Your First Week On HubPages
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There are many Hubbers who offer very useful information. I have learned a great deal from reading their hubs.
It's especially important when you are just starting out to read as much as you can and get to know your way around HubPages.
I recommend that you make use of all the helpful Hubbers who love to share their knowledge. And it's important to review the Learning Center too. Its link is at the bottom of all pages.
I had been writing one hub every other day since I started. By the end of the first week, my hub score had made it over 75, with four hubs published. My individual hub scores ranged between 67 and 75. Hubs start with a score of 50 and then move up or down, as I’ll explain…
I noticed that the scores all fluctuate up and down a little. This is based on various factors that keep changing over time and the actual algorithm is unknown to us. But a good guess is as follows…
The length of time readers stay on your page reading your Hub, the number of hits from outside the hub community vs. other hubbers, the number of up or down votes, possibly the usage of more than just a few capsules and I would think that spelling and grammar may be a part of it too.
Your overall Hubber score is a reflection of other things. And I noticed that sharing in the community seems to help that score. You definitely want to be active in the community.
Your activity in the various sections of HubPages is known as your Hubtivity. I'll discuss a few of them that I started being a part of in my first week...
Hubtivity - Questions and Answers
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When you click the "Answers" tab you wil see a list of questions people ask. You can answer them with a short reply or you can even make a Hub on the topic if you have a lot to say for the answer.
I have answered a few questions in my first week. I only answer a question if I can offer useful information. People can vote on the answers and I am sure that goes towards your Hubber Score. Every move you make will affect your score.
Hubtivity - Forums
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I have also participated in various Forums. You’ll find a wealth of information there. You’ll find yourself posting a response to someone, or asking your own questions. But make sure your posts are placed under the correct subjects.
I also avoid posting anything that might be taken as self-promotion. That is not what the Forums are there for. I know that my avatar (my image) that is included on every post is a link to my profile. So that gives anyone who reads my post a way to find me or to see what else I’ve published. That's all that matters.
I found that exposure from being active in the HP community helps get readership and indirectly improves our Hubber Score. It also helps build followers.
How To Make Money For Your Writing
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Making money is not done by magic. If you are serious about making more than just pennies, then you need to treat your writing as a business. Study hard and learn what you need to know to succeed. Learn the rules and follow them.
It took me a full year to get my first payment from Google. Google's AdSense payments are made after you reach $100. Since I joined, HubPages introduced the HubPages Earnings Program, which makes it a lot easier to reach your first payment. The threshold for payments from the HP Earnings Program is only $50.
Google AdSense ads are included automatically in hubs. And you can add eBay and Amazon capsules as well on your own.
You need to apply to Google for an AdSense account, but it's best to get a few Hubs written and get a score above 75 before you apply.
Once you have your own AdSense and plug in your AdSense affiliate code under your HubPages Earnings tab on your Account Page, HP will display AdSense with your affiliate code 60% of the time and with their own affiliate code the other 40%. That is how they share the income with you. You get paid from Google for your 60% of the ads.
The HubPages Earnings Program, which was introduced in mid 2011, pays you directly. You need to apply for that too and you need a PayPal account to receive your earnings from HP.
Other ways to make money is by including your own eBay and Amazon capsules where appropriate. HP splits the earnings the same way as with AdSense, with the 60/40 split.
At the beginning the only traffic you get will most likely be from other Hubbers. It will take time for traffic to start coming from search engine referrals. Those are the hits from people who have been looking for something and may be in a buying mode.
Google Analytics
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One thing you can get started with immediately is Google Analytics. Using my Analytics reports I can see that most hits at the beginning come from other hubbers. The Analytics Report shows that a few hits are coming from email accounts. Those are most likely from links I had sent to friends to see my articles. I learned from one of the other hubbers that your score is also based on how many hits you get from the outside. So try to get those referrals.
Referral Links
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Whenever I send a link to a friend, I include my HP referral code in the URL. If they sign up and make money, I will share in a small part of that. And if they click an ad in another hubber’s article, I share in that too. How does that work? I think it has to do with placing your affiliate code in their ads for a short period of time.
You can generate the URL with your HP referral by scrolling to the bottom of any hub and clicking on “link to this page.”
