40% drop in views so far today. Any thoughts?

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TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years ago
I am very surprised to see that my page views have dropped so drastically today. I see no reason for it and am wondering if something has happened site wise or if this is just my own problem. Any thoughts?
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  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  If it's just today, there's always a chance there's a glitch in the figures.
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  misterhollywoodposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  What I have done when this happens is do a quick Google search and Bing search to see how my stuff is being listed. While not the most accurate way of seeing what is going on it can be a helpful approach in terms of gauging traffic changes.
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  relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Actually, what you are reporting is not a new phenomena for you. Two years ago, you thought it was due to back-to-school.
  
  http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/102287
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  suramyakhposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  ^^ That is so creepy, relache! (chuckles)
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FatFreddysCatposted 9 years ago
Yeah, it's weird. I had seemingly settled into a pretty comfortable "groove" for the past few months, getting roughly the same # of views per day... then all of sudden, the #'s have been up one day, down the next, up, down, up, down like a yo-yo for the past week or so. Unfortunately, today seems to be a "down" day.
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dwelburnposted 9 years ago
Yes; I'm down over 50%. Hope it's just temporary.
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Writer Foxposted 9 years ago
This is the last week of summer vacation in the northern hemisphere. The UK just finished a three-day weekend banking holiday. The US has a holiday on September 1. The school year won't start until after Labor Day. I wouldn't panic until after September 2.
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  Dale Hydeposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  School started here in the Houston area yesterday. However, the views don't concern me as much as a drop in earnings. The earnings have dropped in comparison to the views by 50 percent from what I am seeing.
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  Solarasposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Indeed Dale - the drop in earnings is depressing. 50% down for me as well. School started in the Atlanta area 2 weeks ago. Amazon sales improved some as a result, but overall, I am still waiting for summer to end.
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  Dale Hydeposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I don't dwell on statics too much, but I can see where my earnings has dropped versus page views. Someone is making the money but not I, lol. I am thinking this is the lowest earnings I have seen in the almost three years I have been here on HP.
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My Bellposted 9 years ago
I experience the "yo-yo" of stats often. I'm new to this, just 3 months in, and don't have too many hubs yet so that could be the reason. I'm sure there are time of the year when numbers naturally go down due to holidays, weather, timing of hub topics, etc. I'm still learning here and love to learn from those like you who are seasoned, committed, and are publishing super hubs!
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firstdayposted 9 years ago
Same here those arrows up and then down.
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Nell Roseposted 9 years ago
Yep me too! I did wonder if it was a glitch or whether Google was doing its little juggle dance again! shift us all around to keep us on our toes!
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rebekahELLEposted 9 years ago
My views are up today.

It could very well relate to topics. Vacation time has basically ended in the US. It's back to school. Some states are already back in session.
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Kathleen Cochranposted 9 years ago
I've been stuck in my lowest numbers for a while now. Figured HP tweaked the algorithm again. Maybe it's just summer. Hope so!
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LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago
I am in PA. In my area, school started today, and yesterday for nearby county.
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ologsinquitoposted 9 years ago
Glad it's not just me. If it's any consolation, it seems to be the same, at least from my perspective, on other platforms as well.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Well, I am hoping this is not another Google attack! I've been hit hard three times over the past 2 1/2 years and finally have managed to crawl back up to a decent amount of views and money...and WHAM!
  
  My main niche is summer vacation oriented but even with that., THOSE hubs are getting views but for the rest I am seeing straight zeros and many, many blue arrows.
  
  This really sucks!
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firstdayposted 9 years ago
Oh TIMETRAVELER2 it will get better…hang in there. I am still trying to figure out how to do all this. You are a pro.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  firstday:
  
  Well, no matter how many years you do this, you still are subject to the ebbs and flows of external situations. This is a perfect example.
  
  Don't try to take it all in at once or you will go crazy. You will learn as you go, just as I did.
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  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  One important thing to learn is not to look at your traffic stats daily.
  
