Hubpages ?

Only traffic that you first get to HubPages instead of getting it directly to your website in the first place.

It's all a big fallacy, really. You're far better off using a page which you yourself own and control. It's easy to imagine that you're getting traffic "from" HubPages when in fact all you're doing is diverting some of your potential traffic "to" HubPages rather than directly to your own site, and eventually getting some of it at your own site. Unless and until your click-through rate from HubPages to your own site is 100%, you'd actually be making a net loss on it.

The mistake that people make, doing this, is the same as the mistake that people make when they put their articles in Ezine Articles instead of on their own site and imagine that they're generating traffic "from" Ezine Articles. Their "logic" is exactly the same, too. :rolleyes: :p

I think you're not going to fall for anyone telling you that "your" HubPages page can rank more easily than a page on a site that you yourself own and control and that this confers some advantage, are you? You already know this is nonsense, right? And you don't imagine that the high PR of HubPages own home page is going to help "your" page(s) there to get traffic? We don't need to go all over this nonsense, do we?

It's exactly the same argument as all the stuff about Squidoo, Blogger, and all the other places where you don't own and control your own pages but are just unnecessarily dependent on a third-party service. I mean, there are a dozen threads here which explain the whole thing and all the fallacious reasoning and misattributed causation arguments involved in these things. I can dig some of them up for you, if you really want. But I think you know better than this, really?

The short answer is that using HubPages to try to get traffic is better for your business than going out for breakfast and spending the rest of the morning trying on shoes (and in that sense, the people who comment that they did a HubPages site and got some traffic from it may technically be correct!), but it's still "just silly" and based only on fundamental misunderstandings and confusions, when you look at the easier/better/safer ways of doing exactly the same thing.

The reality is that people do it because they like it, because it's easy, because it's fun, and so on. And you can, technically, make very small amounts of money from it (just not nearly as much as you can make without it!!), so they like to convince themselves that it's a "proper business activity". (Or some are maybe gullible enough never even to question that in the first place). I just hope that all my direct niche competitors will use HubPages as "part of their businesses' traffic-generation/income strategies".

Yes it is, but they are getting tougher on the hubs you publish, also the link is no follow until your account has gained reputation.

I've tried Hubpages in the past and not had any real success with them. My advice is to spend your time elsewhere.

I have used hubpages for getting good traffic and natural search engine ranking of keywords for website.

If you are looking for traffic from google.. Then [at the moment] I have to :p agree with Alexa, in that hubpages probably won't provide you with much benefit over your own site.

However, if you are looking for traffic from hubpages, then it's easy, and doable. As with everything, you first need to look at what people using the site want.

For the most part, people at Hubpages are interested in:

Writing
Sharing experiences/knowledge
Forming relationships with other users.
Getting advice
Making a few $$$ on the side.
Getting paid for their writing.
Reading/Being entertained
etc...

As a general rule, they are not usually interested in running and maintaining their own site. They are, however, interested in getting more vistors to their pages, and learning how to monetize them.

So, based on the above, you could promote:

Anything to do with publishing on kindle
Writing courses/advice
Coaching
SEO tips (whitehat, of course)
Various traffic methods
Sites that pay you to write
Great books that you have read
etc...

Since hubpages users are looking for authentic connections, there is no use spamming, hard selling, and/or making stuff up. In short, be genuine, and know your subject matter.. preferably speak from experience.

It also goes without saying that you need to write entertaining and informative hubs, aka quality content.

HOW TO GET TRAFFIC AT HUBPAGES:

Ask and Answer a lot of questions
Publish new hubs
Participate in the forums
Read and learn from advice
Read and follow Hubpages TOS

The more that you interact, the more people will visit and read your stuff.
For example.. When you answer or ask a question, a lot of people will click through to see who you are, and what you write about. If you target the questions/answers in your niche, you will get targeted traffic; people who are interested in that area.

