I'm thinking about doing a Sunforged style challenge with a twist...

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   ryankettposted 13 years ago

   One which sees hubbers pick 10 old poor-performing hubs, and to backlink each hub once per day, in a different place each day, for 15 days using anchor text for the backlink.
   
   If you think about it, that isn't a great deal of work, but it could see fantastic results.
   
   If I were to run such a challenge, and I would suggest different link sources each day to make it easy, who would be game? If a few people are interested I will work on the finer details and get the ball rolling...
   
   EDIT: Forget It, I'm having a break from Hubpages, A lot of you need to strengthen your existing portfolio by finding some authoritive backlinks, just go do it, that's what I am doing for the next 4 weeks.

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   leahleflerposted 13 years ago

   I am totally game. I'm horrible at backlinking, so it would be interesting to see if it helped my traffic. This might be a way for me to learn the ropes, so to speak. I don't know if you'd want people like me to join (newbies), but I'm definitely game.

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      ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Well, actually, newbies were my target market
      
      You can't teach an old dog new tricks, as they say. Well, that's one person up for the challenge, let's see if I can get five and if I can I'll go for it.
      
      This will also encourage me to get my own backside in gear, because I have slacked a lot in this area in recent months.

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         leahleflerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Great! I have some hubs that could stand a little more traffic (OK, they could use a lot more traffic) - I think they're quality, but they're in a niche and back-linking might help get a little more traffic among the competition.

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         Karandaposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         You've got more than five, so when do we start?

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   lynnechandlerposted 13 years ago

   ryan I would be interested. I don't think I've backlinked anything unless having the rss feed on my blog counts. Ok, yeah been here too long and this is one thing I know nothing about.

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      ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Ace, well that's two!
      
      When I get around to starting the challenge, would you rather I published a daily hub, or did it via a forum thread?

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   lynnechandlerposted 13 years ago

   Ok, here is stupidity talking again 15 days you said, well do you have enough info to do a daily substantial hub on the topic cause if so then I think reading what you have to say on it would be great and it wouldn't get lost in the forums.

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      ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I would probably write a basic tutorial on the first day, and then add to the hub each day, so basically people can refer back to the hub for the updated task each day. That way, the end result will be a 15 day process on a single hub which new people can still follow in a years time
      
      I will make it easy enough to be a 20-30 minute per day process. If people see good results, they just have to repeat again for new hubs after the 15 days is up. That is the plan anyway. Of course, it wouldn't matter if people missed a day or did tasks a few days late, the result is the same if they did 15 days over 20 days or whatever

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         wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Ryan, if you can show me how to backlink 10 hubs in 30 minutes I'm buying the beer!  All I'm doing now is on that crazy excerptz site , and even that takes me a half hour or better to make a post.
         
         I'm up for it, but doubt that I can devote several hours per day.  A half hour can always come from sleep time.
         
         However, do you think we should backlink non-performers or better hubs that have no links but get some traffic anyway?

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            ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            To be honest, this idea was entirely fresh in my head, and I now have to work out how the HELL I am going to do this by taking only 20-30 minutes of peoples time per day. But I will manage it. Tomorrow I will work it all out, it will happen.
            
            I will make this work, with 30 minutes per day, and with minimal typing. Somehow
            
            

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            ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            In theory the bit that takes the time is finding the link sources, the fact that I will be doing that aspect, makes 3 minutes per backlink achievable. It won't take me thirty minutes per day of course, it will take me a bleedin age.
            
            Low performing hubs would probably be better than completely dead hubs, as those hubs will likely be dead for a very good reason. In other words, they may require a little TOO many backlinks to move up the SERPS. Stuff that is already getting a little bit of traffic is probably a more realistic target, perhaps stuff sitting at 8th-15th for your keyword phrase.

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               wildernessposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               "Low performing hubs".  But that's all I have left after the slap!
               
               Seriously, the ones I have worked on so far (only a few, with one link on your site) have been ones that are getting decent (relatively speaking) traffic but should do much much better.  They are also ones that bring income.
               
               My thought had been to do the proven producers first (those that used to get fairly good traffic), then work on the dogs later.

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                  ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  That sounds like a fairly sound plan.
                  
