Traffic hit by Google Panda 3.3!

1. 77

   soni2006posted 12 years ago

   My total traffic from last two months is down to 40%.

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2. 87

   Dorsiposted 12 years ago

   Traffic down 1,000 views today - about 1/3 of my total traffic. Not good.

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3. 59

   Glamorously Jacobposted 12 years ago

   My traffic has returned to about normal already after a strong dip. Maybe panda is working faster than before...

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4. 75

   Richieb799posted 12 years ago

   I actually noticed one of my top hubs dropped from nearly 300 views to 10 over the last few days but its no biggy because it wasn't my best hubs..although still a popular one.

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      PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I have noticed a trend for individual hubs to "crash" over the past few months.  Pretty much all of them in my case were Amazon sales hubs.  I have deleted many of them now, or moved them to other sites where they don't operate a subdomain system - my main concern being that they might bring down my entire profile.

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         Sinea Piesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         So, your non-Amazon hubs weren't affected?

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5. 88

   Stacie Lposted 12 years ago

   Well I'm getting almost as much traffic from Bing and Yahoo as"G" now so what good are they?
   This newest panda update is a big pain in the *ss!
   i've worked hard to improve my hubs to no avail..
   

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   1. 61

      canadawest99posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      I think we are still all missing the message Google is sending.  There is no guarantee that a site like HP will come back from one of these panda hits.  Look at poor ol xomba. Once a star now sent to the depths of the search and its never coming back.
      
      I think what google is saying that they in general do not like content farms which these sites definitely are.    To prove this point, I made a stupid little golf blog on blogspot with 30 posts of dupe content.  I bookmarked each and left the thing go.   Now that site has never had a panda hit.  It sometimes gets more views with than my 900 articles here which is unbelievable considering how much overall traffic HP gets.
      
      I don't think google even knows what they want anymore.

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6. 68

   Peter Hogganposted 12 years ago

   I don’t think Google is interested in organic search anymore or those that depend on organic results. Everything they are doing is to push folks into paid search. They are in the link selling game and they are making a killing at it.

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      BRIAN SLATERposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      This sounds like v.good info.to me.  Can you explain in a little more detail your theory and how it will affect hubbers- much appreciated.

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   2. 60

      Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Sure!  How else could they have a huge increase in profits right after the first Panda slap back in February of 2011.  I believe they simply ranked down the articles which were receiving high paying ad clicks and promoted those ranked further back in the Serps. 
      
      Those authors whose articles were suddenly promoted would be happy to receive a much lesser share of the ad revenue than the writer of the previously 1st place article was paid since they were formerly making much less, thus allowing Google to keep the difference. 
      
      Of course, those paying for the ads would still be charged the same advertising fees.  Otherwise, where would the extra profits come from?  Coincidentally, Google's own sites seem to be immune to these penalties for some reason.  Duh!!
      
                                         

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         EmpressFelicityposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Don't forget the paid-for ads that appear on every Google SERP. The number of paid-for ads gets bigger and bigger all the time and it's quite hard for the inexperienced user to distinguish between them and organic search results, IMO.

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   3. 89

      Will Apseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      You must be aware that Google's entire business is built on search. Everything else it does- Chrome, YouTube, even Android, is just there to defend its dominance of search.
      
      You must also be aware that Search and Adsense are completely separate parts of Google and often have completely different aims. So how can you come out with something like this?

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         sunforgedposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         99% of Googles earnings are from the Adwords program, "Search" is just a delivery mechanism

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            Will Apseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

            Search is the service. Adwords is the monetization. No search, no money.

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               sunforgedposted 12 years agoin reply to this

               total non discussion, google could deliver shite returns for a year or two before entrenched user base would notice.
               
               Personally, i think first page returns especially, auto correct and personalization and a general dumbing down makes google search inferior to what it was, dont know of anything better, but g results could use significant work.
               
               I think they know this too - hence panda
               I repeat "search" is the delivery mechanism, as search without adwords would mean no more search, obviously, somewhere there is a collection of bean counters making the real decisions and adwords and its commercial interests would have the most pull

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         Peter Hogganposted 12 years agoin reply to this

         Are YOU aware that somewhere in there you actually answered yourself!

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7. 61

   KDFposted 12 years ago

   Sharing this since all inquiring minds want to know...If and why we're losing traffic.
   Thanks

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      canadawest99posted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Incredibly I have noticed that Bukisa which is full of spam and dupe/spun content has survived the panda hits mosty intact.    Others which have very tight content control have been hit harder.  It defys logic what that algo is even trying to do anymore.

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   TIMETRAVELER2posted 12 years ago

   It's interesting to read the comments here because they are similar to those I read on AC awhile back before I stopped writing for them.  Since I've never had big views except for a one time fluke, I cannot speak to this issue, except to say it seems to be the same everywhere.  What I do know is that I get three times the views here that I ever got on AC...from 17 a day for 82 articles to 47 a day for 52 articles.  Those numbers are small compared to others I've seen, but the point is that my work on hub pages is noticed more than my work ever was on AC.  That's my 2 cents for what it's worth!

