!4 Hubs in two weeks, but very few hits?

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   Midnight Oilposted 13 years ago

   Okay, what I am doing wrong.
   
   Are they:
   
   Totally the wrong subjects?
   Wrong titles?
   Too Long?
   Too boring?
   Perhaps a bit too much humour?
   Too many images in the photograph ones?
   
   Any help or pointers would be grateful appreciated.
   
   Cheers
   
   David

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      Sophia Angeliqueposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Midnight Oil, I took a look.
      
      Bear in mind this is my opinion and I might be 100% wrong.
      
      Firstly, it's too longwinded. You lost me on every single one of your articles. I didn't see what was in it for me. It wasn't entertaining. It didn't give me something I could use immediately, etc.
      
      When writing, use AP style. That means that the meat must be in the first paragraph. You basically have to tell the entire thing in paragraph one.
      
      Next, in order to keep people when it's long, put title headings every paragraph or two to tell people what it is about. Most people skim. They don't read. They don't have time to read every little bit. So, if they can't see what it's all about because there are so many words that meet their eyes, they will just move on.
      
      Next, write about a variety of topics. Not everybody is interested in photography.
      
      Also, put some color in your articles. Too much print is too much print! It needs to be broken up so that the eye does not get tired. Reading on a computer is not the same as reading from a book.
      
      Otherwise, you have a nice writing style, and once you've got the AP style down,  you'll do just fine!
      
      Also, it really does take six months and you've only been here a little while so just give it time.

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2. 70

   Cagsilposted 13 years ago

   Welcome to HubPages!
   
   To keep the forums moving along and so everyone gets the attention they need or require, you've been asked to post a link or two.
   
   It would be unfair to ask someone to check on all your hubs. The Extreme Hub Makeover forum thread is designed to get critiquing, as you've requested, you have too many hubs.
   
   Please be a little more specific on which ones. You can always have others done later. The advice you will be given, will more than likely fit other hubs, as well.
   
   As to your questions?
   
   I can only tell you what I've learned-
   
   The minimum 400-500 words will not get flagged as substandard automatically. Some writers might flag, but it will only get it reviewed and if HubPages deems it fit, then they will leave it alone. If not, then it will trigger a substandard rating.
   
   As far as I can tell, only poetry is the exception, within reason. Anyone writing two lines of poetry and calling it writing, will be flagged by me.
   
   Many hubbers have stated that 700-1100 word articles are probably the best for results(and google love). Longer articles than 2000 words work as well.
   
   Keywords/tags which are displayed on the right side of the hub, should be between 9-15 for articles up to 1500 words and up to 40 can be used for anything larger than 1500 words.
   
   I would also like to let you know- should you have pictures in your hub, then you should not put a picture/photo capsule next to your first text capsule...for the only reason- it would take up prime real estate for google ad placement and more than likely decrease your earnings.
   
   All hubs are best written in multiple text capsules and not in a single capsule. Paragraphing is key, because your reader is going to have a short attention span and you want to keep their attention, so they can read your hub.
   
   There are plenty of Hub writers who have written much about HubPages and the different ways to earn. You're more than welcome to check out their hubs- Sunforged, Misha, Mark Knowles, Edweirdo(check out his RSS feed hub) and many others.
   
   It will be helpful to add polls, or a news feed(refreshes content automatically), or even an RSS feed(as I mentioned above).
   
   Good luck.

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3. 81

   Midnight Oilposted 13 years ago

   Thanks for the top tips.  It's like working for a new publisher; you have to work out what their house style is before you can do anything successful. 
   
   I am currently revising the style and layout of the 14 hubs that I have already done before publishing anymore.
   
   I realise that variety is one of the keys to success on here.  I am just writing about what I know well, before branching out further.
   
   Telling everything in the first paragraph is easy to do  - I use to write the film blurb on the backs of videos and DVD boxes for years.  Although, writing a punchy text in less than 100 words, which sold the film to people, was one of the hardest writing disciplines that I ever had to learn.
   
   Again thanks for the tips....

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      Sophia Angeliqueposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You're welcome.
      
      AP Style works well on the net.

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      1. 81

         Midnight Oilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Deleted
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            Sophia Angeliqueposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            200% improvement!!!!
            
            Now, you have to ask yourself what words are men going to put into the browser, and those are the words you are going to use in your blurb. Men won't look up the word, advice, for instance. They might put in, "How to wrap a gift."
            
            Whatever, they put, that's the name of your article. Then you use those words in the title and the first paragraph, and somewhere around the last paragraph.

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               Sophia Angeliqueposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Midnight Oil, I just have another question. I'm not a male, so I don't know. Would men actually look this up?

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4. 69

   lrohnerposted 13 years ago

   Midnight Oil -- I like your hubs, your topics and your writing voice. Read Cagsil's advice and then:
   
   1) Make sure your hubs are 500 words or more, and split the text up into several text capsules.
   
   2) Make sure your first capsule is long enough to let the AdSense ad show next to it -- it's prime advertising real estate.
   
   3) Don't put a photo next to your first capsule because it takes up said prime real estate.
   
   4) Learn how to select keywords. Let's say you want to write about red running shoes. Are people searching for "red sneakers," "red running shoes" or "crimson sneaks?" Learn how to use Google AdWords keyword tool (using Exact Match and not Broad Match). Look for terms that have a decent number of searches (1k per month or more) and aren't totally saturated by the competition.
   
   5) Assess your competition. Install SEO for Firefox. It will show you the PR (Page Rank) for each site in the search results. Once you've chosen a keyword in the AdWords tool, Google it. If the first five or so results are PR 4 or better, fuhgeddaboutit. Otherwise, rock on!
   
   6) Don't stress. It could take six months or more before you're making any decent money or getting any decent traffic. If six months go by and you're not at least getting the traffic, time to back up and do things differently.
   
   7) Keep writing. It's good stuff.

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