                  I have been backlinking hubs on Excerptz and in other places which get a very small amount of google.com traffic, somehow or other, in the hope that they may become my big traffic hubs of the future.
                  
                  The completely dead ones may just be completely lost causes, those that have just never taken off may require just a little too much work.
                  
                  But reinforcing your important pages is a very good idea. Remember to use a different title for your articles when backlinking though, else you are competing with yourself! I use different phrases, that way you can also drive 'fresh' traffic to your article.
                  
                  I have a post on Excerptz which is driving 40-60 hits a day to a Hubpage, the post on Excerptz uses a completely different title, although it means almost the same thing!

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   lynnechandlerposted 13 years ago

   Sounds good to me! I have orientation at a new job tomorrow so I'll be looking for more info when I get home over the next few days or weeks depending on how long you think this will take to get together.

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      ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Not too long

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   thisisoliposted 13 years ago

   What kind of work would be required for each of the backlinks per article, would they be text snippets or full articles?
   
   If it's just a snippet a link then I will join in and see how it goes, I have a few older hubs that I never did anything with and could probably do with a little love.

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      ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Definitely no articles, I'm going to think a bit more about the link sources over the next couple of days.
      
      But, I will devise it so that it doesn't take you any more than 20 minutes per day, with the exception of the first day, I am going to set criteria for the hubs that people select, so the first day will probably take 40-60 minutes.
      
      Well, it won't take you that long Oli, but it may take some newbies that long to understand the brief tutorial. You won't need that, you will just need to follow the link sources each day.

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   lynnechandlerposted 13 years ago

   Cool, I was just going to ask about selecting the hubs. Like no seasonal things but more of an evergreen type hub would work better, I'm guessing.

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   wavegirl22posted 13 years ago

   Count me in . . .I am always up for a Sunforged challenge!

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   Mutiny92posted 13 years ago

   count me in - but you need to come up with a snazzy name first.  60DC worked well for SF...

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      ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      15DC?

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         Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Hey Ryan, you're using older hubs already in existence and not creating new ones...correct?

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            ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Yeah, this is about propping up existing hubs.
            
            There was once upon a time something called the 30 Day Challenge, run by Ryan Hupfer who used to work for Hubpages.
            
            The 60DC thing was a play on that. I'm going to break the mould, and make it a shorter challenge

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               Cagsilposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I know, I participated in the 60DC- the return, which was Sunforged's second running of the 60DC. I just wanted to make sure I understood.
               
               However, I won't be participating. Sorry.

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                  ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  I never attempted the 60DC, probably because I was already publishing 50 a month, I used to complete the 30DC every month, but that wasn't intentional either.
                  
                  This month I have completed the -30DC, by reducing my portfolio by 30 hubs, never though I would be doing that

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               wavegirl22posted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Breaking the mould, pretty tall order.  . so the real question from the title here is   . .
               
               Where's the twist?

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                  ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  The 30DC was about publishing 30 new hubs per month. The 60DC was about publishing 30 new hubs one month, and then backlinking and stuff the next month.
                  
                  This one isn't about publishing anything new at all, this is about giving old stuff a boost, following the Google algorithm change.
                  
                  In other words, this one doesn't require anything to be published at all, it is suggesting that you strengthen your older hubs. I will be finding places just waiting for people to splash their Hubpages all over them.
                  
                  Basically, my intention is to give people 10 new backlinks per day, 3 minutes per backlink, that is a tall order... plenty of twists can certainly be expected, at least on my part.
                  
                  You can gain a further understanding of why I want to promote this by reading my Hubpage 'Google Algorithm Recovery: Backlinking Your Hubs'.
                  
                  That should explain my reasons pretty clearly.

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                  ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  I can also give you a personalized example of the way that your own portfolio is weak in parts, I chose a random hubpage 'Ten Best Top Mascaras' and ran it through three backlink checkers. None of them found any backlinks.
                  
                  I have no idea how the ranking of that Hubpage has changed since the Panda update, but I do know that it would probably be ranking a lot better if it were actively backlinked even just a little in the 13 months since being published.

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         Mutiny92posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         15BLC (back link challenge)? 

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            ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            I might call it The PIP (Panda Is Poop) Challenge.

