Writing Online: Hubpages vs. Helium

If you’re a writer, perhaps you’d like writing online. You’d probably also like to make money online with your skill. This is entirely possible because of several reputable writing online sites. I’ve explored several of the free writing online sites and have narrowed my choices down to two – Hubpages and Helium. While the two sites are similar in some aspects, they also have their differences.

Hubpages

Hubpages is an online writing site that’s free to join. It’s a good way to make money online. The way you make money online with Hubpages is from Google Adsense. Members can also sign up for Kontera. You can also make money online by adding Amazon capsules to your hubs (articles). For example, if you write a hub about fishing, you can include ads for fishing gear in your Amazon capsule.

How do you make money online with Google Adsense? Once you’re accepted by Adsense, Google will place related ads on your published hubs. When a reader clicks an ad, you get paid. Kontera works the same way. To make money online with Amazon, a product must be purchased while someone is visiting your hub. When that happens, you get a share of the purchase price.

Hubpages gets a share of all your revenue. For 40% of the time, their ads are on your hubs, and for 60% of the time, the Adsense revenue goes to you. Hubpages also gets the share of Amazon sales and Kontera for 40% of the time.

Other capsules you can ad to your hubs include photos, videos, newsfeeds, and links to other hubs and sites. Hubpages gets a lot of “Google love,” so your articles are indexed quickly.

Anytime you want to remove your articles from the Hubpages writing online site, you’re free to do so.

Helium

Another place for writing online and making money on the internet is Helium. With Helium writing online, you choose from among thousands of topics or create a new one. Your articles earn from Adsense, much the same as with Hubpages. While Hubpages reveals how much your share of Adsense will be, Helium does not.

Helium does not allow writers to post photos or videos to articles. Furthermore, on Helium, your articles are rated by your peers. You’re also expected to do a certain amount of rating each month in order to receive your Adsense. This is easy to achieve if you do a little rating every day.

Unlike Hubpages, the Helium writing online site keeps your articles forever. You can never remove them.

Helium also has writing contests. Helium members can win cash by earning the most points in the contests.

In my opinion, the best part of Helium is the Marketplace. This is a great place to make money on the internet. Publishers post titles on Helium Marketplace, and writers are invited to write articles addressing the topics. The publishers provide guidelines and word count for each writing job posted. If your article is selected by the publisher, your account is credited for that amount.

Purchase prices vary. Some sell for as little as $10 each, while others might sell for $120. I’ve actually sold articles on Helium for $200 – for a single article. I would say that most of the writing jobs posted on Helium are in the $40-$50 range.

Another way to make money online with Helium is by selling stock content. This occurs when a publisher sees an article that he wants posted on Helium. He purchases the article for $5, but you keep the rights. You might sell the same article several times.

If you treat writing online like a real writing job, you can do well on Helium. Helium was the first site in which I tried to make money on the internet. I started slowly, with low-paying Marketplace titles. It wasn’t long, however, before I began to make money online in a significant way. There have been numerous months when I earned $1,000 on Helium. I make money mostly from article sales on Helium.

Payout from your writing job

When writing online with Hubpages, you’ll get paid once a month from Google. The threshold is $100. With Amazon, you must earn $10 to achieve payout in the U.S.

When writing online with Helium, the payout threshold is $25.

With both writing online sites, if you don’t make the payout level in a single month, your earnings are rolled over to the next month.

The forums

Both Hubpages and Helium have forums where members can chat, debate, and offer and receive advice. Both writing online sites have guidelines for forum posts. If you break the rules, you get banned from the forums for a while. I’ve never received a ban or warning from either site, so I really don’t know all the ins and outs of not following the agreement terms. I do know that neither site allows personal attacks.

Which writing online site is best for writing online?

It really depends on what you’re looking for in the way of a writing job. Perhaps you’re looking for writing online just for your own enjoyment instead of a writing job. For residual monthly income from writing online, Hubpages is better. They seem to pay substantially more for Adsense clicks.

If, however, you want to make money on the internet quickly, write for Helium Marketplace. If you have writing skills, are disciplined, and treat it like an actual writing job, you’ll make money quickly with Helium.

Warning!

Once you’ve been accepted by Google Adsense and ads appear on your hubs, NEVER click on your own ads! Don’t ask your friends or family to click on them, either. Google is smart, and you’ll lose your Adsense account quickly by participating in such activities.

Make money online

Do you want to make money online? Are you looking for a writing job? If you’d like to join Helium, drop me a line. Just click on my profile and you can contact me via email. I’ll send you an invitation to join Helium.

If you want to make money online with Hubpages, click here.

I enjoy both sites. I also use both to make money online. I like the quick money I earn from Helium and the monthly residual income I earn from Hubpages. If you’re fairly proficient, I suggest you join both writing online sites!

For more about writing online and how to make money on the internet, click the links below!