Lessons Learned From 100,000 Views on HubPages

At the time of writing this hub, my account on HubPages is now 11 months old and I have just attained my 100,000 views accolade. I am very proud to have achieved this accolade and am even more surprised to have achieved it, as I only started putting effort into my HubPages account at the beginning of January 2012. I have to admit I initially lacked motivation after seeing how hard it was to garner views. This changed after I changed my approach and also dedicated myself to achieving certain goals at HubPages.

I had set the 100,000 views accolade as my goal for 2012 and hoped to achieve it by June or July, but have been able to achieve it quicker by learning from each Hub published.

Looking back on what I used to write, or how I used to write, the differences are amazing. By writing more Hubs and gaining more traffic I have managed to learn a number of lessons from HubPages in terms of driving traffic, selecting keywords and ranking for those keywords. However, I am not perfect and I am still learning. I do not have all the answers but I feel I am closer to achieving at least a small return on HubPages.

I realize more than ever that HubPages is not a get rich quick scheme, but neither is it a scam. It's really a place to hone your writing skills and learn the ropes of SEO. It's a good place to practice writing original content and also to build up a writing portfolio, that you can then show to prospective writing clients.

The biggest benefit to attaining 100,000 views on HubPages is having so much more data to scrutinize and figure out what you have done well, what you've failed at and also figuring out where there's potential room for improvement.

I have come to realize that writing about popular topics can give you a decent traffic stream in the shorter term, but it probably won't give you a passive income in the long term. Since I have mainly written about TV shows and movies, I expect this traffic to quickly decrease and then disappear.

I really need to focus more on Evergreen topics that will probably earn less views on a monthly basis but will age well, like fine wine. However, knowing what to do is the first step. Actually doing it is another matter.

It is clear to me now why so many people write recipes. The majority of these recipes are evergreen topics and is why so many of them are chosen as Hub of the Day. It's easier to take your own pictures too and also add some personal flair to the Hub. Plus everyone has to eat!!

Finding topics to write about on HubPages can be easy, but some people struggle. I did too in the beginning but have since broadened my perspective. I still stick to my core area of Entertainment but like to share other things I find of interest, from around the web.

Over the last few months, I have come to understand the importance of getting ranked in the search engines. Without Google, I would never have achieved my 100,000 views in such a short time period. With over 90% of my Hub traffic coming from search engines it's easy to see why Hubbers complain after Google Panda is updated or when HubPages is penalized further in the search engine listings.

If you get your Hubs ranked on the first page of Google then more people will read your article than if you were on page 2, or further back. And, if you get your Hub within the first 3 listings on the front page then this can drastically increase the number of views of your Hub. This is all free organic traffic and is to be cherished.

One of the biggest benefits of writing on a platform like HubPages, is the number of other people who have similar goals. Working from home, on your computer, can become lonely. However, writing here isn't like that. I have made friends and even have a HubPages mentor who has helped me gain perspective and direction on HubPages. I have a lot to thank him for and I make sure he knows I appreciate all his help.

I have even been able to give back and helped a fellow Hubber. I really enjoyed this and hope he finds an increase in his viewership figures too.

HubPages is a giant community. Yes, there are lots of people on here who will ignore you, but the ones that respond are worth their weight in gold. It is easy for experienced Hubbers to forget what it was like in the beginning, floundering around with no clue of what you should be doing. Sometimes all it takes is a little help by lending a compass to a new Hubber. Give a little help and if they take your views on board, make the changes you suggest and continue to experiment, then you know you haven't wasted your time. And who knows, maybe in the future they will be able to help you in return.

It's great to receive accolades from the work put in at HubPages. However, it is work and isn't as easy as people would have you believe. It's surprisingly easy to fall foul of the rules and then have to fight your way into the good graces of HubPages. You can easily do something that you think is innocent or acceptable only to find that you have mistakenly broken a rule. For this reason, coupled with the way traffic can drastically fall after Panda updates, it's important not to keep your eggs all in one basket.

I plan to continue to write for HubPages but I also plan to branch out and write for other sites too. In the longer term, I am looking to diversify my portfolio and have different writing assignments in different venues.

I also plan to write more Evergreen content in the form of 'how to guides' and perhaps even a few recipes. At that point my readers will be subjected to some of my shoddy photography.

With the knowledge gained from writing on HubPages getting blogs and websites ranked for tougher keywords is more feasible.

Currently, my Hubs are informative and mainly earn from the HubPages Adprogram. I will endeavour to continue on this path, but would like to try and write a few product reviews and see if that adds to the mix.

Either way, I love to write. I write at HubPages for the experience and the ability to share my insight, rather than solely for the money. I hope this continues in the future and that I will have a long membership at HubPages.