I am certainly not an expert about freelance writing, but I've had a lot of success with HubPages this far. Here are a few pieces of advice that I share with others about this type of writing. Many of these tips are applicable to blog writing, too.
- Write about your passions. A lot of people urge freelance writers to write about what they know. While this is a great place to start, it is a little limiting. A huge component of freelance writing is research. There are lots of topics that interest me but that I don't necessary know a lot about so I do a little research. If you enjoy the topics that you're covering, this will be somewhat enjoyable.
- Use pictures and other media as it is appropriate. During the past year, Pinterest has been one of my top five traffic sources for HubPages. Needless to say, this is largely because of the high quality photos that I include in many of my articles. Not all articles warrant lots of pictures, but if you write about certain topics, such as crafts, fashion, and food, you should strongly consider it. Other media such as video may be appropriate, too.
- Pay attention to what does well and maximize on this success. When I started writing on HubPages, I never imagined that I would write about crafts and holidays as often as I do. My first articles on both of these topics did so well that I decided that it was worth pursuing. There is nothing wrong with branching out once in a while, especially because you never know when you'll hit on a new gold mine. But you should capitalize on success areas on a regular basis.
- Don't discount seasonal topics. Many people are wary of writing articles about holidays and other seasonal topics because they have a limited time frame for significant traffic. While you won't get major amounts of traffic on a St. Patrick's Day food article in July, if it's a high quality frequently searched topic, it will get some traffic year round. Also, if you get enough seasonal content going, you'll always have something doing well. Finally, even though these articles don't get steady high traffic, they are still considered "evergreen" because they will be relevant again the next year.
This article went viral on an education forum in February. This gave it a huge search results boost. This will never be an article with as much as traffic as a great craft or food topic, but thanks to its early success, it's continued to do significantly better than many of my education articles.
This is my Christmas article that has already done so well this year. It is really hard for me to predict what seasonal articles will do better than others. However, this is kind of a niche topic and it's something that people will search for well before the holiday so it gets a longer traffic run than other Christmas topics will.
This articles goes against several successful article standards, such as that they should be 500 words or more (it's around 450), which just goes to show that there are exceptions to every rule. When I did the research for this, I couldn't find any round up resources that had been updated during the past six months. Sometimes having the most current resource that you update on a regular basis will help you stay competitive.
My earliest craft articles were all related to beadweaving and have been some of my most successful craft articles to date. This is a great niche area without a lot of resources for any particular subtopic, such as beaded beads.
This article went crazy on Pinterest right from the start, which has largely contributed to its steady traffic stream. It is my most successful article on Pinterest to date.
Homemade Handmade Greeting Card Making Ideas with Balloons: Birthday Cards, Pop Up Designs, and More
Who knew that balloon cards were so popular? Actually birthday cards in general are popular, which is how this gets so much search engine traffic.
This was a great challenge for me away from my normal topics. It's had one of my best international audiences, as many areas of the world have much smaller residences than the US does.
I don't have a lot of competition on this topic, and it's a great resource for both parents and teachers.
What topics and/or articles have you had a lot of success with on your blog or freelance site? Share your stories and tips!
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