Too Many Links In One Hub?

1. 71

   jamiew12310posted 12 years ago

   In one of my hubs, within the first 4 or 5 lines, I have 6 links, all to other hubs by me.
   1) Will this affect SEO?
   2) Will people be put off by this many links and not click on any or even just leave the page altogether?
   
   There is only 3 or 4 links in the rest of the whole hub.
   
   It is this hub: http://jamiew12310.hubpages.com/hub/Who … -Euro-2012

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   1. 58

      Dale Hydeposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      As long as the linked hubs are relevant to the hub there should be no problems. I have viewed the hub and it looks okay to me. It would not offend me to see the links as long as they went to hubs of like nature, or helped give an explanation for what is in the sentence.
      
      As for SEO, I don't think so, but I am not an expert there by any means.

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      1. 95

         angela_michelleposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Your hub looks just fine, I barely notice the links. The hub looks very appealing.

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         1. 79

            rex michaelsposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I was also worried about to many links, thanks for clearing it up.

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2. 59

   Josh Bellposted 12 years ago

   I think as long as the external links are minimal, you'll be fine. I haven't seen a restriction or limit on the amount of internal links that you can have in a hub

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   1. 81

      Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This is true, you can link to any amount of places you own on HP (internal links). But what value does that give to the reader? It looks to me like you, the OP, are only promoting yourself.

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      1. 59

         Josh Bellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         That's a valid argument. However, if the links are to relevant content, then it's really up to the reader to determine if it adds value, and not up to us.

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         1. 81

            Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            I so don't agree with you. Once a "writer" sets up six links in four or five lines to his own stuff, the "writer's" authority is immediately in question. It smacks of self-promotion.
            
            It's interesting that HP doesn't penalize this.

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            1. 59

               Josh Bellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               I agree that in some cases you're right. However, I don't think that it should be an automatic penalty, because there are always going to be cases where a writer means well and does something like this out of inexperience or the like.
               
               I don't think that everyone who does this should be lumped together under the assumption or stereotype that 100% of them are spammers. I think that these scenarios should be evaluated on a case by case basis (if a penalty were to be instituted).

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               1. 81

                  Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                  Sadly, nothing here on HP is moderated on a case by case basis for this kind of spamming, and it is spamming.
                  
                  Those who put six links to their own stuff on HP into the first four or five lines of their text are spamming. Well, let me modify that a bit...they are not pointing the reader to anything helpful. They are just singing their own song.
                  
                  You've been here for 6 weeks? Or maybe you've been here for ages by another identity. If the latter, then you should know better.

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                  1. 59

                     Josh Bellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                     I realize that nothing here is moderated on a case by case basis, and while it may be unfortunate, I realize that it wouldn't be practical for HP.
                     
                     When it's related content, it's not for you to determine if the writer is pointing the reader to anything helpful in a situation like this. That's for each reader to determine for himself/herself. If it were unrelated content, then you could automatically chalk it up as spam, obviously.
                     
                     Now you drag my HubPages tenure into this as if it's somehow relevant to this discussion? The only thing that it's relevant to is that it sounds like this: Since you can't force me to agree with you, you have decided to resort to a lowly attempt to discredit my opinion by making it sound like a person with 6 weeks of tenure can't have a valid opinion.
                     
                     That mentality is no less harmful to this (or any) community than a person who intentionally spams self-serving links. I thought that we were having a healthy, civilized debate. Evidently, I was mistaken.

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                     1. 81

                        Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        So was I.

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                        1. 59

                           Josh Bellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                           I think that you could put a little more effort into your response than that. After all, that just looks like you're... promoting yourself. But what do I know? I only registered here 6 weeks ago. Apparently, that means I'm not entitled to an opinion unless it's one that agrees with you.

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                     2. 71

                        Ciccaroneposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                        Haha you go Josh! You bring some good points though.

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3. 81

   Sally's Troveposted 12 years ago

   Oh for cryin' out loud. Put yourself in the shoes of the reader and anticipate what the reader wants. What reader wants 6 links in four or five lines? Especially to your own stuff? You are clearly spamming.

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   1. 59

      Josh Bellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think it counts as spamming if they're internal links to other relevant content on this website. I bet you wouldn't mind if someone linked to 6 of your hubs in their article. It would constitute spamming if the links were external/pointing to content outside of this website. That's just my opinion though. There are probably less tolerant folks who would agree with you.

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4. 81

   WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

   Wearing my reader's hat, I HATE having lots of links sprinkled through a text, because then I am torn whether to continue reading or to click on the links.
   
   Personally, I prefer a link-free text, and then at the bottom a list of annotated resources with links. Ideally, the notes should tell me enough about the destination of the link for me to be able to decide whether I wish to go there or not.

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   1. 81

      Sally's Troveposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      +1
      
      There had been a huge "hoop-la" about internal linking here on HP, implying that the internal linking would be good for the site or for the hubber.
      
      What matters is what's good for the reader. I don't like a link-stuffed text either...what am I supposed to do, follow the links or read the text?

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   2. 59

      Josh Bellposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      @ WriteAngled
      
      While that's perfectly understandable, that's your preference. Each writer has their own style, and in my opinion, if everything was 100% uniform, this site would get boring pretty quickly. I don't mind contextual links at all when I'm reading, but I can understand and appreciate your preference.
      
      @Sally's Trove
      
      What's good for the writer also matters. If it didn't, many writers (including non-spamming, quality writers) would leave, and it would be difficult (at minimum) to attract new writers.
      
      The bottom line is that contextual links are allowed, and writers are allowed to exercise their own style. Until the amount of links is policed by HP, there will always be spammers (even if it were policed, there would still be spammers who would try). That goes for any such website.

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5. 94

   mary615posted 12 years ago

   There is a Hubber who will use many (and I do mean many) links right back to his own work.  The entire text is sprinkled with blue links.  Too much, I think.
   I don't like to use links that might cause my reader to go off my page.  They might NOT come back!  I would rather use links at the end of the hub.
   Sometimes I'll be reading a really great Hub, and I'll be directed to go somewhere else to read more info on the same subject.  When I finish reading the second one, I have forgotten to go back!

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