I have done a lot of research but unable to find a good niche for a website. Either they are too competitive or just don't have much profitability. Can you give some ideas to find good profitable niches which are easy to rank.
Sid, if anyone has an idea for a good keyword that's not already saturated, they're not going to reveal it in a public forum. The minute they did, everyone would jump on the bandwagon!
I think you're overthinking it, personally. For the last 19 months you've had an ideal testing ground right here on HubPages. You should already know which of your favorite subjects have money-making potential.
You've got 320 Hubs. Take a look at your Adsense stats.
Pick your best-performing Hub in a subject you enjoy writing about. Take a look at the Stats and note the keywords people are using to find that Hub. Create a website on that. It really is that simple.
I still haven't found my niche yet. I can't just choose one just because it is profitable, I have to care about the subject.
80% Keyword research 20% luck.
I have found some of my best niches just by seeing sales on some of my sites.
Most of the time though it is just delving really deep!
I'm sure you're right, Oli, but I think some people miss the fact that by writing Hubs, you are already testing out keywords.
Using keyword research tools is great for people who can get their head around it (and have the patience,which is my problem!). But it sounds like Sid is struggling - and he has 320 Hubs' worth of "research" already, so I reckon he should be able to learn enough lessons from that to make a start.
Remember, Sid, if you use a host like Hostgator, you're not limited to just one website. And if you head over to Sunforged's Xobba forum, you can get a voucher to buy a domain name for less than $2. So if you start a site and it doesn't work, you haven't lost a whole lot - you can always try something else.
Thanks Marisa for the useful advice. Yes I have over 320 hubs and have been at Hubpages for over one and half years but that is of little use to me. My best adsense month till date was January 2011 when I earned $38 so I have no real data to look back and decide on profitable topic.
Well, that still tells you something! None of the subjects you've chosen on HubPages are worth pursuing - because pre-Panda, if a subject didn't work on HubPages, it wouldn't work anywhere.
I notice you have a blog on cricket. Why don't you start a blog on how to play cricket? Don't worry too much about whether it's a big money-spinner or not: you'll enjoy it, so it won't feel like work. I wouldn't even bother with Adsense - instead, look for affiliate programs for cricket equipment. I Googled and found these straight away:
https://www.seriouscricket.co.uk/shop/affiliates.php
http://www.cricketgames.com/affiliate.htm
http://www.cricketmerchant.com/catalog/ … e_info.php
You can also feature (or review) products on Amazon. Once you've had the blog established for a while, you can also apply to eBay.
"Evergreen" advice on how to play the game, what equipment to choose etc, will stay relevant - whereas reviews of specific games go out of date too quickly.
If I'd followed all the keyword research advice, I wouldn't have several websites on dance. I would be writing about something I care much less about, and it would feel a lot more like work! As it is, I'm not earning a fortune, but all my sites do earn a small, regular amount. You have to start somewhere, so I'd suggest start with what you love - you might be surprised.
Excellent advice yet again, Marisa. There are a very few quality hubbers left at Hubpages and you are certainly one of them. I will consider starting a blog on cricket but have no idea about affiliate marketing so once I have a reasonable number of posts may be 50 + I would seek your help. Thanks again and Have a great day.
I wrote a Hub about it, called "how to monetize blogger" - but the same principles can be used on any blog. Scroll down past the info on Adsense, Amazon and eBay to see the explanation of affiliates. And do PM me if you have any questions.
If you've already mastered how to sign up for Adsense and Amazon you should have no problems. You just sign up with the affiliate, then copy and paste their banners or links into your posts or sidebars. Just make sure the links and banners include your unique code, so you get credit for the sale.
Unlike Adsense, affiliate companies don't care if you don't make any sales, so you can put the ads on your site right at the beginning and it won't do any harm. In fact, it's a good idea to get the ads sorted first, because your site will benefit from the "freshness burst" Google gives a new site - it would be a pity to waste that first rush of traffic!
Marisa, I'm relatively new to HubPages. I find your suggestions here very helpful. Lot's of things I didn't know. I'm struggling with finding a niche that I enjoy enough to write more prolifically. Like you say, if enough is put out there it will bring in a small regular amount of earnings. Finding an angle that inspires more prolific writing seems to be my struggle. Probably I'm the only one who can answer this question, but I thought I'd try bouncing it off you to see if you'd glance at my hubs and see if anything strikes you with regards to an 'angle', so to speak. Thanks very much!
I had a look, Ms Dee. You write a lot about current affairs and opinion pieces - and while those often attract a lot of readers and lively debate, they usually earn no money. That's because you'll struggle to find advertisers to present relevant ads.
Also, it takes time for a blog to be noticed by the search engines - and if you're writing about current events, by the time Google finds you, it's old news. Plus you're up against a lot of big players.
Your professional knowledge could be a source of good material. I have a Hub on introverts, and it's one of my better-performing Hubs, which suggests advice on personality types and how they relate to careers/ finance could be popular.
If you're struggling to create more material on those topics, you have enough in your existing Hubs to create a good website (each Hub making one or two blog posts).
"None of the subjects you've chosen on HubPages are worth pursuing - because pre-Panda, if a subject didn't work on HubPages, it wouldn't work anywhere. "
I totally disagree with that statement. Hubpages has a terrible ad layout, a low rev share, and a low CTR for Amazon. I don't have many hubs, but there's a reason. It just doesn't pay as well. Period. Sure, some topics do better than others.
Anyone who has articles on here and wants to know a direction for a niche site should dig into their Google Analytics data to find out what IS working. If you've earned, something worked.
But that's exactly what I'm saying, JP. If something makes money on HubPages, it's a good niche to exploit.
