This will not be a static hub. I will continue to write about my future progress and I will add links to those reports at the bottom of this hub.

My successes and failures, as well as my account of experiences on Hubpages (HP for short), will hopefully help other Hubbers. I’ll also display links, a the side bar, to other Hubbers who I have learned a lot from. There are many Hubbers out there who offer very useful information. I have learned a great deal from reading their hubs, which has helped me get started on a strong footing.

I started with Hubpages on October 20^th 2009 after stumbling upon another Hubber’s article about a subject I was searching for via Google. I became very interested after looking around the site since I am a creative writer myself. I had published a book about creativity that comes from unconscious doodling back in 2005, available on Amazon. I’m also completing another book by the end of the year, about relationships. So I thought that Hubpages would lend itself well to my passion for writing.

So, let’s begin. I’ll start with two weekly progress reports for my first two weeks, then I'll add capsules monthly thereafter.

I had been writing one hub every other day since I started. By the end of the first week, my hub score had made it over 75, with four hubs published. My individual hub scores ranged between 67 and 75. Hubs start with a score of 50 and then move up or down, as I’ll explain…

I noticed that the scores all fluctuate up and down a little. I think this is based on various factors that keep changing over time…the number of hits from outside the hub community vs. other hubbers, the number of “up” or “down” ratings that readers click on each hub, and how much I share in the community. Yes, the Hub Community. You definitely want to be active in the community. I found that “Hubtivity” increases your hub score too.

Hubtivity - Q&A

I have answered a few questions in the Q&A section, but I did not answer many, less than ten. I only answer a question if I can offer useful information. It will be interesting to see how that affects my hub score as I continue. Other Hubbers can browse questions and either answer them, or read other answers. Then they can vote on the answer. I like the way the HP bots monitor all this and use it to adjust one’s Hubber Score. Isn’t technology wonderful? Every move you make will affect your score.

Hubtivity - Forums

I have also participated in various Forums. You’ll find a wealth of information there and once in a while, you’ll find yourself posting a response to someone, or asking your own questions. But make sure your posts are placed under the correct subjects. I also avoid posting anything that might be taken as self-promotion. That is not what the Forums are there for. I know that my avatar (my image) that is included on every post is a link to my profile. So that gives anyone who reads my post a way to find me if they have a desire to know me more, or to see what else I’ve published, or if they want to join my Fan Club.

Google AdSense

Google AdSense is included automatically in hubs. That is how HP makes money for running the show. As a new Hubber, I don’t yet have my own Adsense account. So HP is getting 100% at the start. And I did not apply for it either because if I do too soon, Google may reject me. HP has no control over that. I learned this from another Hubber. I don’t remember whom, but see the side bar for all I’ve learned from.

We Hubbers need to first build up a good status in the community and have high quality, well written, original hubs. Never copy from anywhere else, that’s stealing. Google will know it. There is a site on the Internet that one can use to find copies of their web pages anywhere else. I use it to make sure no one copies from my business site. Google can do the same thing. And I think HP bots do it too. Your earnings will be a result of your own original work. Don’t publish duplicates of your own articles on different sites either. That will confuse the issue or originality.

Getting back to AdSense. I’ll apply for it when my hub score goes over 80. Once I have it, HP will display AdSense with my Google Adsense affiliate code 60% of the time and with their own affiliate code the other 40%. That is how they share the income with you. They don’t have to pay you directly that way. You get paid from Google.

So how can I try to make money before having my own AdSense account? I include my own eBay and Amazon capsules where appropriate. HP splits the earnings the same way as with AdSense. The traffic will fall on your hub with your affiliate code 60% of the time and with HubPages’ affiliate code the other 40%.

Anyway, monitoring my eBay and Amazon accounts, I see no earnings yet. But that is expected since the only hits I am getting are form other hubbers. It will take time for traffic to start coming from search engine referrals. Those are the hits from people who have been looking for something and may be in a buying mode. Getting the search engines to list you is a subject well covered by other hubbers. See the side panel.

