What am I doing wrong?

1. 0

   helenathegreatposted 16 years ago

   By browsing around, it seems like everyone else on here is making so much money.  I'm still relatively new, and I promise I looked back in the forums at what everyone else has said in response to these questions before.
   
   But I can't seem to make anything at all!  I've been linking on message boards that I frequent and in my personal blog.  I try to write informative and empassioned hubs, and I am an Amazon associate and put their links on each of my pages.  My hubs tend to be on the better rated side of things, so what am I doing wrong??
   
   I really appreciate any help you guys can give beyond the basic "sign up for AdSense, etc" tips.  Thanks!!

   replyreport
2. 84

   embitcaposted 16 years ago

   It takes awhile to start earning. When I first joined I probably made a couple of pennies a day in Adsense earnings. Best thing to do is create more hubs. They have a cumulative effect over time. Also, just be patient. I would give it a few months at least for earnings to pick up. It'll start to rise as your traffic rises. So keep doing what you are doing to generate traffic, but also be sure to create more hubs.
   
   Also, I find that Ebay modules pay off better than Amazon ones so be sure to use both on your hubs. Or even just use the Ebay ones where possible.
   
   Did you go ahead and sign up for Adsense? That's a big part of the income from Hubpages, so if you haven't done that, it should probably be the next thing you do.
   
   You'll also want to make sure you have all your tracking codes for Ebay, Adsense and Amazon properly filled in on the your "affiliate settings" page.

   replyreport
3. 62

   Mishaposted 16 years ago

   That's all correct and needed, but there is a foundational thing most hubbers are missing - or they prefer not to talk about it
   
   If you want to make money on the internet, you have to start with keyword research. Before everything else. This is the foundation that defines your success. Your earnings are random and you rely only on your luck without keyword reseach. Google it and try to read whatever you find on it.

   replyreport
4. 0

   Marye Audetposted 16 years ago

   Helena-
   I read a couple of your hubs...they look great to me...give it some time.

   replyreport
5. STAFF

   pauldeedsposted 16 years ago

   As Misha alluded to, one area where I think you can improve is in choosing your titles and tags with searchers in mind.  For instance, people are not likely to search for "How to Live a Little Greener", they are more apt to search for "living green", or "living greener", or "how to live green", or "how can I live greener", etc.  In order to get search traffic you want your title and tags to be the kinds of phrases people type into search engines.
   
   Just keeping that in mind will help a lot, but if you want to take things a step farther I believe there are tools available for researching search friendly keywords.  I don't know of any specifically, so perhaps others can elaborate.

   replyreport
6. 59

   BrainStormposted 16 years ago

   You can use trends.google.com to know about hot searches. Use https://adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal to do a nice keyword research.The site should be self explanatory.
   Instead of using hyphens( - ) in name use underscores ( _  ). I think it helps, though I'm not sure.

   replyreport
   1. 67

      darksideposted 16 years agoin reply to this

      While there is debate for one over the other, either works.
      
      Including not using any at all.
      
      Search engines are clever enough to figure out separators or lack thereof.
      
      I like short keywords. Or if I use two words I may not use a separator at all. But for longer URL's it makes it easier for humans to read if there's an underscore or a hyphen.

      replyreport
7. 66

   Rudraposted 16 years ago

   Those who make money have good, original, unique articles. They are indexed by google and rank high up in the SERPs page. They get visited by surfers and you have a chance there.
   
   Someone mentioned foundation, good point. No one should expect to make money quickly. Its a little slow but there you go. Never has been a quick way of making money.

   replyreport
8. 0

   helenathegreatposted 16 years ago

   Okay, great.  Thank you so much to everyone for their replies.  I'll do a bunch of keyword research and keep writing hubs.
   
   Thanks again!!

   replyreport
9. 74

   Kenny Wordsmithposted 16 years ago

   Thank you all! As a relatively new hubber, the above tips are very, very useful. Keep going!

   replyreport
10. 85

    Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

    I struggle with titles a bit.  My gut instinct is to make them catchy, like a newspaper journalist would, to catch the reader's attention.  However the words people are likely to type into search engines are pretty mundane!

    replyreport
11. 60

    Apaeposted 16 years ago

    I always struggle with titles, seemingly with a passion. Luckily so far I've only answered requests so the title of it gives me ideas. Apparently I struck gold with my newest hub http://www.hubpages.com/hub/basichtmlcodes

    replyreport
12. 85

    Marisa Wrightposted 16 years ago

    That's a good illustration of what Darkside was saying about not putting in hyphens OR underscores.  Seems like any Hub about an internet-related topic will do well.  Pity I'm not more knowledgeable on the subject!

    replyreport
13. 67

    darksideposted 16 years ago

    Sometimes I approach URL's much like I'd want to buy a domain name.
    
    Other times though you really want to go for the long tail so you need to help out potential readers in case they're likely to forward it to friends.
    
    Especially if a word ends in one letter and the next word starts with the same letter. Some word combinations just don't look good strung together.

    replyreport
14. 74

    Kenny Wordsmithposted 16 years ago

    That's a good tip, Darkside!

    replyreport
15. 60

    Apaeposted 16 years ago

    Oh, I'm glad I can be used as an example ^_^
    
    Well I'm certainly not going to accept the default URL which was as lengthy as the title and included hyphens. I always try to steer away from those things. They're easier to type and look much better.

    replyreport