  You can't draw any conclusions whatsoever from what your stats are doing on a daily basis, because Google doesn't react instantly to what you do. Also weird things can happen - e.g Google might launch an update, make a mistake which causes the SERPs to go haywire, then roll it back the next day. So it's a waste of time and causes unnecessary angst. Traffic is something to look at once a month or so, and then you may see trends.
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relacheposted 9 years ago
Burning Man, clearly.
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jansharesposted 9 years ago
Lots of parents took their children back to school today. Lots of people returned to work today. Less people are goofing off on the internet at work. College students returned to classes as well. I think that's some of what might decrease traffic on a Tuesday in late August. Most schools in the DC/MD/VA areas opened yesterday and today.
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  Solarasposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I can't wait to see more people goofing off at work!
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Here's how bad it is:
  
  Two days ago my main Google search views were 644. This morning, so far, they are 80!
  
  I know I've been through this before,but this one really hurts because I was doing the best I have ever done since being on HP.
  
  I just wrote a forum a few days ago stating that I now have 200,000 plus views. Maybe I cursed myself by doing that!
  
  At these rates, i'll be 103 before I make it to another 100,000!
  
  If it is not just me, something is going on, but I find it hard to believe that back to school, etc. would cause this much of a drop.
  
  I cannot help but think that Google is messing around again, but so far, I have not been able to find any evidence of this.
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  Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  It's worldwide right now. Some SEOs think it is a Google Panda update:
  https://www.seroundtable.com/google-upd … 18980.html
  
  Some think it is a Google Penguin update (play the video):
  https://www.seroundtable.com/google-pen … 19009.html
  
  So far, there has been no official response from Google and many have already asked for one.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Writer Fox:
  
  Thank you SO much for posting this. I just KNEW this had to be something much bigger than end of summer, back to school stuff.
  
  I would love to know what it is they went after (who wouldn't??) because I have worked my butt off trying to provide everything Google as asked of writers...and now THIS?
  
  Please keep us in the loop, I'm sure many here are as upset as I am about this.
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  Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  No one is really certain at this point what has happened. The last announced update, Panda 4.0, was on May 17th, but HP traffic actually went up from that one. However, some of my pages lost about 40% of traffic, and now are back up.
  
  It looks like to me that Google evaluated the HP site on August 12th, and traffic has fallen 9% since that time (mine hasn't). But, the last two weeks in August are typically slow and school has not yet started on the east coast, at least not in New York.
  
  Have you checked your Google Webmaster account to see if there are warnings or penalties?
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Writer Fox:
  
  I'm not sure how to do that but nothing is showing on my dashboard that I can see. Am I looking in the wrong place?
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  Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Check under "Messages" - first link under "Dashboard" on the left menu. Also, see this for big pictures:
  http://blog.searchengineacademy.com/blo … s-warning/
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Writer Fox:
  
  Thanks. I looked there and there were no messages at all.
  
  Do you know, when something like this happens, just how long it takes Google to reorganize everything so that page views normalize again?
  
  In the past it has taken many, many months after a hit, and I am hoping that will not be the case this time, especially with all the new writers coming over from Squidoo and the holidays just around the corner.
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  Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Unfortunately, no one can answer this question. Your views may never go back to what they were. Then again, they may. Google Panda, except for new updates, is an ongoing algorithm that is now run in tandem with the main Google algorithm. It readjusts continually.
  
  Search on Google for the query (keyword) terms which were sending you traffic before, and find out where your Hubs are ranking now. Look at the competing webpages which are now outranking yours. Try to compete with the content of those pages.
  
  In Webmaster Tools, see if any new, suspicious links have been added pointing to your Hubs. If so, follow the advice on my Hub about Google Penguin and have them removed.
  
  Temporarily, try to get traffic and advertising from social sites like Pinterest and Facebook.
  
  You might try to get new backlinks for some of your Hubs. But, be very cautious here because Google is more likely to penalize you if those links look spammy. (Also, the Google algorithm uses links less and less in its algorithm.)
  
  Google makes minor adjustments in its algorithm everyday - over 500 adjustments last year. If I were you, I would also rethink Titles, Description Tags and Alt tags, etc., evaluating what your competition is doing.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Writer Fox:
  
  I did check a few of my articles. Those that were doing well before are still showing on page 1 of Google, and my main niche, while 2/3 less than it was, is what is holding my numbers together somewhat.
  
