So your Hub is UnFeatured. That can come as a shock - all your hard work, and your Hub is practically invisible to the outside world!
Before you do anything, breathe. Many Hubbers take it very personally when a Hub is UnFeatured - they see it as a direct judgment of their writing. Not true! It's possible to produce a beautifully crafted Hub and still see it drop out of Featured status.
So please don't make any decisions on your Hub, until you're sure you understand what the Featured/Unfeatured label really means.
On most sites, "unfeatured" would apply to ordinary articles, and only a few special articles would be "featured" (e.g. on the front page). On HubPages, it's completely different. "Featured" Hubs are ordinary articles. "UnFeatured" Hubs are articles which HubPages wants to hide from public view.
Featured/UnFeatured explained
On HubPages, "Featured" just means "searchable". When someone types a search term into Google, Yahoo or Bing, only "Featured" articles can appear in the results.
"Unfeatured" articles are hidden from search engines. The only way people can find them, is if you give them the URL.
If you're like most writers, you want people to read what you've written - so there's not much satisfaction in having a Hub that virtually no one can see!
So, when faced with a Hub that's become unFeatured, it makes no sense to just leave it there, does it?
You have a choice. Either:
Revise it so it becomes Featured, OR
Move it to another site (like Zujava, Wizzley, Infobarrel, Bubblews, your own blog)
If you choose the first option, the next question is - how do I revise it? The answer isn't straightforward, because it depends on why the Hub is UnFeatured.
Why Is My Hub UnFeatured?
There are two possible reasons, and the remedy is very different for each.
Take a look at your "My Account" page and note the symbol next to your UnFeatured Hub.
If it's a white circle with a black outline, your Hub has failed the QAP (Quality Assessment Process).
If it's a half moon symbol, your Hub passed the QAP but isn't getting enough traffic.
UnFeatured Due to Quality
UnFeatured Due to Quality
How to Revise a Hub UnFeatured Due to Quality
If your Hub has failed the Quality Assessment Process, then obviously, you need to revise it in a way that will get it through that process next time - but how do you do that?
It can be difficult to work out what you've done wrong - so you must decide whether it's worth trying to second-guess the process! It may be simpler to take the article somewhere else, where it won't have to run the gauntlet of Quality Assessors.
However most people will want to make at least one attempt to jump the hurdle. If you do want to try getting through, here are some basic elements to check:
Length - Your Hub should be at least 400 words long, and much longer to be on the safe side!
Grammar and Spelling - Very important. Copy your Hub into a word-processing program and run grammar and spelling checkers over it, if you're not confident.
Images - You must have at least one image, and make sure all your images are legal and properly attributed (if you're not sure, read my Hub on how to get photos from Flickr).
You can also read this article on the QAP:
http://hubpages.com/learningcenter/Featured-Hubs
If you can't spot the problem, don't fret too much. The assessors are human and they sometimes make mistakes - maybe they made a mistake with yours? Do the best you can,save it and see what happens.
UnFeatured Due to Lack of Traffic
UnFeatured Due to Lack of Traffic
How to Revise a Hub UnFeatured Due to Traffic
HubPages calls this reason "lack of engagement" (which means something completely different everywhere else but HubPages, so don't let that confuse you).
What it means, quite simply, is that your Hub isn't getting enough readers.
Clearly, the way to solve this is to attract more visitors to the Hub. But how?
DO NOT jump in and start revising. Improving or expanding the Hub will NOT automatically attract more traffic, so it could be a waste of time and effort.
If your Hub got through QAP originally, then the problem is likely to be factors other than quality. Your problem isn't that the article isn't good enough - your problem is that readers can't find it in the first place!
Source: Mike Licht
Addressing that problem is too big a topic to cover in this Hub. You'll find more useful tips in these two Hubs:
