The Flagship Hub Program was something we ran on a limited basis from 2007-2009. It paid Hubbers $25 (above the standard 60% impressions-based share of ad revenue) for publishing an incredibly in-depth, informative Hub.
Now, years later, we’ve had an opportunity to see how those 156 Hubs have done. Their overall performance is remarkable:
- Total lifetime views:12,752,747
Per Hub average:81,748 - Current total monthly views: 430,330
Per Hub average: 2,759 - Assuming a $6 CPM average to the Hub Author, an ongoing $16.50/month per Flagship Hub in ad/affiliate revenue
This should be heartening to any Hubber, particularly those whose traffic hasn’t “broken through” yet, since there is nothing magical about the Flagship Hub formula. The very high requirements simply demand that the Hub cover its topic in considerable depth. Note, however, that the topics were carefully chosen and put together into a search-friendly title using our topic and title research techniques.
Ready for a challenge? Take a stab at making your next Hub perform to these standards (or, if one of your former traffic drivers has seen its views drop, then refreshing to this standard) and wait to see the impact. Truly great content might not get traffic outside of HubPages right away, but Google and other search engines tend to eventually reward the very best content with the highest rankings.
- A minimum of 1500 words of truly informative, well-written, useful content
- A minimum of 5 relevant, high-resolution, properly-attributed photos (ideally your own)
- 1 video (ideally your own)
- 1 Map and/or Table Capsule
- 1 Poll and/or Quiz Capsule
- 10 relevant tags, including 2-3 common spelling variants, if any
- A maximum 150-word succinct, naturally-worded description of the utility of your Hub in the Hub Summary
- Excellent thematic and aesthetic organization
Be sure to read the Learning Center entry on the elements of a stellar Hub for a more in-depth explanation.
HubPages Blog 
These 156 average ~90 views per day? I think my math I right. 2,759/30 days. That is impressive!
That’s an impressive number of views. This is a good summary and reminder.
THIS IS SO AWESOME!!
Even if my hubs don’t fall into the Flagship Hub Program, this will be the benchmark for every one of my hubs!!!
Thanks!
VeronicaInspires (Hub name)
Some of my hubs got a flagship status, too. Old hubs are still open to editing, correction and revision.
This will generate more readership if it truly meets the HP standards.
Thanks for reminding us again, Jason. š
It’s good that you wrote this article because it’s very helpful to remind us of the challenges and key elements necessary for exceptional hub creation.
Thanks!
I will be updating my hubs and aiming for criteria for my new hubs. I need the views badly.
Thanks for the challenge!
A very informative article. I have read this from a hub produced by Mark Knowlles. The guy hit first page of google page rank just using the flagship hub criteria. I tried few of my hubs and they are doing just fine.
Thanks.
Ian.
Thanks for the challenge!