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    viryaboposted 13 years ago

    Okay Ryan, i'm in. Seems like a great idea, and a good way to start to prop up those 'gasping' hubs.

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       ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Coolio, should be soon.

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    kiwitomposted 13 years ago

    Count me in too thanks Ryan!
    My backlinking efforts are pathetic and sporadic to say the least, so this is just what I need to get things moving.

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       ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Welcome, I'll get the ball rolling soon, its 2:15am here, my bedtime, tomorrow I will begin to look at how I will manage this thing

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    wavegirl22posted 13 years ago

    60DC is about learning the whole package. What you are calling "stuff" I believe professionals call promotion.
    
    No twists. Just a whole lot of dedication and hard work. And in the hard work I think it is important to actually understand what and why you are doing something.
    
    Is 'giving' people 10 new backlinks per day for 3 minutes per backlink the answer in this climate?

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       ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I don't really understand what your problem is with me trying to promote the practice of backlinking is, or why you would object to me doing so.
       
       Neither am I trying to present myself as a Sunforged. What I do know is that my hubs which have been backlinked have held up much better than my hubs which have not been backlinked.
       
       "Just a whole lot of dedication and hard work." - I used a pretty good example above which shows that you could be working harder.
       
       "And in the hard work I think it is important to actually understand what and why you are doing something." - I have a portfolio of Hubpages which until a month ago were seeing 27000 page views per day, and are still seeing 18000 page views per day. I fully understand that my backlinked hubpages are performing better than my non-backlinked Hubpages.
       
       "Is 'giving' people 10 new backlinks per day for 3 minutes per backlink the answer in this climate?" - Actually most of the "professionals" are suggesting that backlinking is the ONLY answer in "this climate".
       
       I am not forcing anybody to participate. I don't really see what your problem is.

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          wavegirl22posted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I dont have any problem  .. I am just curious  .. . as to where the twist was.
          
          You using Sunforged name in your OP is just a testament to the success that his challenges have brought to those that have participated.
          
          And honestly I am always up for a good challenge as I think I have already stated.

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             ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

             I doubt that Sunforged will be running another 60DC anytime soon, he has pretty much suggested that he himself is not publishing here anymore.
             
             I'm not going to run the challenge, I just lost all motivation, but you need to go and grab backlinks if your portfolio is going to recover. So everybody can just go and do it, I'm going to dissapear and do just that for the next month.

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                rebekahELLEposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                hey, I just read the thread, I think it sounds like a great idea, why not?

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                   ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   I'll write it all in a Hubpage for everybody instead, I'm going to work on building up the PageRank on my own sites.
                   
                   Ultimately, I think that I can help a few people, but I don't want to rub other people up the wrong way.
                   
                   A few of the old timers are getting cranky with me recently, and I have put it down to being a bit too active on here, I'm probably getting on peoples nerves.
                   
                   I'm top poster on the Hubbers Hangout, I can remember once getting fed up with Cagsil on here, because I overdosed on him, when he was very active a while back. I can sense people overdosing on me, like I once overdosed on him (I actually like him though, just for clarification).
                   
                   So, I've asked for my forum priviledges to be removed for a month or so, to give everybody a break. Most of my threads are getting criticism, particularly when they relate to the algo change, so I will just concentrate on doing my thing and share stuff in my Hubpages instead

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                sunforgedposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                Hell of a thread
                
                Im not abandoning hubpages, the community or my portfolio, and I have published a few hubs post algoflop and have a few more planned, I have started a new account to examine maximizing the new ad system and traffic base. What I wont be doing is responding to incomplete data sharing and after-the-fact blackmail by admin to get my old content "to standard".
                
                In my mind the biggest problem is the continuing influx of very poor content, so until I can open up the HUbHopper and not see stuff that should be caught by a filter PRE-publish I cant trust that my efforts will be best supported here at the moment. If HUbs cant or wont address issues before they arise Im not helping to bail out this boat.
                
                So Today I open up the Hopper: Very first hub = "http://hubpages.com/hop/#/Phoenix-Social-Media-Marketing"
                
                I get 299 words, an opening link to goarticles 5 links to the same places and once again NO PROFILE PHOTO from a 23 hour old account. As fast as everyone honest fixes their basically quality content, hundreds of low quality submissions like this one  are getting indexed on this domain.
                