Make sure that you 'Follow' people that you find interesting. When you follow someone, maybe two thirds of the time they will follow you back. Then, every time you publish a new hub, your followers willl recieve an email to notify them. This is instant traffic, without the need for your own mailing list.

Your hubs will also be featured/promoted internally, throughout the site.

These are just my opinions and thoughts on the subject.. Hope it helps steer you in the right direction (for you.) If I think of anything else I will add it later.

Seriously, I am so satisfied with Hubpages. I have been using it for over a year. The website is not for people building links. "HubPages is your online space to share your advice, reviews, useful tips, opinions and insights with hundreds of other authors. " I make lots of grammar mistake in writing but users and contributors of Hubpages still approve and feature my writing. I think it is one of the most friendly websites.

If you write articles and have one or two anchor text link back to your site, that is fine to Hubpages. But you need to have quality content and consistently write some articles.

Hubpages frowns on squeeze pages and landing pages that links to sales pages and squeeze pages. If you want to make money with Adsense, Ebay, or Amazon.... it can be a lucrative proposition - assuming if you promote your hubs, attract followers, and provide excellent content.

I made like $15 on that site so far. Been like 6 months lol. I stopped making hubs tho. If you make 10 hubs a day you can make decent money. Its a lot of work tho. You can make more money doing other things which is why I stopped.

Arrrrghhh... typed out a deep and powerful message as to 'why' I only have one Hub Page published (*which remains in top 3 on page 1 of Google...

But the short version is Lexy (Alexa Smith) amongst several other well-informed writers steered me clear of wasting time with most of my SEO efforts after the person whom I was taking advice from suggested spinning articles and I asked a question about article spinning software...that was 4 years ago!!!

My one hub was used as a buffer... I wrote a unique and informative article around an SEO based affiliate product, created a link to my .com site with an even more compelling review, and sent the traffic to the product owners landing page... Naturally, a lead capture (squeeze) page.

There to a wrote 3 more unique reviews on the same product on weebly, blogger, a d webs...never did get around to creating a lens on Squidoo tho.

Long story short, each review I wrote rests on page 1 of Google, and for most keywords regarding this product... I hold 3-5 slots all on page one til this day...again 4 years later.

I've since had these articles ripped off by idiots, blog scrapers, spun versions, etc... And have actually been outranked on page one by my own stolen and spun up version of one or more of these reviews.

Hours spent issuing DMCA's having the stolen materials removed ( fearing they were stealing my affiliate commissions and cause it pissed me off!!!)

Then, my Hub vanished from Google altogether...all of a sudden the 3 links (1 in the opening sentence, one in a banner image, and 1 in the closing sentence was suddenly deemed 'overpromotional' by HubPages and un-Published (after holding firm on page 1 of Google for 3 years!.. whereby, I reduced it to 1 link at the end of my Hub, and 10 days later back on page one it was!

Now for the clincher... I was a noob with no clue how to make money online. Obviously, for a first attempt this might seem a homerun considering I've made roughly $270 to date in aff commissions for my reviews/articles which took maybe 5 hours to write.

But, the product landing page determined my referrals... Which totaled 1000+ people who opted-in to the product creators list (not my list....his!!!)

My aff commission is $27.

In total my Hub on page 1 of google generated 14 sales (in 4 years) of which 4 people refunded!

I spent hours building a WP site with a .com name centered around the product..., yes, it paid for itself... But there to I built a free blogger page, a free webs page, and a free weebly page...almost all of which are also someone on page 1 for their specific keyword included in the 1 unique article I wrote for each free web property...like Hub Pages.

I was being told by a so-called SEO guru these were 'buffer' sites and would drive traffic to my website, and build quality backlinks...that was only partially true.