Google Analytics

One thing you can get started with immediately is Google Analytics. I already had it for my own site and I added a separate Analytics Profile to track my individual hubs on HP. I see presently that most hits come from other hubbers (maybe mostly myself at the start). The Analytics Report shows that a few hits are coming from email accounts. Those are most likely from links I had sent to friends to see my articles. I learned from one of the other hubbers that your score is also based on how many hits you get from the outside. So try to get those referrals.

Referral Links

Whenever I send a link to a friend, I include my HP referral code in the URL. If they sign up and make money, I will share in a small part of that. And if they click an ad in another hubber’s article, I share in that too. How does that work? I think it has to do with placing your affiliate code in their ads for a short period of time.

You can generate the URL with your HP referral by scrolling to the bottom of any hub and clicking on “link to this page.”

Well, that’s all for now. That is what I learned so far in my first week. Below is my progress report for my second week.

I made some changes to my existing articles. I removed some eBay and Amazon capsules. I realize that less is sometimes more. Too many ads scattered around a hub will overwhelm a reader. If they see ads all over, they may not even start reading, they’ll just click away. Haven’t made any money yet, but it’s too soon to expect it, so I’m just working on making things as good as can be.

My hub score reached 85, but settled back to 82. I have added 4 more hubs and I am up to 8 now, including this one.

One thing I didn’t expect I would end up doing, I wrote a few Hubs about using HubPages to help other Hubbers with HubPages. I got so much out of reading other Hubs that I wanted to give something back. And besides, it's good practice for writing articles. See the sidebar.

My Hubber Score went over 80 in the second week. And my Hubs were showing reasonable Hub Scores, which reflect the same thing Google looks for. And that is… readability, number of eyeballs, how long the eyeballs stay on the page, and so on.

So I figured that Google would accept me now. I went ahead and signed up. I kept detailed records (emails and screen shots) of that experience and wrote a separate Hub about it. Needless to say, I now have Google AdSense in my hubs, but what a journey! Read my Hub... Step-By-Step Picture Guide to Successful AdSense Activation.

Answer Questions With A Hub

Another interesting thing that I discovered, I was enlightened to write one of my hubs because of a question from another hubber. I was reviewing the Q&A last week and someone had asked how Halloween is affected by falling on a Saturday this year. So many thoughts started spiraling around my head, that I decided to answer him. Then I noticed that HP asks you if you want to make a hub out of the answer. So I did. That was an additional hub I may not have written otherwise.

Problems With eBay Affiliate

Nearing the end of my second week, I was aware that my eBay Partner Reports did not show any impressions. That is the number of times the ads are displayed in anyone’s browser window. Even if no one clicks, it still should show impressions because I myself had viewed my own hubs in the process of writing them and even going back later to make a few updates sometimes. So what was happening? I decided to check out the Forums on the subject, only to discover that a good number of other Hubbers have been having problems signing up and getting approval to place eBay ads on HuPages. I even found a recent post from a HubPages staff person who said to hold off on trying to use eBay at this time, due to all the problems.

Being a problem solver by nature, I did my own investigation, checking the HTML code (that is the programming stuff that makes HubPages be what it is). I saw that HubPages is correctly inserting the eBay affiliate code in my Hubs. I also was able to verify that my affiliate code was replaced with HubPages’ affiliate code once is a while. That actually works out to the 60/40 split. My affiliation with the eBay Partner Program is working well on my business site. So I had no choice but to come to the conclusion that eBay is rejecting my hits on HubPages. I wrote a Hub all about this (Problem Solving HubPages’ Domain Confirmation for eBay Affiliates), with additional thoughts, etc.

One last thing, I now have four Fans. I think they found me through my answers I wrote in response to some questions, through my posts in the Forum, and one because I beat her to it and joined her Fan Club first. I thank you all for giving me the incentive to do more here. It's rewarding, and I didn't even make any money yet!

Well, that’s all for now, two weeks and counting. I’ll continue adding to this Hub around the first of each month from no on with my monthly status reports. Thanks for reading, and I hope it helps in some way.

I will continue to include links here to all my monthly reports...

My Hubpages Six Week Progress Report (December 2009)