hit list

[libby]

Experienced writers - As I watch my articles receive hits but not sell I wonder at what point I should consider changes such as price, rewrites etc. Is there a commonly accepted number of hits? Mine have received about 19 hits at this point. I suspect that is a low number, especially since some of the people probably were not potential buyers but other authors or the curious. Thanks.

[Celeste Stewart]

I think we're all looking at our new list and scratching our heads trying to figure out the magic formula.
Of my recent general (non-private) sales using articles written in May of this year as an example, my hits look like this:

May 14th article - sold after 6 hits
May 18th - sold after 124 hits
May 22 - sold after 101 hits
May 22 - sold after 137 hits
May 29 - sold after 48 hits

Hard to say...

At just 19 hits, I wouldn't think price or content is a factor so much as getting customers to see it. Try adding more keywords in the keyword field or changing the category. I just did this on a few old articles of mine that had less than 10 hits. I had articles about saving money in the kitchen listed under Business > Finance; I changed the category to Home > Personal Finance and added a few more keywords. We'll see what happens.

[Lysis]

I've sold after one hit and I have the first few I wrote sitting at 50+ hits. The funny thing is that my sales are from higher priced articles with more word count. I'm writing off the first 10 or so as a learning experience of articles that probably won't sell.

[libby]

Thank you both. Celeste your idea about adding keywords...what is the max in keywords allowed. I don't want to go crazy, but maybe 10 max?

[Ed]

There is no upward limit, but please make sure your keywords are relevant to the article.

Thanks,
Ed

[Celeste Stewart]

Lysis,
Don't write off those early articles just yet. You've been here for just a few weeks so you don't have enough data to accurately determine any long term trends. A few months from now, you may find that those original articles have indeed sold.

[libby]

Thanks Ed,
Another question - I was picking keywords based on 1) the number of times they appear and 2) what people might search for. But I notice the approved articles have a modified list of keywords. Is CC's list based on word appearance or searchability? Perhaps I haven't mastered the knack of choosing keywords yet.

I'm not sure if the relevancy tip was for me specifically, but it could be. Does that mean certain individual words should be used if they are more likely to draw the reader to article, and reflect topic, even if not in content? I think I read an accomplished author's post recently that suggested that. Mirroring that, perhaps certain words that are used in content, perhaps multiple times, should still not be used because as individual words they do nothing to draw eyes to the article. I thought I was using words that buyers would search with, but perhaps I need to sharpen that skill.

Appreciate the assistance!

[Celeste Stewart]

Just to clarify, when I was talking about adding keywords to existing articles, I was talking about in the CC submission form's keyword box not the article itself.

For example, if I have an article titled, "How to Give Medications to Dogs," in the keyword box I might add keywords such as: dog, vets, dog medicine, medicine for dogs, RX for dogs, dog RX, pet insurance, veterinarian, pets, prescriptions for pets, pet meds, dog pills. These terms may or may not appear in the article but they might be terms that customers enter when searching CC for content.

You can edit these after the article is approved by going to My Content > Edit.

[Ed]

I just mean that if your article is about types of roses, and one type of rose you mention is called "Thomas Jefferson," you shouldn't put "Thomas Jefferson" in your keyword box because the article isn't about Thomas Jefferson, it's about roses.

What you have said about being aware of how many times a word is used in an article is along those same lines. If you write an article about dogs, and one paragraph is about how dogs react to new cats, you shouldn't include "cats" in your keyword box. Customers who are looking for articles about cats don't really care about the articles about dogs. On the other hand, someone who searches for an article about cats and dogs might be interested in an article that discusses both, so including the keyword "cats and dogs," might be prudent.


Thanks,
Ed

[libby]

Yep, that's what I thought you meant. Thanks again.

[Lysis]

Wow, Celeste you use a lot of keywords. I try to keep it at a minimum, but you're right about keeping a list of possible search terms.

I was kinda being facetious about writing off my first few, but in the back of my mind I kinda have. I might rework them if I have some spare time, but even with rewrites, unless I reeeeally want to see it go through, I get bored with the topic. LOL I have freakin article topic ADD. LOL

[Celeste Stewart]

I wouldn't even worry about tweaking those initial articles. Sometimes you just have to wait for the right buyer to come along. That's why so many of us just happily keep submitting. We forget about the oldies and then get to enjoy the pleasant surprise of sales out of the blue. Nothing like going on vacation and coming home to a bunch of sales! Just keep building your portfolio and you'll see :)

[dsletten]

Libby & Lysis,

If it helps, my sales this month included one article I've had on CC for 2 years with 92 hits; one article that is 4 months old with 19 hits; and one article that is 2 months old with 45 hits. Believe it when Celeste says that older articles will sell - lately I've been selling articles that have sat on the site for up to 2 years, and it is always fun when they finally sell!

Good Luck,
Deanna

[Lysis]

Thank you for the encouragement. It's hard to think your time is wasted, so perhaps sooooon it will sell. :D I'm not too worried, but I'll be really happy with that odd sale in my inbox. :D

[libby]

Thank you all, especially for the specific examples. That is what I wanted, a large view. I'm not discouraged but thanks for caring. Continued sales wish to all!