Rating Articles at Helium.com -- How to Rate and Win

If you are a member of Helium.com, then you know that in order to earn money with Helium.com. you must have a rating star.  It does not matter how well your articles are written, if you do not have a rating star, you will not earn anything!

In order to have a rating star, you must rate at least 10 articles a month, 30 withing the last 90 day, and have a rating score of at least 75%. If you have five rating stars, you will earn a bonus of $3/month.

"Earn by rating! Because rating is critical to the community and the success of Helium, we want to reward our star raters. If you have 5 rating stars on the last day of the month, you will be paid a $3 Rating Bonus." - Helium.com

Five Stars

To yearn five stars, one has to have completed 500 rates, with a minimum score of 75%, or 300 rates, with a minimum score of 85%.

Notice: If your percentage is below 67%, then it doesn't matter how many articles you rate, you will not earn a star.

They say...

"The 90-day and 30-day periods are evaluated daily for the prior 30 and 90-day periods. The evaluation that results in the most stars will determine how many rating stars you have earned. Example: If you qualify for 1 rating star in the last 30 days but no rating stars in the last 90 days, we’ll base your stars on the 30-day numbers. If you qualify for 2 or more rating stars in the 90-day period and only 1 in the 30-day period, your stars will be based on the 90-day period." -Helium.com

...but my experience has not shown this to be true. I found that if I did not maintain the 30 day star, then I made no money -- no matter how high my 90 day score was!

I started experimenting -- I wasn't earning anything, after all -- to find out how to rate articles quickly and get a high score. With in the last two weeks, I have taken my 30 day score from 60% to 85%.

When rating, your goal is to quickly find the best article. To do well, only rate the articles where one is clearly better than the other.

• Contrary to what is said above the two articles you are rating, the first goal is not to decide which article is more relevant to the title. The first goal is to decide which article is more aesthetically pleasing.

• The rating score is comprised of how your ratings compare to how others rate the articles. You will never have a 100%, because not everyone is going to rate the articles the same.

Look at the spacing between paragraphs in both articles. Are they both spaced properly?

If not, the one that has proper spacing is "By Far" more valuable. If neither is spaced properly, then skip.

Look at the punctuation, capitalisation and use of quotation marks. Are they used correctly, and is the spacing after a punctuation mark correct?

if there is NO space after commas,or the Quotation marks are on the "outside",of the punctuation,then the other article is "by Far",more Valuable.

Notice how poorly that last sentence reads.

Look for headings. Did one use headings? It is "By Far" more valuable.

If both articles have headings, which one's headings help you to quickly find the information that is relevant to the title? It is "More" valuable.

Look for consistency. Are all of the headings done in the same manner? Did the writer use bullets, dashes and numbers in a consistent manner? It is "By Far" more valuable.

Look at the length. Helium likes longer articles, but make sure that the longer one is not a rambling rant. When rating recipes, more is better, as long as the recipes go with the title!

Also consider the length of paragraphs.  On-line, 2-6 sentences in a paragraph is considered ideal. 

Look at the links. If links are used, are they used appropriately or are they tacked on? If a website is given, is it linked or just written out? I always rate the one with active links as "More" valuable.

• If both articles pass the "pleasing the the eyes" test, then it is time to read the articles.

Read the first sentence. Does it have a positive or negative overtone? One with a positive overtone is "More" valuable than one with a negative over tone.

Read the last paragraph. Did the author follow up on the beginning sentence to close the argument or finish the thought? Then it is "By Far" more valuable.

Read for word usage and spelling. These are on-line articles. Small familiar words are better than long words, unless the longer word is appropriate, because of the technicality of the subject.

Only rate down for spelling if it is very obvious, sush sa typo's. Your spelling ability may not be as good as you assume it is.

The article as a whole. Which one are you more likely to find in a magazine? It is "More" valuable.

• If both articles are well written, skip! It is not your job to make a decition.

When rating leapfrogs, I follow the same pattern as listed above.  I look for obvious differences only -- if the author did not noticeable rewrite, then it is not worth my time to try to find their little bitty changes. If I see typos or other obvious problems, I mark the articles as "Same." 

In the past I have gone through leapfrogs, line by line, trying to find the differences, without success.  Then I discovered that you earn an up-front bonus for leapfrogs whether they are accepted or not, so I am assuming that many of the leapfrogs are submitted, just to earn an extra dollar or two.

Ivorwen, 2009.

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