How much significance in a username?

1. 78

   Rickrideshorsesposted 12 years ago

   Hi,
   My username is 'Rickrideshorses' and I've wondered for some time if this has had an adverse effect on my overall traffic.
   
   I didn't think too much about the username when I picked it but now I'm concerned that people might either be put off by the username for whatever reason, they may not click through when a hub appears in search engines or that the username no longer gives an accurate representation of the other subjects that I've published hubs on.
   
   Any opinions on this? Is it worth building up a second account for new articles?
   
   Feedback would be much appreciated as it's become a bit of sticking point.
   
   Thanks!

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2. 57

   BaliMermaidposted 12 years ago

   Before there were sub-domains I doubt that it mattered.  After all, what's wrong with enjoying the hobby of riding horses.
   
   Now that your user name is part of your subdomain it might be helpful if you wrote articles on horses and anything related to that topic.  If you write on other things, it might not be helpful. IMO that does not mean it would have a negative effect all on its own.

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3. 93

   skearposted 12 years ago

   Personally when I'm looking for something in Google I pay the most attention to the title of the article.  The snippet is the next most important thing to me.
   
   Sometimes the domain might influence what link I click on but overall I think the title and snippet are more important.
   
   One disadvantage of starting a new domain is that you would have to start all over with back links.  Also according to prchecker.com your subdomain has a page rank of 3 which is pretty good in my opinion.

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   1. 78

      Rickrideshorsesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Skear, where did you find the page rank of 3? I've tried prchecker.com but that domain doesn't seem to work.

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4. 77

   anasshadposted 12 years ago

   I don't think it really matters. The most important thing is what you put in your title and the overall quality of your hub. Also try to get any backlinks.

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5. 0

   Marye Audetposted 12 years ago

   Let me ask you a question. If you were writing an article for Quarter Horse Journal or Horse and Rider would you use Rickrideshorses or would you use your real name?
   
   If you want your readers to see you, over time, as a professional writer then you should use either your real name or a nom de plume that looks as if it could be your real name. While it may not matter a lot at the moment, few online clients are going to want to hire a writer that is not proud enough of his work to sign his name to it... and when you use a tag rather than a name that is how it appears imho.

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   1. 78

      Rickrideshorsesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      No, I wouldn't use that as my real name. Whenever I've sold articles in the past to equestrian magazines it's involved speaking on the phone to an editor and pitching the story then at some point we find out each other's names.
      
      One of the reasons I didn't use my real name initially is that in the past while working at a newspaper I wrote some articles with my bylines on and the criminals who were being reported on took out some of their anger on me for exposing them. This made me a bit more cautious about online privacy.
      
      Secondly, as a full-time staff journalist working for national newspapers in the UK I didn't want my employers who can sometimes look unfavourably on people doing 'extra' work following my online presence.
      
      Thirdly, I didn't quite foresee how many things I'd publish on hubpages or that as you say  having a real name on hubpages articles can help to get work with some online clients. So perhaps if I could change it I'd probably take your suggestion of using a nom de plume. Thanks!

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      1. 89

         gracenotesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         rickrideshorses,
         
         There are many personal reasons for using a "screen name".
         
         As Marye said, it would perhaps have been better to use a pseudonym that sounded like a real name when signing up on HubPages, but some of us didn't know that when we joined.  Two years later, and a fair amount of time invested in writing hubs, now I'm not sure what to do.  Unfortunately.
         
         You cannot transfer your hubs to a different account, nor would you want to, for some obvious reasons.  I suppose one could start a new HP account with a reasonable nom de plume, and write in some kind of specialty niche that you've learned will work very well for you!
         
         Interesting thing -- I am a FaceBook friend of a woman (a school teacher) who was told by her school system that they very much discouraged teachers being on FaceBook.  Conveniently for her, her married name had a literal translation to Spanish, her first language.  So she changed that, and altered her first name to a Spanish version.  No one could find her then!  Nobody would think to look under that name, except for her family and friends she had told about it.
         
         I notice on FB that she has switched back to her real name again, very recently.  Hmmmm.....
         
         There was a recent article in Time about Google Plus.  Although they discourage screen names for accounts (like gracenotes), some people are getting by with it!

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   2. 59

      A Troubled Manposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      +1.

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6. 62

   trecords0posted 12 years ago

   I think it matters only as far as search engine rankings are concerned.  If you own a domain with a popular keyword in it combined with hubpages it will get ranked higher and quicker.

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7. 0

   RookerySpoonerposted 12 years ago

   I have had several previous accounts on hubpages, which I delete after a time because I become bored easily.  However, when I start a new account, I have to keep thinking of new usernames, because it is not possible to use the previous ones I have used.  I will have to keep my current one though, as I am finding it harder to keep thinking of relevant names.

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8. 91

   Millionaire Tipsposted 12 years ago

   Thanks for these answers.  I too was wondering if my name might be too limiting when I write about topics that are not financial. I guess I will probably have to set up a new account to do that.

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9. 0

   klarawieckposted 12 years ago

   I personally think that the profile picture says more about the author than the actual name. I don't spend a lot of time reading hubs but I do spend time in the forums. But I've found myself reading other people's hubs if I like their avatar. I know it's kind of shallow, but it's the truth.

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10. 73

    WriteAngledposted 12 years ago

    As a reader, I don't give a toss about the author's name. Most of the time, I do not notice it anyway. If I do like an author enough to want to find more articles by the same person, it does not matter to me whether they call themselves Mary Smith or PurpleLightning or whatever, as long as I can use that ID to find other work by them.
    
    As a writer, I am not seeking to write for third party clients, so that side of marketing does not worry me. I am only interested in writing if it will enable me a passive income that is not dependent on any form of relationship with clients. I have as many clients as I need in my mainstream work.

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    1. 78

       Rickrideshorsesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Your comments are really reassuring, WriteAngled. Thanks. Like you, I'm not concerned about internet writing for third party clients as my day job brings me enough of those. It was more the customer (reader!) I was thinking about, but judging from these posts it's not a major factor.

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11. 78

    MarloByDesignposted 12 years ago

    I definitely agree with Marye Audet that a profile picture is helpful. I try to mentor new Hubbers and advise that they add a picture to their profile.

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12. 61

    thirdmilleniumposted 12 years ago

    I wanted thirdmillennium as my username but a typo caused it to be one "N" less and I am stuck with thirdmillenium. I started another hub with the right name and published some hubs there. I would like to both transfer those hubs to thirdmillenium and also change my username from thirdmillenium to thirdmillennium.
    Can I do that?
    Sorry, if I have I gone off-topic here

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    1. 78

       MarloByDesignposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Good question. I would email HubPages and ask them. You can find the email under HELP (http://hubpages.com/faq/) and Contact Us (on the upper right-side).
       
       I hope this helps!

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