Hi, I'm new! And stuck!

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   QuestionandAnswerposted 10 years ago

   Hi there,
   
   So, I am completely new to HubPages and it has taken me a little while to put something together in order to test out how it works. I have a feeling my first Hub is not going to stand the test of time, however, now that I am reading through more and more of other peoples' hubs. I've written for various other sites before, including Huffington Post, and so I have picked up my own writing style. Looking through other hubs I can see that perhaps I am being too opinionated and not objective enough. I don't know if this is actually going to be a problem or not? I could really do with some advice before I start working on my next addition.
   Is an opinion post useless (even if it has others opinions and facts) or will it gather interest eventually? Also, one of the topics in my first hub is quite 'current' which I'm not sure on either. Any help would be greatly appreciated.
   
   Thanks!
   
   Bex

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      Cardisaposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Opinion pieces are okay to start with, however, you must make sure it is still informative to the reader. Hubs that do well are usually evergreen so be mindful of that as well. Since I don't know your subject I can tell you whether that particular piece will get noticed.
      
      For a guide on creating stellar hubs please visit the learning center: http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/Elem … tellar-Hub
      
      Welcome to hubpages and good luck!

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         QuestionandAnswerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Cardisa,
         
         Thank you very much for that article. I've had a look through and now believe (I hope) that I have a better idea of what is to be expected.
         
         Thanks for the welcome and the luck!
         
         Bex

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         schoolgirlforrealposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         I just wanna say I dislike all the rules for creating "stellar" hubs. Who wants or needs a table in every hub? Polls,,yes..but tables?
         Anyways..that's just me

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            QuestionandAnswerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            I did think tables were bit of an odd thing to include, but I've tried to incorporate it into my latest one. Fingers crossed!

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               susi10posted 10 years agoin reply to this

               You don't have to put a table in every hub, only if it needs one. I try my best to put tables in hubs but not always. That's the same for video, there might not be any video of a particular topic so there is no need to include one then.

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            spartucusjonesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            The instructions says table or maps. But the instructions also say include if they are relevant. So the reality is that sometime certain capsules just don't fit certain hubs. So these should be viewed more as suggestions than rules. But the closer you can get to being a stellar hub the better.
            
            That being said there are really good hubs that wouldn't quite meet the definition of stellar (less than 1150 words, one or two photos instead of three, etc...) that still perform well with Google. It would depend on the subject and whether or not all of the elements make sense for what you are writing about. You shouldn't sacrifice quality for quantity.

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            TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Tables, etc, are not requirements, just suggestions.  They are supposed to help keep readers on your page longer.

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      paradigmsearchposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      If "current" is a euphemism for "adult"; yep, that could get HP unduly excited, and not in a good way.

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      spartucusjonesposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I just read your first hub. I thought it was an excellent first hub. It was insightful and you made good use of the different capsules. The formatting was appealing. Concerning the subject, it might be current, but I think it is also evergreen as well. The current trends with selfies and passing it off as social work is not going away anytime soon. Plus the other historical aspects of charitable giving that you allude to won't change. I don't see any issues there.
      
      Concerning whether or not it is too opinionated, it might be borderline. It is good to include your own personal expressions and  experiences, but Hubpages discourages Hubs that are purely personal. Yours wasn't, but it did border a bit on being an editorial. That being said it was an excellent first Hub. While you get to use to Hubpages and read the informative link that Cardisa shared with you, I think you will do quite well here.

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         QuestionandAnswerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Spartacus,
         
         Thanks for your reply and a huge thank you for the comment on my very first hub. I get all excited when I've got some kind of HP notification now (does that ever go away?).
         
         I'm really glad you enjoyed my piece and I cannot thank you enough for the excellent advice. I don't necessarily write pieces on this subject matter all of the time, but when I do I find myself straying a bit too close to the opinionated. I'll be sure to keep it in check if I am to create another social affairs hub.
         I've also had a good look through the link that Cardisa sent me, so hopefully I'll be right on track with the next one.
         
         Thanks a lot, again.
         
         Bex

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      Mark Johannposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hi there,
      Hubs here in HP should be informative and not too personal. You can do that as you write helpful hubs and share it from the bottom of your heart.

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      swilliamsposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Here is another helpful link as well.
      
      http://hubpages.com/topics/hubpages-tut … uette/2923

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      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      HubPages is not a news site and in fact, there's no mechanism for readers to subscribe to this site.  90% of your readers will come via search engines and therefore, when you write a Hub, you need to ask yourself:
      
      1.  what will people have to type into Google to find this Hub?
      2.  are they likely to do that?
      3.  how many other web pages already answer that same search?
      4.  how likely am I to outrank any of those web pages?
      
      If you're writing on news items, it's likely you'll be outranked by all the news sites (like Huffington Post) and therefore you'll get very few readers. That's why evergreen topics are recommended.