Well, that's what I learned in my first week. I invite you to check out my Table Of Contents of all the support topics that I wrote over the following two years to help Newbie Hubbers. See My HubPages Support Topics Table Of Contents.
I welcome your commentsLoading...
Carol, Thanks for becoming my fan.
I joined Hubpages about a month after you. Although I am confident in my writing skills, I have a ways to go with my computer skills. Thanks for leading the way. I'm beginning to figure this out as I translate everything into the language I hear in my head...which doesn't include terms like SEO and widget.
I am so glad I found your hubs I was about to give up I love writing and have done a few hubs of my own but right after joining hubpages I had to have some major surgery so have been inactive and did not get the chance to really delve into how HP worked or how to actually make money I have my adsense and amazon affil. already but not sure yet how it all works I am following and reading all your hubs on the subject then I will jump back in and see what If I can get at least half the enjoyment you seem to be getting and good luck to you and thanks for your very informative hubs
pigfish, thanks for hanging in there. I am sure you'll be doing fine.
D i x i e, thanks for following me. I wish you a speedy recovery from your surgery.
I started with this hub and I will continue to read the rest on this topic.
I like reading other hubbers' work, progress and success here on HP.
Thanks for sharing!
EmmaMedu, thanks for your comments. Hopefully you'll find other useful tips in my other reports as I had included info on the things I had learned as I moved along. I actually wrote a one year report which I need to add to the list of links above. Your comment reminded me of that.
just wanted to say you write really well! I just started on hubpages less than a week ago and so far, I could relate to most of the things you wrote up there. cant wait to improve further! only problem is that I seem to have writer's block now lol.
alexandra-t, Thanks for your positive feedback and welcome to HubPages. A trick to overcome writers block that I use... is to use conversations you have with friends to bring ideas to your mind that you can write about. Maybe that might help.
i'm working on it right now =) hopefully i'll be able to publish this hub soon but its getting pretty late where I am and I still have to go to work tomorrow =( thanks for your suggestion though!
Great synopsis of the character of Hubpages. I think this is a great tool to bookmark for new hubbers who want to get to the jest of how this site works. Good Job. Thumb and vote up!
Wonderful hub. Hubpages is not only for writing and sharing ideas but is also a place to earn extra cash. Love how detailed your hub is. Voted up.
Great hub!
i'd like to ask you two questions:
1.how can i get traffic to my hub?
2.what if my first language is not English but talk English 50/50?
thanks
OMGirdle ~ Thanks for your insightful comment and for the vote up.
ambrking ~ Yes indeed. Some people just like to write to share. Others do it for the money. Then there are those who make it a living by putting full-time to it. Thanks for the vote up.
hamadaalloq ~
Getting traffic is something that every writer struggles with. There is a lot involved with knowing what to do. And it's just as important to know what NOT to do.
There are many good ideas in the learning center (see link at the bottom of any page here). And I have written a few Hubs on the topic too. See my "Hubpages Support" in my profile. I'll give a couple of clues here.
First of all, Google loves HubPages and crawls often to find new Hubs. I sometimes find my Hubs are indexed two hours after publishing.
What you want to do is write content that Google will want to index. I read your first Hub. It's well written but too short. Minimum is 500 to 700 words. And 1000 is better. Too short and Google will pass it over.
Second, write topics that people are searching for. Something they can learn from. As a beginner, just start writing and you will soon discover your niche. Watch the stats on each Hub (see the stats tab on your Hubs). When you click the keywords tab you'll see what people type into search engines to find you. Give it time for this data to appear.
As for your second question, you say you're 50/50 with English. Having read your short Hub I have to give you more credit than that. You write English better than you think you do. Find some sites that teach grammar and you'll quickly correct any minor issues you have.
Keep up the work and I know you will be successful. Be patient. Traffic starts real slow, but builds up beautifully when you write original quality content.
Give it a year before you see any real results (I speak from experience). But write as much as you can during that time.
Welcome to HubPages. And thanks for reading.
thank you Glenn for your reply and encouraging me. i find your words so incentive.thanks
Carol the Writer 2 years ago
Great hub! Just look back at all you've learned and done. I joined your fan page to keep up with your progress. Thanks for sharing with us. - Carol