Yes, i got some traffic, made a few sales, even made a little bit of money...but if you look at the time I spent writing, building free web properties, chasing down thieves who scraped, stole, or used my articles (*some of which even landed page 1 rankings along with the original work it was stolen from) hours srnding DCMA's and the fact I gave a vendor 1000+ email subscribers to market to in the future... And Hub Pages removing my published works after 3 years due to 'over-promotional' linking

Take Lexy's advice...there are much better ways to utilize your time and writing efforts than trying to build a rep or trickles of traffic from Hub Pages, Blogger, or sites that do little by way of serving themselves for your writing efforts.

Heck, save time, energy, and money and either buy traffic or step in front of targeted traffic, and make sure your readers optin to your list...not someone elses.

Prob got a bit off the topic with my rant, but I'd hate to see anyone put in the time and effort I did only to have page one articles produce such minuscule results over a four year span.

Thanks to Alexa and others here... I learned NOT to listen to SEO guru's who think gaming google is a winning proposition. In my personal experience, its a big waste of time and there are much more reliable forms of traffic than using HubPages or any SEO outside of obtaining quality/relevant backlinks and some basic on-page SEO.

Hubpages are a great site for real writers online.

You can definitely build something good by following exactly what the trainings and tutorials you find teaching you how to do it.

It will take a lot of time and effort but the results are the ones you read about.

I would recommend you to do more research on how others are doing it. I have seen a lot of good information out there. You should also invest in some good trainings about this and just do it!!

You can earn from the revenue you generate using their platform!!

I hope this helps!

cheers!

I've used hubpages in the past for many years. In my opinion you get paid a fraction of what you would have earned if you had set up your own site/blog and posted your high quality unique content there. That's not to say that there is no benefit but ust it for shorter articles that then feed back to your main site with high quality content.

Well, according to me, Hub page is one of the best ways to get the a lot more traffic on your website. I have used it many times. At the initial stage, it generates the no follow link, but after sometime, it generates the do follow links and attract the visitors towards your website.

While HubPages might be a good platform for writers to gauge their abilities, it reminds me of how a similar site (Helium) worked. Writer's there submitted articles to chosen titles (usually co taining a keyword or subject matter concentrated on a specific niche audience). Anyway, Helium clearly stated in their TOS that You (the writer) held no ownership over the articles once submitted to their website.

The 'concept' was simple; the more articles you write a d have approved for submission... The more money you could make. They paid a percentage of the adsense revenue generated in each article, and if you properly jumped through all their rings of fire (like You had to rate other peoples articles to get paid or You'd essentially forfiet your portion of the adsense revenues generated from your work!)

Naturally, you were allowed to have a short 'bio' on your profile page, so you could have an external link to your website or social profile pages and (if done properly) get a trickle of traffic from people who liked/respected your writings or message. SoYes, there was a payoff for using their platform.

But... I think what matters here is getting your writing/information in front of targeted buyers, and exposure to your efforts...not Helium's or HubPages, etc.

I simply didn't know any better...and I had written roughly 200+ articles on Helium and earned a whopping $5.73 from my portion of the adsense revenues.

However, (and I am not sure if HubPages works in similar context) - I realised exactly what Helium and similar sites were doing...they had aspiring (and some well rounded hobbyists) filling their website with content...so they could mass promote those written materials through 'other' media portals and in essence - get rich off the unsuspecting souls who just didn't know any better.

Imagine if you had a web property that invited writers to submit articles...they release their ownership rights over to you in exchange for a tenth of your adsense revenues...and if you were savvy (as Captain Jack would say) - you could syndicate, sell, publish, or use those written materials in any manner You deemed fit...You'd better bet you'd be banking some serious 'booty'... Booty you looted and pirated from the efforts of unknowing 'wannabe' authors or even those who just wanna get recognized and gauge their works.

To answer the OP's question...no, Hubpages and the likes is not profitable. I don't think it's wrong to use these resources as a place to get your bearings and learn to be a better writer or internet marketer. I'm not saying they don't offer a great free service or wonderful community of writers...what I am saying (as is Alexa) is you are 'giving away too much' in respect to your efforts. Certainly don't make it a primary source
to wit your income derives.

