The Most Popular Topics on HubPages: Here's What People Follow on This Site
Ideas for Writing
Do You Wonder What to Write About on HP?
Writers should, whenever possible, write about what they know, what they enjoy and topics that interest them. If you work as a professional writer, though, this may not be possible (I spent many years writing about highway construction, whether it interested me or not).
If your goal is to write hubs that get traffic and to have more followers and readers, you might consider exploring which of the 22 general topics on HubPages seem a bit underrepresented in terms of followers compared to published hubs.
How to Find What People Read on HubPages
It's easy to find the number of followers and hubs on each topic. Just click "Explore" at the top of the page, then click "Topics." Then, click on the main title of each topic; at the bottom right-hand side of the page, you'll see the number of followers (rounded off in thousands) and the number of hubs published under that topic (which is selected by the writer when creating the hub).
Now that you've found where those sneaky numbers are hidden, how do you use this information?
Compare the ratio of the number of people following the topic with the number of hubs published. If you see a higher number of followers than the number of hubs, this means the topic might be underrepresented on the site. When you're deciding what to write about, consider that there may be a chance to build your readership by writing hubs on these topics.
Important Tip: When checking out the number of hubs and followers for various topics, ask yourself whether your hubs are indexed properly. Take a look at the full list of topics and subtopics, and see if you should adjust where you've categorized your hubs. You can do this in the edit mode, at the top of the hub where it says 'category,' above the title.
Need inspiration? Try Writing About These Topics
Art and Design could use some hubs!
Nearly 90,000 followers want hubs on Entertainment and Media
Family and Parenting is a popular topic with fewer hubs than followers!
Paaaarttaaay! Holidays and Celebrations has 29,000 followers looking for your hubs on the topic.
HubPages is a global community and topics related to the site are needed!
Got a pet or some favorite animals? Apparently 56,000 other readers do, too, and they need hubs to read!
Sports and Recreation attracts 46,000 readers, who currently have only 36,000 hubs to read.
Travel and Places are popular topics for a whopping 103,000 readers!
Hot Topics? These Topics Have More Followers than Hubs!
Here are some topics that appear to have a good ratio of more readers than there are currently published articles. The hub numbers shown here are rounded a bit due to the daily changes of published articles on the site:
Arts and Design: With 55,000 followers and just over 24,000 hubs, there's a clear opportunity to find readers in this topic! The number of hubs is less than half of the number who want to read about Arts and Design.
Entertainment and Media: There are new things happening daily in this area, and the huge number of followers (87,000) will probably enjoy additions to the slightly more than 72,000 hubs currently offered on the site.
You can write about movies, the latest music, popular entertainers, classic entertainers from years ago, and a variety of subjects related to media. Reviews are another great subject for this topic category.
Family and Parenting: About 41,000 readers want to see articles on this topic, but there are only about 28,500 hubs to choose from. Notice that this was the theme of a recent Weekly Inspiration on the forum!
Note: Check to see if some of your hubs indexed under the Home topic can be appropriately re-indexed for this topic. Unlike Family and Parenting, the Home topic has far more hubs than readers.
Holidays and Celebrations: The 29,000 followers here might enjoy some additional choices to the nearly 25,000 hubs currently published on the site.
HubPages Tutorials and Community: It may be a surprise to you that any writer here can publish under this topic! With 18,000 followers and slightly more than 11,000 hubs, this might be a good topic for your work. Also, it's fair to assume that more than just the 18,000 official followers may be interested in this topic.
Pets and Animals: It should be no surprise that the loving, helpful people you see on this site care about their animals and pets! The 56,000 followers of this topic have fewer than 28,000 hubs available to help them take care of Fluffy or to better understand their pet snake's personality. Maybe you can contribute some useful hubs to this topic!
Sports and Recreation: A popular topic with a healthy following (46,000 followers) and only 36,000 or so hubs to help them have a good time and plenty of exercise.
Sports can be written about as an activity for individuals or through informative topics about teams, leagues and other subjects fans might enjoy.
Travel and Places: This topic has around 103,000 followers, but fewer than 46,000 hubs. This means there are less than half the number of articles on this general topic as there are followers. This is definitely a topic with room for more hubs!
A short video on Writing and Inspiration
These categories have more hubs than followers, but many are dynamic and rapidly changing topics with new information happening almost daily
Books, Literature and Writing is a topic with nearly 70,000 followers.
Business and Employment has a solid following.
Education and Science is a diverse topic followed by nearly 60,000 readers. Its 64,000 hubs probably do not cover all the potential themes for this topic.
Fashion and Beauty are constantly changing topics; the 42,000 followers here will enjoy additions to the nearly 54,000 hubs now published.
