Online Content Authors
eHow Article Makeover: Part 1 - Top 5 Things to Look At
It's no secret that eHow's earning algorithm is a closely-guarded secret! Speculations abound - number of views, percentages of ad clicks, active forum participation, a giant dartboard - but at the end of the day, the only one who really knows how the algorithm works is eHow. And they ain't telling!
Speculation aside, however, it is reasonable to assume that article revenue is related in some sense to ad clicks. And in order to get ad clicks (the real ones, not via fraudulent means!), viewers have to (1) find your article, (2) notice the ads without being told to notice the ads, and (3) have a reason to click on the ads (again, without being directed by the article text). And in order to earn substantial revenue, each click should generate decent earnings. An unobtrusive and relevant affiliate link or two can't hurt earnings, either.
So let's break it down - here are the top 5 things to consider when revamping a low-earner (or even) creating an article from scratch:
Item 1: People need to find your article
The first thing to check is whether or not the article is indexed in Google. In a Google search box, cur and paste the following:
site:http://www.ehow.com/how_5178464_plan-cheap-birthday-party.html
and hit enter. Be sure that there are no spaces between the ":" and the "http." Google kicks back a single result, which is my article! So as far as indexing goes, we're good to go. (If Google was not able to find the article, I could've submitted it using www.google.com/addurl/).
Now to check if my article shows up via a keyword search. The keywords I was aiming for when I authored this article were "cheap birthday party." Type them into Google, using the quote marks. Yippee, I'm #7 on the first page. Now type in the keyword phrase again, this time without the quotes. Uh-oh. No first page here. Hitting "next" for awhile (a long, long while) shows that my article isn't showing up in any of the first 20 or so pages. This is not good, but at least we're starting to understand why this article isn't pulling in the bucks. This also gives us something to work on - let's call it Task A: Improve Google Search Results.
Another means by which readers find eHow articles is via links from another web page or even from another eHow article. These so-called "backlinks" have the added benefit of improving the Google search results, too. Let's see how many backlinks my article has.
A good starting point is Yahoo Site Explorer (http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/). At the very top of the page, cut and paste the URL into the search box, then click on "Explore URL." To view the backlinks, click on the "Inlinks" tab in the Results box. In the case of my low earning birthday party article, 68 links show up. A quick look-see, however, reveals that many of them seem to be coming from eHow itself. To screen these out (for right now), select "Except from this Domain" in the pull-down menu for "Show Inlinks." In this case, we get a sad little note: "No results found." What this indicates is that as far as Yahoo Site Explorer can tell, we have zero backlinks from anywhere outside of eHow. Not good.
Another way to assess backlinks is to simply Google the complete title in quotes along with your eHow user name:
"How to Plan a Cheap Birthday Party" blonde-doc
Cut and paste this into the Big G and expand all of the results. Nothing except a couple of other eHow articles. So we have another task at hand: Task B: Create Backlinks.
The eHow article format allows for the inclusion of URLs and a short descriptive phrase. eHow authors should be diligent about adding links to their other articles that can reasonably complement the article at hand, the reason being to direct traffic amongst your various articles. In this case, any articles about kids, or parties, or saving money could provide a good crosslink. Since I've not added these links, let's call this Task C: Create Crosslinks.
Article promotion is another means by which, in theory, viewers can find your article. I say "in theory" because many eHow experts feel that promotion, via Twitter, Digg, Redgage, etc., really doesn't seem to result in a significant increase in views. I personally adopt the philosophy that a little bit of promotion can't really hurt. I pretty much restrict promoting to Twitter because it's quick and easy and doesn't annoy your friends and relatives (as promoting on Facebook can). I tried RedGage for awhile but found the interface to be so loathsome that I gave up. Task D: Post Article Link on Twitter.
Item 2: People need to notice the ads
It is a ginormous eHow no-no to explicitly advise your readers to look at the ads. But yet, at least some of them need to see the ads in order for you to earn money (according to my theory). So what to do?
Here's my take: First, you have to keep your reader on your page as long as possible. This means that the content has to be useful, well-written, intriguing, etc. and the layout of the page has to be visually pleasing and professional. Second, as one eHow expert suggests (David Sarokin), you need to keep your readers' eyes moving around the page. The theory here is that if you're directing them to view "Tips" or "Resources" or even other steps, at least a few of them are bound to notice an ad or two.
