Author Score Falling Fast Please Help...

1. 68

   ThunderKeysposted 13 years ago

   My Author Score has dropped from 91 to 84 over the last month or so. It's been dropping particularly fast in the last couple of weeks, despite recently publishing 2 popular hubs, daily hubhopping and commenting etc.
   
   Any suggestions for why this might be happening and what I can do about it?
   
   Gratefully,
   - Duddy.

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   1. 0

      andycoolposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      One suggestion: actively participate in the forums. Hope this helps!

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      1. 68

         ThunderKeysposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Actually, I have recently been increasing my forums participation. So I'm not sure if that's the issue.
         
         But thank you andycool for taking a moment to respond.

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         1. 75

            sofsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Write more hubs, ( I mean quality hubs) comment and participate in community activities ... but most of all do SEO and backlinking so your hubs drive traffic from search engines.. when traffic falls.. score also fall.

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            1. 68

               ThunderKeysposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Thank you sofs! I really appreciate your suggestions.
               
               May I ask: what is the best link building strategy?
               Do you top performers use software for onpage SEO?

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               1. 69

                  Glenn Stokposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  Be careful with link building. If you make your own from other sites and you do too many at once, Google will lower your ranking as they can tell it was done by you. Only original backlinks work best with Google, and they build over time. As for your HP score, all the answers above are correct. traffic helps. So what I'm saying is that it's a fine line between pulling in traffic and not triggering a Google issue.

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               2. 78

                  wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  A wide variation of strategy here.  I don't backlink at all.  I provided 3 to each hub, saw no change, and quit.  It is quite possible that a few hundred would have an affect, though.
                  
                  I don't think many hubbers, top performers or not, use software for SEO purposes.  We all use some kind of keyword tool, and maybe count keywords on the page, but I imagine that's about it.

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                  1. 69

                     Glenn Stokposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                     All of that helps. But there is a right way and a wrong way. I do a lot of analysis with Google Analytics. And I found that some single word keywords bring in the wrong traffic. So when I catch one, I change it to a long tail keyword. The point is that you don't want traffic from people who matched on a keyword that just happened to be in your hub if it off subject. Those people will leave as soon as they realize it's not what they are looking for. The short duration will lower your score. If you get people who are specifically looking for your subject matter, then they will stay and read. The longer duration increases your score. This works for Google ranking too.

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   2. 77

      JamaGeneeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thunderkeys, NEVER EVER worry about your hubber score on Sunday or even Monday. Mine *always* drops like a rock during that time frame, and so do the scores of other hubber friends.
      
      Personally, I think HP's servers are switched to "sleep mode" at the end of the work week on Friday.  Just my opinion, never verified by an HP staffer.  ????
      
      JamaGenee / Joanna

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2. 79

   LuisEGonzalezposted 13 years ago

   From what I have been able to discern after months of closely monitoring my hubs, traffic and doing some numbers and analysis; it appears that your author score is mostly based on the amount of overall traffic from the previous 24 hours plus the average score of your hubs and to a lesser extend the other factors such as participation,comments and so on.....
   
   Try this: next time you post a hub let it be one that has a higher pre-publication score that is higher than the last one you posted and compare the overall traffic to your hubs from the previous 24 hours. If both are higher, then your author score should reflect a higher number on the following day....
   
   This has held true for me in the past but recent changes have made me wonder if HP has changed things around.......

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3. 78

   wildernessposted 13 years ago

   Just two comments:
   
   1) Don't worry about it so much.  As long as you are above 75 you're fine.  Be aware that there is a random value included in that score and it will vary.
   
   2) Your activity shows an awful lot of "Thunderkeys is following-".  If you find a hubber that you wish to read everything they publish then follow them.  Otherwise keep your mouse off the follow button.  It's not a popularity contest and it's not a social site.

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   1. 68

      ThunderKeysposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Wilderness, Nice to meet you as well.
      
      I usually follow people during Hub-hopping when I find a Hub I really enjoy, rate highly and comment on.
      
      That following activity you saw reflects the increased Hub-hopping I've been doing recently. I look forward to reading from those authors in the future.
      
      Your first point is comforting though. I won't worry about it unless I drop below 75.

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      1. 78

         wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         If that's why you are following (to read future hubs) then that's what it's all about.  Be aware, though, that HP will penalize (via the hubber score) anyone that suddenly follows a lot of people all at once.

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4. 75

   sofsposted 13 years ago

   That is absolutely true... indiscriminate following always brings down the author scores of hubbers .. You may argue that you do not follow indiscriminately but for the system a sudden increase in follows means red flag .. exercise caution while following hubbers

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5. 86

   WriteAngledposted 13 years ago

   If author score is influenced by comments and votes on your hubs, these activities are less likely to be indulged by people coming in via search engines. They arrive for information, not to mess around with social network nonsense.
   
   If this is the case, a shift from internal to external viewers could potentially cause the score to fall.
   
   Of course, until we are clearly told the criteria defining these numbers plastered across our avatars, we can only make wild guesses.
   
   I prefer simply to ignore the whole thing. It has absolutely no bearing on how much hubs earn and thus is not worth worrying about.

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   1. 68

      ThunderKeysposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thank  you WrteAngled. I have had an increase in readers from my growing twitter and stumble upon following. An increase in Non-Hubber and thus non internally networking readers may have something to do with it.
      
      Yet I did try to compensate by really Hub-Hopping, finding articles I enjoy and making meaningful comments etc and ratings.

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6. 61

   Peter Owenposted 13 years ago

   The act of following a person does not drop the Hubberscore, IF you read  the hubs of the people you follow. If you follow without reading their hubs, your score will drop like a rock.
   I put this issue in a hub called How New Hubbers Ruin Their Hubscore.