  I just wish Google would come out and say what they went after so that we could know what to fix.
  
  I use alt tags very carefully ever since you told us about them and am constantly updating and upgrading articles.
  
  At this point I think it is too soon to try and fix anything until the ashes settle because it is possible that Google is just experimenting and may just change back again.
  
  I am really very tired of what they are doing, and I know many others must feel the same way.
  
  Fortunately, I do not need the income from my writing, but it does burn me that I finally started doing really well and then overnight everything seems to have just died.
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  Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  If your Hubs are still ranking well, don't touch them! Don't do anything!
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Writer Fox:
  
  I'm too tired and upset to do anything. If Google kicks me under the bus, so be it. I've had it.
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  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  TT2, don't be too sure it's a Google slap just yet. It does look as though there was an update but it was on August 10 or 11, so if you were going to get hit, it would've happened closer to that date. You'll notice on those links, the comments from people experiencing problems are several days old - apart from one recent vague one, which may not be genuine.
  
  So, don't draw any conclusions from one day's traffic. As I said in my other post, it's never a good idea to look at stats every day because odd things can happen: Google can be testing and cause sudden spikes and falls, for instance. Give it a couple of weeks before you even consider doing any tweaks.
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  CMHypnoposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Don't give up TimeTraveller. Back in the summer of 2011 Google kicked quite a few of us under the bus for a very long time. I edited, deleted, whined on forums and drove myself stupid but nobody had any real answers. About a year later the traffic came back, and has trundled along with a few transient highs and lows ever since.
  
  Sometimes it really is just best to step back, take a rest and not worry about it for a while. Ironically, as soon as I decided to stop worrying the traffic returned and I have decided from then on not to take it so seriously anymore.
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cfinposted 9 years ago
Mine is also about 40%. Maybe 45% drop. I was doing so well
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Nell Roseposted 9 years ago
To be honest I think its Google doing its shuffle again, I was just looking up a site that I always read and would you believe it? its totally disappeared! It usually sits nicely at the top of Google but now we have a third rate one sitting there, and the one I read has gone, maybe the shuffle has left us all at the bottom of the card deck so to speak!

Forgot to say, even trying to find Bubblews is a chore! There are loads of links to posts, but the actually Site itself has disappeared unless you click on someone else's link!
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Tilecleaninghubposted 9 years ago
Could be the squidoo migration. There will only be one hubpages result per search query. So for example if you have an article about baking a pie and there is a better article from a squid about baking a pie then the squids article will overtake you.
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  Nell Roseposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I hope that's not the case, but it did cross my mind. We will see.
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  Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  The Squidoo migration hasn't happened yet. It will start on September 2nd according to Paul E's forum post yesterday. So, that's not the reason for this drop in traffic.
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  Nell Roseposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Thanks Fox that's good to know.
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  Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Hi Nell,
  
  Check the posts above. Something is definitely going on with Google right now.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Tilecleaningclub:
  
  That is not necessarily true. If one person's article is better than another's, then the better one will show. It doesn't matter which group the article came from
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LesleesBitsposted 9 years ago
Mine dropped about a week ago. Drastic and has since stayed on the low side. Totally bummed
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The Examiner-1posted 9 years ago
TIMETRAVELER2,
End of summer, many students/teachers went back to school - including college.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Marisa:
  
  Well, it's hard to think that it isn't a Google update when Writer Fox states that this issue has happened worldwide and so many other writers here are having similar problems.
  
  There's not much I can do about it anyhow except wait, but man, this one really hurt!
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  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Saying a two-week-old Google update caused a sudden loss of traffic today, is like saying there was a storm 10 days ago which knocked a flowerpot of my wall this morning.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Marisa:
  
  So you think this is an end of summer, back to school issue?
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  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  No, I'm saying I don't know.
  
  - Maybe it's back to school
  - Maybe there's a glitch in traffic reporting
  - Maybe Google is testing
  - Maybe Google decided the last update didn't work as they'd hoped, so they're tweaking it
  - Maybe they have issued an update
  - Or any of half a dozen other reasons we haven't thought of.
  
