High traffic hub, little earnings

1. 79

   MyWebsposted 13 years ago

   I have one hub that gets great traffic, my best one by far, but doesn't make me much money really and would like advice on how to improve it. Its getting 15k views per month.
   
   There is really nothing that could be done to improve its search engine rankings as its at the top.  At least for its main keywords. I have started focusing more on closely related variations.
   
   I just added an Amazon module with related books and a call to action to try and get users to register at HP through a URL tracker. I'm looking for more ideas on how to further monetize an informational hub that gets a lot of traffic from students writing reports on the subject. Or any other ideas to improve it.
   
   When it gets an AdSense click it pays pretty well. but they just don't click much. Grrrrr kids.
   
   2010 Haiti Earthquake Facts

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   1. 90

      Susana Sposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      One thing that helped me on a hub with similar problems was to put in a poll capsule actually asking visitors their reason for visiting the page. After a couple of months I had enough responses to help me tweak the hub towards the most popular answers: e.g. I added tags and edited the text around ad placement to trigger ads more relevant to the visitors. It's worked for me

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      1. 79

         MyWebsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         The poll sounds like a good idea. The hard part is coming up with the right questions to ask in advance.
         
         I already know a large majority come researching for a school project (half can't even spell this word lol) based upon comments.

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         1. 90

            Susana Sposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Had a look - I think you've asked the right questions
            
            Another thing I would do is remove those links in the first paragraph. If you still want to put links to authorative sites then I would move them right down to the bottom of the page.

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      2. 86

         Lily Roseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I love this idea!  I have a hub with the same issue - it ranks #1 with Google for a couple keywords and gets, by far, the most views of all my hubs but it's not an earner.  I know it's because people are searching for the topic and finding the imformation they need in my hub and therefore have no need to click on anything to get more - the dilemas of having written a good, thorough hub I guess!
         
         I just placed a poll in it.  I don't know if it will help the hub make more money, but it sure will be interesting to see what the results are!
         
         All this makes me wonder, though - in terms of making money with hubs, is the best hub the one that is well written enough to get traffic and readers but not completely thorough, leaving the reader wanting more, thereby getting them to click an ad??  Seems kind of shady, but an interesting point nonetheless...

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         1. 90

            Susana Sposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            
            
            Cool Lily - let me know how your poll works out!
            
            I don't know about not giving readers the full package, it's not something I do. I know there are topics out there that get much higher CTR's I just haven't found them yet

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      3. 71

         sunforgedposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Genius! Idea above!
         
         @MyWebs - Susana is spot on when she tells you to move those links out of your intro paragraph.
         
         You have worked to get the viewers, why would you give reason and opportunity to leave in the first few sentences?
         
         
         I see many books that are directly related to the info you have provided, your info seeker seems to be able to get all the information they would require from your very detailed hub.
         
         If they are in fact students, then even if they had the inclination, they would probably not have the time to wait for shipping or the desire to spend  money on a school paper.
         
         But if you have a conception of who your audience is then you can market other products that would be of interest to that age group and demographic or promote other hubs/content that would be of interest to them after they are done copying your work into their school papers
         
         from the comments its clear that many of your visitors are younger children which can be a difficult audience to profit from as they can rarely make their own purchases and the cookie life on Amazon isnt conducive to waiting until a parent comes around with a cc.
         
         It is a very well done detailed hub and at the least you may be able to mine some search history from it that could lead to future hubs which may attract a more profitable crowd.

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   2. 67

      travelespressoposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      How annoying.
      
      What about doing a hub about emergency preparedness and supplies everyone should have for disasters?  You could then link that to the suggested product i.e. batteries, compact radio a small burner etc etc.
      
      I don't know if this will work - its just an idea.

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      1. 79

         MyWebsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Sounds like a great idea to me, especially with Dec 21, 2012 drawing near.

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   3. 57

      anna20posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I also want to earn some part of money through hub. Can anybody suggest me how to earn money through Hub.

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2. 78

   kirstenblogposted 13 years ago

   I have one like this too, its popular and gets comments often but folks don't click ads or buy amazon stuff! I have other hubs that don't get much traffic at all, however when they do it almost always results in a decent google click
   
   Funny how this stuff works, write something too good and your visitors wont want to leave!

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3. 91

   Pcunixposted 13 years ago

   High traffic doesn't always mean great earnings.
   
   My highest p/v page falls 39th when sorted by Adsense earnings.  My highest earning page has only 25% of the p/v's that page has.
   
   My second highest earner sees less than 10% of that highest p/v page.  The third is about 75% and the fourth has just 3% -  you really can't count on p/v's to mean income.

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   1. 79

      MyWebsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I realize this. But with so much traffic I feel like I must try and do something with all them views.
      
      I really didn't make this hub to make any money. It was my very first hub so I made it to figure out how HP works. The topic seemed like an easy one to write about and all.