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      Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

      Don't expect it to be anything you can depend on.  I experienced the same thing at first with traffic and earnings increasing until suddenly both almost vanished overnight.  Yep, similar to AC/Yahoo where I haven't written in quite a while.  Seems like every writing site follows the same pattern.
      
      
                                       

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9. 87

   IzzyMposted 12 years ago

   Well, I was researching today, and found (for the first time) a Xomba article at #2 in Google - and it was a good article.
   I also found an ezine article article ranking highly, rightly if I may say so, as it answered my query exactly.
   And for the first time, I found an article in duckduckgo, my favored search engine, where the information may have been excellent, if I understood the author correctly. His English was dreadful, frankly.
   
   So, changes they are a happening.

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10. 88

    GinnyLeeposted 12 years ago

    Mine dropped about 20% or so, and now has picked back up to the normal amount.  Could be the weekend, or could be Panda - who knows.
    
    I am just glad to be NOT seeing a field of blue triangles!

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11. 86

    andyozposted 12 years ago

    Still seeing my traffic way down since Friday.  I was somewhere between 3000-4000 a few days back, now I'm right down to 800-1000.  Have also noticed the vast majority of my hubs have plummeted down the Google rankings.  Keywords I was at number 1 for I am now somewhere in the 100's.  Had the exact same thing happen to me just before Christmas, it lasted five days and then traffic came back as good as ever.  So am hoping for something similar this time around.

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    1. 86

       andyozposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Well shock horror, my traffic is flooding back in!  My hubs are all back where they belong on Google and traffic is rising at about 100 per hour.  So my big slide lasted around 3 days.  Very strange.

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          PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I hope my traffic comes back.  Although I've only really lost 10-20%, nothing as drastic as you.  Glad to hear that you're back in business though!  :-)

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             andyozposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Cheers Paul, me too!

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12. 59

    Newyork204posted 12 years ago

    The first two Pandas of 2011 did not hit me hard.  In fact, they actually helped me.  The third one hit me in the fall of last year and it sucked!!!

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13. 89

    Will Apseposted 12 years ago

    Google makes around 500 changes a year to its search algorithm. On top of that it has made around a dozen changes to Panda since its launch.
    
    This is the internet weather. It blows this way and that. Overall it has been pretty favorable for anyone with a solid body of work on one of the sub domains here.
    
    The last month has been worrying traffic wise but the kinds of wild conclusions  people arrive at (all internal have been devalued etc)simply are not justified.

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    1. 96

       PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Google are gradually devaluing the importance of links over time, for sure.  How that affects HubPages is another matter though.  (The missing asterixes in the Hub metrix stats are a red herring, I suspect, as those stats are pretty crude (inaccurate?) anyway and even HP staff don't recommend them as tools for serious anlysis.)
       
       However, as Paul E strongly hinted yesterday that the problem probably isn't a Google one (he has all the figures) and may well lie with HubPages, then that is the strongest explanation in my opinion.  I am not planning to change the title of the thread though!  ;-)

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       1. 89

          Will Apseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          It is hard to see how Google could come up with a search algo that could disadvantage something like Hubpages without hitting sites that Google holds to be authoritative and worthy of serving to its users eg NYT, BBC.
          
          Hitting content farms is a Panda job.

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             janderson99posted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Panda is targeted - downgrading specific sites - the 'kill list.'. It not part of their old algo - they only run Panda every so often to impose penalties for their algo. The last Panda was essentially a re-run of their last version to ensure the kill worked.

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                Will Apseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                Exactly. Because the standard search algo cannot discriminate between good and bad content, Panda is unleashed at routine intervals to do that job (with varying degrees of success).

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                   PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                   It's much more complex because when Panda came in, they incorporated new search ranking factors into the algorithim.
                   
                   Although, my main concern, really, is that it's Monday now and my traffic is still crap!

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14. 84

    rebekahELLEposted 12 years ago

    One has to chuckle at this line in the Google Search blog update, or at least I did.
    Each individual change is subtle and important, and over time they add up to a radically improved search engine.
    
    40 changes alone in the month of Feb.
    
    http://insidesearch.blogspot.com/2012/0 … anges.html

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    Richieb799posted 12 years ago

    I've just noticed today that my best hub has dropped from 1st to 3rd on the big G but it does that on rare occasions, I am assuming it might be to do with the site as a whole being hit? Anyoen checked the PR of their subdomains?  I've probably lost about 10-15 traffic like Paul

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16. STAFF

    Paul Edmondsonposted 12 years ago

    We are still analyzing the site and comparing different sections and traffic trends.  While while we are still seeing some weakness broadly, over the weekend the losses were heavier from Google. 
    
    We have a few tests running that should be able to give us more data by tomorrow.
    
    I read a few reports about traffic returning.  If you have a significant swing, keep us posted and we will take a look.

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    1. 88

       mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Hi Paul, mine have just taken a significant jump upwards again and gone from around 6600 yesterday to over 10200 today. That is back up to the Oct 14th onwards levels for me. They have moved up rapidly throughout the last few hours.
       What is odd is that one hub seems to have gone viral and has had over 3600 of those views, (I'd rather not say which one here to avoid the topic being copied) but the others seem to also be up.

