Frustrated.

1. 67

   LisaMarie724posted 10 years ago

   I have many featured hubs and I add in all the polls etc. But, my traffic is way down.  I enjoy writing and love Hubpages (this isn't a rant), I just don't understand what I'm doing wrong.  Any help or suggestions would be appreciated.

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      mistyhorizon2003posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Try writing on Bubblews, you should at least earn money there as so many of us are now doing.

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         LisaMarie724posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I actually just started there, wish me luck

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      The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I scanned over several of your Hubs and links. I noticed that in a couple Hubs you had about nine links. Perhaps you should cut back on the links and be more careful of the wording and also make sure that they are not too promotional - I noticed one from Squidoo. I also noticed that in a few other Hubs the content was brief. Perhaps you should edit them and add more content and write more variety and reality in your photo captions instead of making them all the same.

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         LisaMarie724posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, I will try to go over some and add more to them.

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            The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

            You are welcome, I hope that it helps.

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      ChristinSposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I checked out your hub on types of guinea pigs.  You use the word guinea pigs entirely too often throughout the entire post. It sounds unnatural and could be viewed as keyword stuffing. Google will penalize sites that do that.  You can get the same points across by using pronouns instead of repeating the phrase over and over.  The information is nice, but you need to polish it.
      
      Your hub has nice pictures, properly cited - very good. 
      
      The overall hub is too short though and the information is quite standard. Why not enhance it a bit.  What kinds of guinea pigs have you owned and which were your favorites? Are there some downsides to owning them people should be aware of? Do they need special diets? How long do they usually live? Is it easy to distinguish their genders? there are all kinds of questions people might have that you can also answer to enhance the quality.
      
      Best wishes!

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         LisaMarie724posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks.  That hub actually did do really well back before all the changes.  I agree that I do try to use keywords too much because I'm scared not to use them enough, if that makes sense.  I suppose I need to balance it.  Thanks for the help.  Your ideas are really good.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            If you're over-using keywords, then it wasn't the changes at HubPages that caused you to lose traffic - it was the changes at Google!
            
            "Keyword stuffing" used to work.  The old advice was to have a keyword density of 4 or 5%, and some even said 7%.  Then Google updated their algorithm to detect keyword stuffing.  The new advice is 2 to 3%.  You can check your keyword density at sites like this:
            
            http://www.seocentro.com/tools/seo/keyword-density.html
            
            3% isn't much, and if you write naturally you'll reach it.  Anything else is too much and Google will penalize you for it.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Have you been choosing subjects based on keyword research?  It looks like some of your Hubs are on subjects which are already "saturated" (ie..there are heaps of other articles on those topics already on the internet).   It's a common mistake to make - yes it's good to choose keywords with lots of searches, but if it's too popular, your Hub will just get swamped by the competition, especially if it's not offering something new or original on the topic. 
      
      I hope you know that the "competition" column in the keyword tool has nothing to do with how much competition there is from other articles.

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   kenneth averyposted 10 years ago

   I wish I had an answer for you. I've been a happy member of HP for over four years and I am still learning. I too love to write for HP, but I've been off since August due to retina surgery in both eyes and let me say this: NOT BEING ABLE TO WRITE ON HP IS TOO, FRUSTRATING.

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      LisaMarie724posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Sorry to hear that Kenneth, hope you feel better soon.

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         kenneth averyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Many thanks, Lisa. I hope you get the answer you are looking for. I'll catch you on down the trail.

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      Connie Smithposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Sorry to hear that, Kenneth.  I haven't been on much lately so I didn't know about your surgery.  I hope you are back in business soon and writing those funny stories that I love to read so much.  You are a character!

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         kenneth averyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Dear Connie, you are so sweet and nice. I miss all of my followers. I'll be back real soon. Thanks again.

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   cleaner3posted 10 years ago

   I only know that if you hub jump and read others works and leave a reply ..  about their work you will build up a few friends but .. when they read your work,  you must reciprocate..   when someone comments on your work you should answer.. it is only common courteousy.... but if everyone left a comment.....  it would be awesome..! hubpages would roll. we need to support each other  ..that's why it is a community..!

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      LisaMarie724posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You're right about that, and I have not participated in the community so much recently.  But, what I'm really wanting to know is how to get more traffic from Google.

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         cleaner3posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Google is a completely different beast , it is for photographers and copycats.. a few poets are on there but.. Google is the wild west in cyberspace .. it is not. for everyone.. most people  go there in search of a better facebook.. but they soon leave.   strange concept you have to want to go there. for views .. it is  very hard and you have to really impress some .. but there are many who don't .. but they keep posting!.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      The community aspect of HubPages is great, but if you're here to earn money, it's not relevant.
      
      In general, your Hubs won't start earning a decent income until at least 80% of your traffic comes from outside HubPages.
      
      Enjoy the community for the inspiration and motivation, it's not a source of traffic.

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         TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Hey Marisa:  I just got my first affiliates on my blog.  Take a look.  I cannot thank you enough for all of your help.  Not getting a ton of views...between 20 and 30 per day, but am trying to get the word out via FB and G+...hoping it will take off in time.  Am earning 0 on Adsense there.

