Think carefully before leaving HP

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   TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years ago

   I constantly see people who threaten to leave HP because they don't like the limitations here.  Unless you are a professional writer who does this for a living, I think you should be careful about doing this and here's why.
   
   While you may get more views someplace else, this does not necessarily translate into earning more.
   Furthermore, it is a ton of work to delete and then republish your hubs elsewhere, and it also can lead to problems with Google for having duplicate content if you don't do it right.
   This can also lead to having your hubs stolen.
   Furthermore, when you do this, you are starting over because you lose all of the juice your articles previously had with Google.
   Finally, I know of no site that is as user friendly as this one, despite its restrictions.
   
   Many of the problems I see are really due to mistakes writers make. Saying that you don't like the rules or want to comply with them is on you.
   
   Yes, things have changed.  The rules are stricter.  Not all of them make sense.  The team could and should do a better job of explaining them.  Unfeaturing seems unfair, etc., etc.
   
   These things are frustrating to many, but the truth is that the team has put them in place in an attempt to improve the HP so that it will endure.  Google has not been good to us, so we have to work harder.
   
   Be reminded that this is a business whose purpose is to turn a profit.  We agreed to abide by the rules, like them or not, when we signed on and should honor that commitment.  It costs us nothing but time and effort to place our work here, so we don't lose financially by remaining.
   
   Most here do not depend on this site to earn their living, so why go through all of the hoops to change if you are only doing this to earn just a bit?
   
   If you are unhappy, try writing some new stuff on another site and see how it goes.  If it works for you and you still want to leave, then go.  If not, you have lost nothing but some of your time.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I would also caution people to think twice before leaving HP although I see it a bit differently.
      
      First of all, I do not know of ANY other sites like HubPages which pay better.  So if your goal in writing is to make money, then I agree - I don't think it's worth the effort to move to another writing site (blogs are a different story, more on that below). 
      
      That's especially true if you've been on HubPages for more than a year or two - because if you move your articles to another site, your articles will lose all the links, likes etc that they've built up during their existence, and that means they will lose their ranking on Google and have to start from scratch.
      
      However, if your main goal is not income, it's a totally different story - because of the unFeaturing system.
      
      If you're a non-commercial writer then you're probably finding Hubs are constantly unFeatured - in that case you SHOULD move elsewhere, because nowhere else will unFeature your articles.  Sites like DailyTwoCents or Wizzley would be worth considering - or WeekendNotes.com if you like participating in writing contests. 
      
      Of course, if you're really serious about earning income then you shouldn't be wasting your time on HubPages at all - you should have your own blog on a specialist subject in which you have some expertise or knowledge.  For the serious online entrepreneur, HubPages should be just a testing ground or a place to write for fun (i.e. when you really want to write about something that doesn't fit on your specialist site).  BUT (and there is a but!)...
      
      When I said "serious" about earning an income, I meant it.  Running your own blog is hard work.  You need to be prepared to learn a lot of new skills.  You need to have patience (it can take a year or two of full-time effort to start earning a decent income).  If you want to "just write" then don't even think about it, because actually writing will only be a tenth of the work involved.

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         TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

         ...and don't forget the fact that you need to understand how to use advertising and marketing.  Without them, you'll earn little or nothing.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            That's what I meant by the need to learn a lot of new skills.

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         ologsinquitoposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         Marisa, you are absolutely right. There is no other revenue-share site that pays as well as Hub Pages. So I'd agree that it makes no sense to take your articles to another revenue-share site. It only makes sense if they fit on one of your blogs, which, if done right, have far greater earning potential than writing for Hub Pages.

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      NateB11posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I agree with everything you said. I'm always surprised when I see people saying they want to leave or say some other site is better. Have never seen another rev share site with this level of income potential, quality and flexibility and professionalism.

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      Lorelei Cohenposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Hubs are being stolen here left right and center.

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      1. 86

         TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

         That is not HP's fault.  They have no control over this.  It is one of the caveats of online writing.  The best you can do is file DMCA complaints.  It's a pain, but usually there is no other option.

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            Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

            It certainly is not HubPages' fault and there is nothing they can do about it. However, it is a downside of writing here or any other large revenue-sharing site, because these sites are the thieves' favourite targets. 
            
            The thieves want to do as little work as possible, and they want lots of content - so they target sites which are constantly adding lots of content day after day.    I've never had an article stolen from one of my blogs - even posts which get a lot of traffic - because the thieves aren't interested in stealing one or two articles from a site, they want hundreds. 
            
            So theft is one of the prices you pay for the convenience of writing on a rev-sharing site.

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      gmwilliamsposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      +1,000,000,000,000,000,000,000!!!!

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   Rik Ravadoposted 8 years ago

   I haven't posted here for a long time but felt it worth ENDORSING both of the previous posts.  I only earn around a 10th of what I once earned on Hubpages but, it's still a great passive income considering how little time I spend here.
   
   Everything in  life changes (not least earning money online) and we all need to adapt to new market conditions. I  agree this is probably still the best platform of its type, while specialist blogs are also well worth a punt!
   
   I'm very grateful to Hubpages for providing me with a significant income over the years and continuing to adapt in such a tough market.  I intend to stay here for the duration and won't waste my time moving stuff elsewhere.
   
