"Google Farmer": Should I bother with HubPages?

[bummed.out]

Hey guys,

I've been eying HubPages as a no-investment (vs. buying domains) place to create niche-oriented, monetized content, but with all this talk about HubPages, as a "content farm" taking a hit with Google's latest big algorithm change, I wonder...is it worth my time?

I'm not talking about creating hubs with software-spun garbage on them, but well written, SEOed content that offers value; but again, has anyone here using HubPages and Adsense experienced anything post-Google-Farmer that would make them wary?

For what it's worth, someone who's got a hub for one of the terms I'm targeting with my own .org for the same keyword has me beat by about 10 spots in the Google SERPS, so maybe it's not all that bad.

Thoughts appreciated.

[caksut]

Originally Posted by bummed.out

Hey guys,

I've been eying HubPages as a no-investment (vs. buying domains) place to create niche-oriented, monetized content, but with all this talk about HubPages, as a "content farm" taking a hit with Google's latest big algorithm change, I wonder...is it worth my time?

I'm not talking about creating hubs with software-spun garbage on them, but well written, SEOed content that offers value; but again, has anyone here using HubPages and Adsense experienced anything post-Google-Farmer that would make them wary?

For what it's worth, someone who's got a hub for one of the terms I'm targeting with my own .org for the same keyword has me beat by about 10 spots in the Google SERPS, so maybe it's not all that bad.

Thoughts appreciated.

As my experience, new update algorithm of Google won't influence hub with useful content. I have some hubs still getting fixed rank. I think as far we offer useful content Google won't slap

[supermail]

There has been a lot of buzz this past week about Google’s “Farmer Update,” which was designed to take on content farms; spammy, low-quality content sites that have been crowding their search results. Google had this to say about their updated algorithm in a post on the official Google Blog on February 24th.

“Our goal is simple: to give people the most relevant answers to their queries as quickly as possible…This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on…”

The Google crackdown affected 11.8% of search queries.

While the “Farmer Update” did successfully knock a lot of splogs (spam blogs) out of the search results, several major content distribution sites took a major hit—EzineArticles.com , Business.com and Yahoo! Associated Content to name a few.

So as for hub pages - wait a week or so and see where the dust lies. I think its a game changer for a lot of people

[bummed.out]

Originally Posted by caksut

As my experience, new update algorithm of Google won't influence hub with useful content. I have some hubs still getting fixed rank. I think as far we offer useful content Google won't slap

Hi caksut,

Thanks for your encouraging opinion. When you say that "some" of your hubs still have a fixed rank, does that imply that you have other hubs which have dropped in the rankings?

Did you do any backlinking for the hubs which are still holding their spots in the SERPS?

I'd also love to hear what anyone else has to say, because I am debating whether I should focus my niche-related keywords on hubs (if caksut's opinion turns out as the reality) or if I should find a good, all-encompassing keyword with top level domain availability and create an authority site using my niche keywords.

Love to hear from some more people, and you, too, caksut.

Thanks!

[bummed.out]

Hi supermail,

Thanks for your thoughts! I note that any of my sites with any rank worth mentioning, small though they are, have not appeared to drop in the SERPs beyond the usual Google Dance that sometimes happens - though I wouldn't consider them "spammy".

Some of the numbers (though disputed by some) for loss of traffic as far as HubPages et. al are shocking; so, I will heed your suggestion and wait for the dust to settle before pouring all my current niche keywords into Hubs.

Thanks!

Originally Posted by supermail

There has been a lot of buzz this past week about Google’s “Farmer Update,” which was designed to take on content farms; spammy, low-quality content sites that have been crowding their search results. Google had this to say about their updated algorithm in a post on the official Google Blog on February 24th.

“Our goal is simple: to give people the most relevant answers to their queries as quickly as possible…This update is designed to reduce rankings for low-quality sites—sites which are low-value add for users, copy content from other websites or sites that are just not very useful. At the same time, it will provide better rankings for high-quality sites—sites with original content and information such as research, in-depth reports, thoughtful analysis and so on…”

The Google crackdown affected 11.8% of search queries.

While the “Farmer Update” did successfully knock a lot of splogs (spam blogs) out of the search results, several major content distribution sites took a major hit—EzineArticles.com , Business.com and Yahoo! Associated Content to name a few.

So as for hub pages - wait a week or so and see where the dust lies. I think its a game changer for a lot of people