Food and Cooking - what's not to like? The 40,000 readers here currently have nearly 49,000 hubs to read, but there's always room for more.
Gender and Relationships is an evergreen topic! The 40,000 followers here now have nearly 46,000 hubs on its various subjects.
Health is a broad topic with many avenues to explore. Its 79,000 readers currently have nearly 129,000 hubs available.
Home is where the heart is, and it's where 15,000 readers like to learn new things. Chances are, there are many more topics to add to the nearly 70,000 already published.
Politics and Social Issues has 31,000 followers, but there are always ideas to add to the 48,000 hubs now on the site.
Religion and Philosophy can be hotly debated on HubPages. That means the topic's 26,000 followers will enjoy new additions to the 47,000 hubs they now read.
What if your topics have more hubs than followers?
Don't worry! Even those topics where the number of hubs considerably exceeds the number of followers have plenty of room for more hubs! A large number of hubs simply means those topics are very popular with writers as well as readers. Notice that none of the topics below are saturated to even a 10/1 ratio. There are still plenty of opportunities for writers in these areas!
Books, Literature and Writing: The nearly 99,000 hubs in this topic have about 69,000 followers. This shows there's a strong interest in the topic, as well as strong representation among writers. It should be noted that this topic has a wide variety of potential subjects; it can include poems, book reviews and short stories, but also articles on skills related to writing.
Business and Employment: In today's economy, it's no surprise that at least 48,000 readers want to follow this topic. With slightly more than 88,000 hubs published, there's material on the site but probably room for more with this popular topic.
Hubs about jobs and interview skills are quite different from hubs that address the changing business world.
Education and Science: About 58,000 people follow this topic, and the number of hubs published is only slightly higher (just over 64,000). Not bad odds, if you're writing in this field!
This is another topic category with a wide range of potential subjects. You can write about educating children or teenagers, getting into college, completing your degree later in life, or any number of education-related subjects. Science can include information about the world we live in or new trends and discoveries.
Fashion and Beauty: Another popular topic (42,000 followers), and its ever-changing dynamics mean the nearly 54,000 hubs on the subject leave room for many more to come.
If you are a fashion writer, you can write about new styles, ways to adapt old styles to new trends, fabrics, clothing construction, the history of clothing and much more.
Beauty topics include hair, make-up, skin care, body care and other subjects to help us stay healthy looking and attractive.
Food and Cooking: There are 40,000 solid readers, with nearly 49,000 hubs. As anyone who's been on the site very long knows, hubs about food are popular!
Write about recipes, preparation techniques, shopping for groceries, meal planning and much more in this category.
Gender and Relationships: A healthy 40,000 people want hubs on this topic; with not quite 46,000 articles published, the range of subjects here is nowhere near exhausted.
This is a great category for your hubs on dating, conflict resolution, romance, gender differences and other subjects that interest all of us as we meet others and form friendships.
Health: This topic has a whopping 79,000 followers, and an equally whopping 128,824 hubs to address its various subjects. While the ratio might look high, bear in mind that there aren't even two hubs for each reader, so there's still room to grow.
Health can include how to take care of yourself or your family and how to stay healthy. Medical information is another subject that might be found here.
Home: As mentioned above, this topic has quite a few hubs compared to its readership. There are 15,000 followers, with more than 69,000 hubs on the topic. That's more than a four-to-one ratio, which probably isn't bad in terms of Google Search math. It's just something to be aware of when you write and categorize your hubs.
This category covers a broad range of potential subjects for hubs, from remodeling to appliances, construction, landscaping, how-to articles and many more.
Politics and Social Issues: There are 31,000 followers for this dynamic topic, with just more than 48,000 hubs to choose from. Since this is an ever-changing topic, there is likely plenty of room for more hubs in this category.
Social issues can include poverty, discrimination, funding for various social services and other issues facing our global population.
Hubs about politics can cover current hot topics, election issues, government reform, politicians, voters' rights, political parties and more.
Religion and Philosophy: The 26,000 followers have about 47,000 hubs available on this topic. As you can see by the Forum discussions the topic prompts, many who read this topic have strong feelings on the subject.
Hubbers have written about philosophical theories as well as religious beliefs under this category.
Technology: Another topic with frequent, dynamic change. It is popular with 40,000 readers, and there are nearly 82,000 hubs available to keep them abreast of current happenings.
Do you need inspiration for topics?
The numbers are about equal for these topics
The topics below have a number of followers nearly equal to the number of hubs on the site:
Autos: There are 17,000 followers and around 19,000 hubs. This somewhat specialized topic can probably always use hubs related to skills and knowledge, as well as reviews and information about new designs and technologies.
