Ok, I'm going to jump on the bandwagon...

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   Urbane Chaosposted 14 years ago

   ...but not too hard.  Seems there's plenty already on it, and I'd hate to be the one who causes the hubs to snap off.  (Sorry, bad pun, but hell, I just couldn't resist.)
   
   So, since I'm assuming that this is the official "newbie doesn't know what the  he's doing" section, I figured I would ask for a bit of critique from all of you amazing, more experienced "hubbers" out there..
   
   I'm looking for three things: 1. Is my article readable and interesting? 2. Are they formatted in a way that prompts further reading? and 3. Are they set up properly for generating income?
   
   ...or am I in way over my head here?
   
   I've left three links to the articles that I deem the best out of what I have so far.  I would be most appreciative of anyone who would take the time to give me some advice.
   
   
   Hub 1: Historical information about Okmulgee, a small town in Oklahoma.  A good majority of people around the Okmulgee area don't know their own history, I figured this would be a good primer.
   http://hubpages.com/hub/Historical-Okmu … -1900-1909
   
   Hub 2: Interesting information about a relatively unknown aspect about Tulsa architecture - how wealthy millionaires built tunnels underground during the 1920's.
   http://hubpages.com/hub/Downtown-Tulsa- … nd-Tunnels
   
   Hub 2: Just some random dating advice for men.
   http://hubpages.com/hub/Dating-Advice-H … interested
   
   Again, I appreciate any advice you can give.. Thanks loads!
   
   Gotta run, got boats to build..

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      bigmikehposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Just looked at your dating advice hub and can't really fault it. Good content, well laid out, appropriate ads...would be pleased with it myself.
      
      Two observations, the url is very long
      
      /Dating-Advice-How-to-know-if-shes-interested
      
      Some SEO experts would say it looks spammy with so many words and dashes, and could be marginally penalized by Google. Personally I stay with shorter urls.
      
      And, this is a very competitive topic and it may well be very difficult to rank highly and attract external traffic. If you're writing for pleasure no problem, but if you're looking to earn you need the external, link-clicking visitors.
      
      Keep up the good work - you're not in way over your head!

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         Urbane Chaosposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Mr. Big(bad)mike, Thanks for the astute advice..
         
         I started to write about relationships, but after writing a couple articles like that, I realized that it would be too competitive to really get far until I have a few links running around..I'll take your advice here and do it mainly for fun - if I get anything else off of it, great.  I'll stay more with the history and oddity topics.
         
         As far as the URL, I honestly have no idea how to make it shorter on here.  Doesn't hubpages automatically create the url? 
         
         Again, thanks for the observations!  It's nice to know that I'm not too out of my league here.

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            Alessia Amnesiaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

            HubPages DOES automatically make the URL, but below where you type the title, you can change the URL by backspacing and typing in your own key words

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   Alessia Amnesiaposted 14 years ago

   Hello, Urbane!
   
   I took a look at a few of your hubs. I am very impressed with your writing style. The topics were interesting too. I really enjoy reading about history.
   
   The only two things I would change are:
   
   1. The Titles of Your Hubs: The title is the first thing anyone is going to see so it needs to be eye-catching. At the moment, your titles would only be interesting to someone looking for that specific title. In my experience, the best articles/stories I have read are the ones I find completely by accident. Generalizing your title will help bring more readers in.
   
   2. The URLs: Mike already covered this one so I won't go into any details, but I'm guilty of it too sometimes.
   
   Other than those two tiny things, your writing is excellent and you have definitely gained a new follower! Keep up the good work, I am anticipating many more excellent hubs from you

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      Urbane Chaosposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Alessia.. Thanks for the help here!  I'm going to have to give that a try with the next hub I do.  I didn't know that you could change the url, I was just going with whatever the program gave me.  I saw an article about programs that shorten urls, but from everything I read, everyone says to generally stay away from those.
      
      And yeah, I'll have to work on my titles a bit.  I went through Google's keyword tool to help me out, but doing it that way does tend to leave the titles a little dry and drab.  I'll leave them for the time being on existing articles as I'm actually getting traffic to them, but for future hubs, I'll definitely spent a little more time on that - now that I know they don't affect the URL as well.
      
      And.. I gotta say, I love your name.  Alessia Amnesia - sounds about like me.  Wait, what were we talking about again?

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         Alessia Amnesiaposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I like your name too.

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   Marisa Wrightposted 14 years ago

   Nice Hubs, Urbane - written like an old hand! 
   
   My feedback - Big Mike is right. Wipe whatever URL HubPages creates, and try to make a short snappy one using your main keyword.
   
   This article explains how to design your layout to maximise Adsense placement:
   
   http://lissowerbutts.com/make-money-wit … -hubpages/
   
   Finally, Amazon products sell much better, apparently, if you include a short description.  Fewer items that appear to be personally recommended, will do better than a long list of unreviewed ones.
   
   I can see you're going to do well!

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      Urbane Chaosposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Marisa.. Thanks for the amazing advice!  Great article, and it makes a lot of sense.  I've done off-line work before, but all of this blogging and such is a completely different animal - more like a chipmunk on steroids in a field of nuts.
      
      I wrote a new blog today and - big surprise here - changing the url and title was actually a lot easier than I thought it would be.  In addition, I've already got quite a few hits on it from Google - which really surprised me.  I never thought that such a simple that would have such a profound impact.
      
      I never thought about the amazon thing, but it makes a lot of sense.  Thanks for the great tip on that!  I'll have to go back and do some editing.
      
      Thanks again!  All of you have given amazing advice!  I hope that, eventually, I'll be just as much as a pro as you.. Then I can respectfully earn the title "old hand".

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   Marisa Wrightposted 14 years ago

   Urbane, if you want to target Amazon revenue, then Nelle Hoxie is the Amazon queen!

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      Urbane Chaosposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks again for the great advice!
      
      I spent awhile looking at Nelle's and your hubs to see how you've done things, and I'm starting to notice a few trends.. It seems that you two really know what you're doing..  You're right, she did have a lot of great advice on Amazon, even though some of it just isn't my style.  -But, it's given me a few great ideas.  I think I have a lot of work to do!
      
      Thanks again!  You know you're awesome!

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