More direct feedback

1. 85

   Cameron Corniukposted 10 years ago

   I understand the issue with keeping algorithms proprietary and all, but it'd be nice to know more about why scores climb and fall, how people are chosen as "best," and so on. We have a lot of talented people on here. And, there is admittedly a lot of crap. But, without getting any feedback, it's difficult. And, when out traffic is coming from outside HP, and people don't know about upvotes, feedback, and the importance of comments, it seems we're being penalized for more traffic and less interaction.

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   1. 93

      SpaceShantyposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I think if HP made public the criteria for getting a high Hub score lots of spammers would try to game the system.
      
      Good SEO and writing about popular subjects with lots of unique content is the key to a good Hub score.

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      1. 85

         Cameron Corniukposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         But, that's it. It's not. There's something else going in within these algorithms. I can get good ratings in Google any day. And, with the right search terms, even my HP posts come up amongst the first few results. I use it as a test bed and my other work doesn't get these random fluctuations.

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   2. 87

      Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      You're not being penalized, because your scores can't cause you any harm (unless your only reason for writing Hubs is to promote another website).
      
      HubScore does absolutely nothing to help your Hub get visitors, so the best thing to do is ignore it.

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      1. 85

         Cameron Corniukposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Fair enough. I look at is a vanity thing, I suppose.

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2. 82

   Author Cherylposted 10 years ago

   Every time someone clicks on you hub page to read it, it doesn't matter if they vote up or like it or even share it.  The score is based on how many people have read your hub.  In two years I have reached over 50,000 readers and still have a score of 87 to 90 depending.  You also have to publish content regularly or your score will drop.  I think that marketing yourself on social networks helps.  I post all of my hubs to Pintrest, Lidken, Twitter, Google and my husband travels a lot and I have business cards with not only my books I have published but also with my hubpages on it. The only thing I am trying to accomplish is to get people to read my work and to make money which I am doing both now.

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3. 85

   Cameron Corniukposted 10 years ago

   Hi, Cheryl. Thanks for the information. But, I see that's not the case. I'm watching views grow throughout the day and talking to people in other channels who spent time to read through the article, although I imagine many see the length and walk away early, which might be causing a higher bounce rate--reason, it's too long. But, HP wants longer content. So, as I was saying (got sidetracked), the views grow throughout the day and as I get more views, the score continues to drop. As far as I am a ware, I have never been flagged, so I don't think that's it.

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   1. 91

      Tolovajposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      I think traffic is not the only part of hubscore. If your article is voted up, shared etc., the hubscore will eventually rise. Of course you can't see the action of other hubbers, but I believe this happened at few of my hubs with virtually no traffic from outside of HubPages. If you rely on search engines and other sources of traffic, the activity of visitors (they can still vote, comment etc.) on your hub can probably be helpful, but this is only my speculation, based on another similar site.

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      1. 85

         Cameron Corniukposted 10 years agoin reply to this

         Yes, but if those voters are unfamiliar with the process--that's my qualm. Plus, doing what HP wants is actually driving away traffic/causing higher bounce rates. People simply don't readd 2k+ documents online unless they're doing some sort of research or are in the minority.

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         1. 91

            Tolovajposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Well, it's debatable. I think shorter articles (350 words or less) can have better ctr and are more useful for sales, but longer (1.000 words plus) have better chances to rank for several longtails and are better for advertising. Bounce rate is not the only parameter.
            
            I am not affiliate marketer, and I don't have AdSense account, so I can't be authority on converting traffic into money, but as a content writer (don't worry about my English, I earn for living in totally different language) I can say all my longer articles (in both languages) perform much better than short ones if I look only at traffic.
            
            Yes, you are right, people don't read long articles, but bots do and people, if they see something interesting while skimming, will hopefully take action, if the article is written in the right tone.

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            1. 85

               Cameron Corniukposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               Absolutely. And, your English is fine, so no worries there. As a content writer and one who works closely behind the scenes with SEO, you're right. And, with these not having any call to actions or even directed actions, it becomes even harder to try and target that. This is compounded directly by the fact that I'm not trying to sell anything.

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            2. 87

               Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               +1

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         2. 87

            Marisa Wrightposted 10 years agoin reply to this

            Voting is an old leftover from the early days of HubPages and staff have said that votes have a miniscule effect on scores.

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            1. 85

               Cameron Corniukposted 10 years agoin reply to this

               That's good to know.I think that makes me wonder even more now, though. Of course, I say that with a bit of a laugh.

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