Looking back at One Year on HubPages Writing Site

The end of my first year on the HubPages writing site could also be viewed as the start of my second year on HubPages. This is certainly how I view it. I plan to be a member at HubPages for many years still.

Looking through my recent emails I discovered that HubPages had contacted me to inform me that I had been on HubPages for one year already.

I guess anniversaries generally make people look back over the previous years, analyse current situations, and plan for and look forward to the future.

Let's look back over just one year:

I joined HubPages in July 2010. Innocent and wide-eyed, I planned to make a lot of money on HubPages.

When I realised it was going to take a lot more than just adding 5 or 6 pages of writing to HubPages, did I quit trying and leave the site? No.

Why not?

As much as I needed (and still need!) the money, I discovered HubPages isn't about the money - although some members on HubPages do earn a nice income from their published hubs.

The community on HubPages is wonderful. The people are friendly and the forums are interesting. HubPages is a place to make new friends, even if you didn't intend to make new friends when you first joined.

HubPages is also about learning - learning more about yourself as a writer, and learning from all the great pieces of writing available on the site. HubPages is about growing.

What do you want to learn more about? Why Google it when you can search for it on HubPages, leave a comment or ask a question, write and publish your own articles, earn some exta income, and make new friends all in the same place?

Keep an eye on your traffic stats in your HubPages account, and learn how to improve traffic to your Hubs. Where can you learn how to improve your HubPages traffic? Right here on HubPages. There are plenty of helpful articles about improving traffic to your hubs, written not only by people who know what they're talking about, but who are already receiving a lot of traffic to their own hubs. Reading a lot is as much a part of writing as writing itself is a part of writing.

If wanting more traffic to your hubs with your goal being to increase your HubPages earnings, when reading other hubs don't forget to comment. If a hub helps you, let the author know. By commenting you are increasing your own exposure, not only to the author of the hub, but to others who read that same article too.

I enjoy looking at my HubPages stats when I want to know where my traffic is coming from. To check where your traffic is coming from just go to your "my account," then down the left hand side click "traffic sources."

I currently have just over 100 pageviews to go to reach 10 000 pageviews. After one year on HubPages I would have liked it to be more, but I know that it is just lack of available free time holding me back from increasing my pageviews. I know how to increase my pageviews from reading how to do it on other people's hubs. I even apply some of the techniques to my own sites, and the techniques are working well.

My HubPages Google Adsense Earnings:

Note: My Google Adsense earnings are displayed in my own South African currency, followed by the $ value, at the time of writing this hub; use a currency converter to work out the current U.S. $ value, or, a rough guide is that R10 is currently (27 July 2011) the same as $1.50

August 2010 R32.71 ($4.92)

September 2010 R4.17 ($0.62)

October 2010 R26.62 ($4.00)

November 2010 R0.68 ($0.10)

December 2010 R11.16 ($1.67)

January 2011 R6.15 ($0.92)

February 2011 R17.40 ($2.62)

March 2011 R15.05 ($2.26)

April 2011 R77.65 ($11.67)

May 2011 R8.02 ($1.21)

June 2011 R0.01 ($0.001)

July 2011 (not a full month as today is 27 July 2011) R7.44 ($1.11)

Note: These Google Adsense earnings are only my Google Adsense earnings from HubPages; I do also earn from using Google Adsense on other sites as well as on my own sites:

A year ago I was earning about R300 per month from using Google Adsense ($45.11 per month), but my Google Adsense earnings have increased since then, and one of the reasons why the increase has taken place is from making use of tips I have read right here on HubPages.

February 2011 total Adsense earnings: R980.41 ($147.41)

March 2011 total Adsense earnings: R1 238.43 ($186.16)

April 2011 total Adsense earnings: R1297.68 ($195.05)

May 2011 total Adsense earnings: R1 203.53 ($180.89)

June 2011 total Adsense earnings: R1 338.76 ($201.22)

And, this month, up to 27 July: R1 339.63 ($201.31) - and still 4 days more to go

A lot of hard work and a lot of reading, but I'm proud of my efforts as this is something I do only in my spare time (try increase my passive income earnings from using Google Adsense.)

Do you want to try do the same, or even better? Joining HubPages is a good place to start.

Yes! HubPages is such a great place to be that I feel really bad when I cannot get to spend as much time here as I would like to.

I would like to thank all my HubPages friends for putting up with me when I cannot be on HubPages as often as I would like to be, and for writing such fantastic, interesting and helpful hubs.