                I AM one of the people who expects that admin gets a handle on the real issues - I dont think its odd to feel that way when my 40% share equaled thousands of dollars over the time I spent here.
                
                If "backlinking" becomes a requirement for a hub to perform well then why share any impressions ?
                
                So Im going to split test a few new hubs compared to similar articles on a brand new domain and see which performs best over 2-3 months and respond to that data.
                
                ..and yes, I realize I am being cynical and critical - but I have never been the cheerleader type, I react to how I see it. I see misplaced priorities and poor communication right now.

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                   ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                   I agree with your sentiments Sunforged, and that is why I myself haven't done much hub-hopping.
                   
                   I think I touched upon this recently, I said that there is no point finding 900 things a day to delete, if 800 new deletable things are slipping through the net each day.
                   
                   Unfortunately though, I see backlinking as the only guarenteed way out, which is why I am perservering.
                   
                   I am making the commitment to myself to try and drag my existing portfolio out of the depths, note 'existing'. My writing efforts are being limited to sites that I own.
                   
                   It has only been a month though, so I am going to see what the team come up with, they have the brainpower and skill base to introduce the measures... let's see if they do... if they can bring the whole site up, I will benefit from my backlinking efforts anyway, hell if I were majorly optimistic then I could even bounce back stronger than pre-panda. But, I am not majorly optimistic, so that point is mute.
                   
                   My articles are so extensively ecletic that it wouldn't be worth my time pulling together micro-sites out of them. That is where new content is going. The one decent 30 article site that I could produce from my hubpages is in one of the few niches to remain entirely uneffected.
                   
                   "after-the-fact blackmail by admin to get my old content "to standard"" - I know what that refers to, and I wasn't too happy with that either, particularly the unwillingness to publish your comment (even if it were to go ignored).
                   
                   My backlinking right now is more about trying to squeeze what I can out of my extensive time investment on the site, for as long as I can, which is why my own mini-challenge didn't involve any publishing whatsoever
                   
                   I never did the 60DC,is it published anywhere? For me to read it? Or is it very much a tutored thing?

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    lynnechandlerposted 13 years ago

    Dang, and here I was thinking I would maybe finally understand this part of it. Come Ryan, in my most attractive Southern whine, do it anyway. Pretty please, with whip cream and a cherry on top.

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    rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

    Ryan... HP is a big community. I don't know which old timers you're referring to, but it doesn't matter who they are. There are people here who look forward to your posts and respect your experience and knowledge. No one is top dog around here... now come on back, tell Maddie you were acting irrationally for a moment.

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       ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       To be honest, I actually want the break.
       
       I have tried to share a bit of positivity as per the algo thing, any suggestion of anything positive is being knocked down.
       
       I am feeling pretty optimistic about where we or I go from here, yet many seem determined to drag everybody else down to their level of negativity.
       
       Unrelated, but this thread peed me off too:
       
       http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/70458
       
       I was being criticised for doing stuff that those being critical were already doing.
       
       When that happens, you know that you can't say anything right, and that is why I perhaps feel that people need a break from me. And, if they don't, I need a break anyway.
       
       I want to remain optimistic about Hubpages and my portfolio, I am seeing some real positives, if I can't share positives then I would sooner at least stay away from the constant negativity.
       
       I'm also a little annoyed with the attitude taken by some towards the Hubpages staff.... post-algo... they have come into some heavy criticism, after having been the best thing since sliced bread four weeks ago. I would hate to be one of them right now.

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    wildernessposted 13 years ago

    I second rebekahELLE's post.  I was really looking forward to this, and believe many others were as well.  There are a lot of hubbers here that don't "get" this part of the work and can sure use some help getting started on it.

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    lynnechandlerposted 13 years ago

    Well dang, I'm bummed again! Going off to bed in hopes for a brighter tomorrow.

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    rebekahELLEposted 13 years ago

    hmm, I didn't read through the linked thread, but read your post.
    I respect whatever you end up doing, as you know what you need and want to do, but I certainly wouldn't let a few people's opinions affect your optimistic outlook! There are so many hubbers who read the forums, and never post, people learn from your threads. And to be quite honest, I'm sure most people pay more attention to positives rather than doom and gloom.
    
