The last few months have been hard for bloggers and sites such as HubPages due to Google's ongoing Panda/Farmer algorithm updates. HubPages has suffered a steep drop in traffic, and they have been in the process of making many changes to the site to help rise back up in the ratings. However, one change that's coming up in January 2012 is pretty drastic.

Hubpages is initiating a change to their revenue model. They are changing the way the Amazon affiliates will make money from their Amazon modules. As of January 2012, HubPages will not allow you to use your own Amazon affiliate links in your hubs; they are combining Amazon revenue with the HubPages Ads program. It looks like you will be paid for the purchases that pertain to your hub, but not for any other purchases a reader may make using your link. The theory is that this revenue will revert to HubPages.

After much consideration and all the changes going on at HubPages that I am not comfortable with, I've decided to go ahead and not publish any new hubs there. Instead, I'm looking at alternatives, such as Wizzley.

Wizzley is a site similar to HubPages, but with some major differences. Wizzley opened to the public in June 2011, so it's a relatively new kid on the block. With your Google Adsense ID, you can earn money on Wizzley when readers click the Google ads that appear next to your article. The revenue split is 50% /60% , which  isn't bad. You can also make money with Amazon, Zazzle and other affiliates. They also have editors who review all articles before they are allowed to be published. This ensures that all articles are high-quality, and will help to avoid slaps from the Panda in upcoming algorithm updates.

Right now, I have 20 hubs on HubPages. I will probably leave most of them there, but may move the lower ranking hubs to Wizzley to see if they do better. I will not add any new hubs for a while, and will add new articles to Wizzley over the next few months to see how it works out.

When you are a freelance writer and/or are trying to develop a passive income from online articles, then it pays to have your eggs spread out, rather than all in one basket. By this, I mean it's best to have several income streams, rather than depending completely on one source of income. If that source dries up, then what will you do? With several sources of income, you will be able to survive if one stream of income dries up. So, never put all your eggs in one basket. Be sure to develop several sources of income and you'll be able to survive!

Good luck!

Sher :0)

I read many different "make money online" blogs almost every day.  It's an adventure, and rarely I come across a blog offering free, helpful tips to help you start earning an income online.  The other day, I came across this site:  Earn Residual Income Online with Czezfat. The site is owned by Brian, and has written a series offering great advice on how to start making money online.

Brian's/Chezfat's series is called:  How to Start Making A Living Online.  After reading through the initial posts, I was impressed with the advice Chezfat offers.  It is all very logically laid out and easy to follow. This process does involve a lot of work, but then that's why it's called work.  Chezfat's ideas are easily applied to any type of online writing, including writing for HubPages.

I'm still plugging along with my own HubPages project, and stats are still holding after Google's Farmer algo.  This is a good sign, and encourages me to keep writing at HubPages and other places.  Quantity and quality will win the day.

If you're feeling frustrated and disappointed with your online earnings, just keep working at it...plugging along as I'm doing.  Keep to a schedule and work at this like you would at any job.  This is work...all those who say it's easy to make money online are not telling the truth.  There is a lot of work involved, but it is possible to make decent money online.  Keep going along with me on this journey...even plugging along is progress!

Good luck and happy hubbing!

Sher :0)

I'm slowly plugging along with my hub writing.  It's a bit frustrating that I don't have time to write more.  Right now, I have a couple of other projects that are demanding more time.  Even so, I'm writing hubs when I can.  Today I wrote my 19th hub.  That's not a lot of hubs, but better than zero!

Sometimes plugging along is all you can do--and that's OK.  The important thing is to keep making forward progress as you can.  Moving forward is progress--and that's a good thing.

That's all for today--just a short update post.  If you take anything away from this post, let it be that any forward movement is progress.  Work on your hubs as you can, writing the best possible articles to help your readers, entertain them, etc.  Be consistent with quality--one hub at-a-time--and you'll do just fine.

One more note--HubPages has a new contest starting March 31st!  It's called the "So You Think You Can Write" contest, and they are looking for new articles written on subjects not covered extensively on the web. You can read the details on their site.

Happy hubbing!

Some hubbers have seen a drastic drop in search engine traffic to their hubs, along with lower revenue.  Other hubbers have reported negligent changes to their stats.  Right now, I have 17 hubs published, and the traffic did take a small dip a few days after the algorithm change.  Now, however, the numbers seem to have leveled out and stats seem to be back to normal. 

HubPages has taken Google’s newest algorithm to heart, and have made some changes in the rules we have to follow to write hubs.  Here is a short list of the changes they’ve made:

• All hubs must contain original content—no duplicate content will be allowed.  Some hubbers like to take an article they write for one site and include it as a hub.  Duplicate content is major red flag to Google that the content is probably of a more spammy than helpful nature.  Google will then lower the page rank of both sites, which also causes a loss in search engine traffic, etc.  HubPages is cracking down on duplicate content—and that’s a good thing.

• Amazon and eBay capsules must contain at least 50 words in the text for every product featured. 

