My HubPages Earnings vs My Own Site's Earnings
Does my site make me more money, or does HubPages?
I have a few of my own sites. I will describe just the one site's earning here, and, yes, it is a site that makes me more money than I make on HubPages. Please note that not all of my sites make me more money than I make on HubPages.
I have not yet found the time to put more effort into Amazon or Clickbank or any other affiliate program and my earnings from these affiliate programs are not yet worth mentioning, so it will only be my Adsense earnings that I describe - my Adsense earnings from one particular site of mine vs my Adsense earnings on HubPages, directly via Adsense, or through the HubPages Ad Program.
History
This hub, my 57th hub, was published in April 2012.
I joined HubPages 21 months ago in July 2010.
I started a website about work from home ideas 28 months ago in December 2009 - 7 months before joining HubPages. This work from home ideas website was not my first website.
The work from home ideas site is a simply designed html site, designed by myself and my boyfriend Tony. We got a domain registered and ordered hosting, and uploaded our files. We added Google Adsense ads. From time to time we wrote and added more articles to it. We weren't too bothered with it until we saw that traffic to it was picking up, and Adsense earnings were increasing.
15 months after having started the site, in March 2011 (13 months ago, as I write this hub in April 2012), we added a WordPress blog to the site - on the same host server. We had to slightly upgrade our hosting package to a larger hosting package to accommodate the WordPress system and extra pages of content we'd be adding. It was now easier and quicker to add new articles that we'd written. From time to time we still add a new article to the html site itself, just to keep that part of the site fresh, but we add more articles to the WordPress blog part of it.
Mathematics
The html site part currently (April 2012) has 46 articles, and the blog part has 128 articles, giving a total of 174 articles. (yes, in 21 months I've added only 57 articles to HubPages, and during the last 13 months of those 21 months also added 128 articles to the WordPress blog part of my site.)
174 articles is only 3 articles more than 3 times the amount of articles I have on HubPages (57 x 3 = 171) To make calculations easier, we'll say that the site has three times as many articles as I have on HubPages.
Averages: (if I was earning roughly the same on HubPages as I am on my own site),
then, if I was earning say $10 a month on HubPages, I'd times that by 3 (because the site has 3 times as many articles) to get my site's monthly earnings of $30. Or, if I had earned a total of $210 (21 months) on HubPages, then $30 per month on my own site would total $840 (28 months)
But are those my HubPages and my site's earnings?
Does triple the amount of articles on my own site earn me triple the amount I earn on HubPages?
No. Triple the amount of articles I have on my own site does not earn me triple the amount I earn on HubPages. My articles on my own site earn me more.
In 21 months on HubPages, I've earned a total of about $55 from Adsense, and about $58 from the HubPages Ad Program in the last 11 months to date = a total of about $113
So, if I have triple the amount of articles on my own site, and I say it has earned me more, what is the figure I have to beat? $113 x 3 = $339
By how far has my own site's earnings beaten $339.?
(Can you tell I'm writing this hub as I go along, instead of writing it ahead of time before publishing it?)
After fiddling around in my Adsense account to find the right places to click to view all my earnings from just one URL channel for the entire time that I've had Adsense ads on my site, I'm back to report that my site has earned me a total of $1 386 in 28 months - this beats $339 by far.
$113 for 57 hubs vs $1 386 for 174 articles
57 articles x 3 = 171 articles
$113 x 3 = $339 vs $1 386
Life Orientation
So what am I doing spending time on HubPages if I need to increase my income and my own site earns me considerably more than HubPages earns me? Shouldn't I be spending all my time on my own site?
Well, this is quite easy to answer:
- HubPages has an amazing and wonderful community of writers I'm proud to be a part of;
- HubPages is addictive;
- I am at least earning something on HubPages, and I see that the more active I am on HubPages, the more my earnings on HubPages increase over time;
- Although many people outside of South Africa do visit my site, I can reach more writers (and those writers who are trying to earn an income or extra income from writing) right here on HubPages. I like to help others with my ideas and tips, even if these ideas and tips are not coming from an expert, or from somebody earning a fortune (I'm not an expert and I'm not earning a fortune.) I like to try and help where I can.