So let's evaluate my low earner. The first thing I notice when I pull up the page is that the photograph at the top is just plain dull. It's a chalkboard "Happy Birthday" with some of the letters cutoff. We can do better, I am sure. Maybe something with happy kids enjoying their cheap party? Task E: Find a Better Photo
As far as layout, the rest looks okay. The paragraphs aren't too long or too short and there are a decent number of steps (but not too many). What does jump out, though, is that there is absolutely no direction to other areas. No "See the link in the Resource section below" or "Check out the Tips." Step 4, which discusses printing your own invitation to save money, seems like a likely candidate. Task F: Get the Eyes Moving
Item 3: People need a reason to click on the ads
Even worse than asking your readers to look at an ad is telling them to click on it! DON'T DO THIS! It is click fraud & will get you kicked out of eHow in a heartbeat.
What this means, is that the ads themselves need to lure in the readers. They should not only relate to the topic of the article, but should also offer something extra. A bit of icing on the cake. In the case of the cheapo party article, if I were searching for this kind of info, anything related to cheap party supplies would catch my eye. Or perhaps free invitation templates.
So what do i see? There are nine Google ads, five along the left hand side and four listed between the last step of the article and the tips and warnings section. At the left, there are two generic ads disguised as targeted ads, one for Bing Cashback and one for Parents.com. Although the titles of the ads appear to be relevant - Party Supplies and Birthdays 101 - the URLs don't offer any intriguing reason to click. The other three ads in this area are for specific birthday party venues. Interesting, perhaps, if you live near one of these places, but no universal appeal. The ads near the bottom aren't much better - 2 venues and a swingset manufacturer. However, there is one good one - free printable invitations. Hmmmm.
Bottom line here is that even if readers manage to find this article, there's not much incentive to click on the ads. So what do do? The first thing I'll check is the listing category. In this case, I see I listed it under:
Holidays & Celebrations ->> Birthdays ->> Birthday Parties
While this isn't necessarily bad, what's missing is the element of cheapness or frugalness. Since my Personal Finance articles tend to earn pretty well, perhaps this article is better placed under Money Management or Frugal Living. Task G: Change the Category
Another item on the page which I believe can affect the types of ads placed by the Google bot is the list of "Related Articles" along the left hand side. I generally let eHow pick these for me because the bot does a pretty good job. In this case they actually look pretty good, with one exception. It can't really hurt to tweak these a bit, so as I revise the article I will plan on browsing around for more articles that stress cheap. Task H: Adjust the Related Articles
And speaking of tweaking, it's generally a good idea to review your articles periodically and tighten up the content. Is there new information to add? Can you develop better descriptions? Reading over my article, I notice several areas right off the bat where a few revisions could help out. Task I: Tighten up the Content
Item 4: Each click should be worth decent money
Not every article has to earn top dollar - I try to write at least a few now and then that are more for public service than for making money. Good karma, you know? But in the case of my party article, I'd like to make $1 or so each month.
A great tool for evaluating the relative worth of keywords is Google's Adwords Keyword Tool:
adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Type "cheap birthday party" (without the quotes) into the box in the middle of the page, enter the security letters, and click on "get keyword ideas. Under "choose columns to display," select "Show Estimated Avg. CPC" from the pulldown menu. (CPC is cost per click.). Let's see what we have. About ten lines down is our keyword phrase, with an average CPC of $1.09 and a volume of 8100. This is pretty good, actually. Since eHow authors only receive a small portion of the CPC (according to my theory, of course), anything less than about $1.00 is probably not worth writing.
While we're on this page, click on the column heading for "Estimated Avg. CPC" twice to re-order the keywords from highest cost to lowest. This gives me some ideas for additional phrases to work into the text during the revision. A couple of standouts are "cheap birthday party supplies" and "cheap birthday parties." Task J: Add More Keywords
Another good tool for evaluating the profitability of a particular keyword was developed by Anthony Delgado. His Free Keyword Tool
can give a good feel for whether or not a keyword will get good traffic. Here's the URL:
need-extra-cash.net/2008/01/anthonys-keyword-ranking-tool/
The tool is amazingly self-explanatory. In the case of "cheap birthday party,' I get the little arrow pointing in the green portion of the bar, about a quarter of the way up. It's not an incredible score, but it's not in the black, either.