Clearly, you must appreciate that 'giving your work away' never pays well, and most people here are looking for full-time income to quit their job(s) not merely create another one.

They wont let me link to a squeeze page or sales letter. So the only thing that's left is to write content and try to make money from Adsense or Amazon (or whoever else they have)... and cross-link to other hubs that you have, and have interactive conversations with the commenters that you attract. Worthless to me if you're trying to use it for your website... for traffic.

Okay, here's someone who has been talking with HubPages account users for a long time.

And after all these years, I can tell you a few things from my experience.

Pros of HubPages

1. Traffic - Getting organic traffic to your HubPages was easier a few years ago. But now, it might not be that easy. Having said that, it might still be easier to optimize it with a couple of links, since thought the page authority might be low, the domain authority is still high. So, it can be expected that it will garner organic traffic faster than your newborn website might.

2. Hub Users - If you engage in HubPages forum activity and provide value, you can gain lot of support and links from the other users. What that means is, you will gain exposure through your Hub Network. So, if you get popular and another HubPages writer links to your article, the viewers of that article will come to your article as well.

3. Side Income - Although very small, it might still lead to passive income over time. I am not saying you will be earning in three digits right away. But after maybe 10-20 solid in-depth hubs, you will gain traction from HubPages promotional service only. At least, that's what data says. Now, it might take even shorter or longer than that.

Cons of HubPages

1. Brand Development - You will not have any significant brand development of your business. You are just another HubPages content creator. And if you want to build your website alongside writing for HubPages, it's way too much work. Good luck to you on that. It's been seen that social media users will promote your website with a brand, rather than a HubPages article.

2. Traffic - When you are building traffic for HubPages, you are not building any for your site. Moreover, when you are SEO'ing the HubPages article, you are eating into the organic traffic that might have landed on your website.

3. Blogging - Now, to add to the above points, it's way much work blogging in itself. Don't go searching "Highest Earning Bloggers" on Google and think that you will rake in $1500/day just like they do. It's too much work. I run a blog myself, so I know. Yes, although a blog can be a good way to showcase your expertise in a particular niche, it is highly likely that you will not be earning big from it anytime soon. (Unfortunately!)

Now the decision is on you, my friend.

Yes, it can be good, however don't overcrowd it with links.

And add value..

Hubpages is a god send. I use it for many purposes. I use it to rank my micro niche sites on Google and also earn decent money from it using Amazon and Adsense. From all my hub articles, I'm earning $400 a month on autopilot doing absolutely nothing but trying to rank my sites.

I use it only for web 2.0 link building but you can make money from it too. $400 a month may not be a lot but since you don't have to do anything except publish an article, it's golden.

I think the real harm in using Hubpages for either traffic or making money is when it's the ONLY thing that someone has going on.

Yes, for a long term plan, relying on sites like this, can get us into trouble.

Using it for a short term plan, such as using it to learn how to perform effective keyword research, getting some traffic to your site, or making some extra cash, is fine.

With that being said, I've not had that much luck with it on all three counts, but I know people who have.

all I can do is LOL

Making money or gaining traffic from hubpages is not impossible, but it's not easy either.
If you have the time and the will, you could try it out and see how it goes, but don't expect too much from them too soon

I only tried to use them briefly, but did not care for my experiences with them. In terms of content, it seems that you're frequently subjected to the collective idea of what "good" content is instead of just being able to put out what you want. I love the idea of being able to write about whatever you want, but the rating system puts a damper on that.

Plus, they recently took down my most popular post for a few weeks, claiming it was plagiarized, which it certainly was not. Recently I got an e-mail saying that it was their mistake and a lot of pages were falsely flagged as plagiarized, including mine, and now these pages were put back up. It's good that they realized their mistake, but that kind of thing can be avoided when you control your own content publication. In the meantime, I lost out on traffic while that post was sort of hot on a social media site I posted it to. I'm not impressed with them, generally.