As the evolution of the content writing experiment of Squidoo to Hubpages to Maven progressed, the rigors of writing steadily increased while the opportunity of income decreased. At this time, the result is that those articles (of my creation) have either disappeared or been modified and removed to one of my own hosted sites.
I will need to update the url links on my page about Squidoo/Hubpages, which is now simply a historical artifact of the once thriving site. Hubpages is still active, but so overrun with ads and depleted of income for the content creators/writers that I have largely abandoned it. Maven has closed off most of the stand-alone sites and moved much of them over to hubpages as it now exists. To explain for those unfamiliar with the history of the standalone sites:
Hubpages Made New Domains
In interest of pleasing Google for the sake of traffic and income, Hubpages owners, of the time, created domains for specific categories and raised the bar for inclusion. These sites were then marketed more visibly and usually resulted in better traffic and profit for content creators.
The names of some of these include sites that now may still exist or may have been absorbed into Maven's or reverted to generic Hubpage topics. 'Pethelpful', 'Delishably','Owlcation','bellatory', 'dengarden', and numerous others are some of these websites. Each had its own set of topics, design, and branding.
Now most of these are a shell of what once had been. I have not been personally interested in trying to qualify for Maven's new set of terms for becoming one of their contributors, so I can't really speak knowledgeably on the direction they are headed.
What is true, however, is that these websites are now separated from the Hubpages community as it once was constructed. If you write on Hubpages, there is no longer an avenue to submit to or earn from those separate domains. The remainder of writings which creators have not removed from the site are now re- incorporated into the old Hubpages site.
Why the Demise?
If we go back to the Squidoo history, the proliferation of weak content that I think was the result of greediness for a quick buck resulted in trouble with Google rankings and delivering of vistors. The term "content farm" began to be apparent. Many fixes were attempted, until finally squidoo was sold to Hubpages and all the content and writers are absorbed into that community. The downward spiral continued over time, with other fixes being instituted (new domains to reward and filter better and more rule compliant writers, outside editors who had power to rewrite and change content, etc). To the presnt time, when all appreciable income has diminished to almost nothing for most content creators.
The overuse of thin content and abundance of selling products probably are the overall contributions to the demise of good standing with Google algorithms and subsequent loss of profits. That's my best guess.
world wide web CHANGES
The Rule of the Internet is Change
The cheese is constantly moving (to understand this concept more thoroughly, I recommend the little book "Who Moved My Cheese?" by Spencer Johnson). If interested in earning income on the web, one must constantly be learning new things, following new streams of income, and be ready to pivot.
From blogging to social media to "influencing", with stops along the way to Facebook and then Instagram for the main content creation, throughout forays into affiliate marketing, sponsorships, memberships, et al, we try to follow the cheese (and find where it is presently stored!)
Since all this is true, it isn't surprising that we see opportunities ultimately evaporate. Yet, it is all a learning experience, and can be a a road to building branding and business that utilizes the web.
Why Write this Obvious Observation, at all?
While not much is news in this post, it can provide explanation for why some of my listed articles had to have either url changes or not be linked at all (they disappeared completely). The direction of some of the information on Ilona1 has also necessarily changed, with information on Squidoo and Hubpages needing to be relegated to the website attic.
The present emphasis of my information about earning income on the internet is presently focused within P.O.D. sites, such as Zazzle. My creative content revolves around my own sites, now. These have always had free informative articles as the core of my work. Producing income was always secondary and only necessary to support my expenses for creating the websites, graphics, and equipment needed to give free and helpful information to my readers.
That is why I am no expert in earning money, but simply share the journey, what works and what doesn't, in these types of posts.
Going Forward in the Ilona1, IlonaGarden World
I am always working on updating Ilona's Garden, occasionally adding new content. improving and updating the Home and Garden Companion (Ilona's Garden Journal), adding new content and moving many of the former hubpages content to Ilona's Reflecting Pool. I have tried appealing for donations, in the past, to reduce dependence on google ads for page income. That experiment did not work out.
I am in the middle of moving hubs over to my own websites. Most of the Hubpages articles, like recipes, decorating, wedding ideas, and holiday celebration were topics that had always had a place on Ilona's Reflecting Pool. In fact, that was the original blog I started when first online in 1998. Wow, that was ages ago, now. Gardening posts were divided between Ilona's Garden and HGC, updated and posted.
I have resumed interest in working on posts for gardening since regaining mobility and moving to a new home in the South of the U.S. A. So plans are to write more gardening related content.
And what of - as the topic this post began with- online income? I am trying to expand the work in the everchanging Amazon Influencer and Affiliate world. This requires climbing a learning curve, now. I am also looking into new opportunities... and thinking of resurrecting long gone ones such as Youtube.
I have not produced anything on my Youtube channels since 2015. Because of changes in monetization since then, I don't expect that I would earn anything for a while after resuming output. Certainly some of the focus would change in those avenues.
For now, look for changes in the Hubpageand Online Business topics here on Ilona1.
