To stay or go - Opt-out not an option for new HP "sites"

1. 0

   Bronwyn Joy Ellioposted 8 years ago

   It appears the HubPages Team have decided that members will NOT have a say about their work being moved to the new "sites."
   
   According to the blog post announcing the sites, opting out of having our work edited and transferred to the relevant site will not be available to members.
   
   What about those of us who write on various topics? Our readership will be forced to visit multiple websites to follow us, rather than a single profile.
   
   Why do the HP Team think that members deserve to be treated in this manner?

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      Rochelle Frankposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      IF any of mine are moved, I would think it is a benefit to be indexed in a niche site with a greater potential to be found by readers.
      If the new sites begin to drain the best work from HubPages the original site will become less relevant and less visited.

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         paradigmsearchposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Hello, how you?

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            Rochelle Frankposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Great!.. and you?

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               paradigmsearchposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               We should start a meandering timescape to meet.

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      calculus-geometryposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Most of HP's viewers get to this site by Googling something and they do not care who the author of the article is.  Those are your readers and they don't follow particular authors for the most part.  Considering that the newest site looks exactly like HP and is heavily interlinked with HP, it will not be difficult for a reader to follow a particular author if they choose to do so.

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         Rochelle Frankposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I think you are exactly right.

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         Venkatachari Mposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         I think the readers can not follow an author by clicking at the name appearing there. Even signing in does not allow them to log into their profiles. So, the author and readers may not get interlinked in this way. If one needs to search for the author, he should know the url of their profile. It is a great inconvenience.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      In case you missed it, this site is struggling to survive.  They have tried numerous methods in attempts to get into Google's good graces, but all have failed.
      
      Don't take this personally.  If they do not give this thing a shot, it is likely that HP will be forced to close down. 
      
      On the other hand, if does work, we all will have  world of new opportunities to write and earn without having to go through the work of starting our own sites or transferring our work elsewhere.
      
      You have to look at the big picture, not just your own, and you do have a choice.  You still own your work and can move it elsewhere.
      
      I think they are doing the best they can, and, if done properly, I feel this new attempt will benefit the great majority of us.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I think you are misunderstanding how readership on HubPages works.  It is impossible to build a real following as an author on HubPages anyway.
      
      ALL your followers on HubPages are other writers, not readers.  People rarely if ever join up just to browse the site or follow an author - very few non-writers even know HubPages exists. 
      
      Ask any successful Hubber and they will tell you they have no idea who their readers are, and that 90% of their readership is people who've found one of their Hubs on Google in answer to a problem or question - and it's very likely they will never visit again. 
      
      Anyway, the bottom line is that HubPages is a business. Its current model is not sustainable so it  MUST change.  The choice is simple - either split Hubs across multiple specialist sites, or let the site continue as it is until it goes bust,. which would be sooner rather than later.  Both solutions would be painful for writers, which do you think is the least painful?

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         Marcy Goodfleischposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         +1000 on this. People search for topics, not names (with the possible exception of rock stars and authors such as Stephen King). 
         
         The new format will help everyone - I am sure HP will add new themed sites as time permits. And I am also sure most of the traffic on the site is probably focused on certain broad themes or topics. 
         
         If you move your work, it will take forever to build visibility in the search engines. And where would you move it?  Any site with user-generated content will be ranked even lower than existing UGCs, and new sites will be on the last page of Google, right out of the box.  Why not wait a while and watch how this works?

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            jansharesposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Sound advice, Marcy. Good to see you.

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      cmoneyspinner1tfposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I was going to ask this question but you have already asked.  Writers SHOULD have the ability to Opt Out.  No writing site exists without the writers and even though we (the writers) have a lots of other freedoms here, at present we were not given the ability to make a choice of inclusion or exclusion.  If we don't want our work at the niche site, then our only “option” is to remove the articles completely.  Consider this.  If the HUBs were good enough to be selected for the niche site then they must be good!  HUBPages' main site still has topics.  People can still find the material if they search, whether at the main site or the niche site.  Surely the HP Team didn't create niche sites to make their best writers so unhappy they would want to take their work elsewhere.  Maybe in the future writers will have the ability to Opt Out.  But for now the Team is just trying to get the niche sites up and running.  That can't be an easy task.  But it could yield profitable results for everyone.

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         Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Let's face it - HubPages would not be creating the niche sites if the main site was commercially viable.   They are creating the niche sites because the main site is not profitable and never will be.  With that in mind, anyone who wants their Hubs to stay on the main site must be bonkers! 
         
