Feedback required: Making Money on HubPages

1. 62

   darksideposted 14 years ago

   I've been given the greenlight by HP HQ to write this and also post it on the forum for feedback. The reason I'm posting it for feedback is to see whether or not it's understandable to brand new hubbers. Is there anything that needs clarification, further explanation (or maybe less explanation) or tweaking?
   
   Copy and paste any sentences or paragraphs you wish to discuss so I know which bit is being referred to.
   
   
   1.4.0 Setting Up Your Account - Affiliate Settings - Making Money on HubPages
   
   
   Hubs are monetized by two types of revenue models using four different advertising partners.
   
   The most common is Adsense. Ads are placed on every hub (except for those wishing to specifically being classed as non-commercial). They can be seen on a hub with a label saying 'Ads by Google' or similar. They sit outside of the content, usually in a rectangle or square block.
   
   These are Pay Per Click (PPC) ads.
   
   Another PPC advertising partner is Kontera. These display within the text. A keyword will be highlighted and when a visitor 'mouses over' the link (hovers their mouse cursor over the link) a window pops up, with the advertising blurb.
   
   If a visitor clicks on either type of ad the Publisher (the author of the page, or HubPages Inc) will get 100% of the revenue of that click.
   
   Another method of monetizing hubs is with Amazon or Ebay. There are a couple of differences between these two and the first two already mentioned.
   
   1) Adsense/Kontera is automatic. If you designate the hub as being commercial or tick the box allowing Kontera ads, they will show up onm the hub without any other action being necessary.
   
   2) The other difference is that you need to select an Amazon or Ebay Capsule, and position it where you want it in your hub layout. Then either using a keyword or selecting a product, your choices are manually added to the capsule.
   
   Amazon is a PPS revenue model. That is 'Pay Per Sale'. The product must be clicked on by the visitor and purchased before you make a commission.
   
   Ebay used to be PPS but recently changed their business model. They are now also PPC.
   
   How each of these of these are set up will be explained in more detail later.
   
   The ad impressions are split between you and HubPages Inc 60/40 (in your favor). So for every 100 ad impressions, your Publisher ID will be displayed 60 times. For every 100 ad impressions HubPages Publisher ID is displayed APPROXIMATELY 40 times. I say approximately because HubPages will actually share part of their share with other people, such as those referring traffic.
   
   And if an ad is clicked or a product is bought on your share of the impressions you make 100% of the commission.
   
   Next: How Adsense Works

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   1. 87

      Dorsiposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Very clear Darkside, I'm going to send a newbie friend this way so he can get a clear understanding of the revenue side of HubPages, which we were just discussing today and I was trying to describe it to him, lol!! You have done a much better job at it!

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      1. 62

         darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         It'll be later rather than sooner, but this information will be available soon on HubPages Official Learning Center blog. And it will link to more information about each revenue program.

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            yoshi97posted 14 years agoin reply to this

            As a thought, it might not be a bad idea to add the things people can do to get dropped by these affiliates. Many don't read the agreement and find themselves upset later when the brick hits them later on the head. Just a thought.

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            1. 62

               darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

               Here's a little taste of what's to come:
               
               1.4.1 Setting Up Your Account - Affiliate Settings - Adsense
               1.4.2 Setting Up Your Account - Affiliate Settings - Amazon Associates
               1.4.3 Setting Up Your Account - Affiliate Settings - Ebay Partner Network
               1.4.4 Setting Up Your Account - Affiliate Settings - Kontera
               
               And then:
               
               1.5 Setting Up Your Account - Affiliate Settings - Click Fraud

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               1. 56

                  yoshi97posted 14 years agoin reply to this

                  and ya might want to add 1.6, a glossing over of the TOS. I've been seeing in the forums more and more where people are losing their adsense and then wondering why - meaning they never read 'da rules'.
                  
                  I'd also include how people in India (and I think Asia) need to wait to apply for adsense. However, how does one start the clock ticking so that adsense knows they have been around for 6 months? That's the one that makes me wonder.
                  
