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

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

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!

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

Why write on HubPages?
Why do so many people choose to write on HubPages?  Hubpages is a very versatile platform, with a page rank of 6 and 930,000 visits per day, making the site one of the busiest places on the Internet.  These reasons, alone, make HubPages one of the best sites for anyone who would like to try their hand at making money online.  This site has so much to offer newbies and those who are already experienced working on the Net.

What does HubPages have to offer?
HubPages has so much to offer, I'm not sure it's possible to list everything in this post.  I'll share the highlights and benefits of HubPages here:

• HubPages has a high page rank.  What is page rank? Page rank is an algorithm that Google uses to measure the quality and trustworthiness of a website.  Websites with higher page rank are seen to have quality content and have proven that they are reputable and trustworthy according to Google.  Hubpages has a page rank of 6, making it one of the best sites on the Web for attracting readers who want to find quality content to address their problems, to find reviews on products, etc.  You can attain a high page rank with your own blog or website, but it takes a lot of time and work to establish yourself as a reputable and trustworthy presence online.  However, writing and publishing on HubPages offers your articles a site that is already authoritative and trustworthy in the eyes of the online world.  Thus, giving you an instant page rank of 6 and putting you above the others who are still working on gaining a high page rank on their own blogs and websites.

• Hubs are indexed faster, by the search engines, than is the content on individual blogs and websites.  This effect is due to the high page rank of HubPages as a whole.   Being indexed faster gets a published hub into the search engines fast for people looking for information online.

•  Page views per day are enormous, as stated above, with 930,000 visits per day (from all over the globe).  With this number of visits per day, you have a very broad audience to connect with.   You can get in touch with readers much faster than you can when writing your own blog.  It takes time to build up readership, but with HubPages it's possible to reach out to thousands instantly once your hub is published.

• HubPages offers a fun community of writers called "Hubbers."  Hubbers come from all walks of life and from all over the world.  They gather on HubPages and congregate in the forums, and also visit one another's hubs offering insight and advice on how to write better and make money online.  Hubbers seem to be a friendly bunch, from my experience.  And there are many who will offer free advice and assistance for those who are new to writing on HubPages. 

•   Hubs can be monetized in several ways, making this a great place for writers and Internet marketers to make money online.  HubPages allows Hubbers to monetize their hubs with Google Adsense, Amazon.com, Ebay and Kontera.  Hubbers can choose any one of these, or even combine all of these affiliate options in their hubs. HubPages, with these money-making options, becomes a great place to earn a passive income online.  Once a Hubber has several hubs published and monetized, the hubs are left to "age," and with maturity comes better earning power from more traffic (over time) for the Hubbers.

•  HubPages makes writing hubs very user friendly.  The hubs are actually put together with separate "capsules."  Each capsule can be a different type of media.  Some capsules are text only, while others contain affiliate products, videos and even polls and pictures.  Hubbers choose which hub template they would like to follow, and are then free to put the hub together with any combination of capsules they choose.  HubPages offers a learning center for new Hubbers, and many hubs have also been written to aid those who are seeking guidance on writing and putting together quality hubs.  This makes hubs very versatile and unique, and easy for writers, businesses, and Internet marketers to utilize the power of HubPages to reach a vast audience.  

• HubPages is a free platform.  Being free means a writer has the opportunity to create an online presence with no need to invest money.  It's possible to make money online with no cash output.  This is a very important point for many people who are currently out of work due to the global economic crisis.  The only investment is time, making HubPages a great place for those who need to earn extra income.  Writers are free to write at any time of the day.  Many people create hubs as a second job on their off time.   

These are the main benefits Hubpages has to offer those who would like to make money online.  It's  a great place to become involved with a fun group of writers and Internet marketers, while at the same time reaching a potential audience of hundreds of thousands.  

Why do you use HubPages?  

Happy hubbing!