         For all of us, the best chance for our Hubs is on the niche sites.

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            cmoneyspinner1tfposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            Not trying to make much ado over nothing but I wouldn't call the writer bonkers.  The question about the  Opt Out privilege seems reasonable to ask.  Nevertheless, I trust that the HP management and staff have exercised good judgment and financial common sense on this matter of niche sites.

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               Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

               What I mean is, that the Hubs which don't move will be left behind on a site which is already  not doing well - and it will do even worse after all the best Hubs have been moved to the niche sites. So why would anyone want that to happen to their Hubs?

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                  cmoneyspinner1tfposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                  I take your point.  Think I might be one of the ones left behind.  I've seen the list of proposed niche sites.  Doesn't look my HUBs fit into any of the categories.  Guess I'd better try to see if I can write HUBs that do fit into one or more of those niches.  (Heaving a huge sigh.)

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                     Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                     As I understand it, that list is only the niche sites they have decided so far.   There are plans to create more, but as it will take several months to set up the ones on the list, that might not be till next year.  Or never perhaps, if they find the niche sites don't work - in which case we are all in trouble!

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                        cmoneyspinner1tfposted 8 years agoin reply to this

                        Oh boy!  Oh well!  I'll just wait and see. 

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   paradigmsearchposted 8 years ago

   You are someone else, but I am still all ears.

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   C.V.Rajanposted 8 years ago

   The moment a site starts changing and twisting rules and terms to suit its convenience, I somehow feel very uncomfortable. My past experience tells me that more and more of such things will start happening. Accept, fight or flight? I normally take flight. I have withdrawn most of articles already.
   
   C.V.Rajan

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4. 0

   Bronwyn Joy Ellioposted 8 years ago

   I agree, C.V. When I saw them start rearranging the deckchairs at Bubblews, I removed all my work. Weeks later, the iceberg hit, and down they went.

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   Don Bobbittposted 8 years ago

   OK, I whine a lot just like a lot of you do. BUT, it has been a great site for me to use, run by professionals who take a lot of things off of my back as a writer.
   Keep your perspective here folks, we get to sit on our butts and write! Without having to worry with the workload from managing our own; site development, site management, domains, storage capacities, and more.
   So, I'll be content with watching HP contend with the vagaries of of making Google happy for a while longer.
   Here is the thing that's important to me. I still own rights to ALL of my works, so if HP wants to do the work to find what makes Google happy, and that includes moving them, then more power to them.
   DON

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      LuisEGonzalezposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      This makes more sense to me than anything previously said  on this or other related forums.

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      john000posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I agree completely. There is a lot to be happy about here!!

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   Bronwyn Joy Ellioposted 8 years ago

   I have subscribers to my personal site (which has links to my HP Profile) who come here to read my Hubs. So, contrary to popular dogma, there IS a world on the internet outside HubPages where people exist who  read Hubs by individuals.
   
   EDIT...
   
   If you REALLY want to act to save HP, do something about the constant crud that is getting posted. I have just reported another alleged Hub that was complete nonsense. It was posted under Sport, but was full of music videos and questions such as "how much wood would a woodchuck chuck if a woodchuck could chuck wood."

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      Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      But if you are getting readers to your personal site, why on earth are you sending them to HubPages instead of keeping them on your own site and earning 100% there?

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         Bronwyn Joy Ellioposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         The idea of my personal site was to use it for articles about writing. My book reviews, interviews with other writers, my own fiction, and other non fiction I wanted to have on a stand alone platform. That's why I came back to HP.

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            Kylyssaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            If you are earning a living on your writing blog, why don't you apply the same marketing and self-promotion skills to more blogs on different topics?
            
            I don't have the marketing aptitude you do, so my writing has had to sell itself. If I were a crack marketer like you are, I'd have all of my writing on my own sites.

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   paradigmsearchposted 8 years ago

   Will HubPages be here 5 years from now?
   
   I have gone from yes to possible.

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      lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I don't think it would be. In a way I hope not, because I'd like to see the new niche sites successful and probably HP just a portal for people to write the articles and the forum, etc.

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   yecallposted 8 years ago

   Well, it has been here from when I originally started writing for the web, which was in 2009, and from before that I believe.  I have seen many, many other sites come and go- sites that seemed rock solid by the way- in that same time frame.  So, they have been able to survive where many others have not.  Of course, Google and the entire revenue sharing model may not coexist well into the future.  Others have gone out of business with it.  But stay hopeful and don't give up.  When Yahoo Voices formerly Associated Content closed down and I was pulling all my content all I could think was, "Why didn't I write more?"  because then I would have had more to resell.  I didn't regret anything I had written, only that I didn't leave there with 1,000 articles as some people did.  So from that experience I say write more not less if a site is in doubt.  You will never regret it.