Of course there are Hubs that don't earn money. But pre-Panda, HubPages was very favorably regarded by Google. You could post a Hub here and if you picked a good niche, it would start getting traffic all by itself, without any promotion.
Try writing a blog and doing no promotion, and see how much traffic you'd get!
Why do you think the super-Hubbers like Nelle Hoxie had hundreds of Hubs? She had several successful websites before joining HubPages, but she identified HP as a great money-maker. And she was mainly earning from Amazon BTW.
Of course if you pick the wrong subjects, you'll get no traffic in either.
by Baraccuza 4 years ago
Many people writing different things. But I and I'm sure that many other people would like to know the potential of hubpages. Thanks for answers.
by BennyTheWriter 14 years ago
Hey everyone,This might seem like a silly question, the answer to which is probably glaringly obvious to my more experienced fellow hubbers, but I'm truly at a loss here. I'd like to know how you come up with original hubs to write after doing research on a proposed topic. Nearly every...
by Cailin Gallagher 10 years ago
Just gaging anyone else's earnings here. I just checked google adsense and I have earned 64 dollars in 18 months. I've only written 19 Hubs and most of them don't get any traffic. Any thoughts?
by HrtsMakeFamilies 15 years ago
I'm curious if anyone actually makes money on their hubs. How long did it take for you to make some? Is it a good side income?
by Elisabeth Meier 3 years ago
Hi fellow writers,Yesterday I recognized that the homepage of HubPages has a new design and in the mid of this I discovered a fellow writer with the most earnings here at HubPages. He's a member since 7 years, has published 55 articles which have been read over 1,000,000 times and he makes over $...
by sid_candid 14 years ago
I was just thinking what is the best approach for success with Adsense. Before you say the same old things about SEO and keywords Here are the two approaches:Person A publishes 800-1000 hubs in a year with little keyword research and some SEO optimization.Person B publishes 100-200 hubs in the...
Copyright © 2025 The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers on this website. HubPages® is a registered trademark of The Arena Platform, Inc. Other product and company names shown may be trademarks of their respective owners. The Arena Media Brands, LLC and respective content providers to this website may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website.
Copyright © 2025 Maven Media Brands, LLC and respective owners.
As a user in the EEA, your approval is needed on a few things. To provide a better website experience, hubpages.com uses cookies (and other similar technologies) and may collect, process, and share personal data. Please choose which areas of our service you consent to our doing so.
For more information on managing or withdrawing consents and how we handle data, visit our Privacy Policy at: https://corp.maven.io/privacy-policy
Show DetailsNecessary | |
---|---|
HubPages Device ID | This is used to identify particular browsers or devices when the access the service, and is used for security reasons. |
Login | This is necessary to sign in to the HubPages Service. |
Google Recaptcha | This is used to prevent bots and spam. (Privacy Policy) |
Akismet | This is used to detect comment spam. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Google Analytics | This is used to provide data on traffic to our website, all personally identifyable data is anonymized. (Privacy Policy) |
HubPages Traffic Pixel | This is used to collect data on traffic to articles and other pages on our site. Unless you are signed in to a HubPages account, all personally identifiable information is anonymized. |
Amazon Web Services | This is a cloud services platform that we used to host our service. (Privacy Policy) |
Cloudflare | This is a cloud CDN service that we use to efficiently deliver files required for our service to operate such as javascript, cascading style sheets, images, and videos. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Hosted Libraries | Javascript software libraries such as jQuery are loaded at endpoints on the googleapis.com or gstatic.com domains, for performance and efficiency reasons. (Privacy Policy) |
Features | |
---|---|
Google Custom Search | This is feature allows you to search the site. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Maps | Some articles have Google Maps embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Google Charts | This is used to display charts and graphs on articles and the author center. (Privacy Policy) |
Google AdSense Host API | This service allows you to sign up for or associate a Google AdSense account with HubPages, so that you can earn money from ads on your articles. No data is shared unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Google YouTube | Some articles have YouTube videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Vimeo | Some articles have Vimeo videos embedded in them. (Privacy Policy) |
Paypal | This is used for a registered author who enrolls in the HubPages Earnings program and requests to be paid via PayPal. No data is shared with Paypal unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Login | You can use this to streamline signing up for, or signing in to your Hubpages account. No data is shared with Facebook unless you engage with this feature. (Privacy Policy) |
Maven | This supports the Maven widget and search functionality. (Privacy Policy) |
Marketing | |
---|---|
Google AdSense | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Google DoubleClick | Google provides ad serving technology and runs an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Index Exchange | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Sovrn | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Facebook Ads | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Unified Ad Marketplace | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
AppNexus | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Openx | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Rubicon Project | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
TripleLift | This is an ad network. (Privacy Policy) |
Say Media | We partner with Say Media to deliver ad campaigns on our sites. (Privacy Policy) |
Remarketing Pixels | We may use remarketing pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to advertise the HubPages Service to people that have visited our sites. |
Conversion Tracking Pixels | We may use conversion tracking pixels from advertising networks such as Google AdWords, Bing Ads, and Facebook in order to identify when an advertisement has successfully resulted in the desired action, such as signing up for the HubPages Service or publishing an article on the HubPages Service. |
Statistics | |
---|---|
Author Google Analytics | This is used to provide traffic data and reports to the authors of articles on the HubPages Service. (Privacy Policy) |
Comscore | ComScore is a media measurement and analytics company providing marketing data and analytics to enterprises, media and advertising agencies, and publishers. Non-consent will result in ComScore only processing obfuscated personal data. (Privacy Policy) |
Amazon Tracking Pixel | Some articles display amazon products as part of the Amazon Affiliate program, this pixel provides traffic statistics for those products (Privacy Policy) |
Clicksco | This is a data management platform studying reader behavior (Privacy Policy) |