Butcher Block
By Mark Knowles
What is so interesting about butcher block? Why would I even be writing about such a boring subject as the material used to make chopping boards and counter top work surfaces out of?
Simple – google have once again changed the rules about the way they rank certain sites and hubpages – I believe – is one of the sites they have re-ranked. Some of us have noticed a massive influx of new writers and a massive increase in the amount of hubpages being produced – some have complained about this and seen it as a bad thing – others, like myself, have always had a laissez faire approach to these things. My opinion has always been to let people get on with doing their own thing – as long as it doesn’t interfere with me, why should I care about what some one else does? It only ever bothers me what some one else does if it has an impact on me.
Well, I do believe that the amount of spam being produced – and I have to say – using a butcher block cutting board to cut your spam and other meat products on is the perfect way to protect your family’s health. Anyway - the massive amount of meat flavored food product being produced around certain high-paying financial niches has resulted in a pretty large number of my own hubs being removed completely from the google index and another quite substantial number being penalized in the search engine rankings. I mean – if I cannot find one of my hubs doing a search using the title in the first 500 results on google – I am pretty sure I have been penalized for some reason. And the reason has nothing to do with anything I have done.
So, I have to rethink what subjects I am writing about, and kitchen utensils is one of the subjects I have chosen as being less likely to be penalized in the search results. I would not part with my John Boos cutting boards anyway – and I love cooking so it is no skin cut off my nose. But from now on I will be seriously considering just how good a thing it is that hubpages has jumped up to number 285 in Alexa’s ranking and managed to produce 300,000 new pages in the last year. Yes – I will now be going for quantity rather than the best quality cutting boards. I do not really see the point in attempting to write in-depth, detailed information on higher paying niches subjects that attract spammers by the thousands if I am unable to get them ranked or indexed.
From now on I am all over the butcher block and other similar subjects. Hubpages wants quantity – I can do that. No sweat – that is what pays off according to the hubpages blog written by Ryan Hupfer. More, more, more. So – you can expect to see quite a few empty 400-worders from me in the future. Now buy a damn butcher block chopping board. LOL
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Comments
Yup - Unfortunately. I am stuck. I spent an awful lot of time researching and writing some of the pages I have had penalized. To what end? I need to make money doing this. And now I discover that all of my high paying pages are removed from google's index - not sure what my options are really. Other than to accept that the internet is no different to real life and the big boys always win. Let's face it - your business is exactly the same. ;)
Thank you, Mark, so very much for the warning and advise. If it wasn't for you I would have never known. I aLSO wrote quite a number of interesting and informative hubs. What a shame because on hub you could read and find such informative articles. Thank you again.
I'd rather at least try and write quality stuff, but what's the point? As you say. We all need to make a living so if a one page website will do it, or quantity rather than quality, what the hell, that's what they'll get. I can see the Internet collapsing under a pile of crap. I've been online long enough to remember when you could search for something and find it. Now you do a goole search for something local and get 5 pages of "local directories" all full of empty listings, bad links, out of date stuff. They can't be making any money. Rant over, (for now).
Good Freakin' GOD Mark... why IS it, that EVERY darn time I try to postition myself in a "niche" (which "could" be profitable) it happens to go belly up? Or the "new"-trendie-ness of it has been BLOWN out of the water? --*sigh*
Sorry guys. Now - it may be that this is a temporary thing - I don't know. But I do not see the point in writing an article that genuinely helps people understand the risks of forex trading or the ins and outs of buying a short sale foreclosure if I am not able to get that page ranked.
Sad but true - Not sure how long it can go on for before the entire thing falls down. How many "made-for-adsense"sites can the internet handle before it becomes useless?
*sigh*
Well, all I can say is I DO have an article ready (that's been ready for a "QUICK" version) for a week now.
I'm throwin' it UP on my "first" hub.
In fact I think I'm gonna def' change it to tongue-in-cheek. Yet fundamentally "usable" info.
