Hub beginnings - What I wish I knew before I wrote my first hub.
74Before you write your first hub read this article
If you're just writing on HubPages
for pleasure and you honestly don't care if you generate traffic to your hubs this article isn't for you.
If earning a residual income writing
here on HubPages is not your goal then your time reading might be better spent reading another Hub.
If you're self publishing of online articles and Hubs
is just for you and you desire no audience to read your stuff, then click off this hub now.
But if you desire to write high profile,
frequently visited , often returned to, and Hubsense relevant articles that generate money making clicks from your readers - than let's get started.
I've jumped headfirst into HubPages.
I became fully engaged in HubPages from my first sign in however I made some crucial mistakes I wish I didn't right from the beginning. It slowed me down in reaching my first month goals I had set. It also caused me to have to work twice as hard fixing small things that I didn't realize were so important. These fixes have amounted to a large sum of time that I easily could have avoided if I used the advise in this Hub from the get go.
I know you may skimming this article so let me get right to the point and establish a few things:
- I am a newbie. I'm OK with that. Everyone was at some point.
- I am just learning. It's been a wonderful experience so far.
- I made some mistakes right out the gate and have been correcting them.
- I didn't take the time to learn before I began. I didn't realize I should have.
- I read more than I write on Hubpages at this stage. If you're new you should too.
- This hub is from those perspectives.
- I'm hoping to help you avoid my same mistakes.
STOP! Don't publish yet!
If you just can't wait to start writing
skip to step 3 but don't publish it!
You're excited, you found the HubPages platform, you feel like it's a fit, the freedom and potential sounds like something you've always wanted to do. You are excited to write, you have several things ready to cut and paste and put online. You have some great ideas and your fingers are wiggling ready to begin typing your ideas.
Wait, rewind, slow down, hold on, don't publish anything yet. I'm serious don't publish anything yet.
Top three things to do before you publish.
1) Join the community first. Before you publish start connecting with the community.
- Find like minded Authors and follow them. Leave them honest fan mail and rate up their work. Look for those that have been here for awhile and have a high hub author score. They are successful for many reasons and have usually written about how they've done it.
- Read the Hot Hubs and see how the authors write and the unique styles that are successful here.
- Read the Frequently Asked Questions section and then ask questions you don't see there.
- Browse the Forum section learning from the discussions there. Join a few of those discussions and get a feel of how quickly the Veteran Hubbers reach out and help.
- And by all means spend several days reading and watching everything in the Learning Center.
2) Learn about basic SEO if you haven't yet.
- Pay special attention to choosing the correct title of your hub.
- Learn about keywords and specifically how to find and use them in your article. This is so important and will dramatically impact the success of your writing.
- You may benefit from this hub I wrote on the subject :
"Understanding SEO - the Definitive Beginners Guide".
3) Wait to publish your hub. Write it, add to it, proof read it, add to it. Sleep on it.
Hub Success
I want you to succeed in your writing here.
Just like most authors on HubPages I understand the importance of quality hubs. Its similar to a neighborhood whose home values are effected by the value of those homes around them. I want to share with you why the above three tips have already improved my traffic and hub quality.
1) The HubPages community.
I have connected with amazing people all around the world. Many who have been on HubPages for 3 to 4 years. I have also received quality input on what I'm doing well and what I need improvement in. These tips have changed the popularity of my hubs almost over night. My hubauthor score increased from a low 62 to a 88 in 3 days. The community you engage in has a noticeable impact on the readability and will also help your hubs in search engines. Do yourself a favor and make the best of this community. Its rich and complex. Utilize this community because friends here mean more quality search results out there.
2) Learning SEO.
Upon the advice of many veteran hubbers including lrohner I went back and corrected some of my hubs. I learned basic keyword elements, and began to rebuild my hubs. I did an experiment with my lowest scoring hub at that time. I changed the title, added keywords, added capsule elements such as video, newsfeed and some quality graphic elements. My hub score went from 50 to a 62 within 32 hours. It's still on the rise. Proof enough for me to spend the next several weeks doing the same thing to each of the hubs I've already written that I want to see do well.
3) Wait to publish your Hub.
The first several hubs I published I did immediately. I did so after a solid proof read and a genuine feeling of satisfaction with the content and the overall feel of the article. What I didn't realize is that if you let your hub sit the hubscore rises. I don't publish my hubs until they reach a score of 59. This takes 2-3 days. This also gives me time to adjust, do more research, add elements and finalize any keyword analytics. Don't hurry this step. Your overall score and quality of hubs will increase rapidly.
