Paid To Write: Squidoo VS HubPages

Today we are going to discuss HubPages.com versus its “competitor” Make Money Online Writing Articles website, Squidoo. My goal is to examine both sites from a complete beginners point of view, so this article will not necessarily apply to advanced “bloggers” per say.

I know what everyone WANTS to know – “Which earns more money?” – and we will discuss such, but, surprisingly, there IS more important things to discuss first

Before you can “make money”, you have to be able to use a program, right? I began working online pre-2008 and have tried (quite literally) hundreds and hundreds of different programs; some were God-sends and made me hundreds per month, others just trickled along, while some did nothing. But, the bottom line is always…well, the “bottom line” (AKA: the $$$$!) But if a program is difficult to use, especially as a newbie, failure IS an option.

So lets start off by comparing which website is easier for the very-very-beginner:

HUB PAGES: On HubPages.com you create “Hubs”

SQUIDOO: On Squidoo you create “Lenses”

Ironically, both a Hub and a Lens are the exact same thing, which is a single web page (article) that contains tons of information about a single topic. Theres really no limit to what you can make your page(s) about; from How to Teach An Old Dog New Tricks to Pocket Lint Sculptures or Lady Gagas Ugliest Sunglasses… whatever floats your boat – you could even write about Boat Floating, if you wanted. (Just avoid the obvious no-no’s; “How to Make Crystal Meth”, “Best Porn Sites” or “Top 100 Ways to Promote Racism” are NOT topics welcomed on these sites.)

HUB PAGES: When you create your Hub, as a new user, you will probably want to use my Complete Tutorial (it even includes images). As I admit in my guide to Hub Pages, I actually had to create the guide because my employee absolutely did not understand it…at all. (My employee is 19 and a College student.) So, I guess it is fair to say that if a 19 year old college student who was raised with computers and internet (unlike my 32-year-old-self who remembers when Atari came out) can’t figure it out, then Hub Pages is MINORLY difficult. After reading the tutorial and giving it a little practice, she is doing fantastic.

SQUIDOO: Creating your page is easier to begin with (keyword here is BEGIN). Once you get past the first few steps of getting a page set up, you’re back into the same boat as HubPages.

AND THE WINNER IS: Based on the ease of setting up a Lens (AKA: “Page”), I would have to give the victory to Squidoo.

No matter which site you want to use, you’re only going to make as much money as your CONTENT is worth. Basically, to put it bluntly, if your writing sucks, is boring, is meaningless and/or worthless then don’t expect to be raking in the cash. I have told my readers year after year; nobody cares about your cat, how cute your boyfriend/girlfriend/spouse is or how bad your day at work was – trust me when I say NOBODY (well, maybe your cat or significant other…but nobody else… that’s what Facebook is for, not HubPages or Squidoo). On the other hand, if you can provide VALUE, then people will listen. If you take nothing away from this article, at least remember the following:

“VALUABLE CONTENT = Something someone is Google Searching for”

And, can I reiterate, NOBODY is searching for “What Did Tori From HubPages Eat For Dinner Last Night?” (That’s what twitter is for), and NOBODY is internet surfing for “Does Tori From Squidoo Like to Lick Stamps or Buy the Self-Stick Kind?”

Anyway, you get the picture… (But incase you wanted to know, I probably had Mexican and I like the sticker-stamps, although I always thought that Flavored Stamps and Envelopes would be a million-dollar-idea.

So as far as getting content/things onto your HUB or LENS, both sites are the same. On HubPages, each text box, photo or whatever else you want to add to your page is called a “Capsule”. On Squidoo its called a “Module” but also called “Building Blocks”…and also called “Widgets”…and also called “Workshop Tools”….but regardless of the many aliases of the Squidoo “Modules”, they’re all located (currently) in the upper right of the screen, which is the same location as HubPages Capsules.

And, with both site, the more “stuff” you add to your page, the better your page becomes. If, instead of one vague paragraph you opt to have 4 quality paragraphs with a few awesome photos and some other jazz (a survey/poll, a quiz, some links to stuff, etc) you stand a substantially better chance of making money.

BUT, as far as ease of EASE OF PAGE / CONTENT CREATION, I am going to have to give this award to HubPages because Squidoo has so many options that it can be (exceptionally) overwhelming to a beginner.

So lets say you wrote killer content and your published it on HubPages or Squidoo (and ya added photos and such); now lets look at what your totally amazing content CAN make….

HUB PAGES: On HubPages.com you earn in the following ways:

- Through Ads for Amazon.com and eBay.com.

- Through Google Adsense Ads

- Win Contests Hosted By HubPages

SQUIDOO: On Squidoo.com you earn in more ways:

· Amazon

· Amazon MP3

· Amazon Spotlight Personal Review

· Amazon Voting (Plexo)

· ArtByUs Artist Module

· CafePress

· eBay

· Etsy

· ShopIt

· Ads

AND MORE!

Ok, so obviously in terms of “EARNING POTENTIAL”, we gotta give this trophy to the Squid!

BUT, before this sea-dweller can officially accept its “MAKE THE MOST MONEY” trophy, lets look at the second part to this debate: (drumroll please........)

According to HubPages.com, their Top Earners are taking in $900 to $3,000 PER MONTH for authoring 500-900 GOOD, QUALITY pages (in total, at the time of earning stated amounts). According to my math, which will likely match your math, an average of $900 and $3,000 is $1,950.00…for “Top Earners”. The average of 500 to 900 Hubs is 700 Hubs. Soooo… if around 700 Hubs gets a Top Earner about $2,000 then that would mean that each Hub is bringing in around $2.80 a month.

Squidoo – I have been hard-pressed to find genuinely ACCURATE data on earnings versus pages. (Yeah, lets face reality, anyone can say “I made a MILLION-BILLION-TRILLION Dollars” with an Austin-Powers-Dr.-Evil grin. But the most seemingly reliable data I have came across is that “Top Earners” bring in around $2,000 per month. BUT, the average number of Lenses these authors have created are HALF of what the HubPages authors created (in fact, in some cases, $2,000 a month was *claimed* to be grossed off as little as 200 lenses, meaning each Lens is generating $10 a month; Over TRIPLE what the HubPages “Hubs” are making.

And the Victory of MONEY MAKING POTENTIAL officially stays with the delightful Calamari!