How to Improve your Writing and Make More Money
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I'm on a roll, sharing my online writing tips recently. Some, I learned through advice from some wonderful mentors. Others, I had to learn the hard way: experience.
I want you to get there faster than me.
In this Hub, I'll let you know how to improve your writing and make more money! This hub is directed primarily at people publishing at HubPages (but the same tips can be used if you publish at Squidoo or related sites). Much of this advice is applicable to bloggers, too.
When I say that you can improve your writing, I am not really talking about your voice or approach. Instead, I'm going to cover a few tips that should help your hubs or other online publications rise in Google Page Rank, Alexa ranking and help bring traffic (and probably revenue) your way.
They say that content is king. But sometimes even the best articles will not get traffic due to lack of SEO knowledge... or on the flip side ... using black-hat SEO tactics, which will backfire. Its hard to outsmart Google. If you create 100% SEO-optimized hubs, it may look unnatural or spammy. You don't want your hard work to be viewed that way!
How to Make Money on HubPages
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Before you Write, Research Topics, Keywords and Tags
If you are writing on HubPages for more than just enjoyment, then you'll want to make sure that the 2-3 (or more) hours you spend putting together a Hub is not wasted. In business terms, its called a return on investment (ROI).
Why not maximize your ROI by writing on a topic that will consistently get readers, and also use tags to make sure that interested people can find it using the major search engines? Let's make sure that you make more than $1 an hour for your work.
Beyond the simple, one-word tags, you will need long-tail keywords. There are several tools that you can use to research the traffic on any given keyword, and then see the competition that your potential hub will have, from other existing URLs, including WordTracker and Google AdWords.
Although you may include a number of tags, you should keep in mind the 3-4 keywords around which your post is built. These exact keywords should be repeated consistently (and naturally) so that they do not represent more than 4% of the total number of words in your article. I now advise against bolding and/or underlining keywords - although I've done that in the past. It is considered spamming!
Use the keywords that are in your URL in the first paragraph (ideally the first few sentences) of your article. Speaking of URLs, be sure to use one that is simple, short and does not include superfluous words like "and" "a" "be," etc. Basic tip: Google prefers short URLs that are directly relevant to the content.
For this hub, I started it using the words "improve-writing," and after it was established, I gave it a catchier title.
Writing Online Articles
Produce Original Works on Topics that will not go Stale
This tip is at the top of my list. Sure, you might garner an avalanche of traffic by writing a really great article on hot news topics, but 6, 9 or 12 months from now, the publications that will continue to get traffic and make money are those on issues for which people will always search. In other words, evergreen topics. Save the Sarah Palin topic for your blogs.
Evergreen topics include "how to," "top 10 tips," and advice on any number of topics (from raising kids, to selling your home). If you want to stand out in the crowd, find a unique angle, or narrow the niche focus. Instead of "how to adopt a dog," write on "how to adopt a miniature poodle."
Of course, your work has to be original, not only because its illegal to steal other people's work, but even if you are "borrowing" from other works you have created yourself, you could get punished by the search engines. Write something new, and if you are going to use the same idea as you've already published, then create your hub from the top of your head, rather than referring directly to the previous work. It will come out fresh and new.
Bottom line: Google loves unique, quality content. HubPages is smart to require a minimum number of words for Hubs. The shorter the text - and if you simply fill your post with a ton of photos of videos - the less you'll gain in PageRank and long-term, quality traffic.
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Tag and Describe all your Capsules
Google will find your article not only by the text and tags, but also from the photos you include. Make sure that you include a description, using keywords, for each and every image in your Hub. Same goes for videos. In fact, when you break out a hub or other article with subheadings, you need to make sure to label each capsule.
It pays to use attractive, catchy photographs, as well as relevant videos. When selecting videos, pay attention to the length. My rule of thumb is that if its longer than about 4 minutes, my reader will be gone. On the other hand, if you have several videos, put the shortest ones near the top, and leave the longer ones for deeper in the text.
Remember that many readers are scanning the article and do not have time to spend on a long video. A friend of mine advised that, by putting the shortest videos at the beginning, you generate respect from your readership, given their limited time on your page. The more respect you gain, the more your followers grow.
Make sure there is a nice balance to text and images. And, while you're at it - leave some white space on the page for your readers to breathe. I like to break out my paragraphs more often than not.
I'll even hard return before a single sentence to give it emphasis.
How Often to You Revisit Previously Published Articles or Hubs?
