I've been very blessed to make a living writing without any formalized journalism training. Most of the writing I've done has been for my blog. It just seemed to make more “CENTS” focusing on my own site rather than writing for others. So I've never written for any “content mill” sites. But clearly others feel differently because there are large amounts of people who write for content farms and seem to be satisfied with the income they earn from them. With that in mind I'd like to cover a company that pays you for your words with my Writedge Review. It may be an additional way to bring in some extra money if you enjoy writing but you decide.
What Is Writedge?
In a nutshell Writedge is a content mill where many authors sign up (for free) to write articles and get paid based on pageviews on their articles and Adsense revenue that is shared with the writers. Writedge has been in existence since May of 2013. Danielle McGaw and Michelle Harlow created the site. There is a sister site is Dailytwocents.com.
How do I Make Money?
The business model behind content farm websites like Writedge is to get as many freelance writers to write large amounts of articles that are geared towards various topics or keywords which will rank highly in Google. The more content produced, the more likely these websites will show up in search engines and thus make them money from advertisers that pay to be on their website. In turn Writedge shares a portion of the revenue with the writers for views on the articles.
Writers can also make money with Google Adsense where their Google adsense id is placed within the articles they produce on Writedge. However, participating in Google adsense is optional. Other ways you are rewarded is that Writedge allows you to include self serving links within your articles. This can be a link to your own website, affiliate links that make you money or social media links.
What Can I Write About?
Writedge has many categories to choose from. So you can write about damn near anything you want as long as your articles are at least 400 words.
How Much Do I Get Paid?
You are paid a 1/2 cent per one unique view. Also, if you participate in the Adsense revenue share part of it, your Google Adsense publishing ID is rotated throughout the site; therefore you will earn through Adsense too. In addition, there are contests and writing challenges to make extra money along the way.
How Do I Sign Up?
You can sign up here. Sign up is pretty basic. Register…then after you receive your confirmation email you can start posting. Your first five articles must be approved by editors before you are labeled – pre-approved status.
Complaints
Like all website Writedge has it flaws as well. It doesn't mean it is a flat out scam. But there are things you should be aware of so you can make an informed decision. Some of these things may rub you the wrong way or not. Either way, It's my job to make you aware of them. So let's dig into them.
Low Pay
Did you happen to notice the part in this Writedge Review where I mention the pay was a 1/2 penny per view? First of all, is half a penny even considered money? With “pay” like that don't expect to make a full time income with this website. And it seems like making even some extra money would take a boat load of effort. The reality is unless you're an SEO genius and really understood how to drive traffic to these articles, it's going to be very difficult to make a lot of money with this. And if you were trained on how to get traffic, you'd quickly realize it literally makes more sense to send that traffic to a website you own and can make more money with which is what my #1 Free Work At Home Recommendation has trained me and thousands of others to do!
You Don't Control Jack!
You don't control the site and its policies when writing for a revenue share/content mill site. That could also mean changes in your income instantly if they decide to switch the rules on you. I can't tell you how many times I've seen people bitch and moan about their accounts being closed or money not paid because they violated a policy they weren't aware of or that a content mill switched the rules on them. When you're not the owner, you're at the whim of these content farms and complaining online doesn't usually help.
How Long Will They Be Around?
Content farms/ mill websites have taken a huge hit from search engines like Google in the past. Let's say you spend all this time and effort writing ton of articles for this site. But then Google changes how they ranks websites and now Writedge loses all their traffic and thus their income. Now all of sudden the website suddenly shuts downs because they're no longer making money. So, what happens to your articles and profit?? In 5 minutes flat, or less; all that time and effort is painfully flushed down the toilet! The only way you can avoid this situations is if you were paid a flat fee per article.
Or you could probably make even more money creating your own blog and monetizing it the way I do because of being a member of my Top Free Work At Home Recommendation!
$5 Threshold
There is a $5 threshold each month before you are paid. In most cases earning $5 within a given month would be easy for many of the other work at home opportunities I have covered and recommended. But when you consider you're being paid 1/2 a cent per view, it's going to take a very long time to reach that minimum payout amount. So you can literally be spending hours and weeks writing articles before you can make that $5. Considering the time spent on writing and publishing articles, it just doesn't seem to be worth the time. You could probably make more at fast food place or the various other companies I've recommended.
So, is Writedge legit?
Writedge has not been on the web that long really for me to say they are NOT legit. So far, (as far as payments are concerned), everyone has been paid. However, keep in mind the site is still young. That all said, I tend to be biased against content mills like Writedge. For the same effort you put in writing for them, you could write for yourself and probably make way more over time and actually control the website. So my suggestion would be to write for YOUR own blog or website instead of writing to make someone else rich. Time is money, and you should want to spend your time and effort on a more sustainable way to make money online.
