From HubPages to Your Own Blog
76On my profile, I used to say that writing at HubPages enabled me to "move on" from writing articles to creating my own websites. So I shouldn't be surprised to be asked to expand on that!
Unlike basic article-writing sites like Helium, HubPages is more like your own site on training wheels. You don't just write and get paid on HubPages - you have to think about layout, illustrations and ad placement.
So if you're doing well on HubPages, you've already made a good start in the transition to becoming a real internet entrepreneur.
Bad Reasons to Start Your Own Site
Hubbers sometimes feel pressure to start their own site. They read of other Hubbers starting their own blog to promote their Hubs, and think it's something they "should" do. In fact, that's a complete waste of time. Multiple links from one domain don't count for much. Google only values the first one or two links from any single website or blog.
The other reason people start a blog is because they've been told the way to make money online is to gain a loyal following and build an email list. That is one way to do it, but it won't work unless you have products or services to sell to that loyal following.
Most bloggers make their money by displaying ads or by becoming an affiliate seller, linking to other people's products on their blogs. Most of the income under this model comes from people who visit the site via a search engine, make a purchase and probably never come back. I know several successful bloggers who run affiliate sites. They don't worry about building a regular readership because they find regular readers don't click on their ads. Whereas I know only two successful bloggers who work on the "loyal following" model, and they both sell their own products.
When Are You Ready?
Don't even think of starting a website until you've found a good niche - that is, a specific topic that has good money-making potential. A blog or website about anything and everything can't succeed, because Google can't work out what it's about, so they won't rank it for anything.
All over the internet, you'll meet people trying to guess what makes a good niche by doing keyword research. As a Hubber, you don't have to do that. You have the perfect testing ground right here on HubPages. Do your keyword research if you like - but don't buy domain names, write Hubs!
Then, you're ready to start your own site when:
- Your Hubs are several months old and you can see a clear pattern of earnings showing you a particular topic is profitable
- You're excited about the prospect of creating an entire site centred around that topic.
- You're ready to explore other ways to monetize your site, not available on HP.
What then?
Don't waste time on free sites. You should be past the experimental stage - you know you have a good niche thanks to HubPages, so you can have reasonable confidence you're going to have a money-making site eventually. You don't want to risk a valuable asset by leaving it in someone else's hands.
And don't think, "I'll start on a free site and see how it goes". When you're eventually ready to buy a domain name, you'll have to start from scratch with a URL Google has never heard of - and you'll lose all the kudos you've built up on your old site.
So take the plunge and buy a domain name. You should have a good idea of your keywords based on your experience with your Hubs. Search for a domain name based on that knowledge.
Once you've found a domain name, sign up for hosting. If you're so strapped for cash that you really can't afford hosting, you can create a site on Blogger or Weebly and attach the domain name. But do check out companies like Hostgator before making that decision - it may cost less than you think, and is only a few dollars a month.
Once you've joined a hosting company, set up a website using Wordpress. It doesn't matter if it's pretty basic at first - the mere fact that it exists is doing some good. The longer a site has been around, the better Google likes it. But it doesn't really take that long to create something acceptable with Wordpress - I had my first site up and running in a day, even though I'd never used the software before.
The great thing about Wordpress is that you don't have to decide whether you want to create a blog or a website upfront - you can do either with equal ease, or both. And it's almost inevitable that your first site will go through several different incarnations before you decide what works for you, so having that flexibility is good.
When they discover their niche, some Hubbers delete their Hubs and use the content to create their site. Be cautious about this. If your Hubs have age and page rank and are getting traffic, you'd be foolish to delete them. Instead, add links to your website in the context of your related Hubs (no more than two per Hub). You'll find they're a very effective promotional tool.
My Experience
I started my first website because learning about affiliates and layout on HubPages whetted my appetite to create something of my own. And about that time, a new eBay affiliate software became available - and I couldn't use it on HubPages. It seemed like a perfect opportunity to have some fun, and make money at the same time. Even though I'd learned a lot on HubPages, creating that site was a big learning curve. That's one of the reasons why I say, don't start a website because you "should" - start it because you want to, because you'll need that enthusiasm to carry you through!
In conclusion...