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17. 84

    rebekahELLEposted 12 years ago

    Mine is still the same, it hasn't changed.
    
    My lowest traffic day in the last 7 days was Saturday. It was the lowest day I've had for a few months. Sunday traffic started to return. The last 24 hour stats are rising instead of decreasing like Thu-Sat. While G. traffic is still lower than previous weeks, my hubs that generally rank well are still bringing in G views. But I know I lost my holiday traffic.
    
    A week or so ago I noticed one of my music related hubs gaining a number of FB views. I checked the name to see if they had a FB account and he had posted my hub on his wall, saying thanks. I have a link to their tour schedule and the hub ranks above his site for specific keywords. He must have seen it.

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18. 65

    theherbivorehippiposted 12 years ago

    My traffic exploded yesterday (in a big way), and is continuing to rise. I'm sure I'll be back tomorrow to say I took a nose dive again. I'm getting whiplash.

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19. 58

    spudsposted 12 years ago

    I used to like Pandas. Not anymore!

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20. 88

    mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years ago

    Those of you with traffic surges you had better quickly check out your Analytics account as it appears a site called Skylancers.com based in Bangladesh could be behind it. They are essentially a click fraud site and members get paid per click. I just checked out my account and saw that my hub that went viral today has most of the traffic coming from Bangladesh, so this is the explanation for the traffic surge. Still panicking as to getting the message to Google before it jeopardizes my Adsense account. More info on this problem can be found here:
    
    http://www.bestonlinebusinessguide.net/ … ancers-net

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       CMHypnoposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for the heads up on this Misty.  It must be very stressful and I hope that it gets sorted out for you soon and that Google manage to stop what this site is doing. Though in my ignorance, I have to confess that I don't understand how the site benefits from paying people to click on your ads, unless they can siphon off the revenue in some way?

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21. 87

    Dorsiposted 12 years ago

    I've had a slight recovery. Still not up to the norm though.

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22. 88

    mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years ago

    Anyone noticing any significant traffic increases today should check their My Account page and their Traffic Sources. Look down the list of sites and if you see Skylancers.com or .net, report it immediately to both HP and Adsense or your Adsense account could be at serious risk from this click fraud site.

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       theherbivorehippiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for this. My traffic is not from this, but at least I know to watch for this!

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          mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Glad you aren't suffering from this. Sadly I am right now. A useful link for anyone who is to report it to is:
          
          https://support.google.com/adsense/bin/ … t&rd=2

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             theherbivorehippiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             So crappy to hear that. I hope it gets resolved! I'm going to be checking my traffic sources more frequently now for sure.

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                mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                Thanks for that. Sadly it isn't just me, and at least three other hubbers I am aware of are going through the exact same problem today.

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23. 77

    sofsposted 12 years ago

    Mine seems to be slowly crawling back up ... it still has not reached the traffic levels it was last week.

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24. 62

    CASE1WORKERposted 12 years ago

    I have been thinking that through too and cant figure it out either

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       CMHypnoposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I read the article that Misty posted, and while I can see how damaging it potentially could be for the site being targeted, and that the users are getting paid money to click, but unless it is Skylancer ads or ads on Skylancer client's site and they are paying them to drive clients, it seems pointless as well as destructive.

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25. 96

    PaulGoodman67posted 12 years ago

    I've had various click sites send traffic to pages, mainly on my other websites and blogs, although it has happened on HubPages too.  I just ignore them and they go away.  Nothing bad has ever happened to me.  They are just trying to drum up business by randomly targeting people with increased traffic.  They are saying: "this is what we can do for you, give us your money and we'll do it every day for you."
    
    To be brutally honest, I don't think it's relevant to this thread, which is about Google Panda and drops in search engine traffic - it should be discussed in a thread of its own, as has happened in the past.

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26. 96

    PaulGoodman67posted 12 years ago

    My HubPages traffic seems to be getting worse rather than better at the moment.
    
    (I don't want to encourage the conspiracists, but my Google Blogger traffic is doing the opposite and has been at higher levels for the past week!)
    
    Just have to cross my fingers and hope for the best, I guess...  :-)

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       Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Crossing one's fingers hasn't worked for me, Paul!  Someone not long ago gave Izzy and I some possible reasons as to why we were being slapped around by Google. I suggested they would have to experience the same thing before they understood how insulting their statement was. 
       
       Good luck!  Perhaps it is only temporary for you.  Izzy and I are now at 7 months since we were molested by the Big G on Aug. 10th.  I'm still down almost 70% views and earnings from what they were around Aug. 9th. 
       
       I've always tried to stay within the rules both Google and HP required and was rewarded with many organic backlinks to my hubs by those who found them useful with having to do it myself.  I was pleased because I provided content not already available on the net at the time.
       
       The results were just as I expected from my research, resulting in these hubs being linked on many related forums.  Apparently the Big G thought I was somehow gaming the system.  At least, this is the only reason I can come up with so far.  I've pretty much given up on regaining my traffic here. 
       
       For the life of me I can't see what Izzy and I have done which is so much different than those who haven't been affected.  It stinks, is about the best I can say for it!
       