Either way, I would love to hear YOUR thoughts and suggestions on Writedge or content mills like it. I know there are some of you that do pretty well with them. You all know how I thrive on your comments and feedback so don't be shy and share in the comment below!
As always you can catch me on Twitter, Facebook, and also Google+.
Until next time! 🙂
Eddy with a Y.
I signed up for both DTC and Writedge just to test the waters as I had been placing most of my articles on HubPages. I wrote for one for DTC which got lost in their poorly laid out landing page and I looked around the site and people were posting all kinds of useless articles and there were no comments. I decided not to write anymore as if you want to delete and deindex the content it takes time.
Now when Squidoo was taken over by HP they did email everyone to write a review to convince people to move their lenses over to them and not HP and were paying people to do write the reviews, which I thought was a bit unethical.
I think theses learning sites are fine for people who don’t mind about their copyright, they own it, but if the site goes down, they have no control if they want to put it elsewhere and spinning an article doesn’t help you either. Basically you provide free content and get a possible share of earnings!
Recently I noticed that Writedge has fewer comments and limited traffic as the word count is higher than DTC, so they sometimes use Postloop content writers to provide comments and to generate traffic (I recognize all the people who comment as either Postloopers or people that post on the DTC Facebook group).
I find the articles are not all high quality, therefore I didn’t want my work to be alongside (not blowing my trumpet, but you can’t control what article is next to yours) work that may influence readers not to read it. At least with HP, you have your own subdomain. As I result I keep my own blogs and domains and then if I want to sell any articles, I don’t have to involve any party or wait!
Thanks for chiming in and sharing your detailed experience and feedback.
Ouch. Up until I found your blog I had read nothing but positive reviews for Writedge. You went into much further detail about the site than most others did, though, and shed some light some real issues. Great review and cheers for the info.
Thanks for the kind words Brad. As you can see some people don’t appreciate that. But it’s because of people like you I like to dig deeper so you get both sides of the story. Too many of the reviews of many online opportunities only paint a sweet picture and it’s obviously because they want people to sign up under them. I have nothing against that but before I sign up for any opportunity I like knowing the good and bad. I don’t like surprises. So I keep that in mind when I write. So thanks for taking notice and appreciating it!
Eddy thanks for the review, it is objective and gives the facts, I have been researching various paid to write sites online over the last few years and it seems that many of the same writers migrate from one site to the other, for instance many of the writers on writedge also write content for squidoo, and then they get together and decide to start up sites like zujava, wizzley, goodyguides which are all started by former squidoo writers.
I think that these revenue share type sites are not meant to make much money but the users want to use them as backlinks to other articles they have online. Also I think multi-user sites are good for networking purposes too. I agree that having a website that you own and control is always going to be the best choice.
Thanks Minnie,
I try to give all the good and bad. Sometimes folks don’t appreciate that but that’s just how I do things so people like you can make your own decisions.
I’m not surprised that many of the writers bounce around and even venture off into creating their own websites. I can actually appreciate that because they’re taking matters into their own hands and giving themselves more control. And that makes sense to me.
Using the websites for direct traffic and referrals is a great idea too because they do attract a lot of folks. The SEO/Backlinking part can be questionable because Google doesn’t really love these websites and knows the barrier to entry is so low. That said getting a link from a content mill/revenue site isn’t as powerful as getting one from like a news site or another website that Google places a higher value on. So it’s not very powerful from an SEO point of view but for direct traffic, yes it can be a winner. So I totally get that and I’m not knocking it
Either way, thanks for chiming in. It’s nice to talk to someone that isn’t just drinking and sharing the koolaid. LOL
Ouch! No other revenue sharing site can compare with Bubblews. Don’t even put Writedge in the same sentence with them. I agree with you Eddy about revenue sharing writing sites. I’ve thought about using them for extra income, but I didn’t have enough motivation or drive to follow through. The pay out is not attractive enough and my thoughts keep going back to writing for myself and reaping 100% of the profits. THAT makes more sense to me.
To make money, you have to write decent articles that will be searched for in search engines so writing a mediocre article isn’t going to make a nice chunk of money if no one is reading it.
I completely understand where some people are hesitant to build their own website, but really the pros outweigh the cons. I know we all have to make our own decisions based on what is best for us, but also remember you can make more or in addition to what you’re already earning. It goes both ways. It depends on which pros outweighs the cons.
