Problems With Another Aggressive Hubber

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   jfreemonposted 14 years ago

   I have been having ongoing problems with another Hubber. Recently, he created a thread ont he forums publicly saying that all of my hubs are "incorrect and harmful to readers."
   
   The hubs he is referring to are about SEO and are written from personal experience.
   
   What do I do about this guy? I've tried apologizing for a mistake I made over a term, and I've tried talking it out with him and he seems to want to simply tell me I'm wrong at every turn.

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      Uninvited Writerposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Flag the thread for Admin to look at.

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   2. 85

      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      JF, I'll have to go and read the threads concerned.  The first thought that occurs to me is - are you positive that you're right and he's wrong? How long have you been learning about SEO? 
      
      We see a lot of people joining HubPages and offering advice on how to make money online, based on a few short months' experience. They think they know it all but in fact, they only know enough to be dangerously misleading.  I'm not saying that applies to you, but it's worth doing a little self-examination just in case.
      
      By the way, if you know about choosing niches and SEO, you know that writing about such topics isn't terribly profitable - too much competition.

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      lyricsingrayposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      He's jealous, I would ignore him. 

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2. 85

   rebekahELLEposted 14 years ago

   I would say ignore him. someone that starts a thread putting down another person is not worth getting upset about.

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3. 70

   Cagsilposted 14 years ago

   I personally would request an official opinion or stance from HubPages.
   
   If they deem it is necessary, then they will close the thread or eliminate it.
   
   If they deem it fine, then ignore it.
   
   Hope I was helpful.

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4. 61

   Eric Graudinsposted 14 years ago

   SEO is a minefield of claims, counterclaims, and opinions and result in many a heated argument.
   
   (Think of the old fable about the elephant, with each of the wise men adament that their description is correct.)
   
   And it doesn't help that Google changes the rules constantly.
   What was common practice 6 months ago, could be rubbish today.
   
   If there is a Google webmasters advice page about the issue involved, I'd suggest that you check it out, and try to apply it to this  particular situation.
   
   cheers,
   Eric G.
   
   Edit: I've just had a look at one of your hubs, in which you advise people to use their keyword in their content lots and lots of times. you in fact say "a thousand times".
   
   
   
   Sorry, but this is REALLY REALLY REALLY bad advice.
   Build your house like that, and Google will demolish it.
   
   Keyword stuffing was the rage years ago, and it worked back then.
   
   I wonder if you know anything about LSI and how google sees web pages? If not, I suggest you do a bit of research.
   
   Anyway, back to keywords:
   It's important to use your keyword in the title, the description tag, and in the URL of the page.
   
   Also in a heading, and a couple of times on the page as well.
   
   I see that a hubber with the initials PH appears to be your inquisitor. he knows a lot more than I do about SEO, and on the hub in question, his comments are VERY mild.
   
   And there's the whole issue of WHICH keyword to choose, which you don't appear to address at all. (edit - sorry, you do - but there's a LOT more to it)
   
   A lot of searches does not mean that it is a good keyword to target. It's also vital to consider the amount of competition for that keyword.
   For some people, having their site at the top of Google for their search term thay choose is the holy grail. But it could be useless for getting traffic. I wrote a few pages about this a while ago.
   <snipped>

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5. 85

   Marisa Wrightposted 14 years ago

   Jfreemon, listen to Eric.  He really knows his stuff.  He makes some accurate points in his post. If you don't agree with them, or if they're news to you, that suggests you may well be offering advice that could mislead others.
   
   I'm sure you have no intention of misleading anyone and it's just that old adage, "a little knowledge is a dangerous thing".   It may be best to unpublish your SEO Hubs until you have a chance to do more research.
   
   As I said, if you really understand SEO, you'll understand that writing about SEO is not a profitable niche anyway.

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6. 60

   jfreemonposted 14 years ago

   I have noted both Eric and Marisa's advice. While SEO is not a niche I wish to profit from, it was merely something I started writing about because I wanted to share what I knew about it.
   
   I will be making an apology in the other thread and I respectfully ask for this one to slip away, as I made it in an un-calm state over things which I feel that I should have answered a different way now that I reflect upon it.
   
   I will also review each hub word-by-word after I finish writing my other reply and my third apology. I'll also try to make it into something other than a apology and provide some proof behind all my theories.
   
   To be frank, I'm also embarrassed that I managed to let a hyperbole like "write your keyword a thousand times" slip past me in proofreading.
   
   I would also like to apologize to and thank everyone who replied to this thread for their time. You guys ended up helping me, even if it was tough love.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I can understand that - I've written a few Hubs about my online experiences too.  However unless you're really sure of your ground, it's safer to write the Hubs from a more personal angle than offer advice as if you were an expert on the subject.  That way you can avoid the real experts jumping on you from a great height!

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         Eric Graudinsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Hi Marisa,
         Thanks for the comments. I thought everyone would have forgotten about me by now
         
         @ jfreemon,
         No worries. Everyone has a brain fart from time to time.
         I'm sure we'll get along fine in future.
         
         cheers,
         Eric G.

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7. 79

   Uninvited Writerposted 14 years ago

   Whatever the reasons, you have to admit the other hubber was overly aggressive. Starting a thread just to criticize the hubber for not publishing his comment. Right or wrong, it's still bad form.

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8. 70

   thisisoliposted 14 years ago

   Agreed with Eric on the keywords thing, there is nothing wrong with exaggerating to get your point across though.  Plus if it worked for  him, maybe it will work for other people too.
   
   There is a lot of conflicting information out there on SEO, and plenty more websites which offer worse advice, dud products and hyped up claims than "Use the keyword thousands of times", yet I don't see anyone blasting the Hubbers who promote these. 
   Keep writing about what you experience, the truth of the matter is that most SEO is common sense and a big shovel full of luck.
   
   When you get criticism, constructive or otherwise, take note of it, research it, and you might learn something from it.  When people get aggressive over it, then feel safe and warm in the knowledge that chances are they are probably just as inexperienced in the subject as you are, otherwise they would not get quite so irate over your hubs, which overall contain a lot of basically sound advice.

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