Item 5: Affiliate Links
As my article stands today, I have no affiliate links whatsoever. Adding one, maybe two, to the Resource section can't hurt. eHow does not seem overly crazy about them, but as long as the links are relevant they won't ding you. At the moment my only affifiate account is with Amazon, so I'll look there for a couple of items to list. Maybe a book of cheap party ideas or a listing for cheap supplies? The trick here is to be relevant and unobtrusive. Task J: Add Affiliate Links
I definitely have some work to do with this article, but luckily, most of these tasks are more house-keeping than anything. Here's my plan: I'll work on Tasks A-J and detail the tweaks as I make them. I will also keep an updated posting of views and money as it rolls in by the bucketful!
Speculation aside, however, it is reasonable to assume that article revenue is related in some sense to ad clicks. And in order to get ad clicks (the real ones, not via fraudulent means!), viewers have to (1) find your article, (2) notice the ads without being told to notice the ads, and (3) have a reason to click on the ads (again, without being directed by the article text). And in order to earn substantial revenue, each click should generate decent earnings. An unobtrusive and relevant affiliate link or two can't hurt earnings, either.
So let's break it down - here are the top 5 things to consider when revamping a low-earner (or even) creating an article from scratch:
- People need to find your article
- People need to notice the ads
- People need a reason to click on the ads
- Each click should be worth decent money
- Affiliate links, if used judiciously, can boost earnings
Item 1: People need to find your article
The first thing to check is whether or not the article is indexed in Google. In a Google search box, cur and paste the following:
site:http://www.ehow.com/how_5178464_plan-cheap-birthday-party.html
and hit enter. Be sure that there are no spaces between the ":" and the "http." Google kicks back a single result, which is my article! So as far as indexing goes, we're good to go. (If Google was not able to find the article, I could've submitted it using www.google.com/addurl/).
Now to check if my article shows up via a keyword search. The keywords I was aiming for when I authored this article were "cheap birthday party." Type them into Google, using the quote marks. Yippee, I'm #7 on the first page. Now type in the keyword phrase again, this time without the quotes. Uh-oh. No first page here. Hitting "next" for awhile (a long, long while) shows that my article isn't showing up in any of the first 20 or so pages. This is not good, but at least we're starting to understand why this article isn't pulling in the bucks. This also gives us something to work on - let's call it Task A: Improve Google Search Results.
Another means by which readers find eHow articles is via links from another web page or even from another eHow article. These so-called "backlinks" have the added benefit of improving the Google search results, too. Let's see how many backlinks my article has.
A good starting point is Yahoo Site Explorer (http://siteexplorer.search.yahoo.com/). At the very top of the page, cut and paste the URL into the search box, then click on "Explore URL." To view the backlinks, click on the "Inlinks" tab in the Results box. In the case of my low earning birthday party article, 68 links show up. A quick look-see, however, reveals that many of them seem to be coming from eHow itself. To screen these out (for right now), select "Except from this Domain" in the pull-down menu for "Show Inlinks." In this case, we get a sad little note: "No results found." What this indicates is that as far as Yahoo Site Explorer can tell, we have zero backlinks from anywhere outside of eHow. Not good.
Another way to assess backlinks is to simply Google the complete title in quotes along with your eHow user name:
"How to Plan a Cheap Birthday Party" blonde-doc
Cut and paste this into the Big G and expand all of the results. Nothing except a couple of other eHow articles. So we have another task at hand: Task B: Create Backlinks.
The eHow article format allows for the inclusion of URLs and a short descriptive phrase. eHow authors should be diligent about adding links to their other articles that can reasonably complement the article at hand, the reason being to direct traffic amongst your various articles. In this case, any articles about kids, or parties, or saving money could provide a good crosslink. Since I've not added these links, let's call this Task C: Create Crosslinks.
Article promotion is another means by which, in theory, viewers can find your article. I say "in theory" because many eHow experts feel that promotion, via Twitter, Digg, Redgage, etc., really doesn't seem to result in a significant increase in views. I personally adopt the philosophy that a little bit of promotion can't really hurt. I pretty much restrict promoting to Twitter because it's quick and easy and doesn't annoy your friends and relatives (as promoting on Facebook can). I tried RedGage for awhile but found the interface to be so loathsome that I gave up. Task D: Post Article Link on Twitter.
Item 2: People need to notice the ads
It is a ginormous eHow no-no to explicitly advise your readers to look at the ads. But yet, at least some of them need to see the ads in order for you to earn money (according to my theory). So what to do?