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4. 66

   lrohnerposted 13 years ago

   I suspect it may just be the topic that's holding back the earnings, but there are a few things you can try. Move that first image down so that it is underneath the first or second text capsule. When your first capsule is a text capsule and assuming it contains long enough text, you'll have a 300x250 AdSense ad show up to the right of it--prime ad space.
   
   I would also move your Amazon ads down. Matter of fact, I would sprinkle Amazon products throughout rather than have them all bunched up in one place.
   
   I'm not certain any of this is going to help, seeing as the ads I see are for mobile phones, poverty and world hunger, but it's worth a try. You can also try funneling this traffic to another hub that might be a better money-maker.

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   1. 79

      MyWebsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I had read before about having text first and not a picture but didn't think of that. Thanks for reminding me. That is done now and it did seem to trigger the ad size you mentioned. I'll tweak the amazon ads next.
      
      I have seen some ads targeted at kids so I'm sure Google gets that its a lot of students coming there.

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5. 74

   Richieb799posted 13 years ago

   I have one like this, you've actually inspired me with this thread..I may actually add some paragraphs talking about the products related to the subject..that could get the visitors in the mood?
   All this even though Hubpages estimated it as a low earning topic!

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6. 60

   kephriraposted 13 years ago

   Have you thought about other affiliate programs? A link to a site selling discount textbooks or something like that might help if you are getting a lot of traffic from students, or you could also link to other more profitable hubs that would appeal to students.
   
   Also you could look at adding related keywords that earn better, like 'essay writing' or something like that. No idea if these will help really, I'm just throwing out a few ideas.

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7. 76

   sofsposted 13 years ago

   wow! great ideas here for every hubber, threads like these are an awesome way to learn.. i am keenly following this thread..

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8. 39

   Spacey Graceyposted 13 years ago

   Your hub is great - I read all of it and became the first person to vote on your poll. I am always fascinated by natural disasters as it reminds me that it is only by God's grace that I live where I do in relative luxury and security.
   
   I know you've already mentioned that you will look at the Amazon capsules. You have loads on space to fit them in. I try to position them throughout the hub at places where I think the reader may be getting bored, attention is starting to wander and they are ready to click on something.
   
   You could also split the books into different catregories eg:
   * 3 books on personal accounts of surviving a natural disaster - to appeal to adult readers
   * 3 reference type books on natural disasters - to appeal to kids
   * 3 books specificly about this earthquake
   * 3 books about the US's role in disaster relief.
   etc etc
   It is hard for someone skimming the article (and that is what lots of people to) to look at the current Amazon capsule and see whether that is something that appeals to them, whereas if they see a heading of 'Personal accounts of surviving disaster' this is pretty compelling, and they may be more likely to click.
   
   Those headings may also trigger mre relevant Google ads. The one's I am seeing are about Scientology - since I haven't looked at anything to do with Scientology on this laptop ever, I have no idea why it is pulling it up. I wrote a hub about Breast Cancer and got a great Google ads about donating to cancer charities - so maybe if there are more generic phrases about 'disaster relfief', or the names of aid agencies involved, you might get some better ads.
   
   Hope that helps.
   
   Good luck to you.
   It is a great hub.

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   1. 79

      MyWebsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Gracey and to everyone else for all the great tips and help.
      
        Soon I will try out your ideas on the Amazon hubs, especially the specific topics you suggest.  First I'm trying to finish up the Halloween hubmob before its too late, if it isn't already.

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9. 84

   DzyMsLizzyposted 13 years ago

   I have similar problems--and I wonder if a 'general' hub about how the page ads (seen on many internet sites, not just HP), actually work, and how the article authors earn $$ by this means, and that clicking on an ad link is sort of like a "thumbs up" for the article, earns the author money, and costs the reader nothing, because it's the click that counts, and they don't actually have to buy anything......
   
   I that "allowed" by HP????  Is that called "promotion?"  I would tend to think not, because you'd simply be explaining a common online feature, and not touting yourself, or even posting any links.
   
   Just an idea...I'm still in the learning curve on this one, myself...... ....

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   1. 79

      MyWebsposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      If you talking about suggesting in any sort of way for the user to check out or click on a Google AdSense ad then that would be against Google's TOS.  Doing this could get your AdSense account deleted! Although it is fine to promote your eBay and Amazon ads. Anything that is against Google's, Amazon's or eBay's TOS is also breaking HubPages's TOS if you have their ads on your hub.
      
      Since Google pays per click it isn't really fair to them. They want users who are genuinely interested in the ads instead of false clicks.

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      1. 91

         Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Moreover, if it didn't get you banned, it would almost certainly get you "smart priced"  - that's the definition of "poorly converting".
         
         I sometimes think Google should make people pass a test before they get an Adsense account.  But I suppose that would do nothing more than create a business for test takers.

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