I have other commitments right now so I've thrown this Hub together to answer a question, rather than doing a proper job of it. There is so much more information on HubPages, and elsewhere, that can help those debating whether to start their own site - I encourage you to read, read read!
Further Reading
- Passive Income Online - My Internet Journey
I've seen several other Hubbers writing Hubs about how they came to be making money online, so I figure I may as well jump on the bandwagon and share my internet journey! I started out writing online by... - How to Make a Website #2 - Wordpress
This Hub is the second in a series on how to make a website. We've looked at how to do your basic setup - now let's design your website and add some content. I've recommended using Wordpress, because I... - How to Make a Website for Dummies
So you want to make a website? You'll find lots of advice on the internet about how to create a blog or website - but what I find is, the gurus quickly forget how confusing it is for a newbie, and start...
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@gqgirl, BANS is "Build a Niche Store" which is a way of creating a website based around eBay listings. Like many of these schemes, it was a victim of its own success and many users got burned. If you follow the link in the Hub, you'll find a couple of Hubs which go into it in more detail.
I'm not here to make money, Marisa, nevertheless it's nice to have a better understanding of how these things work. Thanks for the good information.
I too like this hub it's been well thought through and does give you an option for them wanting to build a site.
Nice hub Marissa, I love hubpages as it's ease of making a hub is great but I get more pleasure earning on my own personal website, plus it pays about 5 times more per click ; )
Great analysis of the subject Marissa. I would suggest that affiliate income diversity is a reason to have your own website. At HubPages you really only have access to 3 affiliate programs (out of thousands) - unless you try workarounds with other affiliate programs, which I think is too cumbersome. That aside, Hubpages is a wonderful place to make money (and friends!)
Really good Hub, Marisa - for a professional, having a website is essential and having lots of HP links pointing to it is a great bonus :)
Great info for a newbie. Thanks for taking the time.
Very comprehensive, Marisa, with good advice from someone who has been and is there and done that. Thanks.
@Art, I'm pleased to hear your website is doing so well!
@Nelle, I opened HubPages this morning with the intention of adding a third criteria to the "are you ready" section, to mention other selling avenues. You've given me the words now!
@Sufi, good point - a professional image is another reason for having your own site.
Thanks for the great answer Marisa! I just started a word press site but it's definitely a learning curve - even getting it set up! I've only worked with blogger before which is very basic.
I am still in the learning curve! This hub would certainly add some solid base in my learning process! Thanks for the great hub; I have voted it up and bookmarked.
A typical, no-nonsense style of advice from Marisa!
@LarasMama, I do hope you're talking about a wordpress.ORG site on your own hosting, and not a wordpress.COM site - which you can't monetize, so it's pretty much a waste of effort.
I wish I'd gotten this advice when I first started on the Internet. I started with a blog that combined all my interests, then spun off two blogs with better-defined niches. I only discovered HubPages later. Now I'm trying to keep three blogs fed, figure out how to promote them, and still find time for HubPages and a couple of other sites. I'm very glad to be here. A disproportionate amount of the best advice I've read is right here. BTW, my blogs are on Blogger, but I got my own domain name for them.
Great hub marisa, keep it up. But still i would like to own my website and would love to write for my website.:)
Phew scared me for a minute Marisa! Just checked and I had to download a platform and went with a host called bluehost, not the .com easy version... I believe that's the correct way? I didn't even realize - WP is very new to me!
Love this hub. Unfortunately, I already learned a lot of what's in it the hard way! My first blog was a blogger blog that earned me about $2 in google clicks in six months! I've now switched to wordpress.org and, though it's early days, I already see much more potential.
Hi Marisa,
I've had my own website since 1995. I made a lot of money at first, then it tapered off. Then it died. I'm currently rebuilding the whole site from scratch.
All of your advice is very good and I wish I had read this hub years ago! Better late than never, eh?
I would add that wordpress is good, but I like building from bare bones html to keep it clean and simple. I've used CoffeeCup software for many years and I guess I'm used to it. Others swear by wisiwyg programs which I think is like wordpress or dreamweaver.
Having your own site is great for the thousands of affiliate programs, but most anti-viral programs like Norton are blocking the cookies needed to get credit for the referrals. Got any advice on how to handle that?