Here's my take: First, you have to keep your reader on your page as long as possible. This means that the content has to be useful, well-written, intriguing, etc. and the layout of the page has to be visually pleasing and professional. Second, as one eHow expert suggests (David Sarokin), you need to keep your readers' eyes moving around the page. The theory here is that if you're directing them to view "Tips" or "Resources" or even other steps, at least a few of them are bound to notice an ad or two.
So let's evaluate my low earner. The first thing I notice when I pull up the page is that the photograph at the top is just plain dull. It's a chalkboard "Happy Birthday" with some of the letters cutoff. We can do better, I am sure. Maybe something with happy kids enjoying their cheap party? Task E: Find a Better Photo
As far as layout, the rest looks okay. The paragraphs aren't too long or too short and there are a decent number of steps (but not too many). What does jump out, though, is that there is absolutely no direction to other areas. No "See the link in the Resource section below" or "Check out the Tips." Step 4, which discusses printing your own invitation to save money, seems like a likely candidate. Task F: Get the Eyes Moving
Item 3: People need a reason to click on the ads
What this means, is that the ads themselves need to lure in the readers. They should not only relate to the topic of the article, but should also offer something extra. A bit of icing on the cake. In the case of the cheapo party article, if I were searching for this kind of info, anything related to cheap party supplies would catch my eye. Or perhaps free invitation templates.
So what do i see? There are nine Google ads, five along the left hand side and four listed between the last step of the article and the tips and warnings section. At the left, there are two generic ads disguised as targeted ads, one for Bing Cashback and one for Parents.com. Although the titles of the ads appear to be relevant - Party Supplies and Birthdays 101 - the URLs don't offer any intriguing reason to click. The other three ads in this area are for specific birthday party venues. Interesting, perhaps, if you live near one of these places, but no universal appeal. The ads near the bottom aren't much better - 2 venues and a swingset manufacturer. However, there is one good one - free printable invitations. Hmmmm.
Bottom line here is that even if readers manage to find this article, there's not much incentive to click on the ads. So what do do? The first thing I'll check is the listing category. In this case, I see I listed it under:
Holidays & Celebrations ->> Birthdays ->> Birthday Parties
While this isn't necessarily bad, what's missing is the element of cheapness or frugalness. Since my Personal Finance articles tend to earn pretty well, perhaps this article is better placed under Money Management or Frugal Living. Task G: Change the Category
Another item on the page which I believe can affect the types of ads placed by the Google bot is the list of "Related Articles" along the left hand side. I generally let eHow pick these for me because the bot does a pretty good job. In this case they actually look pretty good, with one exception. It can't really hurt to tweak these a bit, so as I revise the article I will plan on browsing around for more articles that stress cheap. Task H: Adjust the Related Articles
And speaking of tweaking, it's generally a good idea to review your articles periodically and tighten up the content. Is there new information to add? Can you develop better descriptions? Reading over my article, I notice several areas right off the bat where a few revisions could help out. Task I: Tighten up the Content
Item 4: Each click should be worth decent money
Not every article has to earn top dollar - I try to write at least a few now and then that are more for public service than for making money. Good karma, you know? But in the case of my party article, I'd like to make $1 or so each month.
A great tool for evaluating the relative worth of keywords is Google's Adwords Keyword Tool:
adwords.google.com/select/KeywordToolExternal
Type "cheap birthday party" (without the quotes) into the box in the middle of the page, enter the security letters, and click on "get keyword ideas. Under "choose columns to display," select "Show Estimated Avg. CPC" from the pulldown menu. (CPC is cost per click.). Let's see what we have. About ten lines down is our keyword phrase, with an average CPC of $1.09 and a volume of 8100. This is pretty good, actually. Since eHow authors only receive a small portion of the CPC (according to my theory, of course), anything less than about $1.00 is probably not worth writing.
While we're on this page, click on the column heading for "Estimated Avg. CPC" twice to re-order the keywords from highest cost to lowest. This gives me some ideas for additional phrases to work into the text during the revision. A couple of standouts are "cheap birthday party supplies" and "cheap birthday parties." Task J: Add More Keywords
Another good tool for evaluating the profitability of a particular keyword was developed by Anthony Delgado. His Free Keyword Tool
can give a good feel for whether or not a keyword will get good traffic. Here's the URL:
need-extra-cash.net/2008/01/anthonys-keyword-ranking-tool/
The tool is amazingly self-explanatory. In the case of "cheap birthday party,' I get the little arrow pointing in the green portion of the bar, about a quarter of the way up. It's not an incredible score, but it's not in the black, either.