Games, Toys and Hobbies: Almost an exact match in this subject, with 33,000 followers and about 34,000 hubs published!
Personal Finance: The topic has 49,000 followers and not quite 51,000 hubs. The changing economy and universal interest in cutting costs suggests this topic will continue to have a good readership as well as generate new articles.
Comments
Kelsey Elise Farrell from Orange County, CA on November 30, 2015:
Marcy, I'm sure I don't need to tell you (so many positive comments!) but this was a great and informative hub. Thank you for taking the time and doing the research for us!
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on July 30, 2015:
Thanks! So glad you like the information here, Paolaenergya! Hope you get some ideas from it!
Paola Bassanese from Ireland on July 29, 2015:
Fantastic article! It should be made to be compulsory reading for any Hubpages newbie :)
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on June 20, 2015:
Hi, Melissae - thanks for your comment here, and for reading the hub! So glad you found some helpful information here - all the best to you as you build your inventory of articles, and Happy Hubbing!
Melissa Reese Etheridge from Tennessee, United States on June 16, 2015:
This is an excellent Hub. You have given us some good information. I learned quite a bit from your article.
Kristen Howe from Northeast Ohio on June 08, 2015:
You're very welcome, Marcy. It's super useful for all hubbers. We can go with the flow or against the grain in traffic. :-)
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on June 08, 2015:
Thanks, Kristen! It shows what's popular, and also what might not be adequately covered yet. Glad you like the information!
Kristen Howe from Northeast Ohio on June 07, 2015:
Great hub, Marcy. This is very useful for new and regular hubbers who need inspiration on what to write next for their hubs. Voted up!
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on May 29, 2015:
Thanks, Mary! You have a great niche if you're writing about specific breeds and tips for pet owners! I sometimes have trouble finding the right series of topics, so keep trying variations in your searches. I appreciate the votes and the share!
Mary Hyatt from Florida on May 24, 2015:
I have a tough time when I try to categorize my Hubs! The last time I looked there was no category for pets. I will check that now. I write a lot about my Min. Schnauzer and her health problems, and those Hubs do get more outside views than recipes or poems, for example.
Great Hub with some great info. Voted UP and shared.
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on May 23, 2015:
Thanks, Peachpurple - I hope you get some ideas here that will be useful in growing your inventory of hubs!
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on May 23, 2015:
Thanks, Vocalcoach! Once we know there's a place to check data, we can use the information as we plan what to write. So glad you liked the hub, and I appreciate your comments here!
peachy from Home Sweet Home on May 23, 2015:
thanks for your useful tips and you had enlighten most of the categories very clearly.
Audrey Hunt from Pahrump NV on May 22, 2015:
Very useful hub Marcy! One of the most helpful I've come across in a long time. So nice of you to share these statistics and voted up +++ and sharing.
Anna from chichester on August 29, 2014:
Voted useful etc and given the thumbs up :) thank you for the info!
GClark from United States on May 22, 2014:
DEFINITELY A THUMBS UP! Very helpful and interesting when needing a nudge to one's imagination as to what to write about.
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on September 24, 2013:
Thanks, Zarrar - so glad you like the ideas here!
zarrar from pakistan on September 20, 2013:
really good ideas easy to follow....
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on May 04, 2013:
The format for those numbers has changed since I wrote the hub - the only way I've seen the number of hubs recently is to drill down by sub-topics. And I'm not sure how to easily do that. Take a look at the suggested topics on the forum (in the sticky post about rising stars). If you click on the topics mentioned in the post, there's some tiny print at the top of each listing of existing hubs that gives the sequence of topics and the number of hubs in the final topic. For example, the one on Roasted Vegetables goes from Food & Cooking to a few other topics & then to Roasted Vegetables. Not the easiest route. It's changed since I analyzed numbers (which only addressed main topics). I should clarify this in the hub. Thanks for reading and bringing that up, Yarddog!
Troy Yarbrough from Texas, USA on May 04, 2013:
Can you show me where you're getting your hub numbers? I see the followers for each topic, but I don't see the number of hubs in the category anywhere. What am I missing?
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 13, 2013:
Hi, Ceres! Welcome to HubPages - so glad to meet you here. Absolutely, if you write what you're passionate about, you can't go wrong. I wish you the best here on the site - and I look forward to reading your hubs!
Ceres Schwarz on April 13, 2013:
This is an interesting and useful hub especially for new hubbers like me who are still learning the ropes on HubPages. Thanks for the info. It would be great to write for the popular topics that get lots of followers but I think it's also great to write about topics that you know and love to write about.
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 13, 2013:
Thanks, Hikapo! It means a lot to me that this has helped you and other great Hubbers here. I appreciate your letting me know! Best of luck with your writing!