  Only the last one is going to result in a permanent change. It's far too soon to tell. There's no point in even trying to work out what has caused a traffic drop within one or two days. If it is another new update, then it will take a day or two for the professional webmasters to start reacting. Chill!
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  Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Marisa, didn't you even read this thread? She hasn't lost her Google rankings. Her rankings are still holding and her lack of traffic is not due to Google.
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  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  If you read TT2's most recent comment, the message she's taken from your post about the August update is that it is the cause of her traffic loss. I'm trying to point out to her that's highly unlikely. There are many options whenever there is a traffic loss, especially when it's only been a day or two, so it's sensible to wait and see.
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  dwelburnposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Well I have lost all my rankings. They are completely gone. My traffic has dropped from 800 a day to 150, so it's really bad. This did happen once before though and it came back - but took several weeks.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  dwellburn:
  
  Did you do anything to make it come back or did you just wait it out. Your loss seems similar to mine and I cannot seem to get it to move.
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  dwelburnposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  No I think I just waited it out. Certainly that's what I did this time and my rankings are back to what they were now and my traffic is back up. Is yours still right down then? I think it lasted about three weeks this time which is better than last time.
  
  Don't know why it happens but I have a feeling (based on previous experience too, as well as something I read) that too much editing is a bad thing and can adversely affect rankings. A bit of editing is good but making big changes to a lot of hubs in a short time period is probably bad.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  DWelburn:
  
  Yes, mine is still very bad. I have made a major effort to update, but I have never read that too much editing in a short period of time is a bad thing with Google. Where did you read this info?
  
  One thing I recently realized is that I changed all of my hubs to "wide view" as per HPs directives. This included photos, so when my images appeared, they covered the entire top of the "above the fold" area, and I did not think about the fact that Google does not like this.
  
  Just yesterday I changed everything back to the way it was, and am hoping that was the problem. I understand Google re ranks us once each month and that my date will be coming up around the 25th (each person's is different), so maybe they will see that I have corrected this situation (if it was, in fact, my problem) and things will change.
  
  I will continue to update and edit what I have until everything is as good as I can make it, then I will simply stop, wait and see what happens.
  
  I'm glad your traffic is back up, but mine still sucks. I worry greatly about this.
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  dwelburnposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I can't remember where I read that, but it was on one of Google's official pages. But I've no idea how I found it or how to get back there. All I do know is that this has happened to me four times (twice here and twice on a blog that I used to have) and each time it was soon after a big update. Google particularly don't like url's to be changed, but you can't do that here anyway. My biggest hit was when I changed some url's on my blog together with a lot of updating. It took many months to recover. In fact it never did fully recover and I ended up letting the blog go.
  
  Sorry to hear your traffic is still bad though, and hope it does improve soon.
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  Susana Sposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Sometimes your pages hold their SERP's for your main phrases, yet you lose traffic/rankings for lots of long tail phrases. That's worth checking in your analytics.
  
  Personally, my traffic is up over the last week or so, but it's mostly my editors choice hubs that have risen. Some of those have also recently been edited by a Hubpages editor and I think that's having a positive effect.
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  Writer Foxposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Sorry to inform you, but datasets don't always update on the same day. August 26th was a major day of turbulence in Google rankings:
  http://mozcast.com/
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  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  MozCast says it was created because Google issues all kinds of small updates all the time, and their site is meant to be a way of tracking the "turbulence" caused by all those little updates. It's not saying that a major update takes a long time to have an impact.
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LeanManposted 9 years ago
My traffic has seen a recovery over the last few weeks, it had dropped a few months back and has now recovered back to where it was before.

How many times have we seen this here? My traffic has dropped and then recovered at the next "update" so many times that I just don't worry anymore.

I am sure that everyone that has experienced a drop will see the traffic come back...

I also get affected heavily by advertising on Google searches, I rank in the top 3 for a few phrases and if there are no adverts on the search I get reasonable traffic; however if the advertisers are active and the top 3 spots taken up by adverts I see different phrases dropping significantly for traffic.

However as some are reporting that their rankings are still in the same place that would indicate that people are just not searching online to find your keywords - although make sure that you are logged out of google before you check your ranking.