• RSS, news, amazon and ebay capsules will no longer allowed to be the first capsule at the top of a hub. 

• HubPages is looking at deleting all affiliate links from hubs. 

• Also examining an updated ad layout for the site and hubs.

• HubPages Ad Program:  the program will be another way to earn from your writing with an optimized mix of ads that will be alongside Google Adsense, and Amazon, etc.  The program is new, and Hubbers are being added in waves.  HubPages hopes to have the program available to all Hubbers by June.

These updates are a positive response to the “Farmer” algorithm, and I plan to continue writing at HubPages.  Writing is a wonderful way to help make extra money and passive income, but it’s important to write for more than one site.  Be sure to look at ways to develop other income streams, in addition to HubPages, and write quality content that actually helps your readers, and you’ll weather the algorithm storms just fine. 

Happy hubbing!

Sher

Last week, Google released an algorithm change commonly called the "Farmer" algorithm.  Google's "Farmer" algorithm was mostly aimed at online content directories such as HubPages, Suite101, and others.  Google's purpose was to cut out low-quality articles and spam from their search results.  The effect of this algorithm change has been a drop in search rank and traffic for many content directories and websites across the Internet.  This effect has trickled down to lower traffic and earnings for writers who have their articles on the places most hit by the new algorithm.  HubPages was one of those who received the "slap" from Google.

When visiting the forums on HubPages earlier today, I came across many hubbers who said their traffic's not changed too much since the new algorithm's rollout.  However, there were others who said their hub traffic's way down, and earnings, too.  The smack down has hit some people very hard.

This isn't the first "smack down" HubPages has received.  There have been others, and HubPages was able to recover from each one.  There are two main lessons hubbers need to take away from this latest algorithm change:  a.  focus on writing quality content that actually helps your readers, and b.  find some other sites to write for, while also looking for other ways to diversify your online income.  The old saying, "Don't put all your eggs in one basket" is a very good one for all of us to learn and remember!  Applied to online writing, it means diversify your income streams.  You can read more about that at my other blog:  SherVacik.com.

I'll be sticking around on HubPages and adding articles as often as I can.  And along with this, I'll keep on developing my other income streams.  Don't give up your online writing!  The Internet universe will settle down once again.  Just remember quality content that helps your reader is your goal--and you'll do just fine!

Happy Hubbing!
Sher

This has been another busy week for me with writing and one client project.  I didn't manage to get another hug published yet, but am working on a hub that I hope will be ready later this week.  That's my hub update for this week.

Have you looked around the HubPages Learning Center?  The Learning Center is a great place to find answers to your questions, help for technical issues with  your hubs and capsules and more.  Along with the Learning Center, HubPages also offers a Hub Camp.  The HubCamp is a series of videos and articles dealing with many aspects of hubs and writing articles.  Here, HubPages execs have made videos to help you learn how to write great articles, how to get traffic and make money.  The lessons go through selecting a topic, keyword research, explanation of what an ideal hub is like, and more. I ran through a few of the lessons in the Hub Camp and found them to be very easy to understand, while giving insightful information to help me become a better hubber.

Be sure and check out the Learning Center and the HubCamp for more information on writing better hubs and gaining more traffic!

Happy Hubbing!
Sher

Last week I didn't manage to write a new hub--sometimes circumstances take precedence to writing.  Even so, I made an Amazon sale last week.  It was a shock to see one sale when I checked my Amazon Associate's earnings and found that one sale--my first.  I'm not sure which hub the sale came from, but it was one of my gluten free hubs.  Someone purchased my favorite gluten free cookbook.  That's encouraging, even though the earnings from this one book were not high, and I'm hoping this first sale will have opened the floodgates and now more sales will soon come along.

That's the update for this week.  I would like to wish you Happy Valentine's Day!  Today is the day of love in many places around the world, although some countries do see it as more of an imported, commercialized day.  What are your thoughts about the day?  Take a look at these hubs about St. Valentine and the day of Love to see how the holiday is celebrated around the world, and the history and tradition behind Valentine's Day.

Valentine's Day Customs from Around the World

The Story of St. Valentine and Valentine's Day

Happy Hubbing!

Sher

(c) 2011 by Sher Vacik.  All rights reserved.

Today's post is a bit short, but I wanted to share some great advice on the best ad placement.  This method does work, and it is not a scam or a gimmick.  

A friend of mine, Hospitalera, is a fellow-Hubber on HubPages.  She, in turn, is friends with another Hubber named Lissie.  Both Hospitalera and Lissie offer great advice for making money online, including how to write hubs and make residual income.

Lissie has a great blog post about optimal ad placement for hubs on HubPages.  Her advice is spot on, and offers insight on how to increase your passive income on HubPages.

I am using this method, myself, and have to say it seems to be one of the best ways to write in order to have ads placed at the best position to earn.

