5 Things I Have Learned in One Month at HubPages ....

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   bogerkposted 13 years ago

   1) Do not check your Google Adsense earnings every day or even once a week. Why? Because there won't be anything there and it could potentially be discouraging and cause you to stop writing for HubPages.
   
   2) Do your best to ignore your Author Score and your Hub Score. Why? Because it jumps up and down without notice or understandable reason and on a down day cold potentially be discouraging and cause you to stop writing for HubPages.
   
   3) Read as many forums, questions and Hubs about writing for HubPages as possible so you can learn as much as possible before you start writing.
   
   4) Use the Google Keywords tool religiously if you intend to get any traffic to your Hubs or every make a penny ( I still have not mastered this ... not even close).
   
   5) Enjoy your topics. If you write on the best suitcase or hotel in Peru just to make a buck, HubPages will quickly feel like a job and if you already have a job, you will probably quit writing for HubPages because, well, you can ...

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      iamalegendposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Time makes money, not money make time

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         eshwar_1989posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         true time=money*money

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      Maddie Ruudposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      So sensible!  I wish all newbies were such quick studies!

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      David 470posted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I slightly disagree with 4. Only "slightly". The google keywords tool is more important if your trying to get traffic in high competition topics. It is possible to get good traffic in a topic thats low competition, "assuming" you know the keywords and long tail phrases.
      
      Nice insight, keep it up

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      Megavitaminposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You are definitely picking up on things a lot faster than I did when I first joined (I'm also ADD and get distracted by shiny objects...).  Anyway, I appreciate you sharing your thoughts because it started a great discussion.

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      sarovaiposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      You are on the right track. All the best.

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2. 66

   arthritickneeposted 13 years ago

   Productivity and patience are the way to go.
   Each new hub you write will be better optimized as you implement the lessons learned on the way.
   Once you hubs 'mature' in the search engines your traffic will go up without you doing any more work.
   As this takes 6 months + most people have given up long before.
   If you keep it up at this rate you will have over 200 hubs in a year and your early ones will be starting to motor along.
   Keep on writing.

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      bogerkposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Patience is key, and always good advice.
      
      I have definitely enjoyed HubPages so far for the most part and intend to write at least 100 Hubs before I reevaluate the situation.

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         J Sunhawkposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I've been told that Hub Pages is a marathon, not a sprint. Evaluating your position in this race after 100 Hubs is probably not a good idea. Time, the aging of a hub, I'm told, is also important. The owner of Hub Pages has tracked Hub Pages and he tells us that Hubs reach their peak earning in the third year.
         
         I've read your hubs and you can make words dance. I wouldn't shut down the band too early.

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         TopUniverseposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I disagree with it, with proper research of keyword and seo to some extent will give better earnings even before 100 hubs.
         
         Thanks for the good advice to newbies.

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   cookibuqposted 13 years ago

   I just learned number 4 today...such a good tip but so hard to do ._.

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      bogerkposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      I agree. Hopefully it will become old news sooner rather than later, but right now it is still confusing for me and a struggle to incorporate some of the best keywords without being obnoxious.

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         lrohnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         Can I make a suggestion? If you find incorporating keywords a struggle--stop struggling. I usually just make sure that my primary keyword is in the URL, title, at least one section title, somewhere in the first sentence or two and the tags. Then I just write. If you write comprehensively on a subject, other keywords will work themselves into the text all by their little lonesome.
         
         Hey, it's worked for me.

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            cookibuqposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Sounds good...thanks I'll try that

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            Urbane Chaosposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Great suggestion there..
            
            I usually find that adding keywords is the easiest part of writing a hub.  Usually, I'll just write the article in MSWord and copy it over once I'm done.  Then, I'll sneak through and find where I can add an extra keyword or two, without really altering the content.  I've noticed that adding keywords in titles and pictures helps a lot as well..

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               lrohnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               Titles yes. Pictures--I haven't had so much luck with that. I mean, using a keyword in the "caption" part of the photo capsule does help with traffic, but in my experience, it's a lot of traffic from Google Images. Those people don't convert, so it's empty traffic.

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                  Urbane Chaosposted 13 years agoin reply to this

                  I think it depends on how you use it.. A lot of my hubs have historic images of places, so I get a lot of traffic from Google images.  Once they are in, then they usually visit a couple more related hubs - I find this a lot with the Okmulgee hubs. 
                  
                  Still, any extra way to add traffic is worth it, and it only takes a couple extra seconds to add a caption.  I guess it depends on the hub..

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            IndikaTposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            It seems a nice approach. definitely I will try.

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         eshwar_1989posted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I've been facing the same problem. like what sussane(hubber) said in her keyword article i tried the Google adwords keyword tool and chose avg cpc and i incorporated those keywords in my article. but the ads that were displayed by adsense was absolute nonsense. they were'nt even related to my topic. i had a rich content of around 800 words anyone has any advice??

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            Susana Sposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            A few things to keep in mind: It can take a while for google to match the right ads to your content. You can help trigger the right ads by optimizing your content, subtitles and tags. 
            
