Is it worth it?

1. 69

   Dawn Denmar1posted 10 years ago

   After reading a couple of fairly good reviews of this site elsewhere, I thought I would finally activate the account I set up years ago and write my first hub. I now wonder whether it was worth it. I wasted time posting my adsense and amazon links and signed up to the eBay program. I wasted time reading up on payments and all that.
   
   I wrote a hub and, granted, it was not wonderful at first. It got rated and failed. I rewrote it adding another image and a couple more sections. It still failed. I read the guidelines again and thought perhaps I needed to add a video? So I found one on YouTube and posted it. After an hour or so I wondered whether I had copyright approval to post a vid from Youtube. I checked and found I did not, so I deleted the video and my article is now sitting waiting to be rated again. I fully expect it to fail the quality checking. After reading posts on this forum I do wonder exactly what this site is looking for. I have posted nearly 800 words on my article. I know it is not a particularly inspiring or wonderful piece. However, it is capable and workmanlike. I have written online since 2009 and have never had problems getting my work approved (well apart from on the demanding site, sometimes) ----- until now.
   
   I may make one last edit to the article I have posted on here and if it does not get through the quality check process this time I will post it elsewhere and cut my losses. And this will be my first and final attempt on this site because it seems to me that HP is not worth the hassle - in all honesty.
   
   I experienced the Google Panda changes when they happened and the angst that occurred. Quality has been a problem on the web for years, however this site seems to operate a policy of penalizing writers for no reason. I am surprised they make income because without writers they are unlkely to make much in the future, indeed unlikely to have a future

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      Chris in VAposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Is it worth it?
      
      Yes. The one difference between here and a site like Bubblews is the standards. There has to be some quality, style, and substance to what you write -- not the ability to simply press keys. I posted something on Bubblews where about an article I read that did not contain a complete sentence in the entire article.
      
      To me, that is depressing. Writing is a process and I like the fact that I have to spend some time actually working on the process.
      
      So, HP is worth the effort.

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      1. 69

         Dawn Denmar1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

         thanks for your reply. I enjoy crafting articles too. And you are right about the quality on some bubbles. Some are fantastic though. I suppose that is what you get for opening a site like that which is really more social media.

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2. 59

   Bryan Manganposted 10 years ago

   I think the reason is that it's not very useful, too personalized, and doesn't last.  This isn't a place for extended Facebook posts.

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   1. 69

      Dawn Denmar1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Hi Bryan, well just having read a long forum post on here from a bunch of established writers who seem to be having their work taken off site I can understand it. Wish I had not bothered wasting my time. Apparently there are a load of articles on here about the same topic so the site is probably overloaded. I'll go back and bubble for money rather than waste more time on here. I could have posted some academic stuff or some of my old Suite articles but I don't think I will invest the time at present.  Anyway thanks for reading the piece.
      
      EDIT - and although the comment about the piece being more suited for FB is noted I have to say I did check out a couple of pieces of work on here prior to posting my first piece and it seems perfectly acceptable that some writers post personal perspectives as hubs. So maybe it is a case of who you are on this site?  Just a quick observation. Not meaning to offend anybody. As I say, there are plenty of other places to post I just wish I had gone to them instead of reading a couple of bubbles recommending this place and rushing in before I had read some of the forum posts which give a lot more information and lead me to the opinion that this place is about where Suite101 was in 2010. Sorry to say it. A lot of disaffected writers on here that may have thousands of hubs and are totally disenchanted with the direction the place is taking.

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   psycheskinnerposted 10 years ago

   The help section of the site explains pretty much everything.  the forums are for the buzz and whine of the week -- not a representation of the site as a whole.

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4. 64

   Mary Cimeniposted 10 years ago

   You don't really have to stuff in everything like video and images.. only if necessary and relevant. Make sure your article does not sound too promotional or like a personal experience. I tried treating hub like a blog at first, for example sharing my personal reviews and travel experiences but then I was confronted with the same scenario. SO what I did is write an informative article in the third person perspective. No use of "me" "myself" and "I" words. and YES it's worth it!!!!  ;-)

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   1. 73

      Ria Rankineposted 10 years agoin reply to this

      That's an interesting suggestion, Mary. I've also been personalizing my hubs, but I'll change and hope that makes a difference.

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5. 66

   2uesdayposted 10 years ago

   I think signing up and getting your first hub accepted and up and running is more of a challenge than it was a few years ago.
   
   For various reasons this site has had to raise the bar and now check what is published here. That is useful but it also can be off putting for those who genuinely want to write good pages but are new to the way things work here. I do not think the 'team' would be judging the choice of topic.
   