Don't Panic - This roller coaster does go up as well as down!
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  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  That's interesting about being affected by advertisers, I never thought to look at that.
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dhimanreenaposted 9 years ago
Well you don't need to worry as many times, due to reason known to hub pages only, you witness a change in your traffic. Eventually, it will take time but will surely increase.
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Aline Louisposted 9 years ago
Totally agree with Susana.
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ilikegamesposted 9 years ago
A few drops across the board but I'm not seeing anything major.
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Brite-Ideasposted 9 years ago
One reason that I believe there's been a shuffle too by google is that sites I normally see sitting with me on the first page (that I'm currently no longer on at the moment!) have also been shuffled out of their spots (Country Music Sites btw)
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  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  There was a "shuffle" around August 8th.
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Brite-Ideasposted 9 years ago
Using humor to get through this I told my youngest son to tell all his friends that all the best content on Google is on the second page now
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  neosurkposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I agree --- with both humor and the second page fact
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LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago
What kills me is that when I search for something, the first page is nothing but Pinterest.
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  Solarasposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Perhaps that supports Paul E's idea that a large image at the top of the article is a good thing and Google likes big images.
  
  What kills me is that Pinterest has extracted the ingredient list from the recipes I posted there, so there is no real reason for people to come to my hub for the recipe.
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  neosurkposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  If that particular pin isn't bringing you traffic, ask the pinner to delete the content of the pin. If he doesn't respond or doesn't want to remove the description, file a DMCA notice and send it to copyright @ pinterest dot com; and pinterest will take care of it. They respond pretty quickly, I had mine deleted within hours!
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  Solarasposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  The ingredient list is on my pin! I guess this is a new feature from Pinterest to extract recipe data; it's like a grocery shopping list with ingredients laid out as produce, oils, spices etc...
  
  @Examiner - this pin was bringing it the most traffic, however traffic has died off over the last month or two, perhaps with the addition of this new feature. I will give it another month, and if traffic is still dead, I will delete all of the recipe pins.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Solaras: Where did you ever read that? From what I understand, Google wants to have as little as possible blocking top of the page adsense advertisers and therefore may like big photos (which I have never heard) but I doubt they want them at the top of the page. Also, Google wants to see content above the fold...a large photo blocks that.
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  relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  In his June 30th blog post, Paul E said, "I strongly recommend laying out Hubs with the mobile reader in mind. The best practice for this is to use all full width capsules."
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  relache: I know what he said, but Google has stated that it wants to see content above the fold. How do you do this if photos fill up the entire above the fold space? I'd really like to know, because I have wrestled with this since Paul first made that comment, and I think my massive drop in views may be attributed to the fact that I followed that advice because I changed every single hub to meet Paul's guidelines. It was the only really huge change I made in the recent past, which is why I am wondering if this was my problem. I have changed all of it back again to the way it was, along with other updates, but my numbers have not recovered. It is almost a month now since this happened. I know I have taken hits before, but this time it was the worst because I finally was doing well with views, cpms and income. This month I will not make payout save for a miracle.
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  neosurkposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Google does like to see content, as you said, but images are also content. Google can see that those are pictures, they can read the caption, the texts around it and present it in their image search.
  
  One of my lens used to bring most of the traffic through image search only. The source was images.google.com instead of Google.com. What I want to mean is that full width image at the top *might* not be your problem.
  
  What Google does not want to see at the top are tons of ads, Javascript (and probably, iframes too) which are hiccups in the way for their spider.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  If Google doesn't want to see ads at the top, why do they put theirs in that position?
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  neosurkposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  It's Google, that's why! They want to make money off of their search results. PS. it's not a website or a web content, per se.
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  relacheposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  You do it by not filling up the entire space above the fold with an image.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  relache: I took a quick look at a few of your articles and noticed that you are only using full width images further down the page, and even then are not always using them. So apparently you didn't take the advice you are sharing here.
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  Jayne Lancerposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I think she's only showing you what Paul Edmondson said.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Jayne Lanser: Perhaps, but it appeared to me that she was suggesting I should be following Paul's advice (which, by the way, I was already aware of). However, why would she share that link if she herself is not doing what he suggests? I was just making a point.
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  Jayne Lancerposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  She's just suggesting, in answer to you, where Solaris might have read that Paul Edmondson recommends full-width images at the start of a hub.
  http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/124124? … ost2641116
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Jayne Lancer: OK. Point taken.
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  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Which is unnecessary advice, because HubPages makes all capsules full width automatically when someone views it on mobile anyway.
  