New Helpful Hubs
- How To Find Free Public Domain Photos or Graphics For Your Blog or Articles
One of the major hurdles I had to conquer was finding quality images for my blog posts. - 6 hours ago
- How to select a winning hub page profile name & photo
The first two things that someone notices when they visit your hub is your name and profile photograph. - 13 hours ago
- What To Do If Someone Has Stolen Your Hub And Republished It Elsewhere
Have you ever had some pirate your hub? - 45 hours ago
Other usful tips to learn
Do's
- Write about things you love. Research those topics you want to write about. Do it naturally. Don't just be after the higher per click topics. When you are passionate about your subject your readers will be too.
- Keep your hubs evergreen. Think of topics that will stay relevant longer. Use a different simple URL and get specific with your title. This article is an example of that. Look at the URL and title and see how they differ. This allows me to tweak my title if in the future I need to adjust it to make it current or more relevant. This approach will keep my article from getting stale and drop in rank and visits.
- Group your hubs together. Group like subject, group like topics, group like themes. This simple step will lead to more clicks and viewer ranking.
- Use RSS feeds to your hubs. Google loves content that is fresh on webpages. By putting an RSS feed or newsfeed in your Hub the content on your Hub will be fresh even if you don't change anything. If you can't find RSS feeds that match your topic use your own Hub RSS feed.
- Add a video that's relevant. Keep it short but interesting. Use a high quality video. This will keep readers engaged and interested and will slow down your bounce rate.
- Use royalty free pictures. Use credits or attribution if required. Stay on the path of integrity.
- Use HubKarma as many times as it is relevant in each of your hubs. You'll find people using your Hubs in their Hubs soon enough. It really does come back to you.
Do not's
- Don't put a picture in the top field of your hub. This is a prime adsense section.
- Don't delete comments that disagree with you. You want discussion and return readers. Even negative comments can add value. Delete vulgar comments and report them.
- Don't sign up for eBay or Kontera for awhile. Both won't be of any use to you until you are writing and gaining readers on HubPages for awhile. Try it if you want to but you'll have time later when your writing has gained momentum and you can target these tools better.
- Don't overuse Amazon sales. Pick relevant specific items for your Hubs. If you can't really suggest a product, then don't. It will appear tacky. Your readers aren't dumb.
Joining Hubpages question?
Conclusion
You have so much more to learn on HubPages. It just doesn't stop. Don't become overwhelmed just begin to shift your thinking for the long-haul. Set some goals and look down the road. If you invest the time now, your Hubs will continue to gain readers and will quite possible be earning you income well into the future.
Leave me a comment and let's continue the conversation.
If you haven't joined HubPages it's free > click here > New Users Sign Up
Happy Hubbing -
-saintodd
I'm a paid author - almost (February 6, 2011)
Update on my AdSense earnings (February 18, 2011)
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I see you are doing well here on HubPages, saintodd. You have learned a lot in just two weeks time!
Just one question: why did you decide to move your blogging over to your HubPages site? There are profound differences between a blog and HubPages; the latter is for writing articles rather than blog posts.
Great advice. Thanks for sharing your experience with the "newbie" community. I sure did learn a lot from your hub and bookmarked for future references.
P.S. congratulations on your first penny. I am jealous:0))
Santodd, at least I don't feel alone, my adsense report looks similar LOL.
Oh, and yes, I noticed the same thing, if I keep my hub unpublished for a couple of days, its score gets higher.
@saintodd: Yes, that answers my question. I was just wondering because some people are not aware of the differences between blog posts and content on HubPages - it is not a blog with ads for example - but you come across as well-informed about what HubPages is, that is a good thing!
Welcome to hubpages and thanks for your great hub.
Nicely written. I did not realize that I did one of the 'Do Not', that is I placed a picture in the top field of my first hub.
Like your last comment: "I'm a paid author - almost"
My feedback on this hub, humorous and informative
Very good Hub and lots of excellent advice. One rule I do break pretty much all of the time is to put a picture at the top of my hubs, and the Adsense adverts still appear above it regardless. I have to say that to the best of my knowledge this has never been bad for my traffic, and I do receive Adsense payouts every month now. I have no idea if I would be far better off by not doing it though, as I have never tried.
This is one of the best newbie articles I have read thus far. I look forward to taking more time to check out more of your hubs.
Great advice here for a newbie to stumble across, thank you so much! I am finding the advice of real writers on here a genuine education, and actually filling in all the gaps from the learning center :-)
Dear Saintood, Thank you for the informative article, As a newbie it was very helpful. I have a question for you. How long were you on Hubpages before you wrote your first article, Thank you
Judowolf
thanks for the tips.
Can you check out one of my hub and give advice, I would appreciate it.
Nicely done and to the point. I made so many mistakes when I first started on Hubpages and I wish I had this article back then but somehow I got through it and I did a lot of reading and learned quite a bit. You obviously have learned a lot for being on Hubpages for such a short period of time, but what you say is great advice. Voted up and shared. Cheers.
