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How To Change Your Hubpages Categories For Optimal Visibility
Introduction
Since the category you choose for any given article is one of the most important steps in creating a hub, I find myself going through a kind of twelve-step process before deciding which one best fits. Knowing I can revise my hub at any time to change the category helps ease the stress, but the more hubs I create, the harder it is to keep track of the various categories I want to shuffle through. Each time I change my hub categories, after about an hour, I notice the red Traffic Rising arrow appear by most of them on my Account page.
The following steps are a systematic, quick, and easy method of ensuring your article will be seen by as many people exploring Hubpages as possible. They are also the best method of keeping track of those changes. Though this method works for newly published hubs, it is outlined for those members that already have a collection of them. Nevertheless, once you complete the initial process of outlining potential categories for your current hubs, you can use the same method at the start of each new one by updating your saved list as you go.
Poll #1
How Often Do You Change Categories For Your Hubs?
Step #1: Create a Document to Organize Your List of Potential Category Changes
Your very first step is to determine which day of the week you want to change the categories for each of your hubs. Depending on how many you already have published, you might want to ensure it’s a day where you will have ample time to go through and revise each of them. I have 23 featured hubs and it took me about 20 minutes to change the categories for each of them. On average, it should take no more than a minute to complete each one.
Open a blank Word file and save it as, Hubpages Article Categories, or something similar. Go to your My Account page that provides a list of all your hubs. Copy and paste the title of each and put them in whatever order you wish. Once you have all your hubs pasted and numbered, begin Step #2.
(Refer to "Hubpages Article Titles" Link below for an example.)
Hubpages Article Titles
Step #2: Start Browsing Categories
Click on the Start a Hub link, and under Hub Topic, click on the Browse link. Depending on your hub’s theme, there will be at least one other main category where it will fit. For example, if the title of your article is something like, “Animals Have Feelings Too,” there will be multiple subcategories where it will fit throughout the Education and Science, Pets and Animals, Politics and Social Issues, and possibly Religion and Philosophy main categories. In order to get more exposure for your hub on this site, it makes sense to shuffle between the different categories and subcategories that apply.
Most categories feature two additional subcategories in a drop-down list. For example, the Education and Science main category features 24 drop-down subcategories (ie Chemistry, Math, Physics, etc.), and each of those features an additional subcategory to better target your audience. Find the first main category that remotely applies as you might be surprised to find one or more of its subcategories fit with your article. If you don’t find anything that fits in the last subcategory dropdown, just click on the Back link to try the next one that might fit.
Going through each main category, I found several subcategories I didn’t know existed. It’s also a good way to become familiar with each of them for future reference. If you go in order from top to bottom with each subcategory, you will systematically deduce each and every category that might pertain to your topic’s subject matter.
Step #3: Compiling Your List of Categories
After you get an idea of what main categories you decide might fit, start writing them down as you go. After you have them all written down, you can then type them into your Word file. Using that format, here is an example of how I constructed one of my hub category options. Everything is alphabetized in order. (Notice the dates are not in order so that I can choose which categories I want to feature first. I also abbreviated and used ditto marks while compiling to save time):
#3 What Is The True Meaning of Life?
6/26 1) Education & Science / Astronomy / Big Bang & Cosmology
2) Education & Science / Astronomy / The Universe
3) Education & Science / Life Sciences / Biophysics
6/12 4) Education & Science / Physics / Biophysics
5) Education & Science / Philosophy / Philosophy of Science
6) Education & Science / Philosophy / Rationalism
6/19 7) Education & Science / Philosophy / Idealism
8) Education & Science / Philosophy / Existentialism
9) Education & Science / Philosophy / Buddhist Philosophy
10) Education & Science / Physics / Quantum Mechanics
11) Health / Death / Acceptance & Continuation
12) Politics / Science in Society / Evolution vs Intelligent Design
13) Religion / Atheism / Atheism
14) Religion / Astrology / New Age
15) Religion / Astrology / Spirituality
5/29 16) Religion / Buddhism / Buddhist Ethics
17) Religion / Eastern / Taoism
18) Religion / Eastern / Confucianism
19) Religion / Eastern / Jainism
20) Religion / Exploring Religious Options / God & Views of God
21) Religion / Exploring Religious Options / Agnosticism
22) Religion / Exploring Religious Options / Life Philosophies and Beliefs
23) Religion / New Religions / New Religious Movements
24) Religion / New Religions / Technology Based
6/5 25) Religion / Paranormal / Unexplained
The first main category that applied to the subject matter was Education and Science. I then clicked on Astronomy, or the first subcategory I thought might fit. The next and final subcategory where I thought there might be interest was Big Bang and Cosmology. Following that, I went down, in systematic order, to the next subcategory that fit. After exhausting all potential options in the Astronomy and Space Exploration subcategory, I clicked on the Go Back link to explore the next subcategory, which was Physics. After exhausting all possible subcategories that fit within the Education & Science main category, the next main topic was, surprisingly, under Health. I found 25 additional subcategories under Health where this particular article fit.
