How UK Writers Can Make Money Writing Articles

Can  you make money online writing articles if you live in Britain? As a UK-based writer, that was a question I asked myself when I first began exploring online income opportunities a couple of years ago. Since that time I've signed up with many different article writing sites and have made money from a few of them, though some more than others.

It's easy to find guides to online writing opportunities but not so easy to find out which ones will pay you as a British writer. And there's nothing worse than signing up for a site, full of enthusiasm, only to discover that you are ineligible for payments. I've put together this guide to send you in the right direction, including only sites and platforms that offer genuine opportunities and will pay UK authors and content creators.

Article copyright ©WordCustard, June 2011

I've been on Squidoo longer than any other site and have seen the most success there so far.

What it is: Squidoo is a content creation site where you write pages (called 'lenses') and receive a share of the site's ad revenue plus can earn from your own affiliate links.

How it works: Squidoo is a great place to start if you are new to writing for the web. You don't need to be a member of any other programme, you simply join Squidoo and they share the ad revenue with you. As you become more experienced, you can begin to use your own affiliate links too. 

The shared ad revenue is divided between writers (lensmasters) according to how well their lenses have performed. It can be difficult for a new writer to break into the top paying tier and takes perseverence and a willingness to learn.

How you receive your pay: You get paid by Squidoo by the 15th of each month, and pay relates to the month before last (e.g. in June you are paid for the performance of your work in April). Squidoo will pay you in US dollars via PayPal. 

Join Squidoo
There are a number of successful and new writers from the UK on Squidoo. The site is quirky and particularly good at guiding new writers through the process of getting pages published on the site.

I like Zujava's quality standards. It promises to be a successful site.

What it is: Zujava is another website where you create media-rich articles on things you care about. Ideas include how-to guides, duels, or product recommendation pages.

How it works: Signing up couldn't be easier -- all you need to do is enter your Paypal payment email so that when it's time for payouts you will receive your share. After joining, you get to write 3 pages (a page on Zujava is a 'leaf' in keeping with the cute wildlife theme). These need to be approved. This is a good thing as it keeps site quality high, and you don't need to worry if you are a native English-speaker or have good English language skills, plus a commitment to writing useful content. Scammers, spammers, article spinners and coloring page image thieves (it's a banned topic) need not apply.

Like on Squidoo, the Google Adsense income generated by page views on the site as a whole is divided into tiers. Unlike Squidoo, the tiers are split by percentage so always have room to grow. You are paid according to which percentage of the tier income you fall into. 

How you receive your pay: You will be paid by PayPal, where you can then convert dollars to pounds.

Create a free account on Zujava
Get in early on a fun new site that shares its earnings with its writer. Zujava is easy to use and not yet over-crowded with competition.

Yes, I've written for HubPages too, although have not been prolific over there.

What it is: HubPages is another site that is a lot like Wizzley and Squidoo. It has been around a few years and some UK writers have enjoyed success there. Unfortunately it is suffering right now from the Panda/Farmer algorithm change by Google. While HubPages is down, it is not yet out and is worth considering if you are a Brit looking to make money writing articles online.

How it works: You publish articles and HubPages shares the ad revenue with you based simply on a percentage. Some prefer this to the secret and sometimes controversial payment system used by Squidoo. You have less opportunity for making direct affiliate sales on HubPages, however.

What I do love about HubPages is the contests. I don't know if they still run these but in the past there have been daily cash prizes to be won, with larger weekly prizes. An element of peer judging does mean popular people have a better chance, especially at larger prizes, but it's possible for new writers to win. Prize payments are sent to your PayPal account in US dollars.

How you receive your pay: HubPages income goes direct to your Google AdSense account. Income from any affiliate sales you make goes to those accounts. 

Sign Up for HubPages
Take a look at HubPages and give it a go. It's quite a straightforward site to use and there are active forums if you need more help.

I wrote for BrightHub for a brief period but am no longer active there.

What it is: BrightHub is unlike the above sites in that it has in the past had a tight focus first on Technology and Education, though has recently branched out into other topic areas. BrightHub was hard hit by the Google Panda / Farmer update and made some unpopular decisions in an attempt to recover.

How it works: You have to go through an approval process to write for BrightHub. If you write well and have some knowledge in one of their topic areas, I suspect your chances of being approved are good. You also have more freedom once you are a member to apply to write for other 'channels' than those for which you were approved. You do agree to a rather official contract when you join BrightHub which among other things prevents you from discussing how the site works in too much detail. BrightHub make an upfront payment for your work and will also pay you a small residual each month. You cannot use your own affiliate links.

How you receive your pay: You receive BrightHub income in US dollars via PayPal. You need to have made a minimum of 5$ in a month to receive a pay out. BrightHub used to pay $10 an article. This has recently increased to $15 but they have become much stricter on what they will publish. There are fewer opportunities than before and you must write 750 words as a minimum.

Write for BrightHub
It used to be that you had to apply to write for BrightHub. It appears that now anyone can write there simply by joining the site. Their main topics are Techonology, Science, Education, Business, and Health.

Demand Studios
UK and Canadian citizens are eligible to apply. You select from a list of titles and write the article, which will be reviewed by an editor before publication.

Constant Content
You either write an article to match a requested title, or simply write articles you think you can sell on topics of your choice. You set the price and decide on the rights. There is a strict editorial process before you can put them for sale and the site will take a share of your income.

DevHub
A 'gamified' web page publishing platform that pays you a percentage of ad revenue generated from ads that you add to your webpages. Details on the actual split seem hazy. You receive a monthly payout as long as you have a minimum of $5 US Dollars and can be made by cheque or PayPal. Payment is within 45 days.

Bukisa
Bukisa is a site I've heard of but not looked into in any detail. However, Mike Craggs mentions them in the comments of this page and explains that they pay via AdSense, taking a 40% share for themselves.

Triond
By now, if you've clicked on some of the other links, these sites will have started to look familar. Triond share ad revenue with you 50/50. Mike informs me that Triond pay via PayPal.

Xomba
I have a Xomba account but hadn't initially add them to the list as I'm not aware of ever having made any money there. On the other hand, I've added very little to my account over there so that's probably my own fault. Xomba will pay you via your Google AdSense account.

Helium
Thanks to Rich for suggesting Helium, which I've heard of but have never personally looked into as a source of writing income. You earn from Helium by sharing a percentage of ad revenue, plus there are other earning opportunities for experienced members. I've seen discussions on the site forum that suggest that non-American writers are at a disadvantage when it comes to the topics on offer.