            Also remember that the ads you see often aren't what others see. I've got iphone ads on every page I look at at the moment because I did a google search for that the other day.
            
            If you want to see what ads people might be seeing on your pages download google's preview tool - it's quite handy because you can right click the page and the preview tool will show you the ads the page will display for different countries.
            
            If you want any help to make the most from your hub, you can post a link to it in the extreme makeover forum

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               livewithrichardposted 9 years agoin reply to this

               I'll add that you should log out of Google and Hubpages if you want to see what true visitors are going to see when they visit your content.  The ad algorithms in place will display ads related to your own personal search history unless you are logged out.

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   lrohnerposted 13 years ago

   Bogerk, I do believe you are a step ahead of the masses. Well done.

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      bogerkposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you! Nothing worth doing is easy, but I think the idea of making money at home seems easy and it can be disheartening to some to find out otherwise.
      
      Everything requires time and effort.

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   Elliott_Tposted 13 years ago

   What about the contex link suggestions? All I get from those are links to other hubs. (Obviously I'm new here)

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   CYBERSUPEposted 13 years ago

   Patience, Patience, Patience, did I say Patience??

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   RedElfposted 13 years ago

   Genius is one percent inspiration and ninety-nine percent perspiration.
   Thomas A. Edison
   
   
   
   You are so right about the 99% hard work, Core Link!

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   Hestia DeVotoposted 13 years ago

   I've been on the site just over three weeks, and the only thing you've said that I can't quite totally agree with is your point #4.  I haven't done anything with keywords, and made my first AdSense earnings just yesterday. 
   
   And I'd like to thank the HubNugget team, as I think they had a lot to do with the Hub that did make some earnings getting noticed.

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      Urbane Chaosposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      It's quite possible to make money without messing with keywords, especially if the article is well-written to begin with.  Still, I always check my keywords though.  There's one important reason to do this, and that is to make sure that you have the right high-paying ads targeted to your hub.  You'll be indexed on HP, that's pretty much guaranteed, but getting those high-paying ads isn't.

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         bogerkposted 13 years agoin reply to this

         I just learned about high-paying ads last night from a Hub by another writer (the name escapes me). I had no idea different content keywords earn more per click.
         
         It turns out my favorite topic, baseball, is not a high-paying topic at all. I may have to readjust my strategy if money is the main goal, or just continue writing on it for fun while incorporating something that might up my Adsense.

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            Urbane Chaosposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            If writing about baseball is what you love to write about, then don't stop just because it's not a high paying topic.  I write mainly about Oklahoma, and really, that's not a high paying topic either.  But, the trick is to find out how to incorporate those high paying keywords into your hub without losing content.

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            lrohnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

            Hmmm... I just took a quick look and found several baseball-related keywords with a decent CPC and beatable competition. You may want to take another look. Too bad I would rather put my eyes out with a hot poker than write about the sport.

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               bogerkposted 13 years agoin reply to this

               I will have to take another look. I don't think I completely understand what I am looking for just yet.

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   lrohnerposted 13 years ago

   @Urban Chaos -- I'll def do some more experimentation. It's just that so far, Google Images were the 'window shoppers' and visitors from organic, non-image searches were the buyers. I'll let you know how the experiment goes! Thanks!

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      Urbane Chaosposted 13 years agoin reply to this

      Good luck with it!  I say, use whatever works..

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    WryLiltposted 13 years ago

    Hestia, the reason keywords are a good idea is because it can increase your traffic.
    
    Sure, you can write the best hub in the world on "How to keep your bees in condition to make high quality honey" But if no one is googling that but they are googling things like "How to make good quality wax" you might have missed out on some serious traffic just because you've written on a bad angle for a good subject.

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       Urbane Chaosposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Beautifully explained, Wry..

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       lrohnerposted 13 years agoin reply to this

       Great advice, WryLilt! But it's a big shift for you. What changed your mind?

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          WryLiltposted 13 years agoin reply to this

          I'm not sure how it's a big shift, Lisa.
          
          I've always said that newbies need to learn about keywords.
          
          However I also think they need to be aware that keywords aren't the be all and end all. Keywords are a guide, not a commandment.
          
          I like the way it's explained in the hub camp videos looking for "Italian dressing recipe" - don't just pick one term, find the terms that every search seems to contain, such as the main words "Best", "Recipe", "Low Fat" etc.
          
          I must admit that I still only keyword research on about 25% of hubs.
          
          However I think it's important to learn how to do the research because that helps you get inside the mind of the searcher - once you understand how the searcher's mind works, you're a lot more likely to succeed without keyword research.

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    Top_Secret_Infoposted 13 years ago

    Some great advice, thanks

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    Sarah Brittneyposted 9 years ago

    Solid advice, I really needed to see this.

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    relacheposted 9 years ago

    I think you are the first genuinely self-aware newbie I've seen in the forums in close to four years. 
    
    Congratulations, you have the actual skill set that could make you successful here in the long-run.
    
    Keep making your own observations and decisions.  You could be on to something....

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