       
       
                                              

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          Pearldiverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          It's not just you two mate!
          
          And I don't believe it is solely a G sandbox either!  I would like to know why all my contest submissions on this site (including some of my best poetry) have dropped to hubscores below 65 and get no traffic at all !  
          
          Who switched what off and Why?

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          1. 60

             Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Yes, well things aren't always what they seem, are they PD.  My profile score is the lowest it has been since I first became a member here.  Usually it would be at 100 every few days or a few points below.
             
             But ever since I posted the very controversial "Elite" thread it suddenly plummeted and appears to be sinking daily.  Not that I care about the silly scores, as I've noticed some of the chosen with using poor grammar with high profile scores, but I've done nothing different since then, including my rate of publishing or my research techniques.  What a mystery! 
             
             
                                                  

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    2. 79

       Mark Ewbieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I'm going to put some effort in Blogger for a few months.  I figure I have done as much as I can in this direction for now. It will at least enable me to draw some sensible comparisions.

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          Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Me too, Mark!  Plus I'm working on a few ebooks at the same time.  I've had a blogger site for quite some time but haven't spent much time there.  But heck, it belongs to Google and their pet sites seem immune to any penalties, unlike this place.  Diversification seems the only alternative.
          
          
                                           

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    3. 89

       Will Apseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Mine is back to slipping very slowly. When I look at the pages losing the most, it isn't the affiliate pages though (which I would expect to be Google targets) it is innocent stuff mainly for the benefit of younger teens. A page on virtual pets has lost around a hundred views a day, for example.
       
       So whatever tweaks have been rolled out recently by Google are downright weird.

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       1. 96

          PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

          My traffic has been stable at a relatively low level.  I am dreading Friday/Saturday - who knows how far it will slip?
          
          Yes, the "targets" are not what I'd expect either! 
          
          This is speculative, but I am wondering if the latest change is mainly biased in favour of older hubs, and against newer material, rather than the type of hubs?  It's hard to see the logic behind it.  Maybe Google are just messing with our minds? 

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27. 60

    biancaaliceposted 12 years ago

    I read most posts here and I don't have the full understanding on what Panda 3.3 is, can anyone help and give me a quick break down? I don't want to work hard here if I just get shot down.

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       Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       No one knows!  The victims seem to follow no pattern we can detect, as often poor work is unaffected by Panda slaps. 
       
       
       At this time I cannot advise you write here.  It used to be a great site but now everything is up in the air here with very little stability one may depend on.  So there it is. 
       
       
                                          

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          biancaaliceposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Wow, alright well thank you for your honesty. Greatly appreciated!

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             PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

             With or without Panda, many people still do well from HubPages.  You certainly aren't guaranteed big traffic and earnings, however.

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                Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                But there's no guarantee you'll continue to do well here, even if you do achieve some success from your efforts.  But at least you can remove your work and place it elsewhere if things continue as they have lately. 
                
                
                                               

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                   biancaaliceposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                   thank you both!

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             Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             I'm sorry this is the case, also.  And you are correct, I have no need to be dishonest in my assessment of HP.  I certainly cannot recommend HP based on my own particular experiences here.  I really wish I could, though!
             
             
                                                      

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       Pearldiverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Relax... you will only get shot down if you do what Randy and I do... Tactlessly Tell The Truth in a direct and blatant manner!
       
       If you write good quality work and actively push your keywords, then you will no doubt be okay in the SERPs.  Most of us work really hard here.. but I don't believe that you have to bow to anyone on this site.. even though perhaps some may feel that you should! Positively, the basics of online writing have not really changed... but a lot of people both within this site and outside of it.. have 'played' outside of those basics and seemingly have been clipped for doing so!
       
       You will be fine, I'm sure.

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       Mark Ewbieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Well, on the other hand, not wishing to disagree Randy .
       
       As a place to start writing HubPages cannot be beaten in my opinion.  Nice people, great software, support and feedback.
       
       As for Panda.  You could spend the rest of the year reading about it and still be none the wiser.  No one knows exactly.  Write your own stuff, enjoy it, and be aware.
       
       Speech over.

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       davenstanposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I wrote about this to help myself understand Google Panes 3.3. It is supposed to be a filtering system that weeds out crappy content. I have read some blogs where writers were deleting comments that were 1 or 2 words. Every word counts even from commenters. Everyone took a dive in viewership. I used to have almost 100 readers a day but now it is down to 50 or so on a good day. I am going through comments, tags, ads, affiliate links, and content to see if I can regain what I lost.

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    Sinea Piesposted 12 years ago

    Great advice, Mark. I had to chastise myself for my knee-jerk reaction to the lower views.

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       Mark Ewbieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I think HP is a great place to learn.  Writing can be a lonely business.  For me I think I know enough to have a dabble outside now but I needed to serve my apprenticeship first.

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          Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I too appreciate the learning process here, Mark.  But it isn't as if I haven't enriched the site in return.  40% of the time HP receives revenue from my work.  Not 40% of the earnings, there is a difference you know.  It is entirely possible HP earns much more from my work on their time share than I do mine.  Just sayin'! 
          
