How to Make Money Writing Articles for HubPages

Writing articles online for HubPagescan be very rewarding for people who like to write. It's great to have people actually reading your stuff. And you can make some money.

However, there are a few myths and pie-in-the-sky ideas out there. The main one that I have learned is that it isn't easy. The reason I know this is because I have made a little money writing articles online. I am no go-getter. Never was. Of course, I could go all out and increase my income but I do not have what it takes - ambition, a strong work ethic, time, and dedication.

If you thing that you are going to start writing a few articles and that in a few short weeks, the money will start rolling in, you are mistaken.

I started writing for HubPages (http://hubpages.com/profile/Dolores+Monet)and dithered about for the first couple of months. I did not research the best techniques to increase traffic or to monetize my hubs - what they like to call articles on HubPages. But, after a while, I did see a dribble of money come in on my ad clicks. This little bit encouraged me to persue those ad clicks and to increase traffic.

In February of 2010, I figured out that I had made enough money writing for HubPages to buy a can of beans a day; if I bought those beans at Aldi's or one of those grocery stores where they just open the food boxes and plop them along the isles.

By March of the same year, my income increased such that I could have bought a can of beans a day at the Giant. In April, the can of beans could have come from Wegmans!

Why the sudden ability to upgrade my bean shopping? There are several reasons for this:

1) It takes some time for the search engines to recognize your work and move it forward to the first couple of pages. When you start writing articles, you may show up on page 17 or even on page 123. When people look stuff up, they usually read the first few articles. Some folks are obsessive enough to dive deeply into later pages but most do not. After you have established a niche by creating informative, well written, unique, high quality articles, you will move up in the search engines. More readers = more ad clicks.

So just keep writing. Build up some quality links to your articles. Do not hold your breath waiting for the world to beat a path to your door. Have some patience. Rome wasn't built in a day.

2) Write articles for people who may actually want to spend money or click your ads for further investigation. If you write about Dumpster diving, or how to be a mootch, or how not to spend money, how do you think that you will make money?

Before I started writing articles for HubPages, I did not even know what ad clicks were! I didn't care. Now, I do.

3) Read up and research on search engine optimization and how to increase traffic to your articles. Follow the suggestions of people who know what they are talking about.

I can see it now. Soon, I'll forgo those beans and base my income on chicken wings. Then, it will be chicken thighs. Then, free range chicken thighs.