- I am always learning something new and handy from reading the hubs of other writers on HubPages, and sometimes I just enjoy reading a good story on HubPages too.
Geography and Biology
Tony and I are proudly South African, living in South Africa. Although our work from home ideas site is a .co.za site (South Africa) and is aimed at anybody in the world, we feel that the ever-increasing traffic to the blog part of the site is because although that too is aimed at anybody, it is more targetted to South Africans. The youth unemployment rate in South Africa is high, and we try to write articles that can help these people realise that they can work from home for themselves, often starting for free, if they can't find a job.
Biology? Tony is male, aged 52. I'm female, aged almost 43.
We've been together 4 and a half years, living in part of my parents house because we are not yet earning enough to move out and get a place of our own. I was going through a divorce and moved to my parents' house without a job, and without even knowing how to copy and paste or send an email, but with my two wonderful sons. Then I met Tony. We fell in love. He didn't have work either and couldn't get a job even after applying for over 100 jobs. We had to do something. Tony taught me a little about the Internet, and together we learned so much more. We became freelancers and passive income earners, and although we still have a long way to go, we have no regrets.
We have discovered that hard work pays off, and that just about anyone can work for themselves. Not being able to find a job is not the end of the world.
Related
Comments
Fascinating read and helpful information. Thanks for sharing!
Nice to know a bit more about you Teresa. Thanks for telling the details of your earnings. If I were your age, or even younger, I would do a lot more. I had my own websire once, but it didn't pay at all. I know why now, i was so green!
Hubpages is important to me because I am retired and alone and it helps pass the time. The money is unimportant because it will never be "real" money which i made as a writer.
Good luck to you and the family.
Bob
Great inspiration and I agree. Just go for it and do the best you can. Being creative can help you make real money online.
Another measure to look at is earnings per visitor.
My HubPages account pays me about the same as my six websites put together! But what's interesting is that my Hubs get 1,500 visitors PER DAY whereas my websites are lucky to get 1,500 visitors PER WEEK. So per visitor, my sites are earning over seven times the rate of my Hubs.
So clearly, IF I could build traffic to my own websites, they have much higher earnings potential than Hubs.
Where HubPages scores is that you can earn revenue while also including links to your websites. There aren't many places where you can create backlinks and get paid at the same time!
Interesting perspective, your story is more interesting than your earnings, nice job.
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Thanks, billybuc - glad it was fascinating and helpful - it's meant to be more helpful than fascinating, but if people can get something out of what I've written, no matter what it is, I'm pleased.
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@diogenes - glad you liked learning more about me - I wish I'd known that I could make money on the Internet when I was much younger too - but I didn't even have a computer or know where to turn one on 5 years ago. I think of all the youth out there struggling to find work, who have computers and just use them for gaming, Facebook, YouTube and whatever, but they can't find a job, or need to earn extra income, and could use their computers to earn income. Also, those who can't afford to study further, but who have a computer and parents who are happy to let them stay home for a "gap year" could "study" the Internet for a year, for free, online, reading articles and websites that tell them how to make money from home or online.
And diogenes, you may be retired, but you're not alone when you have HubPages and its community of wonderful writers. Thanks for your best wishes and I wish you all the best too.
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@LucidDreams - thanks - not really sure if I'm creative, but it's easy to try become more creative with so many free-to-learn-from creative ideas and articles all over the Internet, many of these right here on HubPages.
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@Marisa - well done on those excellent pageviews per day! I hope to increase my HubPages pageviews/traffic to my hubs someday too. The site I discuss here is getting more visitors but that could just be because it has more articles at the moment (and because many South Africans are looking for work from home ideas and the site targets mostly South Africans.)
You are correct that HubPages scores with hubbers being able to backlink to their own sites - I do get a few visitors to my sites from HubPages, here and there, but most of my site's traffic comes from natural search results when people use Google. I think I just got lucky with the main topic and choice of domain name, and having a target market out there often looking for the type of things I write about on this site. My other sites need a lot more work before they will earn as much as I am on HubPages, though. Thanks for your comment, and I wish you all the best with continuing to do so well.
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@BuyaBiz - glad you enjoyed the perspective and my story - have to admit I got carried away with the hub, which started out as just a comparison between the two lots of earnings, but along the way I started throwing in other info too. Had fun writing it.
