Are comments a reliable indicator of success of a hub?

1. 89

   yougotmeposted 11 years ago

   Are comments a reliable indicator of success of a hub?
   
   Do comments received represent how successful a hub is? Is it a good and reliable indicator of a successful hub? When is it a good indicator?
   
   I just think that there might be a relationship between the comments and success (as measured by level of traffic).

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2. 96

   chef-de-jourposted 11 years ago

   Comments are not a reliable indicator of hub success but they do help 'launch' a hub out into orbit. The more comments the stronger the launch? I'm no expert but each comment I think provides a link and helps build a foundation.
   
   To be absolutely certain of a correlation you'd have to study a number of hubs. Those hubs with say, 20 comments may do better in the long run than those with only 5. But how do you measure success in the long term?
   
   Comments do give a feel good factor but they're not the be all and end of all of traffic success.

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   1. 89

      yougotmeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      This is such a great insight! I think I have the same observation with you regarding comments "launching" a hub.  Great response chef-de-jour!

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3. 89

   WryLiltposted 11 years ago

   No. My most successful hub of all time (traffic wise) took 6 months to get a single comment. And some of my best earning hubs have never had a single comment because they are not aimed at people who are likely to leave comments.

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4. 70

   Lauryallanposted 11 years ago

   If you are measuring the success of a hub by the volume of traffic that has arrived at your hub then comments aren't indicative of this at all. The 2 figures are totally independant.
   I have a hub that has had over 100k visitors this year alone and has very few comments. I have another hub that has over 100 comments and has a very small percentage of the traffic of the previously mentioned hub.
   I tend to find that articles aimed at other hubbers garner more comments than other subjects. However, these subjects, by their very nature, don't do well on search engines and tend to be less searched queries, resulting in less traffic to the article.

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5. 85

   sparksterposted 11 years ago

   I would have to say both yes and no.  Comments can give an indication of how accurate the information within a hub is.  However, hubbers can also choose to moderate comments and therefore can just as easily provide inaccurate information which doesn't get point out (or does but they block the comments).

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6. 81

   pinappuposted 11 years ago

   Traffic and Comments are sometimes related and some times not at all.
   Some topics will generate more comments and some not.
   But if you want to know the rules of identifying high traffic hubs by comments then follow this rules: -
   1) Most of the hubs with 30+ comments are successful.
   2) Hubs about Hubpages may get a lot of comments but will never get much traffic for long.
   3) A successful hub will have a lot of guest comments ( comments by non hubbers.)
   ---

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7. 89

   Doc Snowposted 11 years ago

   In my experience, no.  Clearly, there is a relationship, since a Hub that gets no page views will also have no comments.  And it is logical to think that comments reflect a certain engagement with the topic and the Hub.
   
   But my most successful Hubs are not my most-commented Hubs.  My perception is that useful Hubs are the most-visited, and controversial Hubs are the most commented.  Two different beasts!

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8. 78

   JohnGreasyGamerposted 11 years ago

   Define "successful". I had 24 comments on a Hub that was a critique of a flash game, "Realm of the Mad God", 90% of which were abuse. To me that was a disgrace, not success. I did not achieve anything other than prove that anonymity on the internet can turn even the best of folk into mindless drones. That article may have got me 200 views in a day, but I'm not proud of being abused for traffic.

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9. 89

   UnnamedHaraldposted 11 years ago

   First off, comments are never an indicator of an unsuccessful hub and often do reflect successful hubs, but they are not a guarantee of a successful hub. My most successful hub has relatively few comments. Part of the reason is that, to be truly successful, your hub has to be read by the wider Internet audience-- not just Hubbers like ourselves. An "outsider" is far less likely to comment than those who follow you. Having said that, comments are great and I respond to nearly every one and I have yet to hide a comment (though there are some I disagree with and feel responding would be futile). Also, remember that every comment made to your hub raises its visibility to those who are following you. Having said all this, I love comments-- even critical ones, though, generally, I've found those that are critical are civil and constructive.
   
   The more comments, the better, but they aren't necessarily a direct indicator of success, IMHO.

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10. 60

    jezebellaminaposted 11 years ago

    I agree with many of the other answers; I'm going to say yes and no. It is true that other hubbers are more likely to comment than other web visitors, and that having most of your traffic come from inside hubpages is great for views but not necessarily click-throughs and purchases. So it depends what your measure of success is for a hub as well--for me, it's how well the traffic converts into revenue.
    
    However, it seems that having more comments does improve your hub's score, which I believe also helps boost you in the rankings with google somehow (though I'm not entirely sure...I *think* I read that somewhere but you may want to double check on this 'fact'). Similarly, other hubbers who comment are mostly doing so in a positive way and will also often vote your hub up and interesting (etc.) while they're there, which helps that hubscore as well.
    
    So on the one hand, don't be sad for a hub that has no comments; it can still perform well in google and bring in lots of traffic if it has the right elements. On the other hand, I don't think a hub that has lots of comments would be hurt by the fact that it does!

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    1. 89

       yougotmeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       I think I have the same view as you do. Thanks jezebellamina for sharing this!

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11. 80

    tmbridgelandposted 11 years ago

    Depends on what the comments are for. I have a lot of fiction hubs up that draw very little or no Google traffic. But HubPages readers have left some great comments that helped me write better. They made suggestions, or just told me what they liked or didn't like. Since these people are all strangers and have no reason to be reading my Hubs or saying nice things about them, I value their input.
    Top comment earners are often not big draws on outside traffic. Political and religious Hubs draw lots of comments, but don't seem to make a lot of money for me.

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12. 82

    zsobigposted 11 years ago

    I don't think so.
    The amount of comments only show that the particular hub is a very controversial one making it full of debates or it shows that the writer is very popular and/or have been highlighted as the hub of the day so more people read it and they commented just to show they were there and enjoyed it.

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13. 60

    hi friendposted 11 years ago

    Comments are very useful.  It helps us to improve our hubs a lot .

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14. 0

    danielabramposted 11 years ago

    Comments are one of the best indicators. Comments mean that the audience is engaged with the content of the hub.

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15. 0

    Garifaliaposted 11 years ago

    Thanks for that question. I'm new here and I was wondering about that.

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    1. 89

       yougotmeposted 11 years agoin reply to this

       No problem! Welcome to Hubpages Garifalia!

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16. 74

    blaiddgochposted 11 years ago

    No but It's nice when someone has interest in your hub and comments, some comments help bring ideas to your hub aswell,  the successfulness of your hubs depends on your number of views, popularity (points usefulness interesting awesomness etc)

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17. 59

    Angela Kaneposted 11 years ago

    I believe so because it means your hub is being read and is very popular. I think the more participation in a hub is a good indicator of the success and quality of that hub.

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