HubPages Blueprint

Hubpages Blueprint. A misleading title because I'm not about to share the inner workings and machinations of how the admin team do their thing. However, what this hub will do is help you monetize your hubs - and up your potential to make money online, for free.

HubPages Blueprint

Hubpages Blueprint doesn't carry a guarantee. Because I can't factor in how much time, effort and attention to detail you will put into your hubs. That part relies solely on you.  

This hub started life as a load of scribbled notes, taken from seasoned hubbers that I chose to take notice of, read and learn from. That is not to say that this hub is exactly how they write their hubs. Some of what I do may differ vastly from their own methods. But when I use this method, it generally works for me.

I've also noticed that some people sell this type of info. They add to it, flesh it out but much of the filling is just smoke and mirrors, extra words written as a means of filling out the content and creating an eBook or similar.

Well, here you go - totally free and pared down to what's important. The cost is in your effort to take the information and use it to the best of your ability.

How To Monetize Your Hubs

If the above pictures aren't clear enough - my bad. Taking snap shots of anything has never been my forte. If anyone would like to tell me how to improve on sharing pictures taken off the desktop, be assured I'm willing to learn.

Step by step - the way to monetize your hubs.

1. Research keywords. Use Google’s Adsense Tool: Keyword Tool - opens in a new window.
2. This is an example, to help you understand how to use it.
3. Using 'red handbags' as the keyword we're researching - type it into the text box that says 'enter keyword or phrase'
4. Underneath, copy the 'catchpa' exactly - then hit 'enter'
5. Next, when the page loads, in the box to the right of the screen, where it says either 'wide' or 'broad', click it. On the drop down box, click 'exact'.
6. This causes the keyword to come back as an exact match.
7. Next, above the box you've just used, that says 'choose the columns to display', click on the arrow and remove 'local searches' then add in 'estimated average CPC'
8. Now, look down the right hand column - this shows you the searches per month, then the competition, then the estimated CPC.
9. The CPC is what the keyword may be worth to an advertiser. You will roughly earn about 5% of whatever it is, every time someone clicks on a related add on one of your HubPages hubs.
10. The searches are important, as is the competition. If the competition is strong, with a high search return, probably better to avoid it. But - check first.
11. Open a second window, in Google. Have installed the Google search bar, and include the page rank button on it, you'll need it.
12. Type 'red handbags' into Google.
13. Check out the page rank for each site.
14. Some of the pages are either page rank 0, 1’s or 2’s.
15. Because they’re low page rank, you can, with effort, get onto the first page with your keyword ready hub - providing you write content that matches the title, tags and so on - plus you will need to backlink.
16. Write your hub. Using the keyword in the URL, the web address you make when HubPages prompts you to do so. Write it in ‘red-handbags’, That doesn’t work, try ‘red_handbags’. That doesn’t work, try ‘designer-red-handbags’ or whatever until something sticks … making sure the keyword is in the URL title.
17. Next, base your title around the keyword, e.g. Ladies Red Handbags or similar, or just the keyword alone.

17. Now you've got it ... use it. You want to insert the keyword under your headers. And use it, in one form or another, for your headers and pictures.

18. For example: 'Red Handbags (as your first header) and immediately underneath begin with: 'Purchasing a red handbag is a lot easier than you think. Gone are the days when ...'

19. Next header, insert underneath: A sentence that includes your keyword, eg 'As red handbags are fast become the color of choice for the modern woman ... ' - you see?

20. Write a separate summary. It needs to include your keyword. Your summary is what's seen on the internet, it's your tagline, the thing that grabs the attention of surfers. Make best use of it.

21. Don't underuse your keyword. It needs to be in the URL title and main title. It needs to be sprinkled (in a natural looking way) throughout your hub. You need to aim for about 4 or 5% of the total word count in the body. Roughly use your keyword once for every hundred words. Eg you hub is 500 words long, use it 4/5 times max.

22. Pictures are a great way to attract organic traffic. Use your keyword, or similar, related ones, such as what you may use for tags.

23. Unless your hub is aimed at Amazon, don't use Amazon capsules. Make other hubs based around Amazon products/reviews.

24. Tags - insert related ones. Avoid using the ones that HubPages 'suggests'. Check what Google likes to see on-page. Easy to locate: scroll to the bottom of the screen and you'll see them. Also, check out the Wonder Wheel. And use what you find if it's related.