          Content sites change eventually, and usually not to the betterment of their writers.  Merely speaking from my own experience on different sites.  Que sera! 
          
          
                                                 

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             lowelashubbyposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Randy, where are you thinking of writing at? Do you have any suggestions?

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                Randy Godwinposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                No more content sites, that's for sure!  Most start out friendly and helpful, but they always change into strictly business with no loyalty to their writers at all.  When they start giving volunteers certain perks so they will defend the site against member complaints, or begin banning members for unexplained reasons, then beware.  Get your own site or blog.  This is the best advice I can give you.
                
                                                           

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                   Jason Marovichposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                   If I were to build a site and write articles on it, would I make any money doing so (with Adsense?).  Seems to me that unless you are bringing people to a site where you are selling them something, you will find it extremely difficult to make more than pennies from Adsense?  That's why I figured when I started here that so many were writing on HubPages, because their own sites weren't panning out...

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                      Pearldiverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                      So now you know that it is far deeper than that.. yeah? 

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                      1. 86

                         Jason Marovichposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                         Yeah, Pearl, I just wanted to write. 
                         
                         I learned HTML years ago and still, I don't see why I would be starting a site without a product to sell, of which I have none.

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                            Pearldiverposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                            I'll share a site with you mate... if you want something to sell realistically.
                            
                            Do you know how big the market is for recycling mothers-in-law?  Many of them are mismatched as well as mismanaged!

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                               biancaaliceposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                               haha.. that was too perfect. Had a good laugh!

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                            mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                            Use Wordpress for your site and you don't need HTML anyway. It is much the same as writing anywhere else, difference being you are earning 100% of the Adsense revenue instead of only 60%. Loads of people are really successful from having their own sites on this basis!

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                      Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                      Use blogger!!!
                      
                      No, I don't get a lot of clicks on my blogger blogs - but neither do I invest much time or effort there.
                      
                      When I DO get an Adsense click on blogger - it's money straight from Google to me.  I'm not splitting it with anyone - it's just me and Google.

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                         Jason Marovichposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                         Thanks, Wesman.  I have a free Blogger account but haven't secured a domain there.  Not sure if that makes any difference other than the site url looking more professional.
                         
                         Google likes free Blogger, I was having no difficulty getting traffic.  The only problem was that the niche I chose (MMORPGs) doesn't pay off at all.  Talking to others trying the same approach, that had been doing it longer, revealed I'd be better off writing a blog about those topics for fun, and forgetting about money.
                         
                         I'm skeptical that anyone uses Blogger, without a product, to make any real money.  Though, like anywhere else, I suppose if you nailed a keyword and became its authority, then you could make money on Blogger, or with Wordpress.
                         
                         Last night I spent hours researching Wordpress, and I was impressed with the stories related by users.  For about $100 I could get going.  I'm still debating.
                         
                         Thank you, and mistyhorizon2003, too!
                         
                         My apologies to those discussing our favorite animal, the Panda.

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                            Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                            Exactly, and it does seem Google wants to push blogger higher up, and HP further down.
                            
                            This is a superior website in every way - but we are splitting revenues here to use this site, and of course that is fair.
                            
                            I mostly talk music, and acoustic guitars on blogger...a topic I sort of wore out on this site...
                            
                            It's a low paying niche, but I am talking products, and the clicks that I get (when I get one) are pretty high paying from my experience online.  I'm not certain whether or not it's "cool" for me to tell you a general figure....but I should definitely work more there, I just prefer the "community vibe" that isn't there, but is here.

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          Dorsiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I absolutely agree Mark. I feel HP is where I put in my internship. What a great place to learn, earn and make great online friends.

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    Garrett Mickleyposted 12 years ago

    You know, when Panda initially hit, my traffic went UP. I seem to have been the only one.
    
    Every other strange Panda event since that day, I've done nothing but go UP more (or stay the same).
    
    THIS time, however, I actually dropped.

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    Stacie Lposted 12 years ago

    My traffic in the last few days has come from other places other than Google. I've been working on my traffic sources and can't credit G with it at all!

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    klanguedocposted 12 years ago

    I have noticed a slight drop in pages views in since Tuesday(03/06/2012). I PVs usually drop by 50% over the week end because of the nature of my Hubs. On Monday, I had finally got my PVs over 1000 per day, but on Tuesday they started to drop and I was wondering if its Panda or winter break.

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    charliegrumplesposted 12 years ago

    mine are down 25-30% I guess ... suppose we have no choice but to wait and see

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33. 68

    Peter Hogganposted 12 years ago

    The patent for Google's new PageRank algo, awarded earlier this month, might shed some light on what has been happening here and on other sites. SEO By The Sea have done a nice job of interpreting the relevant patents:
    
    http://www.seobythesea.com/2012/03/new- … -pagerank/
    
    I think the big takeaway is that we will not receive the same benefits as we did from HP's internal linking.

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       prettydarkhorseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Thank you for the link!!

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       PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks, Peter, interesting!  In my opinion, Google may well see the old system as biased in favour of sites like HP, who use a lot of links, and hence get very good rankings, but not always with high quality material, unfortunately.
       