   I think the comment is correct in that  the seem to prefer articles that do not look too personal. The Learning Center has lots of info on what they want, it is lengthy but broken down into sections for easier reference.
   
   You could set yourself a goal of writing five articles and then see how you feel and how well you think it is going for you. It takes time to get things 'rolling' here which may not suit everyone. I think if I had come to the site today, instead of when I did I might have seen it as too much of a challenge. However it was the right place for me to start publishing on line. I do n't add new pages here, because I prefer write on topics that are probably saturated on this site. I remove anything that gets unfeatured for lack of views and has lost even more traffic because of that. I now mostly use my own site and blogs to write in my more 'informal talkative' way. That is another thing you could look into (if you have not already done so)  i.e. having your own webpages. There are different ways to do this and if you want to write and not have your work checked and approved in the way it is here it may be a worth a try.

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   1. 69

      Dawn Denmar1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      Thanks for the responses everyone.  As I said I did review the work of one person on the site before writing my first hub and there were a number of personal stories recounted.
      
      Taking all that's said though, I think if the hub does end up being rejected again then I shall move it elsewhere. There's a long thread on the forums featured a number of comments from seasoned writers who are having problems with threads being "unfeatured" and dropping earnings. So it seems that this site may not be the best place to start off writing for residuals again.
      
      Most of my posted articles elsewhere are third person and it's not a problem for me to write in that style. I'm also happy to post longer articles of more than 1,000 words, if that's a requirement.
      
      As you say above 2uesday, the bar is probably set too high for new writers nowadays. For whatever reason. So when all that's required is a little residual pot starting to grow seeds and pay regular monthly amounts, it's probably  not worth the hassle of continual rewrites and edits for me to continue on the site.
      
      I wish I had spent an hour reading the forums before I posted yesterday as I would not have wasted my time. Feel sorry for everyone that does have articles that are being rated lower and unfeatured. I don't know whether this activity is likely to impact on the overall Google site ratings? I doubt it.  And yes, I have just purchased a website host package and a domain name and starting a couple of websites is my plan too. But it's always good to have a few things bubbling away at the same time!
      
      Happy hubbing!

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6. 69

   Dawn Denmar1posted 10 years ago

   I forgot to post yesterday. My hub got accepted!  I was most surprised and am now thinking about my next hub and the types of articles I want to post on here. I think my next couple of days on here will be spent doing a little hub hopping to see just what others post and my first idea is that I will probably focus on careers or business.  Not too sure at present though.
   
   Thanks for reading!

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7. 78

   Greekgeekposted 10 years ago

   For what it's worth, I just checked my August earnings so far and was pleasantly surprised to see that I may be beating my old record this month, even though I've been busy writing elsewhere. My articles are not selling stuff, save for one exception out of over a hundred; they are informational and/or useful articles on topics that I find fascinating.
   
   I do have some hubs that have wound up unfeatured from lack of traffic over time. Do I care? A little, but I can rework them and try again. Or just leave them as part of a group, where they'll get washover traffic from other hubs in the group that link to them. It's a learning process, figuring out which topics are going to do well with a web audience, and which will only be interesting to friends on my personal blog.
   
   There is also the problem of super-saturated topics. I like to keep Squidoo's old adage, "everyone's an expert" (on something) in mind. What it is that you know and love that other people are truly interested in, which you can write amazing things about that most people can't? Write that!

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8. 0

   cbarbarposted 10 years ago

   Hi, as others have said, it is worth it. Just focus on the content of your writing--what you have to say. I find that if the content is something that can help others--be useful to them and reads like it is speaking directly to them, it has a high chance of success and being featured. Pictures, videos, and other interactive elements, such as polls can help, but they may not always be necessary if your content is good. I hope I was able to add to the discussion and that you give Hub Pages another chance--I think you can be successful here.

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   1. 69

      Dawn Denmar1posted 10 years agoin reply to this

      thank you. I posted my thread in a depressive fit I think. I knew that the original hub was not particularly good anyway. I had not posted many words and only put two images. I think the point about pictures and videos is interesting. I am not a keen photographer - don't really know how to use my camera properly - and although I posted a video from YouTube on my first article yesterday I had second thoughts about copyright issues and took it down because it did not seem to have a creative commons license. I don't know where to find decent "free" videos online. Do we have any resources?

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9. 74

   brakel2posted 10 years ago

   @greekgeek. Congrats on a successful month. It is worth it to hang in there.

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