Noobish Questions

1. 60

   George P Leaposted 4 years ago

   So, I'm trying to lap up all this technology like drinking from a fire hose at a 4-alarm fire. I'm actually about 18 months into my Bachelor's at Full Sail University in Internet Marketing, and I'm just now getting baptized into blogging and attracting traffic.
   
   My situation right now is I've heard several places that Google LOVES blogs with lists. Is this true, because I have an entire series of lists that I want to write. My next question is I want to recommend a particular book that has lots of interviews with the guys that are on my lists, and it sells for $45 on Amazon. My initial thought is to write a line at the end of every list entry that is in the book that "If you'd like more information about xxxx xxx, I seriously recommend this book." and then insert the Amazon link there.
   
   Finally, I've had UENI.com create a wonderful looking website for me for free in the past, and I was actually considering having them create another one for this blog. Is there any reason to actually do that if I'm posting here? I know Google LOVES this site. Do I, or may I post my blogs on any other site, or is that against the rules, or is it even worth it?
   
   Thanks,
   George

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   1. 97

      theraggededgeposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      Hi George, I've just responded to your other question about Amazon code so no point in repeating it here.
      
      However, you need to know that HP is not a blogging platform. No one can create a website for you here. You write articles, publish them according the HP format and that's it.
      
      You cannot reproduce any previously published writing here - it has to be unique and original. However, after you have published, you can publish the same material elsewhere but it's pointless - why split the traffic?
      
      Yes, you can write articles in list form, but they need to have a decent amount of text as well - plain lists won't work.
      
      I suggest you read some of the articles on our network sites because that's where you want to be - you publish on HP and then the articles, if deemed good enough, are moved by the editors. Just click on the HubPages logo at the top of the page and you'll see the network sites listed down the right-hand side.
      
      Regarding the Amazon book. If you just do what you suggest, the editors will snip that link before you can blink. When recommending any Amazon product, you need to demonstrate that you use it/have read it, say why you recommend that particular item and generally know the thing pretty well. Include a quote, if you can. You should also use inline links rather than the dedicated Amazon capsule, which is unseen by readers using adblockers.
      
      Know that it's going to take months of hard work before you see much in the way of earnings. Of course, you may strike lucky with your first few articles, but that's unusual

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2. 60

   George P Leaposted 4 years ago

   This might be another silly question, but I'm a bit confused. How are you distinguishing an article from a blog?

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   1. 94

      Kierstin Gunsbergposted 4 years agoin reply to this

      So, a blog is going to be more personal - I like to write about homeschooling. If I were writing a blog post about homeschooling I'd title it "Our Trip to The Children's Museum Last Week" and go into our experience at the children's museum, the fun we had there, etc.
      
      If I were to write an article about the same experience I would make it a lot more specific and instead of having a personal element it would have a how-to element. I might title it, "How to Bring Two Toddlers to a Children's Museum."
      
      See how there's just a different bend to each? The latter does better here on HP

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3. 97

   theraggededgeposted 4 years ago

   What Kierstin said... and also articles need to be stand-alone. Although you can make a reference to another article, they shouldn't really be dependent on each other. You aren't creating a website here.
   
   Blogs tend to have a single theme and posts follow on from each other. They were originally 'web logs', i.e. online journals. Of course, there are many very sophisticated ones now which are indistinguishable from full on websites.
   
   HubPages is a magazine-style site, so articles must be able to be read without recourse to any other material. The idea is to attract search engine traffic.

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4. 60

   George P Leaposted 4 years ago

   Thanks mucho again, ladies.

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