                  The big ones are the TOS rules revolving around 'you can't have this on your page and you can't have that'
                  
                  I know it mostly boils down to the same hub rules we see every time we post, but I sometimes think people consider those as only HPs rules, and they don't understand that they aren't just violating HPs TOS when they violate them, they're violating Adsense and the other services too.

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2. 72

   livewithrichardposted 14 years ago

   Looks good but maybe you should specify that kontera ads will only be visible to those that are not logged into HP while Google Adsense ads are always visible.

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   1. 62

      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Good point.
      
      I've got to try and answer questions before they're asked and that's something that comes up a lot.

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3. 63

   Has_aWayWithWordsposted 14 years ago

   Seems pretty understandable and straight forward to me.

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      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      But you're a fast learning newb!

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         Has_aWayWithWordsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I would say you are on the right track and I find it is easiest to write it out, then go through and read it to see what may be missing or what questions aren't answered then just go back and edit to fill in those areas. It is hard to guess and get everything in it without reading through it in an almost completed state.
         
         Of my 40ish hubs I published all of them relatively quickly then I have edited and made changes to almost all of them several times to tweak them a bit. I think I only have about 4 or 5 that are truly complete to my liking.

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4. 0

   JeanMeriamposted 14 years ago

   I think it would be more clear if you placed the last two paragraphs after you explained Adsense and before you moved on to ebay and amazon and the explained how the works with ebay and amazon. I think it would seem a little foggy to someone new to revenue sharing as is.

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   1. 62

      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I'll be just touching on it a little bit and then explain it in greater detail in the linked posts afterwards.

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5. 65

   Ivorwenposted 14 years ago

   It is very clear to me.

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6. 69

   Cagsilposted 14 years ago

   It seemed pretty good to me.
   
   But, then again, I'm going to be in amateur stage of explaining hubpages to others for a while longer.
   
   Honestly, I can explain a few things, but not in the detail you did here.

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   1. 62

      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      It just takes a lot of spilling, a few rewrites, feedback and then some editing.

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         Cagsilposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         Good to know. I'll have to remember that. Thank you.

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7. 60

   Christeneposted 14 years ago

   Looks good to me too.
   
   Might want to add that it's difficult to get approved with eBay now.
   I'm disappointed with that. I was really hoping to be able to use eBay capsules on my hubs.

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   1. 62

      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      "Might want to add that it's difficult to get approved with eBay now."
      
      I've got another two to write before I get to that little mess
      
      "I'm disappointed with that. I was really hoping to be able to use eBay capsules on my hubs."
      
      I've got an EPN Publisher ID that'll work for you LOL

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         Christeneposted 14 years agoin reply to this

         How kind of you! haha
         
         I'm just bitter 'cause today I got the 'rejected' email.

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8. 56

   yoshi97posted 14 years ago

   Yep, definitely mention the difficulties with getting signed up with Ebay. Other than that, it's all good.
   
   I'm currently working on an Ebay experiment of my own. If it works (fingers crossed) I'll report back on a means by which (hopefully) hubbers can get signed up with Ebay. However, until the experiment is finalized I won't say no more of it as I don't want to get anyone's hopes up.
   
   All I will say at this time is I am following a battle plan I saw elsewhere and determining if it will actually work.
   
   So ... for now ... Ebay remains an unfriendly beast to us hubbers.

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      darksideposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Let me know how that experiment works out.

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         yoshi97posted 14 years agoin reply to this

         I will ... I promise. I need to wait things out for about another two weeks and then I'm going to apply. Provided I manage to break into the sacred Ebay circle I'll be back to report exactly how I did it. Otherwise, if my experiment fails I will weep in my Wheaties and plot a new route.

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9. 61

   Dao Hoaposted 14 years ago

   Darkside, I can follow it perfectly. Therefore, it is good. Thanks.

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10. 60

    Karina S.posted 14 years ago

    It is very clear.

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11. 59

    Daisydotposted 14 years ago

    You might want to add a little about the Adsense and Kontera terms and conditions.
    