A quick update, I now have 15 hugs as of last week.  Traffic's good, but I need to find more ways to backlink and improve traffic and clicks.   My writing schedule is keeping on track with writing at least one new hub per week, but my goal is to build up to 30 hubs.  That's a challenge as things are busy right now, but I might be able to write additional hubs in the evening.  We'll see how it goes. 

Good luck and happy Hubbing!

January has been a busy month for me.  I've begun writing at some other places, in addition to HubPages.  Back in November, I started writing for BellaOnline's Asthma site, and also began developing my own website, Sher Vacik.com.  With these and other writing projects, plus other freelance work, 2011 is shaping up to be a busy year. 

With all of this going on, it's very important to get organized.  I was beginning to feel overwhelmed by everything, so I sat down and set up a writing schedule, along with setting up an income tracker.  You can read more it about it on my website.  I used programs already on my computer, but also downloaded a couple of free templates.  You definitely don't need expensive software and gizmos to get organized.  I like to use free programs as much as possible, as long as they are quality products.  Getting the writing schedule and income tracker in place have already begun  to help me to stay organized and  up-to-date with all my writing and freelance commitments. 

Getting organized has helped me to write two new hubs in the last week.  I wrote one about the Amazon Kindle, and the second one about gluten free Super Bowl recipes.  I've now got 14 hubs, but would like to hit 30 hubs before too long.  To do this, I will have to add some extra time for writing more hubs on my writing schedule.  I'm not quite sure how to manage that yet. 

I've found with new hubs that traffic grows nicely on all the other hubs.  However, the income from HubPages is still not where I would like it to be.  Growing reader numbers should help with that.  My goal is to earn passive income from HubPages and the other sites I write for.  So, I need to be prolific in my writing.  The writing schedule will definitely help in that area.

Well, that's all for today.  I just wanted to give a little update about how things are progressing for HubPages.  My hub number is slowly increasing, but with time scheduled each week, I'll be able to write more hubs on a regular basis.  From there, I'm hoping to grow reader numbers and income. 

Till next time, happy Hubbing!
Sher

If you haven't signed up at HubPages yet, go ahead and give it a try!  

I've seen this question many times around the Internet.  There are many who say HubPages is nothing but a scam and a content mill that makes money off the backs of its writers.  They equate HubPages to being a sweat shop of web content, allowing the company to earn thousands of dollars, while its writers earn pennies for each ad clicked.  There are some who also criticize the writing quality, or lack thereof, on a site such as HubPages.  I would challenge such opinions about HubPages.

HubPages is a great place for writers to start learning how to write for the web.  The site offers  learning sources for everything from basic search engine optimization (SEO) to how to choose your hub topic.  Along with the learning resources, HubPages has some very talented and helpful Hubbers who are willing to offer advice and guidance to new Hubbers.  So, far, this doesn't seem to add up to a scam or a sweat shop.

Sweat shops are notorious for offering employees horrible work environments with long work hours, along with very little pay.  Sweat shop employees are helpless in the face of the companies management, and are nothing more than slave-labor.  Now, let's take a look at HubPages.  HubPages offers a "home" for writers to place their articles on the web for free.  There is no charge for this service at all.  Writers have to follow the terms of service--these are clearly spelled out and enforced. Writers also retain all the rights to their own content.  No if's, and's or but's!

Once writers have agreed to these terms, they are allowed to write on almost any topic.  They can write from any place offering Internet access, which leaves many places available to work in.  Writers can write from their own home, from a coffee shop, etc, while also setting their own hours.  Workers can work as little or as much as they want, writing as many articles as they like.  Thus the work environment and working hours are up to the writers, and even they determine (to some extent) how much money they will earn.  Does this sound like a sweat shop?  I don't think so.

HubPages is the home of writers of all experience levels--from beginners to those who are published authors in the "real" world.  And it's important to remember that HubPages is a business, after all.  The company needs an income in order to keep the site alive and to make a living for it's regular employees.  It seems to me it's OK if they make money, too, even from our writings.  The money maker for HubPages and it's writers are the Google ads that run on the sides of the articles.  The ad split is 60:40--this means for every 100 ad impressions, the writer's publisher's ID will is displayed about 60 times, while the other 40 ad impressions are for HubPages.  That seems like a fair split to me.  The more hubs your write, the greater chance you have for making money.  Does that sound like a sweat shop?  I don't think so!

HubPages is a legitimate way to make money from home.  It's a place where people can try their hand at writing and earning an online income, and is perfect for those looking for extra income, or as a means of making money until finding regular work.   

This article is my own opinion, no one has contacted me from HubPages to write a positive review of their site and services.  I'm writing directly from my own experience of writing on HubPages.  If anyone wants to earn a bit of money there, they need to realize it will take some good hard work and determination, but it can be done.   I've realized this just from my own small experiment thus far. With increased dedication to writing more articles, I know my own income could grow, while retaining the rights to my own articles, and working the hours I set.  This will be a challenge for me in this new year!  This doesn't feel like a sweat shop to me!

Happy Hubbing!
Sher