Thank you for your open and honest advice. I'm investing my time as a new Hub participant to study and learn from the experienced writers. Thanks again, for encouraging and informing each of us who desperately need your advice.
Thank you SO much for this hub!! As a new hubber I learned a lot from this hub on how to get off to a good start. Your hub is a great reference that I keep going back to. Thanks again and happy writing!
I remember how I started out and was so scared of making a mistake. We all learn from them, including me! :)
Good news! Good news! This hub has been nominated on the Hubnuggets! This way please to read and vote: http://hubpages.com/_hubnuggets6/hub/Hubnuggets-in
Great hub. I'm new here as well and have a lot to learn. I think keywords are what I am struggling with the most. I see you have helped out others. I'd love for you to swing by my profile and read some of my hubs. I am open to any suggestions. I'll be checking out your hub on SEO as well.
You laid it out well for newbies and oldies. I am sure I could go back and improve on the hubs that are not doing so well. Congrats on your nomination, and good luck.
This is very helpful. I am a writer at heart, and like to just write and get it out there. Thanks for the push to research SEO. As far as advice to wait so that hubscore will go up, is that so that readers will be more likely to reader a hub with a better score? Or is the hub in a better position for search engines with a better score?
Excellent hub and advice. I have been guilty of being too hasty. I will be book marking this article.
Congrats on your nomination. I think you're hub had a lot of valid points.
Thanks for the great content saintodd, I wish I had found it a little earlier;) You have definately given me a lot to think about.
We are two of a kind here! I too made all of these same mistakes and even more at first, I'm happy and proud to say that I have learned so much since then and even more here from you as well. Very useful and informative, thanks you for the great advise on waiting a few days before publishing, I wasn't at all aware of this yet.
Very good advice, thanks for sharing what you've learned at HubPages.
Wow! This is great- I'm so glad that I read this and am inspired by your fast success!
Thank you!
Great points, I'm bookmarking for the next time a newbie as me questions about getting started. Congrats on being selected as a HubNugget nominee. :)
Thanks for sharing! This gave me a great place to start as I'm making goals for the next month.
This is a super helpful post! I'm just getting started on HubPages and am really delighted by some solid advice from a more experienced Hubber! Thanks!
how very helpful! this newbie thanks you! *thumbs up*
Thanks for this. I have read it but will re-read and check out your other hubs. You have done well in 4 weeks. I need to spend more time on here. Very encouraging.
thanks for this it was really helpfull
Thanks for such a great article. Very encouraging and thought provoking. You also clearly have a unique 'voice' which is something I realise I need to pay more attention to :o)
Quite informative hub. Lots of information. Thanks for guiding us and showing us how to improve our hubs. Knowledge is power and we have to keep at it. Many thanks for being our friend. I am reading and researching all the time. There is so much to gain in the time we allot ourselves to spend on hubpages. Good Luck and keep posting.
Thanks for the useful hub. I'm just starting out too, so I'm sure some of those tips will be very useful to me. I've been on HubPages about the same amount of time as you and you've made way more money than me so far! It's not just about the money though right? ;-)
Now, THIS is good. I didn't know this before and I've been here for a while. I know lrohner from other sites, so you are getting advice from someone very knowledgeable.
I'm bookmarking your hub to use for my own future earning strategy.
Thanks!
I found this hub extremely useful. Thank you! It's one of those I want to read more than once to absorb all the tips.
This is a wonderful and inspiring hub! I've been on hubpages for over a year and like you, started off wrong and had to learn by myself, the hard way. At first I was just writing for myself and wasn't part of a community but now I'm engaged fully and am enjoying the ride so much more. I'm one of the ones that don't make money from my hubs, I'm not really concerned with that, but I read your article anyway and really was motivated by it. I'm doing all the right things, so why not go ahead and profit from it too? Thanks so much for all the great advice, you should be a motivational speaker. Voted you up and useful!
Excellent work, saintodd, despite you are quite new. It really showed that you have read A LOT, and that's the most important step you have taken. I wished I knew what you wrote when I started. It'd have helped me to progress faster. Nevertheless, I was not in a hurry.
Newbies should really read this hub.
And I think you deserved the Hubnugget ! :)
Great hub for newbies but also for us who have been here for a while! I completely agree with you on all that you wrote. I always published my hubs immediately after writing them, but yesterday I wrote three and decided to save them unpublished until they reach a higher score.
Wonderful hub.....I wish I had read this when I first started.
Thanks and best of luck to you!
Congratulations on your hubnugget win! This was an excellent and informative article.
My hub topics don't generate much clicking, so I'm totally jealous of your $10.30. You obviously have a steep learning curve, thanks for sharing!
I'm going to check out a few of these ideas and see if I can't break the $5.00 mark!