       If this latest hit is because of some sort of link downgrade then it will have a longterm effect.  My theory at the moment it is my newest hubs that have been hit hardest by the latest algo change, which would make sense.
       
       I guess we'll be able to get more understanding as time goes on, but this article raised some interesting questions.

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       rebekahELLEposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Thanks for sharing this link. All the points he makes with the new page rank deserve careful scrutiny with our own subdomains. I've hardly ever used the linking tool, but it seems many do and the links aren't always relevant to the surrounding text. I'll bookmark to read later when I have more time.

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       janderson99posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I don't see any substantial changes - the old patent is simply being refreshed. It says very little about the algo that Google is currently using.
       The comments regarding linking appear to be the same as before - the new version has simply restated how the weighing evolved more clearly. Quality external links still count most. Nothing new really.

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    LeanManposted 12 years ago

    Just a little possibility; the original Panda devalued internal links within a website hence why HP dropped so much as most pages relied on hundreds of internal HP links to get them ranked.. A change to subdomains helped resurrect some of the power of the internal linking structure as now the links come from different "websites" rather than the same domain.
    Now it looks like freshness is relevant to links also as well as a host of other tweaks which will further devalue many of the links we have - along with several hundred other tweaks that G have made.................

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    Mark Ewbieposted 12 years ago

    So.... to sum up.
    
    My traffic has dropped but unevenly.  A page that was in a competitive area has vanished.  It was only getting hits because the link juice from HP kept it high.
    
    Other hubs have not dropped as much, and a few have slightly improved.
    
    Maybe their competing pages were linked above their pay grade.
    
    Quantcast doesn't show a huge drop in HP figures so the link removal has had a slight overall effect, but a severe one for some individual pages.
    
    As someone who doesn't like link games much, because I can't be bothered to play them, I'm not too unhappy about this.  It's not the end for worthwhile niche writing, even if it is on a content farm... er mixed article site.
    
    Talking out loud really.

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       Will Apseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Before you start thinking this has something to do with changes in link value you might like to read the final paragraph of the page Peter pointed out:
       
       'Is the new PageRank different from the old PageRank, just explained better? Or did the exercise of updating and expanding the claims within the continuation versions of these new patents trigger a change in Google’s approach to link analysis?'
       
       In other words, it is honest enough speculation.
       
       Jason Menayan reckons it is down to the Pinterest backlinks becoming nofollow.
       
       Neither of these speculations fits my pattern of traffic downturn because both changes were too recent.
       
       If you see a white rabbit you might as well ask for its view, too.

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          PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I think speculation is always welcome in a forum, as long as it is reasonably intelligent and doesn't dress itself up as fact.

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             janderson99posted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Its a forum - dumb lies are fine!

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                PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                Dumb lies are irritating! 

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          Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          So if we accept Jason's theory rather than his "fact," then we need to merely do more "dofollow" backlinking.
          
          Correct?

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       janderson99posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       "Quantcast doesn't show a huge drop in HP figures"
       
       Just to state an obvious point - there are large numbers of new articles being added to Hubpages every day. If the overall hit rate remains the same it means that the average hits/page is declining overall. Some sub hits rates are declining, others are rising, but while traffic is being maintained, overall hits/page is declining.

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          Mark Ewbieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Yep, fair point.  I accept that I got it pretty much wrong from start to finish.  However, my wrong is good enough for me to stop running about like a headless chicken.

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             FloraBreenRobisonposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             

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                Mark Ewbieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                Hi Flora.  I made a mistake on the internet.

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                   Jason Marovichposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                   I think your Author Score went down to 99 because of it..

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                      Mark Ewbieposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                      Lol. Very good. That HubScore thing is pretty damn clever.

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    Peter Hogganposted 12 years ago

    The date the patent was awarded really has nothing to do with when the new algo might have been implemented. Like all Google patents, well as far as search is concerned, you never know if all the recommendations are followed through or how much weight is given to them.

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    IzzyMposted 12 years ago

    Yeah, dumb lies are irritating.
    
    I really miss the guys on here that used to tell it like it is.

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       janderson99posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       They have all been struck dumb!

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          IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          No they haven't. They have left HP, or are still here and not commenting. More's the pity.

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             PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Telling the genuinely insightful people from the imposters can be difficult in the cyberworld.  There were more of both types in the forums a year ago.

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                PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                I guess I'm saying that I miss some, but not all of them

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    stricktlydatingposted 12 years ago

    GreekGeek I think you made some interesting points.  I've never used backlinks. I've never known much about them. I have a link to HubPages from my Blogger account only. I am a niche writer. I've been writing on Hubpages for just over 2 years now and my income from writing is always increasing. I have a Twitter account now (For a few months) but I don't share my work on Facebook and haven't read much on SEO.  I just know that I'm making a good part time income each month from writing online and this income is continually increasing. I only write a page about twice a month. You just had me thinking that maybe those who have relied heavily on backlinks for traffic are those who are now experiencing a sharp decrease in page views due to Google's updates and the changes with Panda.  It seems this might be the case as the changes have not affected me negitavely.