Interesting when others share their experiences. I earn a similar amount from my personal site as I do from HP, with a LOT more content on my own site, but my own site is not exactly optimized for adsense (I earn more from affiliate sales there which of course now has restrictions here on Hubpages) always good to hear how things are working out for other hubbers/writers/bloggers though. Thanks.
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Thanks for sharing how your personal site and Hubpages earnings compare, Karen. I do find it interesting too, when people share how much they are earning, and from where their earnings are coming from. Many of my other sites (with a similar amount of articles as what I have on HubPages) are not earning me as much as I earn on HubPages. But two or three of my sites are doing more for me that HubPages. I think it's best to try be all over the place, and this includes sticking to adding hubs and being active on HubPages whenever one gets the chance to.
Just so much, I am new over here, but I have more than 20 squids, but now i think this place is fantastic, thanks for the share and telling so much about your own life.
Interesting statistics and comparisons. Thanks for the insights.
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Welcome to HubPages, blogvkp, and I'm pleased you enjoyed my hub. Thanks for the comment.
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Thanks and you're welcome, one2get2no
You are a very generous person,Teresa, it's a pleasure to read of your success and you and your boyfriend sound like a great couple, falling in love when neither of you had anything in the way of financial resources it seems, only true love can survive with such conditions and you seemed to have fallen for the right kind of guy. May your earnings increase a thousand fold. God Bless you both and your sons.
Great information to share, esp. for anyone still trying to break through at Hubpages. Voted up.
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@katyzzz - you're generous too, with your kind comments and blessings - thank you! Yes, definitely fell for the right kind of man. He and my sons are absolute treasures.
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@penlady - thanks; for anyone still trying to break through at HubPages I say just hang in there, be patient, keep trying, and don't give up. Read, learn, do, be rewarded.
I relate very well to what you say. I also have another site, for my business. And I write articles on that site too. But they are related to the business. I enjoy writing on HubPages for all the other things that I write about. And, like you, I really enjoy the community and the people here on HubPges. I have also discovered that I make more money from AdSense on my business site, than I do on HubPages. But that might also be because I'm not sharing it 60/40 as we do here. Your story is awesome. Well done.
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@ Glenn - thanks for saying my story is awesome - I do help it can help others - but I just got off Pat Flynn's site reading his story of how he started making money online and that's an awesome and inspiring story! Thanks for the reminder that I should remember to take into account that Adsense earnings on HubPages are 60/40 compared to 100% on my own sites - but even if HubPages Adsense earnings for HubPages was also 100% it would seem that my own (highest earning) site would still be earning me more. The community here on HubPages is amazing, and definitely a reason to visit HubPages, add hubs to HubPages, and be active on the site even if one doesn't earn anything at the same time.
Wow I admire what your doing, building a passive income for yourself and family. It is hard work but I do hope that it will pay off, and sometimes to me job satisfaction is more important than the financial gain of a 'regular' job. My hubby has a hrd long hour full time job, that sadly doesnt pay great concidering. So I chose to only work part time, that way if he is off I can usually get a day off with him. i am aiming to build up a passive income also so we can be more flexible with our time spent together. He is more important to me than money at the end of the day. i havent thought of building my own site, although i run a fairly good fashion blog, it doesn't make me money. I'm not hugely tech savvy so would worry about trying to run a site myself. Good luck to you both though!
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Hi daisydayz and thanks for the comment. My Adsense earnings on my own sites have dropped off tremendously, and although I hope it picks up again, I'm looking at all sorts of other ways to make money from my sites too. It is hard work, though, and takes time. I wasn't tech savvy just a few years ago - didn't even know where the on button was on a computer, and couldn't send an email or anything, so do not despair that you're not yet tech savvy - it may still happen :) Good luck to you too.
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@ daisydayz - had a very brief and quick look at your blog (agter waiting quite a while for everything on the page to open up properly) - if you've already got an Adsense account, you could put some Adsense ads on it - even just one little one near the bottom, so it doesn't detract in any way or too much from the overall look and feel of your blog. If you don't yet have an Adsense account, apply for one using either your blogspot site's url when you apply, or your hubpages' profile url - if you're getting more than 50 visitors a day.
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