Very nice hub on an important topic. Thanks, Saintodd!
I see you've posted quite a few Hubs already... do you have any tips for attracting Comments? Is this a matter of joining a Community? Writing style? just wondering...
Great advice! Thanks for sharing your success here at HP.
These are some great tips for beginners and experienced Hubbers!
This is just the most lucid and helpful hub I've read on HP, saintodd. I'm a newbie and there is no doubt I'm floundering so thank you for the insights. Now, to try and remember them all to put them into practice.
Angie
I share your sentiment! Overcoming the "bluners" in the beginning is a huge time commitment. This is a definite must read before getting started.
The title of your hub caught my eye and that's why I read it. You don't explain why the hubscore goes up when you wait to publish. I'm a stickler for proofreading and once I feel all looks good, I want to publish immediately.
There is indeed that satisfaction of hitting that publish button - well put!
I didn't really feel like a newbie...and then I read this article. I realize that in many ways I choose to "go my own way"...and sometimes it is good to follow the rules. Thanks for this info, it has given me insight for today.
Well, you learn something every day. I did not know that your hub score rises by just sitting. I have been publishing my hubs as soon as I finish them. I am going to try out this method to see what happens.
I am glad that I read your hub. I am a newbie. These tips will sure helps. Thank you :)
Excellent post. I especially like the tip of letting hubs sit and gain score. I learned something new today (Yay!!). Thank you.
Also thanks for the tip on not putting a pic in the first spot, as it's good for AdSense!
This one's great, too! I'm a professional writer, and I've been blogging for two years, but I just joined HubPages two weeks ago. It's a whole new experience for me, and I'm loving the process of learning from other people here as well as from the learning center. Thanks for all the good, solid advice.
You taught me a lot I didn't' know. I had no idea hubs could rise in score just sitting. I've had one sitting for a few weeks and it's at 63 now. I didn't leave it sitting for that reason. It just hasn't completely 'jelled" yet. Some hubs come more easily than others, and this one just isn't ready to face the public yet. Others practically write themselves.
I really like having a picture on top, since I think that helps pull readers in. I had no idea I might be pushing Google away by doing that.
I really do need to rework some of my earlier Hubs. I'm still trying to define myself and my niches here. I tend to write here what best fits this format rather than Squidoo or my blogs. I don't have much time to write these days, as my web site for my business needs revamping. My goal this year is to try to write at least one Hub or Squidoo lens a week and one post for each of my three blogs a week and to try to add a Zazzle product to my store each day. So far I'm behind because of the web site crisis, but I'd really like to add more Hubs. Ten isn't very many.
You mentioned that our scores on unpublished hubs can rise before we publish them. What I've been wondering is how they get views before we publish them. My work in progress has had six views. Mine don't count, do they? Just wondering.
Thanks for sharing the lessons you've learned here. I've been here on and off for over a year now, but still feel like a newbie because I've published so little.
Excellent article and great insights. Looks like you got a great start for only being here a few weeks. I agree with most of the ideas except not putting an image in the first capsule. I do agree it is prime real estate. Therefore put an Amazon module or even better a big affiliate banner or image linked to an affiliate site up there. Get big money for the hits instead of splitting Adsense dimes with Hub Pages.
Great help. Now I'm just wondering if I can bookmark this hub so I can come back to it later and reread some of those tips....
You give sound advice in this Hub. Well done! It is very good.
sir,i am a new hubber i published 3 hubs out of which for 1 hub i got 10,000 views but google adsense status shows that my account is disabled by google for violation of tos......what should i do now plzzz help me so that i will be carefull next time
Thank you I was so overwhelmed I was ready to abandon ship before I started. It seems like a lot to learn. I think one of my main concerns is backing up facts. If you know the facts to be true because you have lived it, do you still need to research on line and find more back up. I am a little gun shy of the article I just wrote so thinking maybe submit a poem first. LOL I found your information to be very helpful and you are the first I have made any comment to of any kind. Thanks again. A very newbie to this.:)
Great hubpage thanks for your pointers extremely helpful. I am getting views and hits but no comments how do I get people talking
regards
Graham
Excellent Hub, saintodd! 2 points glaring at me are the prime Adsense area which never occurred to me and too many Amamzon links to products which I have found out only in the last 24 hours, a hub I wrote back in October has just been tagged for being over promotive. I've since gone through it and put only one link for every 50 words or so as the guidelines say, but I wish I'd known this before I started publishing. Thanks again for a very helpful hub which I have bookmarked for my ongoing learning and improvment.
Prosperous Blessings,
VivBounty
Thanks for the advice. I will try these methods out for my next hub.
Getting Google Juice
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FaithDream Level 3 Commenter 15 months ago
Well said. Your thoughts are enlightening. Now I should go back & read some of those I read already. :)