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   Will Apseposted 8 years ago

   If the niche sites succeed and the vast majority of better pages find a home, I don't think many people will be complaining this time next year.

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      PaulGoodman67posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I agree.  If my income goes up, not down I will be happy.  Having seen the new tattoo site it seems like a less radical plan I first thought.  Hope I get to keep my best-earning hubs intact, however.

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         Will Apseposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Therein lies the rub...

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      NateB11posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Exactly.

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    john000posted 8 years ago

    Kinda agree with the above comment. If anybody can design a good topic filter that will maximize readership and income, I think it is HubPages. After all, that's their business, and we came here for that expertise, I assume.?

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       Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       Well, not really.   We pay for them to
       
       - provide the hosting for the site;
       - to design the software and keep it updated;
       - to manage membership and control quality;
       - to negotiate with advertisers and organise the advertising for us.
       
       HubPages was founded by people who had previously run an online music site, so had no expertise in writing, SEO, topic selection etc.   It was made clear from the very start that it was up to the writers themselves to choose their topics and promote their work.
       
       Obvoiusly since then, HubPages has hired people who do have some knowledge and there has been mention of a consultant, but I'm still not sure how much true expertise there is in the management team.  They still make the occasional rookie mistake, such as choosing domain names for these new sites which have no age or rank and (in the case of Tatring) don't really describe what the site is about.

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          Will Apseposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          TatRing is OK. It will be meaningful to tattoo fiends.  People project onto nonsense words. It includes a ref to piercing as well as 'tat'.
          
          Ten minutes on name.com brought up some alternatives
          
          For 10.99 dollars:
          
          inkedbodies.com
          peircingtattoos.com
          tattoocharm.com
          smartertattoo.com
          
          Expensive options
          
          tattoolover.com
          $20,700.00
          
          tattoohome.com
          $2,746.20
          
          tattooedskin.com
          $2,121.75
          
          tattoosketch.com
          $2,064.25
          
          I like 'Inked Bodies' but 'Piercing Tattoos' has some advantages.

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          john000posted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Of course we pay for that. Otherwise, we'd be in the business and manage everything. Start a content site and offer more, and people will fly to your site.
          I have an idea, investigate content sites from a business perspective and enlighten all of us as to where to find Valjala.

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    Shadrack2posted 8 years ago

    That's a tough one. What if I'd like my hubs to remain here?

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       Kylyssaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       That'll be tough when HubPages becomes nothing but a parking place for things that don't match the new sites and a slushpile of submissions for the real sites.

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    yecallposted 8 years ago

    I mean, I am optimistic about it not pessimistic.  Hopefully it will be amazing.  I'm just saying write your butt off because you know, just in case.

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    makingamarkposted 8 years ago

    I'm left wondering how many of the hubbers on the core site are paying for the development of the new sites that they will never be part of.
    
    It's not good business to cross-subsidise - you create mixed messages about profitability
    
    Plus reduced income for hubbers certainly generates a message to be acted on.

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       Kylyssaposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       They'd have to view hubbers differently for that to be a concern.

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          makingamarkposted 8 years agoin reply to this

          Not a message for HP - more a message for hubbers!

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    Farawaytreeposted 8 years ago

    How many of you have your own website for your writings and actually make any money from it? Curious.

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       Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       I do.  It is possible - but the fundamental key to success is that you MUST choose one broad subject area, of which you have a thorough knowledge.  if you just have a blog for your "writings" on anything and everything, particularly if it's fiction/poetry/creative writing, you've got virtually no chance.

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       lobobrandonposted 8 years agoin reply to this

       As Marisa says... I'd like to add that you should go as specific into a niche, a broad area could involve gardening for instance. But if you go deeper into the niche and be more specific it would always be easier to rank and get more traffic if search engines are your primary focus. Usually they are at least in the beginning. However, make sure that you have enough ideas for multiple pages and to keep a blog active. So it has to be something you really love doing.

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    Wesman Todd Shawposted 8 years ago

    Poster, everything Marisa  says is absolutely true. Seriously. So anyway, read her comments twice, and don't waste time thinking they're off much.

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    paradigmsearchposted 8 years ago

    

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