Linking has become so perverted that people don't follow links

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   Pcunixposted 13 years ago

   I recently published a hub about.. well, never mind, because it doesn't matter.   
   
   In that hub, I made two important links.  One of them referenced a specific change in law in the state I live in and the other referenced similar laws in other states.  I made two other links of lesser importance.
   
   The comments so far indicate that people don't bother to investigate the links at all. I have had two questions about specific states and one about my state, all of which could have been answered by following the links I gave.
   
   I am honestly surprised.  When I have questions about something I read, I always investigate any links that seem promising.
   
   But I'm from the dinosaur age, when that is why we created links: to provide detail and related information rather than to feed Google.
   
   Is that the normal state today? Ignore links because you don't think of them as anything of value to human readers??

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      rmcrayneposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      
      
      Pcunix I’m not surprised at all.  No attention span?  No perseverance?  “I want what I want, and I want it now.”
      
      It’s like the hubber that pops into a forum thread with a question that was already answered.  I can understand this if the thread were up to 10 pages, but this happens all the time when the question was either answered in the first couple posts, or in the last couple.  Sometimes the post immediately before the newcomer’s post. 
      
      Same thing with hub comments.  I usually politely respond, but in reality, the question/answer was already thoroughly covered in my hub.

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   Nelle Hoxieposted 13 years ago

   Actually that squid who has hundreds of no-follow links to a website of mine is sending me a lot of traffic. I'm surprised at the amount of traffic referrals.

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      Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Oh, sure - I get traffic from links too, so SOMEBODY follows links.
      
      I'm just surprised by people with questions who I thought would have had enough curiosity (because they DID have questions!) to follow links that might answer their questions.

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   Michael Willisposted 13 years ago

   People want the quick fix. Find the answer they are looking for in one stop.
   Like you, I will look at relevant links when researching a topic or when I find an interesting story online.
   
   And by tracking how backlinks from places I have linked I see they do not generate that much traffic. People may look at the link, but not follow through to Hubpages. I get most traffic from Google.
   I do find that when I Google something and I get to a 100-200 word paragraph and I need to follow here...and then here...before I get the information I am searching for...I don't go any further. Forget that link, I start over.

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   ryankettposted 13 years ago

   Really? so 359083 people have accidentally gone through my referral trackers? I would argue that they are ten times more likely to go through anchored text than they are through an ad block.

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      Pcunixposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I know, I know, I know:  I'm just wondering why people with obvious easily answered questions didn't bother.

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   Pcunixposted 13 years ago

   Any way, I went back and made it more obvious by adding "link shows overview of State laws" and similar text. 
   
   I think maybe I have to start doing that.

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   Kangaroo_Jaseposted 13 years ago

   Pcunix,
   
   You answered already your own question, yet I was going to suggest that you may want to put in a one liner to extend that there is more information (or a readers most common question is answered by) clicking on the link.
   
   If I have a question some pages of articles don't always reflect that my question may be further answered by clicking a link and reading further, especially if there is no reference to that.

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   IzzyMposted 13 years ago

   I'm convinced most people don't actually read hubs - they just skim read and miss all the important points.
   Not everybody obviously, but enough to make you wonder.

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   recommend1posted 13 years ago

   I basically agree with most of what PCUnix says about linking and backlinking, quality, etc., in these forum discussions. I consider this whole 'way of doing things' is a weakness in the information SEO system everyone uses - that can be exploited.  I have a hub (no surprise there ) that talks about how to exploit the current dung heap of dis-mis-junk-information with backpinging machines faking link online info-orgasms.
   
   If you can't join them - beat them  
   
   and hello to everyone on HP from a new 'face'.

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   IzzyMposted 13 years ago

   Hi recommend and welcome to Hubpages

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    Lisa HWposted 13 years ago

    If I had a question on something I was reading, or read, I'd look for any links before asking the question.  Other than that, though, I confess to ignoring all links in anything I read (most of the time, anyway).
    
    I mean..   If I spot a Hub I want to read, I want to read that Hub - not other stuff.  I think the reason (at least in my case) is that I don't go searching for reading on the Internet.  If I search for information I only read sites like .edu, .gov, .org (or at least some subject-specific site) (Mostly because the only time I search for info is when I'm researching for writing).  If I've searched, then I guess maybe I might click on links if the article I find hasn't already said everything I want/need to know.  I don't like to stray too far from the search page I found, so I'm more likely to go back and see the rest of the list than to click a link and get moved "farther out" from the search page.  Maybe this is because I'm from a dinosaur age, but I don't like aimless clicking from one thing to another.  If I click from a search page and don't like what I got, I click back and start back on the list.  If you don't stick to that kind of thing you'll get swept out to "Internet sea".
    
    If I'm browsing for reading, I stop when a Hub peaks my curiosity or interest.  Lots of times it's the Hub or the author that I'm interested in reading - not necessarily the subject.  Then, too, if I'm looking for reading (as with reading on HubPages), I have a plan-of-action with regard to the process of browsing for Hubs.  I won't deviate from that plan-of-action (and all the links in the world aren't going to make me!!  . )  On top of it, links are the ugly blue color they are on here, which makes me resist them even more.  (I just happen to hate blue.    )

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