which means, that any previous juice you received for related links to your profile page is gone.
   
   The change to the comment section wiped out all links, except for those that were actually left in comments. The links where your "name" are gone. So, is the juice that came with it.
   
   Why this change was made? Probably to prevent SPAM and other people from putting in links that are unrelated to your content, but that would be my guess.
   
   If staff cares to address and tell why this change was actually made, then I would be glad to hear it.
   
   Cagsil.

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      wildernessposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Could be.  I'm not one of the plungers (yet!) and I've only gotten less than 800 comments total.

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      1. 72

         Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Hey Wilderness, nice to see you.
         
         I just realized that the comment section have lost the link juice where the names of the people leaving comments. All previous comments, those links are gone and any new comments don't have links in them(where the name is).
         
         So, those who were high level commentators on hubs, lost a lot of link juice. If you have low amounts of comments or are a low level commentator on hubs, then you will not see a drastic loss.
         
         It would seem that those who comment more often, are really not helping themselves out anymore and those who were commenting on hubs to begin with, are now on a level playing field.

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      2. 59

         Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Over 2700 for mine because of the many questions I answer to those visiting my repair hubs to solve their problems.  So I may be punished because my hubs furnish answers to problems they are looking for?  That's just great! How dare I give them what they are searching for in the first place!  What was I thinking?

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         1. 90

            Rochelle Frankposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            3100+ for me and level VI-- my views, 'AdCents' and HPads are all up.

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            1. 59

               Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               We have such different results, Rochelle.  There doesn't seem to be any pattern to different Hubber's experiences lately. 

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               1. 90

                  Rochelle Frankposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  That's why I don't think this theory works-- there's something we are not seeing. Anyone who knows what it is, is not telling.

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                  1. 59

                     Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     I don't believe anyone knows, Rochelle.  This is what really concerns me.  Many are jumping around changing things merely because "someone else" suggests it may be a problem.  In the meantime, those who haven't changed these same things claim they haven't been affected.
                     
                     I get the feeling we aren't meant to understand how to stay in G's good graces.  Control seems to be the goal here.  Not a good sign. 

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   2. 69

      Evan Hutchinsonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      No loss for me, but then again, I rarely comment on hubs.

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2. 60

   paradigmsearchposted 12 years ago

   The links are still there via the icon and name I think.

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   1. 72

      Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Actually, you would be correct. They are still links on the avatar and name. However, they are no longer highlighted.
      
      My guess would be incorrect and my last post would also be incorrect.
      
      Oh well. I guess this thread can be discarded into the junk pile.

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3. 90

   Rochelle Frankposted 12 years ago

   What is "massive amounts"? I make quite a few comments and get quite a few, I think-- but have seen a good boost in traffic-- (about 100% more).
   Weekends have always been lower, but even this holiday weekend they are higher than what my usual weekday highs had been.

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4. 63

   Richieb799posted 12 years ago

   I disable a lot of comment sections on my hubs so this could why I wasn't affected but the few that I didn't get around to removing are still getting comments with spammy links even the last couple of days!

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5. 88

   Will Apseposted 12 years ago

   According to Yahoo, the thousands of links to my profile page come mainly from comments I have on other people's pages,comments I have made on my own pages plus forum posts.
   
   So I reckon, nothing has changed much from the situation a year ago.

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6. 67

   Silver Roseposted 12 years ago

   Well I just checked the source code for the hubs - in the comments, the links to the hubbers name and avatar are still there - and they are still dofollow.

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7. 72

   Cagsilposted 12 years ago

   Like I said already, the links are not highlighted. Yes, I made a mistake at posted and this was already admitted.
   
   So, I have no explanation for those who lost traffic, but did try to explain it. Which is also why I said this thread is useless.

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      paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You, however, are definitely not.

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   2. 88

      Will Apseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      It wasn't quite useless for me. I noticed that followers (fans) get no follow links. Which I hadn't noticed before.

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      1. 72

         Cagsilposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Interesting...?

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         paradigmsearchposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Not for me either. I think I'll go post a few comments, even though I am classified as a Level One Commentator and am therefore considered to be slime.

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            Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            There's good slime and there's bad slime, ya know.  Ask any snail or slug.   Think positive thoughts, Para! 

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8. 83

   David 470posted 12 years ago

   I don't believe affects me because most people that comment are guests or authors that do not post links.

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   1. 59

      Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Most of my comments are from visitors who are asking for help with problems addressed by the particular article they are commenting on.  I never allow spammy links or other clearly self-serving comments.
      
      Many of those commenting reply again stating their gratitude for my help in solving their problems and praising my hubs for their usefulness and easy to understand repair procedures. 
      
      Many new visitors read the comments to find similar problems they may be facing as well as the article itself.  People linked my hubs because they found them, and their associated comments, helpful to them.  So if the comments are causing my traffic to be penalized, then this indicates Google doesn't want to give priority to what searchers claim they are looking for.
      
      But I really don't believe the comments are my problem as they are carefully monitored for suspect links. 

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      1. 83

         David 470posted 12 years agoin reply to this

         I have received spammy links before, but never approved them, unless by accident, but I guess this update will get rid of them anyway.
         
         Some visitors who were authors posted links on my hubs that were relevant, but it happened seldomly.
         
         The majority of my commentators are guests under the age of 16 I assume. One article I wrote in 2010 is like a discussion panel about a video game lmao. It has gathered 100s of views.

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         1. 59

            Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I've never allowed spammy comments for the very reason of them possibly being frowned upon by G and HP, and because they were obviously self serving to the commenter.  In other words, I tried to only allow pertinent comments and info.
            
            One of my most trafficked hubs has almost 300 comments and tens of thousands of views over its short lifetime.  It was earning me around $75 per month Adsense and also garnered me some nice high commission sales on Amazon also before my overnight plunge.
            
            And no, it wasn't a sales oriented hub, but rather a troubleshooting and repair article which helped many people solve problems.  My comments--or questions for the most part--came from adults who seemed pleased by my hubs.  Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of...well...the heartless? 

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      relacheposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I find most of the comments on my Hubs fit the above scenario and thus I'm not bothered by this change at all.  I am very strict about not approving comments that contain URLs or email addresses so I do a fair amount of disapproving anyway.

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