    
    
    I don't really understand the heavy criticism. Those running HP have much more at stake than anyone here using the publishing platform they provide for us freely. I get really irked at the 'change this now' attitude. I'm confident that they know what they're doing, nothing changes overnight, except maybe an attitude.

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    sofsposted 13 years ago

    Ryan I will be glad to learn a few things about backlinking.. and I hope you will go ahead with this

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    Karandaposted 13 years ago

    Hey Ryan, there are those of us out here who need all the help they can get. If you have an idea forming in your mind, I'm in.

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    viryaboposted 13 years ago

    Ryan, i don't understand why you will raise the hopes of some of us and then suddenly 'smash it up against a rock' just because of a few negative responses.
    
    I believe everyone is entitled to their opinions and are free to voice it out too. And in life, there are the negatives and the positives. That's the way it's meant to be.
    
    It shouldn't stop leaders, advisers, mentors, helpers,etc.(call it what you wish), to still do the positive things and advise those that respect their views.
    
    I have always respected your views here, just as many, many, others, and it will be a great shame if we loose it all, just because of negative comments from a few.
    
    As Rebekah rightly said, many come here, read, take advice, but may never post. I know for certain that i do that most of the time. And its because i'm here to learn more, each and everyday, and i quietly go around doing that most of the time.
    
    I'm quite upset that you are taking this stance, just at the time i thought i'll learn a thing or two about back-linking (the white hat way )
    
    My little success on HP today is from what i've learnt from great hubbers like you. And i'm sure many will agree:)
    
    Don't 'throw out the baby with the bath water'.
    
    I rest my case.

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       SunSevenposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       I have favorited this post, the best one I have seen here in a long time.
       
       Have a great day viryabo.
       
       Best Regards

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       ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Like I said, I will still write the Hubpage, I just want a break from the forum

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    viryaboposted 13 years ago

    Thank you Sun Seven

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    sunforgedposted 13 years ago

    The general outline was published and modified throughout the two challenges - i think its about 12 hubs long - the index is here:
    
    http://hubpages.com/hub/How-to-make-a-p … ing-online
    
    some relatively unimportant information has been culled and was only visible at the private forums as it was only specific to each event and has no use to a general visitor.
    
    I saw mention in a previous post of making blogger blogs leading to hubs - keep in mind that link diversity will matter in the site, if every link points out to one domain..well then its purpose is obvious - get a nice whiteboard and draw out a nice eclectic general model and loosely follow it so variety exists
    
    Ideally, someone would have came out of the 60dc with a portfolio of resources of multiple writing site accounts, various free blog networks, experience in traditional forum use and rss use. And could build horizontally across multiple interlinked locations.

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       ryankettposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Cheers for that, I might give it a whirl
       
       I probably have put much of that stuff in practice with Hubpages, but I've recently acquired a 3000 link pyramid pointing to Excerptz, three tiers deep.
       
       I am hoping that extensive work won't be needed for Hubpages

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    Aficionadaposted 13 years ago

    I haven't read the whole thread.  Saw the first one and the Edit, then skimmed along afterward.  I want to second what viryabo (and rebekahELLE) wrote above and add to it. 
    
    I have read (I wish I could remember where) that in businesses that hold discussions on new ideas, opposition is actually encouraged - because it helps to weed out the weak ideas and at the same time to upgrade and refine the good ones.  Some major business or industry leader (again, I don't remember who) would consistently ask his team what they thought of a new idea that was being presented for consideration.  If it received unanimous approval at the beginning, he would dismiss the meeting, telling them that they had not given the idea enough thought, and that they would only meet again to discuss it after they had come up with some objections to it.  Better to work out the glitches before launch than afterwards, I suppose.
    
    This is all just to say again, please don't give up on a good idea because of some opposition or objections.  The objections may have some validity, and they may help to improve the initial idea - or they may also be total garbage, in which case they should be disregarded.
    
    You've certainly earned the right to a rest/break, Ryan, so enjoy it.  But I hope that you'll pursue your good idea when you get back!  In the meantime I'll look for your Hub and see what I can learn there.

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