Hubpages vs. WebAnswers: An Earnings Comparison

Thanks for visiting my hub comparing my earnings from Hubpages against those from WebAnswers. For those who don't know, WebAnswers is a Q&A site where you get paid to ask and answer questions. (There's revenue-sharing via Google AdSense.) Needless to say, this will not be an apples-to-apples comparison, but I thought it would be worthwhile to compare my attempts at developing passive income online from two different sources.

(FYI: For those who are interested, i also have a hub that is a Comparison of Earnings from Hubpages and InfoBarrel.)

Just to be clear, the amounts reflected on this hub are simply my earnings from Hubpages and WebAnswers. To see my complete list of earnings please visit the Passive Pursuit of Income Blog.

(The blog is an attempt to chronicle my pursuit of passive income and residual income via online reources such as Hubpages and WebAnswers.)

At this point in time, the idea of earning income online is a fairly novel concept to me, and I've only just decided to really put some effort into it. I joined WebAnswers around the third week of the month and Hubpages about 7 days later. My October earnings were as follows:

Hubpages: $0.00

WebAnswers: $5.89

Concerning Hubpages, I joined but hadn't really gotten my sea legs yet, so I didn't do anything. Thus, the fact that I had no earnings wasn't unexpected.

However, with respect to WebAnswers, my earnings were a little bit of a shock. Frankly speaking, I initially wasn't very enthused in terms of participating on the site. However, despite my own cavalier attitude, I was making money within a week and have earned income almost every day since. (I think there were two days early on when I didn't earn anything on WebAnswers - and they were on weekends when web traffic is demonstrably slower.) Plus, I really enjoy asking and answering questions on the site.

November was the first time I had a full month of earnings for both sites, so - while not a perfect comparison (because they are completely different business models) - I felt we could start getting to the meat-and-potatoes with respect to income. Monthly earnings were as follows:

Hubpages: $0.01

WebAnswers: $40.74

To be frank, I was pleasantly surprised with the 1 cent earned from Hubpages, seeing as how I created exactly one stinking hub. I was more than pleased with the AdSense earnings from WebAnswers - especially since I spent a good bit of time developing a niche site. However, in Hubpages' defense, I must admit that I did not devote the same amount of time to both endeavors (as evidenced by the fact that I created only a single hub).

Once again, I really didn't do anything with respect to Hubpages. I had the same hub as in November, although I think I added some content, but that was about it. December earnings were as follows:

Hubpages: $0.19

WebAnswers: $49.64

As before, I was really pleased with the earnings from WebAnswers, which increased from November. Even more telling, I spent most of my spare time working on a second niche site, so I really don't don't feel that I gave WebAnswers a fair shake, but they still came through.

I did something of a full 180-degree turn in January: I put almost all my effort into buildings hubs and lenses (on Squidoo.com). The results are meaningful in my opinion, as evidenced below:

Hubpages: $2.66

WebAnswers: $55.02

Okay, I'm not saying that the Hubpages figures are a knockout, but it's a vast improvement and shows the potential of the site. On the WebAnswers front, this is another month where I've given far less than my all and still earned some nice cash - enough beer-and-pizza money for the SuperBowl. I should really experiment for a month or so and see what would happen if I gave WebAnswers some serious attention.

I went all out on Hubpages towards the end of January, taking on a 30-hubs-in-30-days Challenge. You can see the outcome, as reflected below:

Hubpages: $8.15

WebAnswers: $61.11

Needless to say, the HubChallenge had the intended effect of increasing earnings. Again, I like what I'm seeing with HubPages - makes me wonder what would happen if I produced a hub a day for a year. With respect to WebAnswers, I was probably more active than I had been in a while and it's reflected in the numbers continually going up. I also had my best single-day ever on WebAnswers in terms of Adsense revenue - over $7! Now if I could only do that every day...

I was blessed to have an excellent month with respect to earnings on HubPages. The numbers are as follows:

Hubpages: $61.42

WebAnswers: $58.95

The outcome here was unprecedented in a couple of ways. For starters, it's the first time my earnings on WebAnswers have retreated from the following month. (I made over $60 in February - with two fewer days!) In addition, it's the first time that my content on another site has outearned the revenue on WebAnswers.

I'm not overly concerned about the fall in earnings at WebAnswers. To be frank, it's only a difference of a few dollars, and it couldn't keep going up forever so I knew this day would come sooner or later. The truth of the matter is that earnings are going to fluctuate in both directions; thus, this isn't anything that caught me totally off-guard. More surprising, however, was the exponential growth in earnings on HubPages. All I can say is, "Wow!" Going from about $8 the month before to over $60 is close to an 8-fold leap! They say a good magician (well, a smart magician, anyway) never does the same trick twice, but I'd love to be able to pull that one off again. As I always say, I know that relatively speaking this isn't a lot of money, but to be earning this as passive income is just mindblowing to me. What could I earn if I had twice as many hubs? 10 times as many? It's just super-exciting to think about the potential here.

If you are unfamiliar with WebAnswers, please feel free to visit the site and find out how to earn additional income by asking and answering questions at WebAnswers.com.

(And if you haven't signed up yet you can join HubPages here: HubPages.com.)

I'm excited about having another good month, with the following results:

Hubpages: $44.49

WebAnswers: $59.05

WebAnswers reclaimed the crown taken from it last month as my top-earning site. Needless to say, Hubpages has come a long way in a short time, and with a little effort I believe it can consistently challenge for the top spot.

Combined, I've earned over $100 online for the second consecutive month. Overall, I'm totally pumped by what's happening, and looking forward to the time when I will constantly and consistently be hitting on all cylinders.

Below are my earnings for May:

Hubpages: $43.78

WebAnswers: $44.90

My earnings on WebAnswers took a dip this month, no doubt affected by a couple of out-of-town trips that I took. And, as might be expected, I didn't spend as much time creating or marketing my hubs. That said, there isn't a huge variation in the HP earnings from last month, so I think that's a positive indicator of the strength of HubPages as a generator of passive income.

Overall, I believe this is the first time that breaks from my normal routine have touched on my productivity (and earnings), but these things will occasionally happen, I suppose. The good news is that I still think my numbers are somewhat robust, so I'm not disappointed.

(On a side note - for those who are interested - my HP numbers include income from The Ad Program, AdSense and affiliate sales.)

Update: Sadly, WebAnswers is no more. The site appears to be gone. That's too bad because it really was a decent place to earn income.