Tips and Tricks After 100 Hubs: It's a Marathon So Treat It That Way!

I’ve just reached the 100 hub mark. Well, I reached it on February 12, 2014 after posting my history piece about the executions of Guildford Dudley and Lady Jane Grey. Something that I’ve been doing over on Wizzley, inspired by my writer friend Jo Harrington, is to share my tips after every 50 pages. I missed it after 50 pages on HubPages, but I figured that 100 articles is a good milestone to share my tips with you.

These are things that I’ve learned along the way of writing for the website. They’re not designed to cheat any system; just designed to give a helping hand to those just starting out.

Many people come to HubPages expecting to see results instantly. To be honest, when I joined three years ago (I can’t believe I’ve been here that long), that’s something that I expected too. I was in a place where I didn’t want to wait for the income to increase. I wanted to see the results right now. If I’m completely honest, that’s because I was in a financial position to want the results right now.

I put two pieces up when I first joined on February 4, 2011 and then left for seven months. I decided to put one piece up and then left for a year and a month. It was October 2012 that I decided it was time to take passive income more seriously. It was then that I realized the passive income dream wasn’t a sprint. It was a marathon and I had to treat it that way. Since then, I’ve regularly added new pieces—starting with history and then branching out to other subjects—on a weekly basis. I’ve seen the income rise because of the time that I’ve put in. It’s not at the point that I would like it to be, but it is going in the right direction.

My biggest tip is to take your time. Build your base and you will see the income flow. It’s a trickle at first, but the more engaging, interesting and exciting hubs you put out there, the quicker that trickle turns into a full stream.

It seemed to take ages to get to 50 hubs. They’re the hardest to get to, but once you get to that milestone all the others seem to be much easier. The trick is to getting yourself into a rhythm. It’s important to set a schedule and post on a regular basis. It could be once a day, once a week or even once a month. The more often you post, the sooner you will see your income trickle turn into your stream.

It took almost two years and five months to reach the 50 hubs point. It was June 29, 2013. I’ve got to admit that I never thought it was going to happen. Once I reached that milestone, it took another seven months (just over) to get another 50 hubs. If it takes me another seven months to get my next 50, I’ll be happy but I’d love to be at 200 hubs by the end of the year.

However, it’s really important to focus on quality. You can’t just put anything up on the site and expect it to do well. My best hubs have at least 1,000 well-researched words. They’re full of photos, videos and polls for people to fill out and some even have quizzes to see how much information they’ve gained from the posts. Never focus on the quantity. You’ll find that Google doesn’t like it and neither does HubPages. I strive for those Editor’s Choice Awards (and I’ve got 22 so far), which means quality really has to come first. If I can’t put the effort into a hub, I’ll leave it for another day or just skip posting it at all.

As well as quality content, you need to write something that is interesting and helpful to your readers. I’ve found that most people come to me through Google searches. That means they’re typing a question into the search engine or a keyword phrase looking for more information and my hub is one that comes up. I need to create helpful content that answers their questions and is relevant to their needs.

The biggest tip I can give you is to really think about what your readers want to read. When I do keyword research, I will think about the type of questions people are going to have about a particular keyword phrase. You need to do the same, so you can then create the content around that question, instead of just around the phrase.

You don’t even need to focus purely on the content that you write. Some of the engagement and interest comes from the videos you find on YouTube and the polls or quizzes that you create. Spend time crafting the hubs as a whole, and really thinking about the images you will use and the videos that you’ll add in—and just where you’ll fit them in.

Don’t focus on the amount that you are or aren’t making. Focus on the content and how helpful it is. Grow your readership and you will see your revenue grow with it.

I know for a fact that my history posts are not the ones that are earning me a lot of money. It’s the beauty, the hair and the marketing posts that have been doing better. The history posts may get me the odd readers now and then and I know I have a loyal following because of them, but they’re never going to make me rich. I’ve accepted that.

So, why do I keep writing them? Because I love researching and writing them. I love the Tudor and Stuart time periods, and a few of the people that stretch either side of those periods. I love learning more about some of the more inconspicuous people in history and playing devil’s advocate when it comes to the more prominent people.

I really recommend writing about something you love. When your passion for a subject comes through, it will encourage more people to read and share. They’ll comment on your hubs, and that helps to boost your score and the position in the search engine results. You’ll feel like putting more effort into the pieces, which creates high quality, valuable and engaging content. Even if you just use your favorite subjects for filler to reach those milestones, you will have more fun and find that the income you earn is more than worth it.

Three years on HubPages and 100 hubs has taught me that this is a marathon and I have to treat it that way. You need to do that too. Focus on quality content and build your base up. Those first 50 are the hardest to get to, but you’ll soon get into a rhythm. Once you build your readership, your income will follow, and that’s much more likely when you have quality, engaging and interesting content that helps those readers.