My First 50 Hubs - Getting Started with HubPages

I joined HubPages about 2 months ago and just recently published my 50th Hub; a review of the movie Grown Ups with Adam Sandler.

Not my best, but it was kind of fun to write and having fun is an important part of writing for HubPages, unless it truly is your only job, you don't want it to feel like work.

I have had a lot of fun in the HubPages community.

There are many other writers willing to lend a helping hand and give advice on how to improve the traffic and earnings on your Hubs.

Over the 2 months since joining I have also learned quite a lot about Search Engine Optimization (SEO), keywords, affiliate programs, general tips for writing on the internet and the HubPages program

So, while it has been a good learning experience and a little fun, I wouldn't say I have been successful on HubPages at all.

My traffic is less than impressive and my Adsense and Amazon earnings are non-existent. Therefore, this article isn't really a "How-To" guide for instant success on HubPages but rather "Things to Consider" as you get to started with HubPages.

I can't stress this enough. The most important thing you can do on HubPages or anywhere else on the internet is offer quality content that is not only unique to your readers but to the "robots" and math programs that determine SEO rank on Google and elsewhere.

In my opinion, to make it as unique as possible, put as much of yourself into your content while writing. The easiest way to do that on HubPages is to write about what you know and what you know well.

You may have completely different insight into a subject or unique experiences that could be appealing to those interested in the topic, especially if it is something they have never read about before.

Thus far, my most successful Hubs ("successful" is a very relative term in this case) revolve around Milwaukee, the city I live in, and places to visit there. The articles bring a unique view as a local of the city and offer information that people from out of town might not be familiar with.

Another bonus to writing on subjects you know well is that it will require very little research. You want to get as many good Hubs out there as fast as you can, so the less time you have to spend researching dates or addresses or whatever else is required of your piece, the more time you have to get started on the next Hub.

More Hubs on HubPages means more potential traffic, assuming the Hubs are all of a high quality.

Honestly, I have no idea what these scores do or mean.

Obviously a higher score is better and is probably a reflection of the success of your Hubs or a particular Hub, but why it really matters is unknown to me.

My Hubber score fluctuates constantly and drops or rises a point or two for no real discernible reason, as far as I can tell.

In the last 24 hours my author score has dropped from 93 to 89 despite me publishing three Hubs and being active in the site community.

???

From what I have heard you can improve your Hubber score by commenting on other Hubs, being active in the forums and answering and asking questions on HubPages.

My Hub scores are also a mystery. A Hub of mine that has over 300 views has a lower score than one that has 10. Why? I have no idea, but from everything I have heard it is better to get 300 views on HubPages than 10.

To improve your Hub score, if that is important to you, you will likely need to constantly update the content and keep it fresh.

Maybe add a new video or news capsule if possible, or links to outside sources on the topic. It's hard to say exactly what it will take to raise the score, so play around with it for a bit and see what works.

But, in my opinion, don't worry about the scores, just worry about your writing. You joined HubPages to write articles on the internet, so as long as you are doing that your score shouldn't really matter.

Keywords are King here on HubPages and unfortunately I am just a pawn.

From all accounts, to be truly successful you will need to master the art of keywords on the internet. But, how to do that seems to be a subject of debate.

Many on the forum recommend going after heavily searched keywords that get hundreds of thousands of search a month, but that offer very little in terms of CPC (Cost-Per-Click) ads. By doing this, you increase the odds of a high amount of traffic to your Hub, but it will also require a lot of visitors to make their ad clicks valuable.

While others suggest finding keywords from a smaller niche that might at the same time offer a somewhat higher CPC. In theory, you will get less views, but each one may be worth more.

Information on global search, local search and CPC can be accessed by using the Google Keywords tool. If you plan to write long-term on HubPages, you will want to bookmark that link and use it relentlessly.

Because I am anything but a master on the subject, I have provided links to articles that should help you get a basic idea on how to implement keywords into your content:

How to Pick Keywords That Make Money, Do Your Own Research!, Keyword Research Tutorial

I would read through these over and over again so that once you start to write a Hub you are able to implement all the necessary keywords right away and spend less time going back and editing older material and more time writing new content for HubPages.

Patience really is a virtue, not only in life but here on HubPages as well.

After 2 months on the site I still get less than 150 views every day and most of those are internal coming from HubPages. About 20 or so of those views come from external search engines.

It can definitely be disconcerting early on to see such little traffic, especially from outside sources.

Why does it matter where the views come from?

Anyone with an account on HubPages is unlikely to be the type of internet user who clicks on ads.

While their views will help your traffic, they probably won't directly contribute to your financial success.

After all, it is fairly likely you joined HubPages to put a little cash in your pocket.

Therefore, you want views or "clicks" from outside sources like Google, Yahoo! and anywhere on the internet outside of the HubPages community.

Everyone in the forums says it takes time and a little effort to build a following on HubPages and attract visitors from search engines like Google, Yahoo! and MSN.

Over time your Hubs will "age" which will help them in Google rankings and if you build backlinks to your Hubs, they are more likely to rank on higher Google pages.

Backlinks are the process of inserting the link to your Hub on social network sites like Facebook or Twitter, or really anywhere you think your link may be of relevance out on the internet.

Here are Hubs that offer a little more insight into backlinks and their value in terms of organic search on the internet:

Increase Your Traffic With Free Backlinks, Get 13 Instant Backlinks, Get Quick Backlinks

So, don't get frustrated right away if no one is reading your Hubs or clicking on your ads. After a couple of months or so and with some backlinks established, you should start to see some success in terms of traffic to your Hubs.

In just over 2 months with just over 50 Hubs, I have had 3,469 views and have made a total of $5.69 from Adsense. I have yet to make a sale on Amazon.

It sounds awful right? Well, apparently it is very common. Many successful HubPages veterans have told me they had similar "success" in their first month or two, but continued to write and learn and now are making upwards of $500 a month. Some writers on HubPages are even making $1000 or more in a month.

Therefore, I have committed myself to researching keywords and SEO practices, implementing backlinks when possible and writing the best content I can. Once I have published my 100th Hub I will reevaluate the situation, but for now, I just have to be patient.

Hopefully there is some information here that can help you in getting started with HubPages. The most important thing to consider is that it will take time and effort. I always thought the idea of making money at home or on the internet sounded easy in principle, but, if it were easy everyone would do it.

Nothing worth doing is ever easy and the most rewarding things you accomplish always take some time.

Good luck to you on HubPages!