See results without votingRe-Visit Your Hubs Often
HubPages does a great job alerting its publishers when there are broken links or potential copyright violations. However, the best hubber is one that takes care of their hubs on a regular basis. Every 2-3 months (if not more frequently), re-read your hubs. Edit outdated information and links. Add a few more sentences, if appropriate. You may even have some new ideas for tags that can bring additional readers.
For me, I have close to 180 hubs (as of the date of this publication). My goal is to take 2 hubs per day - going in alphabetical order - and read carefully through them. I will correct any information that needs updating, add new tags or keywords, based on an updated keyword search, and otherwise decide if the hub should stay published.
So far, I've deleted only one. However, since I have learned so much in the past year and a half, there are probably several others that may be worthy of some significant revisions, or perhaps a trip to the Internet graveyard.
Create Quality Backlinks
Every good online writer knows that backlinks are key. You want other sites linking back to you, right? So, you need to return (or initiate) the favor. You also need to be careful to link to higher PageRank sites. Websites like Wikipedia, Flickr, .edu and .gov sites, and any Google, Microsoft, Yahoo official website or blog, are almost always worth your backlink.
Don't forget to use your own hubs for backlinking to each other. HubPages makes this very easy when you use the hyperlink tool. This works even better if you publish a number of hubs on a related topic (whether training for a marathon or solar power). Then, you can pick which one of the hubs is the best optimized, and link all related hubs to that one. In short, you get to pick your "flagship" hub that may be best rewarded by Google PageRank and potential additional traffic - and money!
One word of caution that I will share from experience: be judicious with your backlinks. Too many and you'll "leak" PageRank from your good articles. I was advised that a couple of my blogs would have PR4 or PR5 if I had not included so many links in my posts. Minimizing the number to 2-3 (depending on the link) can help you save some of that valuable juice for yourself.
A Final Word
I am still learning. I need to go back through my own hubs to "clean things up" and optimize things for the best payback. And, quite frankly, sometimes I just want to publish a hub or a blog post for fun... without thinking about SEO, making money or the like.
I've found that when I just relax and write from the heart on topics that I enjoy, I often see the greatest AdSense return. This is not to mention the pure joy from publishing and then getting great feedback in comments from people that I admire and respect.
So have fun! Its a great big Internet, and if you manage to get a few people's attention, good for you!
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Comments
Sure thing, Rina! Backlinks are when you insert a hyperlink from your text to another website. Sometimes they will reciprocate. Its great to get links back from other sites (even if only other hubs published by hubbers) to your own publication. Let me know if this clarifies things - I didn't understand all this for several months after joining HubPages. :)
These tips will help writing stand out from the crowd. I like your unique take on this often covered topic.
Thank you so much! I debated about the topic, and just decided to write straight from my heart and experience. SweetiePie, you are one that I admire greatly. Thank you again for the comment and support!
Thanks, Steph, I am still trying to sort the wheat from the chaff in this whole new experience. I appreciate the help
Actually it was good to have someone such as yourself write a quality piece on this subject matter. You show how people can write hubs when they are looking to make an impact and not just to spam the system :).
This is quite informative. Thanks. We shall get there.
steph - hey :) Nice article! I should think readers will get the gist from this hub. There's many hubs about how to optimise your writing but some are a bit complicated for the non-techy types. This was informative and understandable :)
As for me - I'm just too damn lazy to give SEO the proper attention.
Thanks steph - rated up ;)
Hi all- thanks! I would suggest to do as I say, and not as I do. I could be better myself in paying attention to SEO on my hubpages. Often, I put up a hub and then go back later to add keywords and tags. Hope the info helps - I appreciate the thumbs up too Frogdropping!
This is excellent information. It's funny, most of the advice you give is also relevant to blogging. It was through my blogging that I am realizing how to optimize my hubpages. As much, or as little, that I know I found lots of new info about hubs and SEO, and also info that strengthened what I already know
Hi Birte, yes - I really learned much more about SEO through blogging. I hope people realize that its quite helpful for hubbing too. I do need to take time to go through each of my hubs and tweak them, if necessary.
Thanks for giving good information in such a clear style. This will help us with our website as well as our hubs. I admire your disciplined approach to reviewing your hubs. We shall attempt some improvements.
Let's hear it for apostrophes:
its called a return
if its longer than about 4
Its a great big
Just editing. It's hard to turn off. :-) --Ann
Hi Steph, you got my attention! Thanks for writing this hub that is so full of useful information and that is easy to understand. ~Dottie
Hi 2Patricias - I'm happy to hear that this hub will help you with your blogs too! Thanks for reading and commenting, Steph
Hey Dottie, thank you! I've been thinking about writing this hub on improving writing for some time. I appreciate the visit! Steph
Great information to have. Right now, I'm just writing what comes to mind and not really worrying about SEO or making money. This is probably why I've made just a little over $1 in almost six weeks! I would, however, love to quit my day job, so I may incorporate some of your tips from now on!
Hi kea, it took me about 4 or 5 months to hit the AdSense payout at first. But once you get there, it will keep on rolling. Good luck! Steph
thanks i will improve my skill too
Hi,
i am new comer of the hub pages. i would read your articles it is good for backlinks......
I love reading articles that keep me interested right to the very end. :) Thanks for your hard work and great writing style, I learned a lot.
~Jen
Hi Forlan, thank you for visiting and commenting. Good luck!
Welcome to HubPages, jazdmarkets2. I hope you find these writing tips helpful in your hubbing.
Hi Jen, I appreciate the comment. Good to hear that I'm keeping readers engaged right to the end. Best, Steph
hi i just want ed to say a word or two here as i enjoyed your hub today finally i found someone who speaks the same language in terms of search result just to let all you folk know who i am my name is charles h price longtime webdesigner /exhouse painter yea i worked for a living well not really i owned one of the biggest painting outfits in seattle washington color coat painting i explored web market in other area before promoting my own business online as i never promoted a real street address before , well to make things short here i created a website that dominated all the search engines for almost 3.5 years including google i basicly owned the #1234 spots in just about every keyword related to painting houses, with keyword contented and url alignment is my term for it, title ,top of page first words 6 max middle of content and finish sententing matched to url or web address all match or have very slight differance two major item that keep me at the top mo matter what was meta tag greation these little tags keep coming up nowadays as useless well i dont by this at all infact i strongly encourage them be sure your discrution tag matches your title but ad a few extra words and also one tiny little thing i noticed that works well is key words make your second keyword youe title the robot wont like it if you use it first for some reason i tried i always seemed to lose a position or 2 if i used it first so try the last word firat then your title and zoom you go off to the top, one last thing also search engines from my experiance dont like complicated of flashy sites to much they wan speed something that clicks like your tv remote changing channels my site was so simple it load faster than most blink an eye but the site was jammed with imformation all indexed in alphabetical order all with meta tags basicly every topic i created in my site looked like its own website to the spiders way cool stuff and i created it and control the market in seattle to the tune of around 25,000.00 plus dollars every month. i would like to show everyone here proof of why this stuff is king on the net im about to show you my latest experiment target the desert area where i live selling books and videos notice my page there it looks like a cartoon and then check the url and bottom of page and the the top heres the best part almost the entire site is empty except a few links to affiliate programs like amazon now there sre a few working pages but they also are incomplete so why did this site go straight to #1and 2 i aligned my keywords from title to url take alook at my msn rank 4,000,000 plus results and this site is just a ghost basicly doing nothing but getting our name out there hud owner it would be nice if you posted this in one of your hubs for me as i enjoyed you page and id like to share this with anyone who is determined to succeed online heres the link to one of my search results to tame any oposing opions out there i have been offline almost 3 years now and this was my only project online since as a test to see if i still got it folks:) >>>http://search.live.com/results.aspx?q=desert+books see 1 and 2 in the results then click site link to view the site very simple design i am now a hubber here as of today look up baiirsss or desertbooks for my articals sometime soon thanks all it been fun see ya in the results get those hubs working charles h. price webdesigner
Thank your for this wonderful article.I hope it will improve my writing a topic and keyword selection process.
So glad to hear that the article will help you improve your writing, andromida. Thanks for the comment. Best to you, Steph
Steph, thanks so much for sharing your tips with the newer hubbers like myself. I have had miniscule traffic to my hubs, although I believe they are above average in quality. I will use some of these technical tips to see if I can improve traffic.
How do you determine whether you have rights to use an image in your hub that you find online? I often find images that I would like to use, but they come with a copywrite warning that makes me hesitant to use them.
Thanks Ron - one of my favorite sites for images is Creative Commons. Check the level of "rights" and you may be able to use one with attribution to the photographer. You can also go to Microsoft clip art and use one of the photos there. I take lots of photos myself to avoid some of these hassles. :)
Also, to boost your traffic, be sure to comment on other people's hubs, participate in the community and consider other Web 2.0 sites like Twitter, Digg, StumbleUpon, Mixx. They mostly employ a "you scratch my back, I'll scratch yours" approach. This means you have to help promote their articles, and then will do the same for you. Best, Steph
I am exttremely new here. a couple of days to be exact. I just love the little kitten on the keyboard. Now a back link. Is that when I link to another website with my link?
I know - isn't that kitten cute? A backlink is either way - when you link to another website and vice-versa. When you backlink to more sites, the thought is that they will backlink to you with quality content. On my blogs, I get "pingbacks" that show me when other sites link to mine. Its even better than getting a comment.
Excellent information here to get the most for your time when you are creating content. Backlinks are important as well. I have several blogs as well as hubpages and I try and tie them all together to build up links.
May be pure coincidence, (but I doubt it) my hub traffic is off the charts today after applying some of these tips. Thanks for your help, I feel I owe you a commission.
Ron, that is excellent news! I love to hear that my advice has had a positive impact on your traffic! Best, Steph
Erik, you are right about quality backlinks. I have more information that could form the basis for a follow-up hub.
Nice hub,...I ll learn someting from it...
hey do u have account on e-bay?
hav u paid there?
I was tring but they are asling to apy what should be done?
Very nice Hub, i'm new to this aswell. I first got intrested in it because of the chance to make money in my spare time blogging and writing articles about things I know but now that I started going through it a little I find it really fun and a great way to spend some time. I got a bunch of tips from this hub and that video you posted, thanks a ton! :]
Hi apeksha, Yes - I have accounts with eBay and also Amazon. Check the forum sticky posts for exact application advice (I applied so long ago, I forgot what I did). :)
Hi Markrules, good luck here at HubPages! I'm so glad you found the advice useful. Steph
Thanks for an informative hub! That's a great tip to think about when you said be judicious about too many links in your hub because it can leak pagerank. If this were a regular website we could just add that 'no-follow attribute', but since it's not we need to very careful of where we link to.
Thank you - I just learned about the pagerank leak issue a few months ago! Again, I hope that others can learn more quickly than me!
Stephhicks68, useful information was included in your hub. Could you explain how to hyperlink on Hubpages?
You are right. but I made a long time , I did't wrote any word. now it is verry difficult for me.
Hi linda, to insert a hyperlink in a text capsule, you must be editing it. Look at the tool bar above the text, and next to the "omega" symbol is a small, 2-link chain (there is also a broken chain to use if you want to break the hyperlink). Highlight the text from which you want to link, then click on the chain. Insert the URL. You can use advanced options to open the link in a new window (which I recommend), that way visitors won't be directed away from your page. Best, Steph
Hi Steph, this is fantastic. I'm still learning too and found this very helpful especially when it comes to the titles of hubs- perhaps using a short one for the URL and going back to change the title later if desired. Thanks for this article! -Journey*
Hi Journey* thank you! Its a very easy tip to employ. Best, Steph
Wow, I've read several articles on this topic, and this is by far the most comprehensive, realistic, and understandable. Nicely done!
Thank you nutuba! I am so happy to hear that. Best, Steph
Koh Nee Chee Wah... Had to read this after seeing Birtie log ontoit. And I'm glad I did .. Thank you Steph for a nicely balanced approach in this hub.
You are welcome Pearldiver - I hope you find it useful for improving your writing for your goals. :) Steph
Excellent hub, thanks a lot for all the tips and detailed information...
nice hub but i have a doubt that if i will target most popular keywords in a category then there are always big guns in every category so , i will never be on first page on google for that key word and thanks for wordtracker
Very nice post....thanks for amazing info.
This article is very nice..and gives me an idea on what to do on the next time....thant i write an article....
Thanks for the learning that you shared.....
Hi Hammerj, I'm glad you found it helpful. Anyone can improve writing and make more money! Even the "old pros."
I always learn great things from your hubs and even us "newbies" can understand becuase you exsplain it so well,...your Awesome Steph !!!!
Thank you so much Army Infantry Mom! I love to hear that the writing tips are helping. Best, Stephanie
very nice hubs... lots of new things that I discovered... this hub helped me alot.. thank you! please join my fan club also.. god bless!
Steph, thank you for this hub. It"s been a big help. I'm discovering new topics each day and your advice about a title has really helped. I've a total of 14 hubs published and am trying new topic ideas too. May God bless you in your journey. And thank you for the advice about the pictures too. I've been wondering about that.
Connie - all the best to you! I'm glad you found the hub helpful. Steph
thanks for the tips...
I can use every tip in this article, I am doing it for every thing, fun, money, you name it.
As a professional blogger myself I can tell you that quality back links are the most important. I have seen ugly blogs and bad writers get a lot of popularity because they had the right links pointing to them.
RinaMonte says:
6 months ago
I am very new to this whole business, and, so far, I am doing it for fun, not for money. If it starts being for money, I'll definitely change my atittude. However, right now I have many questions, like, what are "backlinks?" Pardon my ignorance, and I will greatly appreciate the answer. Thank you.
Rina