Writing HubPages Versus Ezine Articles

There is no shortage of places on the web for both hobby writers and professional writers to publish their work. From building your own website from scratch, to the multiple places where your writing can be inserted into an existing page template, to places like HubPages, the variety is almost as vast.

While choice is a good thing, the different venues where writers can publish writing online provide vastly different experiences, rewards, and payments. Understanding these differences allows serious writers to focus their efforts in the right areas, and avoid those place that may provide no benefit at all to the writer.

Both HubPages and EzineArticles allow writers to publish articles on their websites about virtually any topic that a writer cares to write about. However, they offer a very different paradigm for doing so.

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HubPages is a site that allows anyone to sign up for a HubPages account. The writer uses this account to publish their work online in the form of "Hubs." The definition of a Hub is nothing more than a very loosely defined format in which a writers words are published. However, while a published Hub looks like a freely constructed article, authors actually use various provided modules to structure their content without the need for directly using HTML or other coding.

The author may write as many Hubs as they see fit. It is possible to publish 1,000 hubs in a month if the writer so chooses. As soon as a Hub is completed, the author can immediately publish it. As soon as a Hub is published, it goes "live" and can be found by readers or indexed by search engines without any delay.

Each Hub is ranked via a computer algorithm as is each author. Theoretically, higher HubScores, denote better quality articles, while a higher HubRank denotes higher quality authors.

EzineArticles, at ezinearticles.com, is another website that allows any writer to submit their content on virtually any topic with the exclusion of adult content and various illegal or otherwise restricted content. The author creates an account and submits articles via this account.

When the author submits an article, it is reviewed prior to publication to ensure that it meets the terms and conditions of EzineArticles and that the content meets a minimum level of quality. The author can submit up to 10 articles at which time their account is reviewed. The author can either be promoted to Platinum status in which case they can submit unlimited artilces, or the author can be moved on to another trial level which allows for the submission of 25 articles after which the author will again be evaluated for possible elevation to platinum level.

Evaluating HubPages versus Ezines provides a lesson in contrasting models for online publishing websites.

HubPages does not review articles prior to publication. This means that there is the possibility of more "spam" or other "junk" articles being published. Since the web is an array of connections, the quality articles written by an author may be lumped together with lower quality articles. However, HubPages does police its site, so the proliferation of junk or link loaded articles can be checked, although there is no guarantee that such measures will be sufficient. However, pre-review of articles is no guarantee of quality either.

Although Ezines does review article prior to publication, the review is primarily a technical one, ensuring that the writer did not place more links than allowed within the article, and that those links are not placed too high or in the wrong manner. While grammatically awful articles are rejected, there are plenty of "worthless" articles published on Ezines as well. Serious writers need not worry about ever having an article rejected based on the quality of the writing, nor the topic. 

However, professional authors looking for an outlet for the things they want to write about without the oversight of another editor may find HubPages more appealing.

Within the Internet Marketing community and the SEO-SEM communities, links coming from EzineArticles are typically considered more valuable than links coming from HubPages, although no one has ever offered any evidence that it is true.

Other than how one goes about publishing articles, the major difference between EzineArticles and HubPages is in how the two entities pay their writers.

Ezines offers its writer no monetary payment of any kind. The sum total of Ezine's compensation to its writers is the backlinks the author is allowed to include in their articles and their resource box. The value proposition EzineArticles offers is that the writer's work can be picked up and published on "thousands of websites" thus providing the author with numerous, supposedly quality backlinks. However, while the terms of service require that publishers keep the bio box intact, it seems that Ezines does little or nothing to police this. Many writers will find that while their article have been republished, their bio has not been left on the article. Even worse, many publishers also remove or re-direct any links that exist within the article.

In other words, the only value the author can actually count on from Ezines is in the backlinks that come from the EzinesArticles.com website itself.

HubPages offers a cash payment system via Google AdSense and other affiliate programs such as Amazon Associates. Thus, with HubPages, writers can earn money for writing online.

The HubPages monetization system works by having the author use their own Google AdSense account. HubPages then displays the writer's pages with Google Ads linked to their author's Google account. If the reader clicks an ad, the writer gets the credit for that click.

On 40% of page views, however, HubPages displays Google Ads which are linked to HubPages' AdSense account instead. This provides a 60/40 split of ad revenue with the author.

One nice feature of this paradigm is that the author does not depend upon HubPages for payment. Rather, since the author simply receives the benefit of displaying Google advertisements attached to their account, they are paid by Google and not by HubPages.

For writers deciding which platform to use, or which platform to favor, the decision comes down to the author's goals.

For authors seeking more powerful backlinks, many insist that EzineArticles links are worth more. However, the writer will not be paid.

For authors seeking passive income, or another revenue stream, to supplement a writing career or freelance writing business, HubPages provides a payment system that allows writers to be paid for their work. However, neither site pays writers an upfront fee like writing for Demand Studios does, for example.

So, for money, use HubPages. For link power use EzineArticles.