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      amiebutchkoposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I think you can find success here on any topic, depending on your motives.  Do you want readership?  Do you want to earn money off products?  Will you incorporate SEO techniques to gain search engine results, are you writing to make a difference?  I think you will enjoy writing here, if you think of your hubs as a comprehensive guide to any of the subjects you choose.  Good luck and I am looking forward to seeing what you can do!

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   susi10posted 10 years ago

   Welcome to HubPages Bex! Your first hub is very good and on a trending topic which could get you a good amount of traffic. HubPages encourage hubs that include a little opinion here and there and as the number of followers you have increase, you can start to write more opinion orientated hubs. It really depends on what the topic is about.
   The best hubs are stellar hubs which make use of plenty photographs, and media-rich capsules with 1150+ words. The Hubs Of The Day are also a fantastic place to see the greatest hubs on HP but writing at that standard may be difficult at first.
   
   It may be difficult to see any traffic from Google at the moment but give it some time (about 1 month to 6 weeks) and organic traffic from Google will start flowing in.
   I'm looking forward to seeing your future hubs here and good luck! If you have any questions about HP or need assistance, the community here are so helpful so don't hesitate. With time and persistence, you can achieve anything you want here on HubPages.

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      QuestionandAnswerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you so much for the advice and the kind words!
      
      I do have a question about some of the scores I keep seeing all over the place. I have one number on my picture which I assume is my overall score as a hubber? I also have a score on my published hub which seems as though it is out of 100. When I've tried finding information about the scores I can only find a scoring system which is from 1-10.
      Is there anywhere I can find out more about this? Or is there something you can tell me that I may not be able to find in a HP guide?
      
      Thanks in advance.

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         susi10posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         The score that is in your profile picture is called a Hubber Score which tells you how active you are as a member here and the kind of articles you write. It increases with time, being active (by commenting, following etc) and the traffic you receive. The best Hubbers have the highest HubScores and it ranges from 1 - 100. Your score is now at 46. To increase that, comment on others hubs and publish more hubs. With time, your score will increase and could even hit 100 at some point!
         
         Your hubs also have scores too which indicate their quality. Media rich hubs with lots of text tend to have higher hubscores than others, I have three hubs at 100 at the moment.
         
         There is lots of information here, check out the link below to have all your questions answered.
         http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/hubs … bber-score
         
         You also get accolades too based on how much traffic you've received, your commenter status, how active you are, how many questions you have asked/answered, number of hubs you published etc. These are great to motivate you to keep writing!
         http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/accolades

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            QuestionandAnswerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            That's perfect, thank you! Not sure how I didn't find that in the help pages before, but I've got everything I need now. I hope!
            
            Thanks again.
            
            Bex

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   The Examiner-1posted 10 years ago

   Welcome to HP QuestionandAnswer. You will enjoy it here. About the scores - there is the the explanation in FAQ at: http://hubpages.com/faq/#how-to-improve-hubscore.
   I and others wrote Hubs about them also.

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      QuestionandAnswerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for your help. I've been taking a good look round all of the useful hubs now I know what the scores are. Thanks again!

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   swilliamsposted 10 years ago

   Hi QuestionandAnswer! Welcome to the Hubpages! I signed up with The Hubpages 2 years ago I actually started writing last year. Through trial and error is how am am learning. I will say that The Hubpages has a considerate staff that encourages newbies with kind words of encouragement. I have written for Shine/yahoo, and I will say that The Hubpages gives you an outlet to perform well. I believe you're on the right track, provided your articles contain a wealth of information and lots of clear pictures. :-) Congrats on your journey!
   Here is a hubpages welcome link!
   http://swilliams.hubpages.com/video/Hub … The-Sharks

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      What HP wants is for you to attract readers and keep them coming back for more.  People don't care about what you think, generally, they care about what you can tell them that they do not already know.  Blog type hubs are not going to work here, and fiction, poetry and the like do not do well.  Hope this helps.

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         QuestionandAnswerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Haha, it's true, no one does really care about other peoples' opinions. Thanks for the advice and I'll take it on board for my next hubs.

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   Sue Adamsposted 10 years ago

   I think you'll do fine Bex. I left a comment and a question on your first hub. No need to reply to this.

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   ravi1991posted 10 years ago

   The best way to start on hubpages, according to me, is that you don`t worry about others` content. You give, with full command, what you have inside you on your hubs and you will find that Hubpages is such a wonderful platform.
   
   
   Wishes and all the best

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      QuestionandAnswerposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      What a great way to look at it! Thanks Ravi

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   QuestionandAnswerposted 10 years ago

   Just wanted to say a huge thank you for all the advice and support I've received in the last 2 days! I've never been part of a community that was so keen to help.
   
   My first hub went okay and my second one seems to be doing well too. I'm hoping to use all of the advice you guys have given me for my third so we'll see.
   
   Thanks again everyone!

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