Do you like 'em long or short?

Jump to Last Post 1-7 of 7 discussions (12 posts)
  1. profile image0
    Beth37posted 11 years ago

    Someone was offering me advise on how to write better hubs. He said mine needed to be longer. When I first joined HP I was like a kid in a candy shop... Woah! So many great articles to read, you could get lost in this site. But there were SO many, I didn't want to spend all day on one. I like to get in, get the point and get out, but I like concise communication anyway, so maybe that's just my personality.

    Sometimes I think we tend to ramble, I catch myself scrolling down to the bottom of someone's hub just to see how much more time I'm going to have to commit. In my opinion, it's not the length of the article, it's the substance. If you can say what you need to say in one paragraph, why use two?

    What do you all think?

    1. Quilligrapher profile image74
      Quilligrapherposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Hello, Beth.

      Limiting the time you are willing to invest in a hub seems like a disservice to both you and the author. If you have to scroll down, the author has already lost your attention and the ultimate length is not important. In fact the length of a hub is neither a measure of its quality nor a sign of its shortcomings. The length is a matter of necessity.

      Professional writers are often assigned a topic and a length and must deliver both. Sometimes they have to pare and sometimes they pad if they want to be paid.

      On the other hand, literary lore claims Earnest Hemingway wrote a short story containing six words. {1} I doubt Hubpages would accept it today as a hub.
      http://s2.hubimg.com/u/6919429.jpg
      {1}http://www.snopes.com/language/literary/babyshoes.asp

  2. 2uesday profile image64
    2uesdayposted 11 years ago

    Hi Beth, I think sometimes it is to do with keeping the search engines happy and that would be to do with  the time the visitor spends on the page, which is said to be something that they factor in. But who knows, when Google often communicates its preferences in slightly mysterious ways.

    1. profile image0
      Beth37posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Oh, I hadn't thought about that. Interesting... there is so much I have yet to learn about HP.

  3. ReneeDC1979 profile image59
    ReneeDC1979posted 11 years ago

    I think some hubs depending on the topic need to be cut and dry, and to the point.  I agree with you Beth - I will scroll down at times when hubs seem long to see "how long is this thing?"  I find myself writing my hubs and then rewriting a few more times to ensure I am not rambling.

  4. Angelique Newman profile image60
    Angelique Newmanposted 11 years ago

    I agree with you Beth, I too find some articles longwinded. 

    There are some exceptional writers on hubpages and you can read through their articles and not even realize how long they were.  The 1500 word count makes the writer's job that much more trickier to take an article like "snow shoes" and turn it into a attention grabbing hub that will take you to the end.  I wish HP had a table of contents where you can just click on what you want to know and it will take you right to the spot.  wikipedia has it so does Wikinut--it's a great feature.

  5. Better Living profile image59
    Better Livingposted 11 years ago

    I like short articles that get to the point. I like to find the info I need quickly.

  6. paradigmsearch profile image61
    paradigmsearchposted 11 years ago

    I'm still contemplating this thread title...

    1. profile image0
      Beth37posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      lol...I have a bad side.

      Well Im glad Im not the only one who gets a little turned off by a repetitive or long winded article. Sometimes its not how much you know, but how succinctly you can present it, right?

  7. Paul Maplesden profile image76
    Paul Maplesdenposted 11 years ago

    There's some good research out there now that 'long form content' (i.e. above 1,500 words) does better on Google and readers find it more engaging. You can read more about it here:

    http://www.quicksprout.com/2012/12/20/t … nversions/

    Hope this helps,

    Paul.

    1. profile image0
      Beth37posted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Is it a long article? wink

    2. Petra Newman profile image60
      Petra Newmanposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks Paul for sharing the link.  I had no idea.  This was very helpful smile

 
working

This website uses cookies

As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.

For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy

Show Details
Necessary
HubPages Device IDThis is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons.
LoginThis is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service.
Google RecaptchaThis is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy)
AkismetThis is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy)
HubPages Traffic PixelThis is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized.
Amazon Web ServicesThis is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy)
CloudflareThis is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy)
Google Hosted LibrariesJavascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy)
Features
Google Custom SearchThis is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy)
Google MapsSome articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
Google ChartsThis is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy)
Google AdSense Host APIThis service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Google YouTubeSome articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
VimeoSome articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy)
PaypalThis is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook LoginYou can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy)
MavenThis supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy)
Marketing
Google AdSenseThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Google DoubleClickGoogle provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Index ExchangeThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
SovrnThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Facebook AdsThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Unified Ad MarketplaceThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
AppNexusThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
OpenxThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Rubicon ProjectThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
TripleLiftThis is an ad network. (Privacy Policy)
Say MediaWe partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy)
Remarketing PixelsWe may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites.
Conversion Tracking PixelsWe may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service.
Statistics
Author Google AnalyticsThis is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy)
ComscoreComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy)
Amazon Tracking PixelSome articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy)
ClickscoThis is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy)