My dismal performance at Hubpages. Call it quits?

1. 60

   C.V.Rajanposted 14 years ago

   From Jan 6th to 6th February - 1 full month. Hubpages is virtually the only Google Adsense sharing site I wrote in this period (Ignore Helium. They pay upfront and also page-view pennies). My other Adsense sharing site howtodothings is gone.
   
   My Hub count: 53
   My statistics from Google adsense:
   
   Some 9000 page views, 12 ad-clicks and a shameful approx $2 in earnings in total.
   
   I was earlier averaging anywhere from $15 to $28 a month from Howtodothings.com.
   
   I have transferred some 15 best articles from that site to here now. My best earner there (now posted in Hubpages) is not even found indexed in Google because I can't locate it in Google search even after a week of posting it here.
   
   Leave alone the fact that Hubpage is an excellent community and I enjoy writing here (in addition to Helium). But from earnings point of view, it looks a futile exercise for me. My external traffic is horribly low. No. of views to ad clicks is the worst.
   
   Tell me. Is it worth continuing in Hubpages?

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      thooghunposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Possibly. I see a lot of people who are using hubpages as an earning tool, and I have nothing against this. I know there are people who do fairly well, but I think that the effort in achieving a worthwhile reward is ultimately not worth it if your goal is a steady, passive income. (I.E there are better ways to go about this)
      
      My objective is not that of making money, but the added bonus, and the excitement of seeing any form of reward is enough to keep me writing here.

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   2. 59

      chinweikeposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      I think it takes about six months or so for google and other search engines to clear the cache of already indexed articles. So, the articles you unpublished from other sites may not be found on google so soon as the cache of the other one still takes its place.
      hope this helps?
      As for the earnings potential, i cannot comment on that yet

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   3. 59

      Mark Knowlesposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      CV - if money is your goal - you need to have a plan. Some subjects work better here than others. Transferring a few articles from another site when they vanished does not sound like a plan to me.
      
      Sadly - writing about things that interest you and writing about things that make money do not usually go together. Wander through some of my hubs and you will see I try and do both - but I am sure you will see the ones likely to make money and the ones that are for informational or fun purposes.
      
      For some people, they may mesh very well - but for me, not so much.
      
      Drop me a PM and I will point you at some free or cheap tools that might help you combine the two. Some times it is odd stuff - as an example - spelling barbecue instead of barbeque made a substantial difference to some of my pages' traffic.

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2. 61

   Mike Rogersposted 14 years ago

   IMO, one month isn't near enough time to judge the validity of just about any online pursuit, particularly a site like Hubpages if passive revenue generation is your goal.

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3. 72

   relacheposted 14 years ago

   If I had to pinpoint a few things which I think are working against you as far as why your Hubs might not be doing well with Google, it would have to be your tagging and topics.
   
   Ouija boards are not Wicca nor witchcraft, at least not to Americans.
   
   A Hub that primarily talks about poor Hub quality from Hub authors from India should not be tagged "associated content" or "helium.com for indian writers."  Both of those are minor mentions and not the focus of your article.
   
   And then as far as Hub topics go, you seem to write a LOT about things that, in my mind, are in no way related to subjects that would someone draw a reader who would click on an advertisement.  I recommend you read my Hub on boosting Hub earnings for a better explanation of what I mean:
   
   http://hubpages.com/hub/Improve-Your-Hub-Earnings

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      C.V.Rajanposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Relache,
      
      I had read it earlier and also re-read it now.
      
      Generally, I don't bother too much keyword optimization etc. and I don't write much of commercial hubs. The way I write here, I write elsewhere too. It means, my current topics and style of writing are not really going to get me any great earnings. But what I am looking for is some decent page views and a nominal earnings in proportion to what subjects I cover.
      
      This post is meant to kindle discussion on two counts:
      - My poor external traffic (when compared to my previous site).
      - The poor ad click to no. of page views (when compared to my previous site).
      
      I am just wondering. Is Hubpage is missing something? (In layout, ad placement, focus of ads etc?)
      
      Or am I just an odd man out?
      
      But your above Hub revealed a consoling fact for me: In your quiz. 64% of Hubbers have reported that they are making less than $10!

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4. 85

   KCC Big Countryposted 14 years ago

   The people who make the most money around here earn it because they research what topics are hot.  You have to give the people what they want for them to give you what you want. 

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5. 67

   Pearldiverposted 14 years ago

   CV... Don't get too down about this... but you do need to spread your earning options out again.
   
   Drop me a line with your email account details and I will send you some new options for you by return.

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   1. 61

      Jane@CMposted 14 years agoin reply to this

      Can I have some  options too???

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6. 63

   CreativeOrangeposted 14 years ago

   Honestly, I have not seen much by way of Adsense on Hubpages. However, I do earn a decent take creating my own sites with Wordpress and driving traffic. I usually search for good paying keywords and build a site around that. The best part is, you can control where the ads are placed. Good luck, I have heard many similar complaints in regards to hubs.

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7. 80

   Tom Cornettposted 14 years ago

   Consider checking out the "How to make money on Hubpages" hubs. Quite a few Hubbers make decent earnings. I believe they promote and update their hubs constantly for the most part. The old goose can't lay a golden egg if you don't feed the goose.  Good luck whatever you decide to do. 

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8. 60

   C.V.Rajanposted 14 years ago

   Relache,
   
   Your article mentions about keywords off Hubpage suggestions being poor.
   
   In fact, I felt that way and had my own keywords. Later on when I didn't find any significant developments, I started to add many of the suggested keywords!
   
   CVR

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9. 58

   Elijah Sposted 14 years ago

   I agree with chinweike and relache: it's too early, and your content is not very business oriented. If making money is of any importance, you might want considering writing on something specific (products). I checked your Brighthub material, and imo it's too esoteric for the regular Internet user (metal cutting?). Take one specific machine, and write it down...
   
   Your education and experience give you an immense advantage over the majority of writers. Being an engineer you know or can understand in-depth the workings of various mechanically operated apparatuses. Lawn-mowers? Drills? Electric saw? All products many folks use and don't understand how to operate, need advice, etc... it's a goldmine! Many wish they had that expertise!

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10. 61

    Hokeyposted 14 years ago

    I don't do it for the money. Wish you the best of luck though. Whatever you decide.

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    Springboardposted 14 years ago

    I am going to go out on a limb here, because I really don't have a success story to tell. But my personal experiment is to focus on the writing first, write about a variety of topics, and be as creative in the writing on those topics as I can. Most of what I write is opinion, for example, but I also know that often times opinions (and mine are mostly on politics) are a bit event specific, and time specific, and so they may not have a lot of longevity. Still I think they are valuable in bringing in traffic. I need to write humorous vignettes, reflections, and informative articles to keep things well rounded, and so that I can have a few pages that can earn all the time.

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    sabrebIadeposted 14 years ago

    CV, don't use the suggested keywords, use Google's Keyword tool for starters.
    There are tons of Hubs here explaining how to get the best keywords, check them out.

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