Halloween, Thanksgiving and Christmas Hubs

1. 85

   Jackie Lynnleyposted 8 years ago

   Should these now be unpublished (not deleted) until time for them next year?

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   1. 88

      Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Jackie,
      
      It's a good idea to leave them published both so they will keep their rankings for those search terms and so they'll be available to people who start searching for holiday ideas early. We don't recommend unpublishing Hubs that get traffic, even if it's seasonal.

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      1. 93

         Phyllis Doyleposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Thanks, Christy. You have very good thoughts on this subject.

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      2. 85

         Jackie Lynnleyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Thank you so much Christy; I have done that before and now wish I hadn't; so now I will not do it again!

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         1. 88

            Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            I should also note that if someone has stolen your Hub and you unpublish the original, it can be hard to establish that you are the original author and get the copy taken down since your "first published" date will appear later because the Hub was unpublished in between.
            
            Even if they become unfeatured for traffic in the off season, they'll keep the original publish date and a quick edit will get them Featured again for your holiday readers.

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            1. 85

               Jackie Lynnleyposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Wow; never gave that a thought. I never let anything get unpublished though. Hard work, but I keep on top of them!
               Thanks again, Christy!

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            2. 84

               TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

               Marisa Wright just posted that if they become unfeatured and stay that way for a week or so, Google eliminates them from indexing and they lose all of their juice.  Now you are saying just the opposite.  Please clarify this for us.

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               1. 88

                  Christy Kirwanposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  Unpublished and unfeatured are not the same thing. An unfeatured Hub will keep its original published date as I stated above (which can be important for getting stolen copies taken down) unless it is unpublished.
                  
                  Hubs that are getting little enough traffic to become unfeatured for traffic (and not for quality) are already not ranking with Google. A trickle of off-season holiday views is usually enough for a Hub to maintain Featured status throughout the year.

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                  1. 84

                     TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     This is confusing because not being ranked is not the same as being wiped off of Google's radar screen.  I understand the difference between unfeaturing and unpublishing, but according to Marissa, if you leave a post unfeatured for a week or so, it loses not just ranking and placement, but also all of the links, etc. that it previously had.
                     
                     Need more info on this

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                     1. 86

                        Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                        What I meant was that if you unpublish it for any length of time, Google will de-index it, which means Google forgets all the "juice" your Hub may have built up. 
                        
                        A Hub can have a very low Google ranking and still be indexed.
                        
                        An unFeatured Hub may not be ranking well, but that doesn't mean it has been completely de-indexed (as far as I know).  Therefore keeping it Featured at least gives it a chance to build on its current position, rather than wiping its history altogether.

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                        1. 84

                           TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

                           Which brings us back to my original thoughts and the comment you made.  If I understood you correctly, you said that if a hub is left unfeatured for very long Google eliminates it and all of its history.  I thought if you left a hub unfeatured until it became popular again as an "in season" post, you could, at that time, update it and get it featured again without losing links, etc.

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                           1. 86

                              Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                              If a web page disappears (i.e is unFeatured, unpublished or deleted), Google de-indexes it.  When a web page is de-indexed, Google erases all record of its history.   If you subsequently republish it, Google treats it as a brand new article.   HubPages remembers its original publish date but Google doesn't respect that.
                              
                              There is a grace period of a few days before Google deletes the history though.
                              
                              If a Hub is still  visible to Google but  ranking very poorly, it may not be getting traffic but Google will continue to remember its history, which MAY help it do better ultimately.

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2. 93

   Phyllis Doyleposted 8 years ago

   I have previously unpublished seasonal hubs, but after reading Christy's reply I won't do that anymore.

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3. 87

   RJ Schwartzposted 8 years ago

   I don't unpublish anything seasonal - maybe a reader just needs to feel a little "seasonal" in the middle of Summer - I'd hate to deny them that experience....he he

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