Seet from California on April 12, 2013:
Hey Marcy, you have NO IDEA how this is helping me so much. THANKS!!!! :D
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 11, 2013:
Hi, Blond Logic! (By the way, I totally covet your username!!) - yes, check the numbers and see what looks like it could use more Hub Juice on the site. Glad you like the information here!
Mary Wickison from USA on April 11, 2013:
I never thought of doing that. What a great idea. I have changed categories on my hubs on a few but it may be a good idea to recheck them. What a good place to start the search for topics. There is always something new to learn.
Thanks
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 10, 2013:
Hi, VocalCoach! Thank you for your very kind words! It's fun to see the numbers - glad you enjoyed it!
Audrey Hunt from Pahrump NV on April 09, 2013:
What a marvelous and helpful hub you've written Marcy. Great information. I enjoyed the statics and numbers. Thank you for all your effort and time put into this!
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 08, 2013:
Hi, VvanNess! Thanks so much for the enthusiastic feedback - I'm glad you found the hub useful!
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 08, 2013:
Lol! Gosh - thanks for the HOTD vote! So glad you like the hub, Baja! Hope to read your travel hubs soon (I'm ready for a trip!).
Bajazid from Sarajevo, Bosnia on April 08, 2013:
Good and educational hub for me. I am happy that my favorite topic has enough place for new hubs, because I have a lot to write about travel and places.
Thanks for info and advices, for me this is the Hub of the Day :)
Victoria Van Ness from Fountain, CO on April 08, 2013:
Wow! What a great Hub! You really nailed exactly what people on this site are looking for! I really loved the specific numbers and statistics regarding each topic, the readers it had and the articles related.
This should really help me to focus on what to write about along with the rest of us! Thank you!
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 08, 2013:
Hi, Georgialgal! Welcome to HubPages! You will enjoy the community here - so glad you're part of the group now. I look forward to reading your hubs!
Mrs Frugal from United States on April 08, 2013:
Great information! I can see you spent a lot of time and energy on this. Thanks so much for helping this "newbie". Hope your day is wonderful~
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 08, 2013:
Thanks so much, Shll1978! It's pretty interesting to see what people have chosen to follow here, compared to how many hubs cover those topics. So glad you like the hub!
Shil1978 on April 08, 2013:
I love the way you've gone about organizing this hub - easy to read and to the point. Personally, I've written about subjects that I can connect with. I usually start a hub and then go about finding out which topic it falls within before hitting the publish button.
However, I can see how useful an introduction to the various topics can be to someone who is not sure about what he/she should write about. Exploring the topics should throw up some ideas and result in a few hubs! Great work with this hub - thanks for sharing!
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 07, 2013:
So glad you are liking it here - and yes, it's a great community. The staff is also a great group. Hope you have a wonderful time writing here, and success with all your hubs - I think you'll enjoy the site!
Linda Bryen from United Kingdom on April 07, 2013:
Thank you, Marcy Goodfleisch for welcoming me on Hubpages. I find that writiers here are so kind and helpful too.
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 07, 2013:
Many thanks, seanorjohn! I appreciate your comments and votes!
seanorjohn on April 07, 2013:
Great work marcy.Drilling down to exploit this connection between followers versus Hubs is a great idea. Voted up
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 07, 2013:
Hi, llesl - welcome to the site! So glad you got some ideas here, and I look forward to reading your hubs!
Linda Bryen from United Kingdom on April 07, 2013:
Thank you, Marcy Goodfleish for a very useful and interesting hub. It helps me a lot as I am still finding my way around here.
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 07, 2013:
Hi, Kiki! Many thanks for reading and letting me know you like the information here. I love your username, BTW - a dear friend of mine is called 'Kiki' by her granddaughter.
kikibruce from New York on April 06, 2013:
thanks for the helpful information.
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 05, 2013:
Thanks, Theophanes! It was an eye-opener for me, too. Hope you get some ideas from it!
Theophanes Avery from New England on April 05, 2013:
I never thought to look at the amount of followers verses the number of Hubs in any given category. Thanks for the helpful tip!
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 03, 2013:
Lol! Thanks, Crystal - you're probably right! But, if it helps people be successful here, I'm thrilled that the hub may have played a part in it! I know some have started researching the data in topics to get a feel for the market and its saturation.
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 03, 2013:
Thanks, bridalletter - yes, sometimes those numbers seem like a mystery. They can be helpful, though, in shaping what we do with our accounts here.. I've deleted things as well - I like poetry, but I do not want to publish it here; it helps streamline my account and make it more focused to pare things down.
Marcy Goodfleisch (author) from Planet Earth on April 03, 2013:
Thanks so much for reading and sharing, Suzie! Glad it's helpful to you!