    So many people think it's easy to get an Adsense account for instance, and it's not. Lots of people are unaware that if you make less than $5 a month with Kontera they forfeit your earnings.
    
    A few caveats in these sorts of help guides would help enormously IMO.

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    1. 79

       skyfireposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Not  true i have earned less than 5$ from kontera and my money is intact. I have contacted kontera support about this rumor and they clarified that my money if less than 5$ will still be counted.

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       1. 59

          Daisydotposted 14 years agoin reply to this

          Well this is what HubPages own blog says about it:
          
          http://blog.hubpages.com/2009/03/hubpag … explained/
          
          "Also, you must at least reach $5 each month for it to roll over to the next, which is why we only recommend Kontera to our Hubbers with higher levels of traffic".
          
          That's where I got my info from. Have Kontera changed their terms?

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             sunforgedposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             yes, kontera changed their terms

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    2. 71

       thisisoliposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       Daisy, Kontera do not forfeit your earnings if they are lower than $5 a month, they used to, but that a while ago!
       
       *Edit* Just noticed a few people also mentioned this, sorry for duplicating!

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12. 56

    wrenfrost56posted 14 years ago

    I would suggest that you could maybe add that at first ads don't always reflect content, but do in time as thats been questioned a fair bit.
    
    Other then that as ever your work is great.

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13. 59

    artycraftypartyposted 14 years ago

    Thanks for the explanation, Darkside.
    I started with HP one week ago, wrote 3 hubs, got backlinks, started to get little revenue, though the CTR on Adsense was higher than 10%. Everything was working.
    As of a couple of days ago, despite having a smaller audience than the first part of the week, I still got a few dozens impressions and clicks, but no earnings at all (£0.00).
    I have run out of ideas. Any help very welcome.

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    1. 59

       Daisydotposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       It might be that the clicks were below 1 cent and therefore registered as zero. That happens when teh clicks are from the developing world (the ad rates are lower there). It also happens if the keyword is a very low paying keyword. If teh advertiser is paying 4 cents, you may get 1 cent or less.

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       Has_aWayWithWordsposted 14 years agoin reply to this

       if you have valid clicks then you have earnings. All ad clicks pay even if it is only a few cents. I would say you probably have gotten the impressions and the views but not actual clicks on the ads. The only other would be if the clicks were invalid at which point adsense will disable your account. You will not see any real dollars for months unless you have some serious money making hubs that get hundreds and thousand of outside visitors on a regular basis.

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          yoshi97posted 14 years agoin reply to this

          *Yoshi raises his hand*
          
          Actually, I had a click that made nothing the other day - zilch - but I have only ever had one like that.

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             IzzyMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

             I thought clicks that made nothing were because the person who clicked shut the page quickly. Google knows how long a person spends on each page actually reading the contents. If a page is opened and shut just as quickly they will know.

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14. 79

    MyWebsposted 14 years ago

    I am still kinda new around here and its easy for me to follow. Then again I've spent the last few weeks doing a lot of reading about how HP works.

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15. 62

    darksideposted 14 years ago

    Thanks all!
    
    I think I can leave (or perhaps abandon) this one as is, but I am taking on board all the suggestions in this thread for the ones I write after this, eg: How Adsense, Amazon, Ebay and Kontera all individually work.

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    habeeposted 14 years ago

    Other than the Ebay issue, I'd say it's pretty darn near perfect, Darkside!

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17. 67

    arthritickneeposted 14 years ago

    I often have clicks with zero value.
    
    I assume that these are deemed invalid by google and not honoured. I also assume they have a scale of suspicion. Low level suspicious clicks = don't pay. High level or patterns of suspicious behaviour = account cancelled.

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    myownworldposted 14 years ago

    Great thread and information. Just the kind of thing we need here....not only for newbies, but many of us who are still trying to learn the ropes here. Thank you.

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    LaViejaposted 14 years ago

    I am a newbie and that is the clearest, most understandable explanation I have seen on the subject. I look forward to the rest.

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