I agree with the advice given... If one do decide to start own site, I agree that one should buy a domain name and webhosting and install own Wordpress.org (rather than use wordpress.com). Mainly because you can not monetize Wordpress.com, but you can customize you Wordpress.org installation with Google ads, amazon, etc. Althought it does require some technical skills (but you can hire someone). And domain name ($10/year) and webhosting ($10/month) is inexpensive -- and many times you can find them for less than that. You can usually (and would recommended) to buy domain name from same company in which you buy your webhosting.
Thanks Marisa... this has come just at the right time! Can I just ask a quickie... can you buy a domain name from one place and have it hosted at another?
Cheers!
Still working on the money part. Good advice on bringing it to your own site.
@LarasMama - yes, you've done the right thing (though bluehost may not be the best choice of host, but it's done now).
@allpurposeguru, you're missing a great opportunity to promote all your blogs with hyperlinks on your profile.
@Austinstar, building from the bare bones may appeal to some people, but if you're looking to make money you must think of your priorities, IMO. Why lose time learning to build a website from scratch,when Wordpress makes it so easy to create one off the peg? Redesign it later, if you like - but get it going.
@Shaz, yes you can buy your domain name at one place and host at another. I do. However, if you're signing up to a new host, you'll often find they'll do you a deal, like give you a domain name free if you pay a year's hosting upfront - so check that out first.
I'm planning to move my main website over to wordpress from blogger because I'm not happy with their limited options. What host would you recommend, Marisa?
I've moved to Hostgator because so many other Hubbers use them. Happy so far! I'm sure there are lots of other good hosts, but I saw someone posting a cautionary tale about Bluehost on the forums recently.
It seems the more you do on the Internet the more you have to do if you want to keep pace and earn any sort of income. Thanks for the useful information but now I am more than a bit confused about the difference between wordpress.org and wordpress.com -- it looks like I need to do even more reading and researching!
@karanda, wordpress.com is a free blogging platform, like blogger. Wordpress.org is free software that you use to create your own website.
Thanks Marisa... I will do that. Now just have to learn to by trial and error - create with wordpress!
A quick comment about bluehost. I'm using them as the host for a wordpress blog and am happy with them. I've heard they suck (not my words) in terms of trying to run full websites with forums etc. I suspect they are set up to host basic blogs and maybe not so good for full service websites with all the bells and whistles! Just thought I'd mention it as they are good value and wouldn't want bloggers with limited funds who just want to run a basic wordpress blog to be put off!
So far writing articles is concerned I decided to stick to HP cz the amount of effort I put to market my site/blog will be lot more then 40% of earning that HP charges from us. So I thought like this, "HP is giving me a strong platform to publish my articles and in turn is charging 40 of the earning from AdSense!". That made sense to me and I decided to stick to it. If at all I plan to start some site of my own it will be for anything but publishing articles.
Nice Hub!
Once again reading a hub of your means a) I learn something new and b) I have a lot more to learn and c) I am busy with blogger, which I have done since before hubspages and (darn!) it was teh wrong way to go, but it does have a following so it's a toss up... maybe dip into the websites now...
Rebecca, Blogger may not have been the best choice, but if it exists and has some age, it's worth keeping it going. There are people who make money on Blogger. Lrohner comes to mind.
I think that Wordpress has just launched something to make changing a free blog into an independent web site more simple:
http://en.blog.wordpress.com/2010/05/27/making-red
Making Redirects Permanent
Raanan Bar-Cohen
Thanks for the many valuable tidbits of information. Good advice for someone just starting out.
You are right actually. I do promote my Hubpages links on my blog and I find it pretty mundane. It's just double work. It's high time I concentrate on Hubpages more.
Thanks for the great Hub. I agree this is a top place to start out. Hubpages has massive potential. I even get my students to create articleS here for promotion, and to drive traffic to their blogs or website.
My advice to others is to start a Blog in wordpress and brand yourself.
Example: I have my own website/blog http://martyware.com.au and it grows with me as I grow and develop online.
I hope this helps some to realize about self promotion as it can really help you make more money online!