  All you have to do is be aware that half-width capsules expand above their related capsule, not below. So you have to consider whether that will look odd.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Marisa Wright: Thank you. What you say here about Paul's SEO expertise below and what you said here make my point. If I am doing something that is the result of somebody else's advice that is working well, then I might share that information. However, if I am not following that advice myself and therefore do not know whether it will work or not, why in the world would I pass it on? I did not ask whether Paul or anybody else made statements about this issue because I had already seen what he said. In my mind, and in my case, the changes I made due to his guidelines appears to be something that may have damaged my rankings. This may be because I did something wrong with my images, but all I know is that before I made that change, my numbers were doing just fine. Bottom line: if you are doing something yourself that seems to be working, I'm happy for you to share it with me. If not, don't waste my time with it.
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  Solarasposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I can't find it now, but in one of the Squidoo forums he said that large, high quality images were as good or better than content at the top of the hub.
  
  It seems counter-intuitive, but the trend is for a large "hero" image in design, so maybe there was a shift at Google too.
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  Jayne Lancerposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Paul Edmondson said this, although not on a Squidoo forum:
  
  "My belief is images are content. So a great image above the fold is as good, or better than text. It's not a one size fits all rule, but generally it's a good idea.
  
  If you're thinking about this purely from a rule perspective or what's better for search engines, I'd suggest thinking about it a bit differently. What is the best strategy to engage a user that is most likely passing by quickly?
  
  Images are a great way to get someone's attention. I can just see it now. Each hub with a leading picture of a cute cat with an embedded text quote:)"
  
  http://hubpages.com/forum/topic/123705? … ost2620273
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  Solarasposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Thanks for finding that Jayne! I thought everything had been a Squidoo forum for the last month. lol
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  This is an excellent article about placing things "above the fold"
  http://moz.com/blog/life-above-and-beyond-the-fold
  
  Also, I do not understand the point of using wide images if they come up wide in mobile devices anyhow. By keeping them on the right , wouldn't you still be covering all the bases?
  
  Also, I think load time is very important. It takes longer for a large image to load than a small one, and people want info fast these days.
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  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  It's important to remember that Paul is not an SEO guru, his IT expertise is in other fields.
  
  Here is a good discussion about sliders by Yoast, who is an SEO guru. You'll notice he mentions that they "push the content down", which is equally applicable to a static image.
  https://yoast.com/opinion-on-sliders/
  
  "Hero shots" are widely used on websites now but they are often clickable - they're a carrot to take you straight to a featured product or featured content. Besides, there will usually be a navigation bar above the image, so readers immediately know there's a lot of interesting content to browse through. That's not the case on HubPages - the reader has to scroll down.
  
  I was chatting to one SEO consultant the other day, and he is frustrated at the way designers are going for hero shots everywhere. He sees it as the same as when Flash became popular - graphic designers adored it, even after it was discovered that Google's robots couldn't read Flash so it was suicide for SEO! On his sites, he always makes sure there is some text above the hero shot - and he's found that improves Google rank noticeably.
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  Jayne Lancerposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Couldn't agree more!
  
  I'm still trying to figure why Paul Edmondson persists with this advice.
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  gitachudposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  What kind of traffic do you get at this time of the year for your main keywords. Using Google trends, the RV keywords tend to have fewer searches between August and December. Year on year, the number of searches is trending downwards.
  