Step #4: Updating Your Hubs
After completing Steps #1 through #3, you’re now ready to make your first weekly changes. One week should be enough time to capture most people’s attention since many will have time to browse only one specific day each week. Though the categories are in alphabetical order, again, there is no specific order you have to follow for which you choose to feature first. Find the next one you think might draw the most attention, then type in today’s date. It’s the perfect “checkmark” to let you know, at a glance, if and when that category was already used.
Click the first article on your list from your My Account page then click on the Edit tab. Once you have updated the new category, click on Done Editing then repeat the process for each of your hubs.
If you have a total of 60 hubs, it should take about an hour to complete the process, but think of all the new traffic you’ll draw for that week. If you find 26 applicable categories, it will take about 6 months to cycle through all of them. This keeps your hubs fresh and advertisers, such as Google AdSense, like to see them avoid getting stagnant.
Conclusion
This method is perfect for those with even a slight case of OCD. Not only is it a way to avoid posting your hub in a category you have already cycled through, it gives you peace of mind for getting the most out of all the categories Hubpages has to offer. It’s especially good for those still trying to get into Google AdSense as it shows you are constantly revising your hubs to increase traffic. If you like doing keyword-search trends, it’s the perfect time to consider changing the title.
Poll #2
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Comments
Taranwanderer - Allow me to answer your question. Changing categories is not the same as changing the URL from your subdomain to the main HubPages domain. When you create a new hub you choose the category, and you can change it anytime you feel it may be better under another. Changing to another category does not move the hub.
But if you hub is selected for Editors Choice, then it does move, as you discovered. Since you didn't opt out before being selected, as HP informed everyone about in their blog, HP may select any of your hubs that they consider high quality and move them to their top domain. That changes the URL. But you should be pleased that you have something they consider merits being an Editor's Choice hub.
Now, when it is moved to the top domain, they include a 301 redirect. This tells Google and other search engines that it was moved. From my experience with several Editor's Choice hubs, the traffic sometimes drops temporarily. But then it increases in a month of two since you are in with all the other Editor's Choice hubs. And that may make it get better traffic than when it's in your own subdomain with your other hubs. That all depends on how good your other hubs are. I delete my hubs that don't perform, so the others do better. But that's another issue.
By moving back again, you started the clock over and the search engines have to reevaluate all over, causing a further lose of traffic.
That's why HP mentioned this is their blog well in advance, giving you the option to opt out before-hand, rather than after, as you did.
Interesting article. I can't help but wonder, though - is it really wise to switch categories if you already have hubs that have been up for awhile? Won't this interrupt the accumulation of Pagerank? Hubpages took one of my featured hubs (links to my ecommerce store http://pinstor.us) and arbitrarily decided to move it from my subdomain to theirs, sending me an email saying I should be lucky, so to speak. I opted out and had it mvoed back to my domain because my traffic dropped considerably. It took two weeks tog et my traffic back up.
- Author
I'm so glad it was helpful! I probably should have added additional instructions based on your experience, perhaps a method of weeding out those categories for each article that get minimal hits and eliminate those categories for the next go around. I'm actually going to start watching that too. Thanks again for reading the article!
I randomly review the categories I have my hubs in, usually paying more attention to those hubs that are not doing so well. Then I make changes similar to the way you described, except that you have created a more versatile and consistent method. I find that this does indeed help bring new readers to our hubs.
Booked mark for follow up and following your directions. Well written well thought out and very helpful. I had no idea.
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