Associated Content

I’m looking at content sites through a different pair of sunglasses this go ‘round.

When I first started writing online I looked at contents sites strictly as a source of income. It gave me a chance to hone my writing skills and make money at the same time.

With the recent changes, my view of content sites has changed quite a bit. I now look at them merely as a method for backlinking. Any money I earn is an added plus.

Re-Evaluating Associated Content

My new use for content site makes me reevaluate my opinion of Associated Content. Quite some time ago I did a comparison between Associated Content and Suite 101. The reason why Associated Content ended up on the short end of the comparison was because of the payment model and rate of pay.

Suite 101 pays based on ad revenue and Associated Content based on page views. If you look at my earlier comparison, you’ll see why I came to the conclusion that I did.

In my opinion, Suite 101 still has a better payment model but it doesn’t work if the site doesn’t get any traffic. No one is reading the articles to click on the ads.

Real Life Eye Opener

As I mentioned in an earlier post, I wrote articles and place them on Associated Content, HubPages and Squidoo. I was shocked and surprised at how the Associated Content article took off. Between the publication date of May 11 and yesterday’s update of May 16, my Associated Content article earned 555 page views (for the record, I did not promote the article, no Twittering, Facebooking or any other type of social networking).

In that article I had 2 to 3 external links. The external links were to sites that would further improve the reader’s experience by providing additional detailed information on the subject matter. One of those external links linked to my new site.

Even if only a fraction of the readers clicked through to my site, I consider the article a success on more than one level. First, it’s doing exactly what I wanted it to do in driving traffic to my site but as a side benefit I’m also earning money from the article.

Limited Experiment

I could not do the same experiment using Suite 101 because they do not allow self promotion. Therefore, the benefits in writing for Suite 101 are limited to  income and article exposure where Associated Content provides income, article exposure and backlinks.

Serving a Purpose

Pre-Panda I looked at content sites as a viable means for building income. Now I look at them as a means of back linking with the serendipitous benefit of earning a few dollars in the process. While I’ll still write the occasional article for Suite 101 and HubPages, it seems that I’ll get the most bang for my backlinking buck if I place articles on Associated Content.

That being said, I learned something early on in my online writing career. I think my early lesson is something that Suite 101 is learning from the recent Google algorithm change dubbed the “Content Farm” algorithm.

The Royal Suite Beat Down

All of us Suite 101 and content farm writers know that several sites took a whuppin’ with the latest algorithm change. I mean not only were page views down, but most of us saw earnings that mirrored earnings of our first year writing for Suite. Depending on where you get your information, it looks like Suite was smacked down the hardest with a 94% drop in search engine visibility.

We probably should have seen it coming because many of us were plagued with lower page views and earnings. The decline began somewhere in January or February of last year. I started the year off pretty good and things went down hill from there.

Why the slow decline? Who knows for sure; it could have been algorithm changes, Suite website instability, website restructuring, looser editing guidelines or just too many changes at once. I don’t know why it all happened, but I do know that many of us felt the financial pinch.

A Bit of Reminiscing

I have website that took a royal Google beat down a few years ago. It has since partially recovered (several years later). Part of the reason for my site’s beat down was because of newbie webmaster mistakes, using non original content (yes, I used some of the free articles available through sites like Ezinearticles and other article directories), lack of website focus, coding mistakes, website restructuring, and a host of other problems, sort of like the problems Suite 101 has undergone in the past year.

The long and the short of it was the Google smack down took my once lucrative website and brought it to its financial knees. Ouch! It has since recovered somewhat, but my lack of total recovery is because I stopped trying to figure out how to recover. The site was too big for me to spend all of my time fixing the problems. I decided to learn from my mistakes and create other sites making sure not to repeat those very same mistakes.

How Will Suite Recover?

That’s a question that I cannot answer. Suite has a team of folks who can brainstorm, negotiate, implement changes and come up with a workable plan. I, on the other hand, had to take my valuable lesson and create new ventures.

My old site is still up and running and earning enough for me to receive check from Google every month, but its earnings are pale in comparison to its heyday. Although, with the recent Suite 101 smack down, my old site generates more page views than my articles currently placed on Suite (hmmm, makes a girl sit back and wonder where she should focus her energies).

In the meanwhile, I’ll be watching with much interest as Suite begins its process to recover from the Google Content Farm beat down. Who knows, I may learn a thing or two that will help my old site regain its prior glory.

Someone pass the popcorn, this is going to be interesting.

Oh, and BTW, my eHow earnings have hit a record high…go figure!

Update: While Suite is digesting the recent developments, they have suspended the 1 article per week Feature Writer requirement. I don’t know about you, but that is a welcome piece of news.

Lately I’ve been reading quite a few posts in forums about Associated Content and how people are earning anywhere from $75-$300 a month with them. Of course, when you hear someone earning $300 a month in residual income from a writing site, it peaks your interests.

Earning with Associated Content

As a result, I went over to the Associated Content site looked at their payment structure and got a little confused. From what I can glean, according to Associated Content they pay an average of $1.50 per thousand page views. Therefore, any person who has several articles on Associated Content and accumulates 5000 views in a particular month will earn a base of $7.50 (I hope I have this right).

In addition to the $1.50 performance payment, writers can earn a bonus depending on their clout level. Once your clout level exceeds a level 6 you earn an additional bonus, depending on the clout level. Currently it appears that the clout level maxes out at $2.00.

A Little Calculation

Now, if I understand the performance payment correctly, if I miraculously achieve a clout level of 10 and manage to garner 15,000 views per month, I would earn $30 for the month ($2.00 x 15).

Now, taking the same Associated Content formula, assuming I’m at the top clout level, I’m going to apply it to my last month page views at Suite 101.com. Last month from August 1 to August 31, 2008, my articles generated 20,586 page views. I honestly don’t know if that’s a good or bad figure, but that’s what it was.

If I were at Associated Content at the top clout level my 20,586 page views at $2.00 PPM would yield $41.17 for the month. I guess that’s good, but when I compare that to my actual earnings on Suite 101 of $153.94 for the same number of page views, I think I’m better off sticking with Suite 101 (Not too bad for writing 10 articles every three months).

(Image removed – Apparently Suite 101 doesn’t allow for sharing such info.)

Associated Content Added Bonuses

I understand that Associated Content offers added bonuses in “Calls for Content.” I’m not very familiar with the process and I guess that’s where writers really earn the money. Suite 101 doesn’t offer such bonuses.

In order for me to earn additional bonuses at Suite 101, I would have to become a Feature Writer instead of a Contributing Writer. Not wanting to ‘graduate’ to a Feature Writer, I’ll have to be content with my 10% bonus I received after I surpassed the 50-article milestone.

Where to Go from Here

I know first hand that freelance writers have to spend their time where they can get the most bang for their buck. I considered writing more for Associated Content and less for Suite, but after looking at the numbers, I think I’ll stay where I am.

I know there are Associated Content writers earning a nice income from them. I’d love to hear how you do it.