HubPages is one of the few revenue-share writing sites that survived the infamous Google Panda Update relatively unscathed. In this Hubpages review, I'll share with you my own personal results using the site as well as the results of others, and basically how it works.
If you aren't familiar with what revenue-share writing sites are, they are just large collections of user-submitted articles about anything and everything. Revenue share sites don't pay you directly for writing for them. Instead, you earn a little off the ads and affiliate links that appear on the articles you post.
In case you hadn't guess already, earnings for the average person who just submits a few pieces of content are next to nothing. Earnings for people who have taken years and posted hundreds or even thousands of articles can actually pay the bills.
Hubpages Review
I want to start this Hubpages review off by explaining to you what a hub actually looks like (but if you don't want to take my word for it, you can visit the site yourself and start browsing articles).
Your hub is very customizable: you can add polls, links to products, news links, links to other hubs, pictures, slideshows, videos, and more. You can also arrange each of these items around on the page using drag and drop to make them appear however you want.
The creative control with this site is awesome, and many people really enjoy making hubs. I personally find it a bit tedious, but only because when I sit down to write I just like to write my article without worrying about polls and pictures and other things. Lots of other people really like this format, though.
Related: FREE list of 200+ writing niches to consider!
How Do You Make Money On Hubpages?
Hubpages is partnered with Google Adsense and Amazon's affiliate program. Plus, Hubpages has their own ad network.
When you create a hub, ads will appear around it and within it from Adsense or Hubpage's own ad networks. You will earn a percentage of the revenue generated from clicks on those ads by people reading your hubs.
You can also monetize your hubs with links to related products on Amazon and earn a commission if anyone clicks through and buys products from those sites.
Hubpages does not automatically sign you up for the sites I listed above. You have to visit the sites directly and sign up. Then, provide Hubpages with your IDs for those sites so they can make sure they are in place on your hubs.
Apart from Hubpages' own ad program, they do not pay you directly. You will be paid by Google Adsense and/or Amazon when you have enough earnings built up to get a cash out.
My Hubpages Experience
I signed up when the site was still kind of new. Did I make money? Yes, I did. I received a payment from Hubpages ad program to my Paypal account in the amount of $51.13 in 2013. Not bad. BUT I had been a member since 2010 and had published 21 hubs. I can't say what revenue I received through Adsense and Amazon thanks to Hubpages, but I don't think it was significant.
Even though that is way less than impressive, being honest I did not put the effort into this site that some people do. If I had, I'm sure I would have earned more money.
At the time I wrote for Hubpages, I was really, really interested in finding ways to earn true passive income online and basically ended up abandoning revenue-share sites in favor of blogging for money (which has worked out much better for me!).
Hubpages Success Stories
Even though I didn't have a huge money-earning experience with this site, there are some others who were able to make thousands of dollars from it. Back in the day, the key to this was having well optimized articles that would show up high in search engines and also LOTS of content on Hubpages. Some of the more successful hubbers had over 200 pieces of content on that site.
You're not likely to find many recent Hubpages success stories because Google did a major algorithm update several years ago that severely penalized Hubpages and sites like it — basically any and all content farms/mills where tons of lower-quality, thin articles written just to rank high in search were basically wiped out of search. And even though Hubpages fared better than many other revenue-share sites that were based around this model, many of their top earners suddenly saw their earnings plummet to nothing.
My opinion is that you are going to be FAR better off creating content for a site you own and have complete control of than you would be writing for Hubpages or a site like it that you can't control at all. That said, if you simply like to write and aren't necessarily in it for the money but would certainly be happy with a few bucks here and there, Hubpages might be a fun outlet for you.
Does Hubpages Have a Referral Program?
Hubpages offers a traffic referral program for this purpose. This is for sure a little different. You can receive a percentage of the ad impressions on other HubPages users hubs. When you sign up, you get a default referral tracker link that's yours and yours alone. It is also possible to make additional ones later.
Next, you go to the hub you want to link to and check the box at the bottom of the page that says “link to this page” or you can choose the one that says “email this page.” Put your unique tracker code in the email or URL depending on what you've chosen. If someone happens upon the hub you've chosen by clicking your link, you get the traffic impression for that hub for 120 minutes.
I haven't really tried Hubpage's referral program, so I can't say for sure how well it works based on personal experience. But, here are some referral programs I've experienced great success with.
How Do You Sign Up On Hubpages?
If this Hubpages review has you ready to sit down and start churning out content, go here to start.
Don't think revenue-share writing is for you? Then check out this page of 100 ways to get paid to write.
Want to Go Into Business For Yourself as a Writer? Here's a Free List!
This is the most profitable route to take as a freelance writer. You can get your own clients and set your own rates, which you cannot really do with revenue share sites like Hubpages. A six-figure income is not outside the realm of possibility when you're running your own business.
Not sure what you'd write about? I recommend grabbing a copy of Gina Horkey's FREE list of 200+ writing niches to consider!
She's also written an incredibly detailed guide on working for yourself as a freelance writer if you're interested in getting a lot more information on how to go about it.