25. Don't forget to break up your text boxes. A screen full of block text will often drive your reader away. Insert a few pictures, add a relevant video - make your page interesting.

26. Once you've checked your hub for grammar and spellings - hit publish - you're done.

Backlinking

Backlinking is the second stage of your make money online endeavour. You don't have to do it - some people find that a well written hub will generate it's own natural backlinks. However - most hubbers do backlink.

So, all the information you'll require re backlinking your hubs is sat in the link capsule to the right. They're written by other hubbers and will help you:

• understand the importance of backlinks
• understand what a backlink is
• understand what an anchor text link is
• know where to backlink

All the links on this hubwill open in a new window, and all are worthy of reading. So read them. That's the point of this hub. You read it, learn from it and enhance your potential.

Where do I do my backlinking? In various places. I use a mix of social bookmarking and article sites. It can be laborious work, more so when you have extra articles on a subject you've already hubbed about. But - do it you must. And it does make a difference. As an experiement, I once actively 'supported' one hub I wrote just to see the results. Within a matter of weeks, it had a PR of 4 and was on page one of google.

Social bookmark sites:

• RedGage
• Xomba
• Snipsly
• She Told Me

Article Directories:

• Go Articles
• Associated Content

Web 2.0 Writing Sites (like HubPages)

• Info Barrels
• Squidoo

There are a few other places I scribble on for backlinks - I use free blogging for example. And there are more places than there is on the above list. Where you link is up to you - but I do suggest you backlink. Backlink. And backlink some more.

If ever anyone wonders why the likes of ryankett has become so successful in less than a year - and ignore the time he looks to have been here, nine months or so is when he started 'work' - it because he works for it.

What's more, ryan doesn't hide how he does what he does. He shares what he knows. As do many others. There's a reason for that: they're trying to help you make the most of your hubbing experience, if you're here to earn a passive income online.

Top Tips

Here's a few top tips, to further help you make the most of your hubbing experience.

• before you write a hub, check the competition. Using Google search, type in: site:hubpages.com 'your keyword' If hundreds of pages turn up in the search - don't bother writing your hub, unless you think you can do it better. A saturated keyword focused hub will be harder to get placed in the SERP's
• don't look for great hubs and regurgitate them. First off - it's kinda bad mannered. Secondly the one you're thinking of writing will already be indexed and may be hard to overtake. And Google only takes notice of the first two hubs using the same or similar URL
• Write about what you know, rather than what you don't. This usually requires less effort on your part because you already have the knowledge. Dig around in your mind - you'll be surprised at just how much you know and can share, that will ultimately pay you back
• Consider writing a 'how to'. If you know how to make a pair of curtains, how to make balloon animals and so on - write about it
• Write your hubs and move on. Ten hubs won't give you a return but - a hundred well written, quality hubs will
• If you really expect a return on your writing, then you have to write it. Playing around in the forums will not earn you a dime. Make your main focus your hubs, not the forum
• Don't be impatient. That's what trips many new hubbers up. The fact that a couple of months in they're waiting for the big bucks to roll in. I guarantee you that unless you're a pro at this, you won't see anything decent before the six month or so mark But - the likes of ryankett and Nelle Hoxie have worked hard enough to be pretty solid on HubPages, as far as earning money online goes, in a relatively short space of time. Therefore it can be done

And that's it. The basics are now in your hands. The rest is up to you. You have the means to make a start of monetizing your hubs - the rest is luck and effort. And if you don't believe me, check out the quality of the hubs belonging hubbers such as:

• Sunforged
• Darkside
• Mark Knowles
• Relache
• ryankett
• sufidreamer

Each has their own style, their own voice. All work their hubs in a method that suits them best. But - the common denominator among them is one simple fact: quality. They pay attention to detail and don't churn out regurgitated, badly written crap.

And neither must you. Aim high, write quality hubs, have patience and most of all - to coin a phrase from Sunforged - work smart.

NB - I may now go and write a real hub about red handbags. The cobbled version is sitting with a decent enough hub score in my account. Waste not want not.