Item 5: Affiliate Links
As my article stands today, I have no affiliate links whatsoever. Adding one, maybe two, to the Resource section can't hurt. eHow does not seem overly crazy about them, but as long as the links are relevant they won't ding you. At the moment my only affifiate account is with Amazon, so I'll look there for a couple of items to list. Maybe a book of cheap party ideas or a listing for cheap supplies? The trick here is to be relevant and unobtrusive. Task J: Add Affiliate Links
I definitely have some work to do with this article, but luckily, most of these tasks are more house-keeping than anything. Here's my plan: I'll work on Tasks A-J and detail the tweaks as I make them. I will also keep an updated posting of views and money as it rolls in by the bucketful!
eHow: November Goals
I'd like to add another 10 or so articles this month, although I suspect that with the Thanksgiving holiday and such that this will be challenging.
With eHow's infamous "sweeps" occurring more and more frequently, it's critical that each and every article adhere strictly to the published (and unpublished) guidelines. While many eHow authors are upset over losing articles, in the long run it will pay off. Higher quality articles make for a higher quality website.
I also plan to work on revising some of my low-earners-with-high-potential this month. More on this process in an upcoming post.
Here's what I've authored so far this month:
How to Fix a Plastic Shower Curtain: No, this article will not change life as we know it, but it might keep one less shower curtain out of the landfill. Take 'em where you can get 'em, I say.
How to Select Organic Makeup: There are so many great options for organic products these days!
How to Wash Cloth Baby Diapers: These are really fairly easy to use. An extra load (or two) of wash each week, but much gentler on the environment.
How to Make a Pumpkin Curry Soup: One word: YUM!
With eHow's infamous "sweeps" occurring more and more frequently, it's critical that each and every article adhere strictly to the published (and unpublished) guidelines. While many eHow authors are upset over losing articles, in the long run it will pay off. Higher quality articles make for a higher quality website.
I also plan to work on revising some of my low-earners-with-high-potential this month. More on this process in an upcoming post.
Here's what I've authored so far this month:
How to Fix a Plastic Shower Curtain: No, this article will not change life as we know it, but it might keep one less shower curtain out of the landfill. Take 'em where you can get 'em, I say.
How to Select Organic Makeup: There are so many great options for organic products these days!
How to Wash Cloth Baby Diapers: These are really fairly easy to use. An extra load (or two) of wash each week, but much gentler on the environment.
How to Make a Pumpkin Curry Soup: One word: YUM!
eHow: October Earnings Report
October was a good month, my best so far. I earned $122.76 for 102 articles. Not exactly the $3-4 per article per month that's been reported elsewhere, but not too shabby at all. I added 12 new articles, which finally put me past the 100 mark. It will be interesting to see in months ahead if this milestone has any impact on earnings. I suspect not.
Here are some interesting statistics. As of today, I have 70 eHow articles that are at least 90 days old. (Ninety days is often quoted as the average time it will take for an article to mature in the search engines.) here's how my earnings break down:
As you can see, the vast majority of my "aged" articles have earned less than $5 over their lifetime. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next year or so, as the older articles get even older.
Here are some interesting statistics. As of today, I have 70 eHow articles that are at least 90 days old. (Ninety days is often quoted as the average time it will take for an article to mature in the search engines.) here's how my earnings break down:
As you can see, the vast majority of my "aged" articles have earned less than $5 over their lifetime. It will be interesting to see how this plays out over the next year or so, as the older articles get even older.
About Me....
As far as my background goes, I am an aerospace engineer by trade and still work in the field part-time. I plan to bring a little of this into my bIog posts through statistical analysis of the revenue I generate via freelance writing.
I stumbled upon content authoring somewhat by accident, and was immediately hooked! It's become a wonderful creative outlet and has provided a nice amount of supplementary income. Most of my experience to date has been with eHow and its parent company, Demand Studios, but I will be branching out and documenting these experiences for Online Content Authors.
I am excited about the prospects of online writing (for pay, of course) and look forward to developing content for this blog! I welcome comments and feedback.
Welcome
Welcome to Online Content Authors! I'm just getting started, but very soon, I'll be reviewing and discussing revenue-generating opportunities for online content authors. Stay-tuned for my personal experiences with eHow!