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       mistyhorizon2003posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Nope, I got good traffic anyway until recently. My use of backlinks has been tiny (and by tiny I mean really tiny). Traffic still down by about 40% in the last couple of weeks, and this seems to be common to many long term hubbers who were very successful beforehand. Not moaning, just saying it as it is!!

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          lorenmurciaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I sincerely hope that everyone who suffered from Panda recovers. Maybe it's just a temporary thing. My traffic started to climb when it was rolled out. However, this is nothing to crow about since my traffic doesn't even reach a fraction of yours but the thing is, it increased. I know, one of these days, it might be hit, too, knowing Panda.

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       kannanwritesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       That's like me, call me lazy for not creating a single backlink (except for 3-4 Pinterest pins). Also, I'm not a niche writer. My traffic remains same prior and after Panda 3.3. But we never know the next time Panda hits I might be creating a thread "Hit by Panda".

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    Will Apseposted 12 years ago

    I sometimes wonder how many subdomains are hit by Panda on this site. I also wonder if all the internal links pointing to and from Panderized accounts and pages are affecting the site overall.

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       njames306posted 12 years agoin reply to this

       Please excuse my ignorance, but is Panda a function that you sign up for, or is it an integral function within Google.

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          Website Examinerposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Panda is the nickname for pervasive changes made to how Google's search engine works: Its search engine algorithm and associated policies.

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             njames306posted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Thanks for making things a little clearer

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          Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Panda is like this.  You're playing baseball, and pitching - you need one more strike to win the game.  You don't know it, but the umpires just changed the rules to where the only way you can get that third strike/last out, and win - is to throw the ball into the stands and kill an old lady.
          
          This is how Google umpires the game of baseball.

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             njames306posted 12 years agoin reply to this

             Yes Wes, I now see where you are coming from - A never ending search for us, as to how to win the ranking game!!! Cheers

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                PaulGoodman67posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                Another way of looking it is that Google decides which teams it thinks should be at the top of the league before the season starts and then it keeps adjusting the rules to try and make that happen.  Panda is a major adjustment and keeps evolving.  (Google would argue that it favors certain sorts of team, rather than specific ones).

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          prettydarkhorseposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          You can read this -- google algorithm changes -- http://www.seomoz.org/google-algorithm-change
          
          Algorithm are indices - metrics - qualitative and quantitative which Google use to rank our pages. G update it and they usually announced it a day later in their blog, but seomoz timeline is reliable enough.

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    Stacie Lposted 12 years ago

    I'm not at all happy with the Panda. My views are almost nil.I've made all the suggested changes and traffic is dropping.G is giving search preferences to the highest bidder...at least it looks that way when I search.

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       Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I've got a ton of faith in the people that run Hubpages.  I'm certain that Hubpages will continue to recover from Google slaps across the site and all subdomains.
       
       In the meantime - do a little self promotion with dofollow Adsense sites Like Xobba Tribune, Article Blast (free - no adsense, but easy) Info Barrel, Blogger, Best Reviewer. 
       
       It's all fairly painless.
       
       I'm adding things on stumbleupon too - more dofollow is always a win, or so I'm told.

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          njames306posted 12 years agoin reply to this

          Thanks for the tips

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          Stacie Lposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          I use stumbleupon,pingomatic,pingler, facebook, my own blogs, email;isnt that enough?

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             Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             No.
             
             Not enough if your traffic is falling like mine is.
             
             Google makes doing things "honestly" very impossible.  They devalued everyone's links, and didn't bother to tell anyone why.
             
             The only way to play this "game" is to just build more links on dofollow sites.
             
             I'd suggest Best Reviewer because it's easy, and you can create a review of your stuff linking to twenty hubs, etc, in one fell swoop.
             
             Thats a start anyway.

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                IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                The trouble with having a sandboxed account, is that backlinks show up higher in the rankings than the original hub!
                I'm noticing I'm getting hits from the likes of shetoldme or redgage, and when I look in Google, there is my backlink ranking on front page, and no sign of the hub itself!
                I suppose these hits are better than nothing, then again, there is not enough of them, and I didn't put them there to get hits from those sites. They are there for the spiders, nothing more.

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                   Peter Hogganposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                   Izzy, links from these types of site are not a bad thing, however if all your links come from sites that have little editorial control, there will be no significant benefit to your hubs rankings. Voting for yourself is ok, we all do it but it has to be part of a much larger linking strategy or you are really just farting against thunder.
                   
                   If you go down the rout of shetoldme, redgage, redit, facebook etc you will end up with a link profile very similar to that of every other Hubber, that’s not what Google is looking for. Do some guest blogging for example on related blogs, this will help in that Google will see links coming from a wider range of websites and IP's, not just ones where you have a profile or account.

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                      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                      It's a long time since I have bothered doing any kind of backlinking for this account, Peter, but you've given me an idea, so thanks
                      
                      Off to join some interesting forums

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                   2besureposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                   The problem is Google is cheating.  It is promoting its own sites like Youtube.  If you do a video, it shows up in google in about 15 minutes. I do videos all the time for business.  Then there is Google+.  They are giving rank preference to their own sites.  Google has sold their souls and the price is us!  https://www.facebook.com/SiteSell/posts/314460885266054

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                   Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                   Well, if you are running adsense on your dofollow link sites...then it's a possible winning situation.
                   