   Thanks to TT2 and Marisa for such wise advice!

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   clivewilliamsposted 8 years ago

   lets leave

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      NateB11posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Lol

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   Mark Ewbieposted 8 years ago

   I agree with much of what TT says but I have found happiness on my own site.  It has hardly any ads, makes no money but has no QAP.  It is mine.
   
   There are other things than money and traffic.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I'm glad to hear that.  It is never a good idea to stand in the way of creativity.

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   Chriswillman90posted 8 years ago

   Blogs or your own websites certainly have much more potential to earn you some serious income but only if they are worked on substantially and over a long time. There's a reason why most blogs/sites fail, and I admire those who have persevered and made them work.

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      Marisa Wrightposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I had several blogs which I worked very hard on at one time - but then I decided working online was too lonely and moved on to work where I could interact with real people in the real world.  It suits me much better.
      
      I didn't close down all my blogs though - I still have two which have continued to earn money consistently every month, even though I do very little to maintain them. So if you've got a blog with a solid base of useful evergreen information, it is possible to get some passive income from them still.

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   makingamarkposted 8 years ago

   I disagree with the premise of the OP - but only because it's taking a generic stance in the first paragraph.
   
   The important point - as Marisa highlighted - about thinking before leaving really only applies to alternative revenue-share sites.
   
   Most of the people I know who have left have taken their content to their own websites and/or blogs. Often they are people who have specialist knowledge about a niche topic.
   
   Frankly I've never earned anything like as much as I used to earn on Squidoo on Hubpages. It just doesn't 'do the business' for precisely the same content. It's also extraordinarily picky about format for content (link limits etc) - so HP unpublishes it, I take the content to a new niche site and it then generates lots of traffic from Google. Google is apparently not as picky as HubPages!
   
   That's what makes me think there is mileage in taking content elsewhere. That and the fact I've always had decent earnings from Amazon in the past. I'm making a deliberate decision to forego advertising income as I think my new sites look much better and more authoritative without it and I'm restricting myself to Amazon - and the income is slowly and steadily climbing.
   
   What Timetraveller is absolutely right about is
   1) it's huge amount of work to take content elsewhere - not for the faint-hearted or the uncommitted
   2) it will take time to get recognition and make your presence felt.
   
   However if you already have a good reputation for the niche topic and/or got followers this isn't really a problem.
   
   Plus Google loves info freshly presented - and a new website is a great way to split up topics into pages and get a lot of new traffic for very focused content
   
   Bottom line - there are pros and cons.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I agree that there definitely are pros and cons, but unless you are highly experienced with online writing,  have a strong niche and follow the advice in my post, you will have problems. 
      
      The average person writing here does not have total skill set to make this work well.
      
      You, Marissa, Writer Fox, Glenn Stock and others do, which is why you do well elsewhere.
      
      I know from my own experience at trying this that it just won't work for people like me.  I write well, have a good niche  and a minimum knowledge
      of SEO, but I don't understand proper advertising and marketing skills and do not want to spend the time to maintain another site.
      
      I also feel I do better here without all the hassle.
      
      I don't mind the rules,  I follow them and rarely have any issues, even after edits.
      
      I don't make tons of money, but I do make payout every month, which I think is good, considering the small amount of work I do.

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   Glenn Stokposted 8 years ago

   There’s another reason for not leaving that I didn’t see mentioned yet in this thread.
   
   There are many helpful Hubbers on HubPages who love to share ideas, as is evident in this very thread. This gives us all the ability to become aware of thoughts and ideas to experiment with. (I’m working on one now that TIMETRAVELER2 suggested in another thread and that Marisa verified with her dependable opinion.)
   
   We are all in the same boat with Google constantly changing rules in an effort to give their users what they want – content that answers questions.
   
   What’s good about HP is that they are constantly trying to keep up with these rules in order to keep a business that prospers. 
   
   Look at other sites that didn’t to that and had gone out of business. And I even see one now where the managers are not paying attention for several months now, as if they’ve already given up. Some of you probably know which site I’m referring to. 
   
   Anyway, the point I’m making is that HubPages is clearly never giving up. They are constantly trying new things. I know that some of us complain about that – having to make changes to hubs all the time and dealing with new features that sometimes haven’t been fully ironed out.
   
   But I see it as a chance to discover something new that, maybe one day, might just be the thing that brings all of us all who remain here a huge success.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      Outstanding comment, and I certainly agree.  Thanks so much for this one.

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         Glenn Stokposted 8 years agoin reply to this

         

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      makingamarkposted 8 years agoin reply to this

      I'd agree with you there is an awful lot of sense in writers with a common type of purpose coming together.
      
      However you don't need HubPages to do that.
      
      A group of people got really fed up with a phase of heavy-handed moderation on the Squidoo Forum at one point - and decided to set up their own forum - which is still going. By the time the Squidoo Forum had descended into platitudes and inanities, the other one was still going strong and was absolutely invaluable when we got to the Squidoo/HubPages changeover. Squidoo sank without trace - but that forum is still up and running.

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   Thelma Albertsposted 8 years ago

   Hubpages is still the best writing site I know of. I won´t leave. I´ll stay here as long as HP is here.

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      TIMETRAVELER2posted 8 years agoin reply to this

      +1

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