How to Get More HubPages Article Reads Hits Views

If you have done any research on SEO (Search Engine Optimization), you have probably heard the same things over and over (all of which are very true):

1. Be sure to write Quality Content. (Also known as "Content is King"). If your content is lousy or provides no legitimate use, then it's simply not going to be successful. Every article should provide some kind of value to the reader - basically, the reader should leave your article with a new piece of knowledge they didn't have prior to viewing it.

2. Your content should be written in a way that makes people WANT to read it. I encourage people to stay away from sounding like a "college professor" because it is a turn-off to the average reader. I often try to include a little humor into my articles if possible and I write my content as if I am talking to a friend.

3. Use lots of "keywords". I have explained this in my other article, but its always worth being restated because it can be confusing to people. Think of a keyword like a Thesaurus. If your article is about "the ocean", instead of saying "ocean" over and over and over again, use the word "ocean" but also use other words that you can use IN PLACE of the word "ocean", such as "sea", "water", "high seas", etc.

4. Produce your own backlinks. A backlink is any link that comes from a different site or page that goes to your site / article. Be sure to read my Word of Caution About Backlinking below:

Its a very common misconception that "the more links the better" - while this IS true, it is only partially true.

A huge mistake is backlinking from "anything". Backlinks only have value if the site or content you are backlinking from is of the same niche. For example, if your article is about the ocean and you put backlinks on content about your new pet cat, you are not only wasting your time, but you're also running the risk of actually HARMING your content because The Ocean and My Pet Cat have nothing in common, and therefore its "spammy" to link such together. Equally, it confuses search engines as to where to place your content. This is why sometimes, when you do a search for one topic, you will find an absolutely random, non-related search result mixed in with quality results.

So, instead of just setting the goal of getting as many links as possible, search for GOOD links only. One way to do this is to write your content then search the internet for people asking a question that you have answered in your article. For example, that article you wrote about The Ocean features statistics on the depth of the Ocean, then search for questions about "How deep is The Ocean", then answer them and use your content as a referance.

Another example is, when I was writing my series about Fraudulent Credit Card Chargebacks (geared towards business owners), I linked to Adam McFarlands article about the same topic because it further proved how severe of a problem this is. I then wrote to Adam and asked if he would be willing to link to my article as well, since both articles provide valuable information on the same topic, yet are completely different articles. We shall see if he does, but either way, he got a link out of me and his article is great!

HubPages is different than a blog because on a blog you can write hundreds, even thousands of your own articles all about the same niche. Hundreds of articles about the same topic will get you the most views, however the disadvantage to a self-owned blog is that it truly is a full time job, especially when you reach the point where you do have hundreds of articles and have to maintain the links within them and such.

HubPages is a host that has articles about every topic imainable, so you will be moreso directing traffic to one of your pages, as opposed to your HubPages profile because linking to your profile is basically useless. On the upside, since HubPages is a site that features all different kinds of content, you are able to write about whatever fits your mood and not have to worry about destroying your blog with non-related topics.

HERE'S A SIMPLE TRICK FOR GETTING MORE HITS / Page Views / Reads:

Whatever you write about, write at least 3 more related Hubs and link them together. For example, I wrote an entire series about Online Stalking / Harassment / Cyber Crime:

I have found that if I offer the reader multiple articles on the same topic they are most inclined to continue to read each article. Someone who is trying to Determine if They Are Being Stalked is most likely to proceed to my article about Reporting Online Stalking or The Difference Between a PPO and a Restraining Order. Then, from those articles, I have linked to more related content. For example, my Reporting Online Stalking is also connected to Facebook Harassment and so on.

If I did not write multiple articles and link them together, the individual would simply leave after one read. However, I can see from my HubPages dashboard that all of the articles in my series have close to the same number of hits / views, which means that traffic is flowing from one piece of content to the next.

Giving your articles TIME to get found in search engines is key. Do not become discouraged if you have no hits / reads for a few weeks (or even a month or more). It takes time for your article to be "indexed" then time for people to begin finding it and linking to it. This is yet another reason why writing in a niche series is very useful; if you have three articles about the same topic, you have tripled your chance of getting hits.

TIMING is different than TIME. An example of this, as soon as the Cool Ranch Dorito Taco came out I wrote an article about a Cool Ranch Dorito Taco Copycat Recipe. I knew that it was going to be a popular search and I wanted to hit the market with my article before others did in effort to get backlinks as fast as possible. Sure enough, I landed the very first spot on search results:

Had I have waited another month or three to produce this content, I run the risk of it being "old news" and not being on page #1 or #2 of search results.

Include images that have "keyword" names. For example, I would label a picture I took of the ocean "Florida_Ocean_Sea_Beach" - the title doesn't have to make sense. Your goal is to generate traffic through Google Image Searches. You really would be amazed at how much traffic you can get through images.

As you will see in the photo below, my dorito taco image is #1 in search results due to keywords. When someone views this image they will end up on my Hub:

An article shouldn't be unending. I'm going to break 1,800 words with this one and that more than I usually write. I typically try to keep mine to 1,500 words or less - anything over I figure out how I can break it down into two articles (or three or four even). Sometimes it's really easy to get off-topic and begin writing about something that should be its own content.

Keep in mind that most people don't want to read a "book" to figure out Can I Get Fired For Using Medical Marijuana - they simply want an answer (and information to back up your "facts" is always useful in terms of the crebility of your article, which increases the chances of others wanting to backlink to it).