So, my advice is create a blog in your name and drive traffic back from Hubpages too!
Have a great day
Marty Ware
The SEO DAD
@Marty, thanks for your comment - which is a great example to your students of how to self-promote successfully, by the way.
I would normally delete any comments on my Hubs that contain a blatantly self-promoting link. However, you've taken the trouble to make your post meaningful and informative, it would be a crime to delete it. Smart!
Very informative read. So what is the link to your other website, Marisa? I'm glad to have found HP, as don't have a clue about writing code or anything like that - is easy to use so can focus on content and not too much technical stuff
@Baileybear, I have several websites now - you'll find links on my profile.
If you use Wordpress, you can create a website without knowing a single line of code - I wrote a Hub about it. You can find lots of ready-made designs, and anything fancy you might want to do, someone has already designed a plugin for it (plugins automate various features).
Hi! Marisa your Hub is really nice you've done it well.
Keep it up. I rated, bookmarked and followed.
Thanks =)
I've got plenty of blogs and a website too but there's no match for Hubpages!
In my case, my own websites do better. Though I had joined two years ago with hubpages, only recently I started writing more hubs, and hope they too will do better in due course.
very useful for beginner like me thanks.
It's great to find this article, just when I needed it - not only for myself but also for an acquaintance who is interested in HP and new to the world of online writing. Thanks for this!
I look forward for articles this informative and experience based because there is so much information to sift through the internet and it just goes to show how persistence always pays, if the strategy is right.
I've been curious about this process because I may be taking the plunge soon. Thanks for offering this overview. Voting this Up and Useful.
Hi Marisa,
I'm checking out more of your hubs for learning purposes! I appreciate all of your advice. I have time to write, as I have a chronic back issue, and know I can't continue to work on anyone else's specific schedule for much longer. So I love metaphysics, and am used to being patient, since I always had limitations. I am a little scared to take the plunge, but was thinking ahead to what new pieces I would be writing in the future. So now that I decided I can not freak out about details of building a site yet, I can get some new material ready makes me feel better. I began my Astrology studies in my 20's, and although this trip down memory lane has been fun, metaphysics is just "to know" and there are so many other topics in the niche to explore and discuss. I was feeling in a rut at HP though I love it, so thanks for giving me the boost I needed. I was dawdling because I knew I couldn't go further here, but still not ready to move on. You really are a very good person, and have me well pegged. I'm trying to figure out how to trim stuff! But I think I can learn. Take care.
Don't be afraid, Jean, you have the ability!
Thanks for the advice and support! I am learning fast and already like Weebly better than Blogger, it is made for untech people like me. I got the DNS support to have the domain name point to Weebly, and a day ago I never heard of such a thing. I've been playing around with ideas, and have to decide what kind of layout I want. I have considerably branched out on topics since I began, New Age is called Metaphysics in the US, or they are trying to make it so to make it sound less spacey! It's really ancient wisdom being relearned. Hmmm, that's an article right there. I got into other religions and spiritual issues I didn't plan on, but it just happened that way depending on what I was reading or what I was interested in during class. I am trying to write on Atlantis and Lemuria, the lost continents, but my rib has been killing me since before Christmas, and every time I think I'm improving I have a set back. But I know there is much to discuss. Plato talked about Atlantis, so did Edgar Cayce. Now we have technology that shows pyraminds and whole cities under the ocean. So I get it now, one of my "subheadings" is probably a whole hub, or wizzle. I will still write in my style, but move the "pieces" around. I realize I'll have to rewrite the beginning or end so it makes sense, but that's easy when I have written a few 3,000 word pieces. Helium actually cured me of that, they won't even let you go one word over 500! Take care.
That's exciting! I'm so glad Weebly is working for you!
You're getting the picture - write in your own style, just try to break each topic up over more than one platform and interlink them.
Thanks for your kind consideration Marisa. It took me this long to "get" it, but now I do. I never gave much thought to the Blogger blog, but now I'm brimming with ideas and want to take my time and decide what I want my new blog to look like. It is exciting! Talk soon.
gqgirl 23 months ago
I agree with this HUB 100%. Very good key points made. If you don't mind could you explain BANS? Thanks