                   I think I'll be slowing down on hubpages production...and making a lot of pages on Xobba..where I can bust a dofollow linking to a closely related topic to my unique subject there.
                   
                   I was getting 800 page views/day last week, then it sunk all the way to just over 400 day before yesterday with the panda serial killer...but yesterday, it bounced back quite a lot (my mediocre traffic...or otherwise low paying traffic) - but still nowhere near the pre panda 3.3....

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                      IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                      I think that's an excellent idea.
                      Xobba in my experience does tend to get traffic, and that's a big plus being able to insert a link that is dofollow.
                      I may well follow your lead! All I want to do is write, not backlink, but I now have so many hubs on so many topics, I can choose a 'niche' from my own range and link it back to something.

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                         Wesman Todd Shawposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                         I'm enjoying it.
                         
                         Of course Mr. Sunforged has gone all out with that site.  It is somewhat painful or uncomfortable to have to learn all the ins and outs of using a new format and interface - but it can only be a positive for any of us to learn more about Wordpress sites.
                         
                         I've done a thing or two over at Ryan Kett's Excerpz...and need to get back over to there too.
                         
                         I learn something damn near every time I see Joshua or Ryan talking about the business end of writing online!

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41. 95

    incomeguruposted 12 years ago

    My traffic is down by 50% and this is more than my usual weekend traffic decline.

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42. 91

    Marseiposted 12 years ago

    I have a question.  I am new to all this and am wondering whether I should continue.  Is it possible to be successful with this by just putting together really good hubs?  Are links necessary?  Please let me know if I have to do something other than writing hubs.  I've only been doing it a day or two and I love writing, but linking and hopping, etc., don't appeal.

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       IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       No of course you don't. Just carry on writing. Welcome to Hubpages

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          andromidaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          hmm.

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             IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

             I don't know what you mean by 'hmm', but many of the success stories have openly said that they have never backlinked or only done minimal backlinking.
             
             Its a nonsense all this stuff anyway. Everybody out there is spamming everyone else just to make it look as if their site is more popular even if their site is full of spun or copied content.
             
             I used to backlink, and the main benefit seemed to be getting your hubs noticed quicker by Google.
             
             Then I stopped, and realised Google noticed my stuff and ranked it highly within a couple of weeks anyway.
             
             I think there are ways to backlink, and the ways I chose were not the best. Forum commenting is the way to go, with insightful and intelligent comments back by an anchor text link in your profile. That helps everyone, without all this crazy software-backed inane comments that just fill up spam boxes.

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                Sinea Piesposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                Where do you find quality forums to participate in?

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                   IzzyMposted 12 years agoin reply to this

                   I haven't found them yet because I'm not sure which hubs to promote, but I do know to search for forums in which I am interested, even better if I have a hub on the same topic I want to promote, then look for the nofollow tag in their html (right click ~> view source ~> press ctrl + F to search for it). If its not there, they must be dofollow. I also have SEO Quake running so can see their PR.
                   
                   The higher the PR the better, but at the end of the day, almost any forum at all would do, but it would be better if it was one I liked, and stayed with, followed and interacted with, not just passed through like a typical spammer.

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                      janderson99posted 12 years agoin reply to this

                      Not much juice in forums in my experience.

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                         SEO Ibizaposted 11 years agoin reply to this

                         re getting links with juice from forums, this still works nicely post penguin, if you have the time.  obviously if a hub is the target you need to use other sites for the artcles, with the hub in the middle.
                         
                         http://business-info.hubpages.com/hub/H … rom-Forums

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43. 55

    andromidaposted 12 years ago

    We just need to find alternate traffic sources.Too much dependency on Google is never a good idea.We can make hubpages the place for finding authentic contents.I am suggesting branding hubpages as a solution for contents, which means searchers coming directly to hubpages to search contents.

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       Dorsiposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       hmmm...good idea. I wonder if this could be done.

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          andromidaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

          It can be done without any doubt.I will request hubapges team to think about it.

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    Barbara Kayposted 12 years ago

    andromida, It would be so wonderful if we could do this. Do you have any suggestions how it could be accomplished?

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       andromidaposted 12 years agoin reply to this

       I guess hubpages will keep growing over time.But to become a trusted brand we need to consult or hire a brand management team-that will be more professional approach. I am not sure what actually hubpages management team is thinking about branding.What I believe is that hubpages has all the potential and strength to become the top 10 most visited sites in the world.The only problem is nobody is realizing their potential and the most are worried about free Google traffic,whereas you have  all the flesh that people are looking for in Internet.

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    Peter Hogganposted 12 years ago

    Forums can help, especially if you start the thread or respond early enough to ensure your link appears as close to the top of the page as possible.
    
    One problem with forums, other than the fact that many are nofollow, is that deep pages don't get indexed. Look at previous threads in the category you want to post in and check that they are indexed.
    
    Edit: Don’t be fooled into thinking that because a page has PageRank that it is indexed, pages can show PageRank even if they are not indexed. Check for indexing manually.

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