LOL
Tongue in cheek works for me......
Well I think that is why on bestofhubpages.com the top ones are the Indian hot chicks sexy chicks, quantity must rule.
Bloody hell Mark..just I have finished changing my hubs to reflect quality you go and put a damp squib under me. Now do I have to go back and replace quality with quantity? Please say no?
lol - It only seems to be in certain niches.
I thought that was a rule of thumb for quick reads yet packed with info!!! Magic, pure magic... :-o
Hmmmm...
I think it may be a glitch in the system...
Google has been upgrading they're servers . from what I heard but at this time can't find where I saw such information. I alway's copy my url an send it to myself in an e mail n file it away with the rest plus I always copy my blogs - hubs squidoo's etc. an file them away also just in case something goes haywire an fouls up . I still have an original copy.
As to SEO well they're is so much hubbub about it an
linking really stands out the more links the better also commenting w/t track backs are alway's changing page rankings . Mark in looking at your hubs they are chock full of great information. I personally enjoyed them greatly so much I went out an bought a expresso machine. opting for the cheapo after all coffee is coffee not necessarily the machine . so 29.95 an it works great. thanks to your hub i chose the one you pointed out .
Your hubs are great keep it up .
by the way I already have the very same butcher block top boards actually three of them. one on each side of the sink an one next to the stove ...............
Cheers Dirtdog
I wouldn't change just keep snapping them out . undoubtedly though after achieving a 100 score there is no where else to go but DOWN HA!
You'll get over it .
try squidoo they have a different ranking system.
repost everything you have here there . that will give em something to think about
Cheers Dirtdog
lol
I am not worried about my personal score - I am worried at the amount o pages that have been removed from the SE though. Good idea about squidoo. LOL
If you repost your hubs to some where else your hub score will plummet. I wrote a hub on this 'I've Been Spanked' and it says just that. Thank you for explaining what is up on here but I think it goes deeper than that. Can't put my finger on it as of yet. I have been checking out other sites too. It is a damn shame because I like it here alot.
I am inclined to agree with you - it does go deeper. Not sure what the answer is, but filling hubpages with hundreds of thousands of pages of adsense bait is probably not it. :(
You've written enough fluff already. Butcher block rantings will fit in properly.
I have always found your hubpages interesting and informative. It is a shame about what is currently happening. Hopefully it will straighten out soon. I have learned some interesting things from your hubs and looked forward to more in the financial sector. Of course, I will read the fluff too, I don't even drink coffee (horror) and I enjoyed your coffee maker hub.
Well, I just threw out my first one. It may be "cheeky" but it's relevant too. Hopefully the google thing changes. Or Marks next blog will be about Teflon cutting boards vs. Nylon cutting boards.
Well, I think the reason hubpages is in trouble is that there is so much new spam. Just go to the 'Hubbers' link on the top of the page, then click 'latest'. I guarantee you that 4 out of 5 will be bad. Usually one very substandard and 3 total spams.
I think they should put all submissions by hubbers with a score of say 65 or less in a holding area and have someone glance at them before they are published. This could weed out most of the new garbace in a very short time. - Carol
When I was a teen ager I used to work in a small Italian meat market in Roselle, Illinois. One of my daily duties was to scrape and clean the huge oak butcher's block. This thing was so heavy it took four of us to lift it off the floor to clean under it!
Quite literally, it was about four feel off the gound, on stubby wooden lags no more than about six inches tall. Over the years it had been worn down about three or four inches, the butcher told me, and had been brought over from Europe by his father, who still worked in the store.
Hopefully I'll never have to clean one of those ever again! LOL
Cheers!
Chef Jeff
LOL
I wish you a butcher block cleaning free existence.
Paraglider 2 years ago
"Yes – I will now be going for quantity rather than the best quality cutting boards."
And so it goes. The 'awesome' generation strengthens its grip. Conform or die ;)