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  I do not only write about RVs, and it has taken a very long time for my views to "age" and be noticed, so I cannot tell you how last year was because this is the first year where I have seen some success. Unfortunately, ALL of my topics took a hit, so I cannot blame the problem just on the fact that summer has ended.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  gitachaud:
  
  That search term is not one you would normally use if searching. There are tons of others such as fifth wheel, camper, motor home, coach, etc. You cannot judge the Google trends thing with just the term "rv trailer", but it was nice of you to check that out.
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  The Examiner-1posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Solaras,
  If they are your Hubs/photos, just go to Pinterest and delete them.
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Silva Hayesposted 9 years ago
I was getting a payout every month, then beginning in August and continuing into September, my earnings were cut in half. Concerned.
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  Solarasposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  Yes, my pageviews remain the same, however my payout has been cut in half for roughly the same period of time. Very discouraging....
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paradigmsearchposted 9 years ago
Uh-oh... My views yesterday were significantly lower than my views on the previous Saturday. The way things have been going around here lately, I'm starting to get nervous.
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rebekahELLEposted 9 years ago
TT, didn't you comment at one point recently that you had some unnatural links coming to some of your pages? Was that you or another hubber?

I read the most recent whiteboard Friday on the moz blog and Rand Fishkin details what he has observed with Google's recent activity.
We're seeing Google continue to move beyond just reading pages, instead attempting to truly understand what they're about. The engine is drawing connections between concepts and brand names, and it's affecting SERPs
I don't know the answer to your problem, but the link is worth reading and it's even better to watch the video. It's about how G is connecting keyword relevance to websites through more than just domain names. It talks about branding, relevance, associations. Quality links still make a difference. I hope things can start to look up for you soon.
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  TIMETRAVELER2posted 9 years agoin reply to this
  rebekahELLE
  
  I will take a look in a bit, but right now I am exhausted. I just spent most of this past week reviewing every single link...3600 of them...and sorting out the good from the bad so that I could use the Google Disavow Tool to unlink from them. Just now got all of it finished and submitted. I found three horribly malicious links among them, but it could be a month or more before Google can do their part, so if those links were the problem, I have a ways to go yet.
  
  The truth is that this could be so many things that it boggles the mind. I have tried my best, and continue to try, to update for keywords, formatting, titles, content, images and bad links. You would think something there would help...but who knows.
  
  The problem, as we all know, is that we really have no control over what Google does. I am not the only person who is having issues right now, so perhaps the article you linked to may expose the problem. All I know is that I am very, very tired right now. This has been a physical and mental killer.
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neosurkposted 9 years ago
Does anyone have a good news update? Mine may be too soon, but yesterday and even today's trend implies it is getting slightly better. I even have a red triangle in a hub now. How I missed them!
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  Brite-Ideasposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  yes, I'll post a hint of good news (but it's just a hint) - two of my high traffic pages have found their way back to the bottom of the first page on google for their best search term keywords - when I first entered freak-out mode those pages had been 'disappeared' from search, then to the 3rd page, then to the 2nd, now at the bottom of the first - BUT I'm not seeing anything for all the related searches I used to get for those, so that still has to happen. Also, I still have a ton of pages yet to recover, but at least it's a step in the right direction.
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  neosurkposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  OMG! Guess what? Two of my hubs have also re-appeared on the first page for the keywords I was targeting. They were in fourth or fifth page during my freakout phase. I see light at the end of the tunnel
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  Brite-Ideasposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  that's good news for sure, for all of us! my traffic is slowly, quite slowly, trending upward again - perhaps we're heading out of this? Sure hope so!
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LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago
But what about personal photos, images of scenery etc that have nothing to do with a specific product such as those that look like a regular image , but then you see source Amazon which is clickable and takes you to page for that product. Both types are being used for photo about first text box.
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  Marisa Wrightposted 9 years agoin reply to this
  That's what I'm saying. Even Paul says it's not a "one size fits all".
  
  When most readers arrive at a Hub, they're looking for an answer to their search query. If the photo relates directly to that search query, there's a better chance he will scroll down to read the rest. If it's a personal photo, he's more likely to think "I don't want a personal story, I want an answer!" and click away before checking the rest of the Hub.
  
  The chances of him clicking through to Amazon are small, IMO, because the link to Amazon in the Source box is not prominent. If clicking on the photo led to Amazon, then we'd be in business.
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LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago
Visits are down six percent, while impressions and clicks are up.
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Writer Foxposted 9 years ago
My traffic is up a little, just by a few hundred more per day.
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LindaSmith1posted 9 years ago
relache: You lost me on that one. If we put an image at the top, we have no control over the size which is huge. The only option is to move it to the right of out text boxes so that it will be a smaller size.
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