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   Ronnytronposted 10 years ago

   Some hubbers are still getting a lot of traffic. Hubbers with most traffic are: creativegenius, stesand and princesswithapen. They must be doing something right.

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   cheaptrickposted 10 years ago

   I've been here four years and still don't know what the hell is going on...or where that pizza is that I asked for...
   This IS the H-ot P-izza website,isn't it?...

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6. 97

   EricDockettposted 10 years ago

   You have a Hub about SEO and another about how to make money on HubPages, so I imagine there isn't much I can say that will help, but the first things that struck me is that your Hubs are very short.  In some, the links you add to your other Hubs are almost as long as the content itself.
   
   Also, you're writing about a lot of medical stuff.  Those topics are tough to rank for, and unless you're WebMD a 500-word article won't likely get the job done.  I'd not worry about the polls and focus on beefing up your Hubs so they are solid, thorough resources on the topics you are covering. I'd be thinking 1500-2000 words, appropriate pics and videos, and plenty of links out to authority sites that support your points.

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      LisaMarie724posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      It seems I know nothing of SEO now.  I was doing well on here before the changes.  Now I'm not sure what I'm doing lol.

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         The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I am not an expert in that field but I use an online thesaurus to look up a word and then Google Trends to compare 2-3 words from the thesaurus. I then put the highest rated words in as keywords and hope that Google likes them. I just do not use too many.
         Also susi10 wrote a Hub on the subject.

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   wildernessposted 10 years ago

   Just thinking (who really knows what google wants), but 25 repetitions of "whiter teeth" in a hub under 600 words is too many.  As is 24 repetitions of "cellulite" in under 500 words.  You might want to re-think your understanding of keywords and SEO.  If nothing else, vary the terminology used with other forms of the same thing - "Shiny choppers", or "unstained enamel" maybe - you get the idea.
   
   As has been mentioned by others, 250 words on getting crayons off of walls is not the "magazine style" article appropriate to HP.  It is perhaps more suited to Webanswers or other site that wants a few words thrown up without any real in depth information.  If your topic won't support 1,000 words, you probably need a different topic.
   
   Keep writing; the 80/20 concept says you will probably have only about 10 hubs out of 50 that are getting much traffic.  Get a couple hundred hubs up and you should see some traffic.

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      LisaMarie724posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, I guess I need to re-learn what I thought was SEO.  Any suggestions on really good hubs about the subject?

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         2uesdayposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Keep in mind that what works for SEO, often changes with time. What was suggested on this site 5 years ago in the forum posts turned out to be something that eventually Google did not like. With this in mind it is best to check the date of any hubs giving advice of the subject.

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         psycheskinnerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         With time the distance between what is good SEO and what is just good content is closing.  So IMHO, there is less to learn.  Use clear keywords that people will be using in search.  Don't worry about how often you use them.

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   mbuggiehposted 10 years ago

   I don't think traffic is a function of quality of any given hub.
   
   Two things I have found to increase traffic: (1) Updating the titles of hubs periodically and (2) Updating the summary of each hub also periodically.
   
   You might also try publishing longer hubs in parts of about 1000+ words each and indicating to readers that there are multiple parts.
   
   Hope this helps.

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   1. 67

      LisaMarie724posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks, yes it did help

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9. 61

   BuyToLetPro21posted 10 years ago

   Thanks for the tip Marisa, I am new here and hoping to post my new page soon

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10. 86

    drpennypincherposted 10 years ago

    The seocentro keyword density tool is really slick- thanks for the tip Marisa!

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    Marisa Wrightposted 10 years ago

    One other tip - the advice to write longer articles has nothing to do with engaging the reader.   It's actually a way to get more repetitions of your keywords without going over the limit.

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    Writer Foxposted 10 years ago

    There is no formula for keyword density.  What is more important is where you use your keywords: URL, Title Tag, Description Tag, first paragraph, H2 and H3 Tags, Alt Tags, etc.  To understand how Google views keyword density, watch their short video:
    
    http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=pl … k4qgQdp2UA

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    cfinposted 10 years ago

    I am down to 50 views per day for over 20 hubs. I feel like they literally cut my views at a certain point. Just when they get back up to say 120 a day, they plummet within 5 hours to 50 again, like as if nobody has viewed any of them for those hours.
    
    I used to have at least 1200 a day. Not sure what to do. FRUSTRATING is an understatement.

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       cfinposted 10 years agoin reply to this

       I actually just counted them and I have 43 hubs, 42 of which are fesatured. I have been phasing them out, deleting them and posting them elsewhere. I think that eventually my hubpages account will disappear. Its sad really.

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14. 74

    Jenn-Anneposted 10 years ago

    Frustrated is right!  Traffic has been meh and then today I log in to find my hubber score has dropped 9 points. I know the score doesn't mean anything but still!  I'm too tired from my day job to write let alone do all the little things I'm supposed to do to keep my score up. I need to get serious about my blog because I'm tired of feeling discouraged all the time. (Sorry for the mini-rant!  Just saying that I feel everyone's pain.)

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       The Examiner-1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

       Update the oldest Hub or Hubs.

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