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   1. 68

      ThunderKeysposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I'll take a moment to read your Hub. Thank you Peter.
      
      I just wonder, for Super-Hubers that have hundreds of followers, sometimes over a thousand, - do they read and comment on all those Hubs each day?

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      1. 78

         wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         That a "super-hubber" has hundreds of followers does not mean that they follow hundreds.  There is no particular reason, and you are not expected to, read everything published by anyone that follows you.

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      2. 99

         leahleflerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I don't think you are penalized for not reading the hubs of people that follow you, only for not reading the hubs of people you follow.
         
         I wouldn't worry about your hubberscore as long as it stays above 75. I had my hubberscore go from 88 to 98 in the course of one day (and I'm still not exactly sure why I had such a wild swing)! I usually hang out in the low 90's, but there is a decent amount of swing from day-to-day.

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7. 68

   ThunderKeysposted 13 years ago

   Most of my follows come from positive interactions with others and mainly from enjoying a read. For example during Hub-hopping.
   
   Does this mean un-following will increase my author score?

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   1. 69

      Glenn Stokposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Unfollowing will not directly change your score. But if there is someone you are following and you changed your mind or simply don't have the time to read their hubs, then in that case it is a good idea to unfollow that person. Otherwise you will be penalized for not reading their hubs.
      
      It seems that there is a percentage based on the number of hubs you need to read (of the people you follow) to keep your score up. Personally, I read what interests me. Many Hubbers write on a variety of topics. I follow someone because I want to keep up with what they write on one subject or another. So obviously, I will only read their hubs that are in the category for which I originally followed them. That may be a small percentage of ALL their hubs. And I find that it does not hurt my score as long as I am reading a few hubs of each. Don't ask me what that percentage is, I don't know. It's just a theory based on what I am experiencing myself.

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8. 76

   Aficionadaposted 13 years ago

   Is that actually accurate?  If it is, my score should be much lower than it is.  I don't take nearly enough time to read hubs of people that I follow.  I would be interested in knowing where that information came from.
   
   ThunderKeys, I don't know what to suggest about un-following Hubbers.  I myself would not do that, unless there are some that you really don't want to follow anyway.  In my opinion, the best thing to do is just to sit tight and do the good things you already know about and are doing:  keep writing high quality Hubs, interact in the forums, read and comment on Hubs by others. 
   
   And when you do follow other Hubbers from now on, just space them out somewhat.  I don't know of any real figures to suggest, but for my way of thinking any number over 5-7 in one day could possibly raise a red flag.
   
   The main thing, though, is not to obsess over the score.  It will rise and fall on its own, and often there will be no obvious reason for it - just as others have said.  Even doing what I have suggested will probably not cause it to rise abruptly - but you never know. 

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   1. 69

      Glenn Stokposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Everything Aficionada said is right on. And as for raising a red flag, I'd like to mention something that I do... 
      
      When someone follows me, I usually check out their hubs. Not necessarily to follow them, but just to return the courtesy by picking something to read if I have an interest in their subject matter. But...and here is the important point... I first check their hubtivity. If I see that they just followed 20 or so other people at the same time as me, all in a minute or two, then I quickly leave and don't even look at what they write about. That's a red flag that I react to. It's obvious that they couldn't have read 20 hubs in a minute.

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      1. 77

         JamaGeneeposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Ditto.  When I have a new follower and see on their profile page that they've just followed a bunch of people in the last few minutes, I don't bother reading their hubs, let alone follow back. 
         
         Even if that's not the case, I only follow hubbers who write about topics that interest me and whose hubs are well-written (meaning grammatically correct with few, if any, spelling errors) because in effect I am recommending those hubbers to my other followers to follow. If a hub is garbage, I won't follow the hubber who wrote it.
         
         I also don't follow hubbers whose hubs are obviously written to maximize SEO and keywords. Hubpages is, after all, a Writers' Community, and the focus should be on *quality* hubs. 
         
         Cream will always rise to the top.

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9. 68

   ThunderKeysposted 13 years ago

   Thank you very much all for the great insights and helpful feedback. I've really learned a lot and hopefully so have others.
   
   These were some great, practical and thought-provoking suggestions here about how and why to follow others.
   
   I also appreciate the back linking insights offered here as well.
   
   Gratefully,
   - Duddy.

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   1. 76

      Aficionadaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      Woo-hoo, ThunderKeys!  I see the number is going up - how cool, and congratulations!  As I said before, it's best not to obsess about it, but I know that we all tend to use all the different numbers as some sort of measure of how we're doing.  A lot of their significance depends on why we're here - mainly to write for ourselves, to write for others, to write for income, etc. 
      
      When it comes to followers, I do exactly the same thing as what Glenn wrote (about checking out someone else's Hubtivity).  I think that's an excellent practice worth following.  I added some underlining.
      
      
      Also, when I lose a follower, as sometimes happens, I generally assume that it's one of those that followed me only for the purpose of getting me to follow them (but I didn't).  There are other reasons for someone to stop following, but I think that is the most common one - so I don't worry about it when it happens.

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10. 69

    CarpetDiemposted 13 years ago

    ThunderKeys,
    I see you've gone from 86 to 89 since you posted this two days ago, so you're heading in the right direction. I think one key that was mentioned here is to actively and regularly participate in the forums.
    I know that I should do that more.

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11. 68

    ThunderKeysposted 13 years ago

    Yes, thank you. I'm back up to 89 actually from 84! I think my focus needs to be on writing more Hubs now that I've learned so much from this post.
    
    Thanks again everyone for your support and high quality insights and suggestions.
    
    Gratefully,
    - Duddy.

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