For clarification, revenue share writing sites isn’t my cup of tea and as I have read here and at other places, I know others have done well. Don’t get me wrong I’m not side-eyeing anyone who chooses to go that route.
Hey Sophia,
I’m not high on Bubblews either given what I discovered here in my review. At least Writedge consistently pays you. I’ve heard some shady things about how Bubblews withholds payments after consistently paying you a few times. But that’s another discussion. LOL
In any event, Obviously you and I think the same about this situation. There is definitely money to be made with these sites but again I know there is more to be made writing for yourself if folks are willing to put in the same energy. But to each their own.
Thanks for chiming in. I’m glad I’m not the only one that can see the merit in writing for yourself.
@Ana Right now the amount I make pays for some of my online activities such as renewing a domain or hiring someone on fiver to make me some banners. My ultimate goal is to make about $100 a month which I think is doable. The site is one of several things I do to make money online.
@Edy – Oh, don’t get me wrong. I have a stash of private clients as well. And I have some content mills that pay as well as $0.05/per word. So… a 400 word article is $20 to me in some places. My issue with the time it takes to spend/learn how to make my own site is the fact that I’m the only source of income for a family of three. Don’t get me wrong, I work really hard some months (more with content mills and private clients than shared revenue). I spend a lot of hours a day writing. But, the time it would take to set things up write not… It’s time I wouldn’t be writing and my family can’t afford that. You aren’t the first person who has told me that if I would write the 300-500 articles I write for content mills for myself (even for shared revenue) I’d be making so much more than I make now. Right now 80 percent of my articles go to clients and 20 percent go to shared revenue. But, regardless of how many people tell me that… I don’t have the cushion of downtime and extra money to play with learning something new. If that makes sense.
Obviously, I write for Writdge and Daily Two Cents. I appreciate you taking the time to accept my comment and reply to it. I told you before I wasn’t trying to demean your review or anything. Everything is open to their own opinion. I’m just giving insight from the point of someone who legitimately doesn’t have time for that right now and does the best she can with what she has.
And, I know sites can fold. But, a shared revenue site can die, a content mill can dry up, or a private client can disappear/stop giving you work/or just stop paying. You write quality stuff all the time, you back up your work, and you move on. You also never put all your eggs in one basket. I have several sources of income. The major two being a content mill and a private client. But, I’ve been doing this long enough to know better than to rely on one source of income. I get paid randomly on various paydays throughout the entire month. My earning and working situation is not ideal for everyone. But, it works for me.
&& I wish they played Attack of the Titan more than once a week. Love it. We (my husband and I) watched a few episodes ahead of speed using Netflix. But, we have a one year old and it is hard to watch subbed sometimes.
Hi again Streak,
First and foremost applaud you for having your own private clients! That’s what I’m talking about. You’re taking the middleman out of the equation and making more money for yourself that way. I’m surprised you don’t have a website promoting your writing service. It would be a great asset to your business and you can have your current clients refer people to it. So that’s something you should really consider. Even if it’s just being used as brochure to show your services and writing samples, then you should create one. It wouldn’t even by that involved and you could post articles once a week. That wouldn’t take as much time away from your other gigs.
Again I don’t know where the misconception that it’s going to take you a lot of time away from what you do to create a website and add content to it. I only take a couple of hours per week to add one article on my blog. Once you’ve set it up which I’ve shown is literally only a few minutes. Then it’s just a matter of adding content to it as you can like you would with a content mill. You don’t have to spend all your time on it where your other income should suffer.
Either way, I’m happy you actually do have your own clients in addition to working the content farms. That definitely spreads your risk and diversifies your income. So great job.
In terms of AOT it was killing me waiting a week between episodes. That’s how it was for me when watching Bleach too. I wish they would bring them both back already. 🙁
@streakanime, I can sure relate to this. If something is making you money, keep doing it. 🙂 I hope much more success for you!
However, I do agree with Eddy, and have shifted gears with my priorities. I’d say for the last 2 months, I have not been motivated about my work.(for some reason, and was just feeling BLAH!) and now, look out, I’m going to be knocking out some work, also in the middle of writing an eBook…(yes, still in the works, just a little stall) 🙂 And now something new I get to work on…changing my wah site over to WordPress. I really like the theme I’m using and can’t wait to dig in but my other work priorities has to get done too. I may just pick a weekend and get to it. 🙂 My blogs have been idol too recently.
😛
Kind of went off topic here Eddy…for some the revenue share sites are ideal and others feel differently. Also…I can always rewrite some articles and use a different angle with them from revenue share sites I’ve written for. 🙂
No worries Tammy! Moving your site over to wordpress is going to be a great thing! You’ll have a lot more options and your pages will rank better. Just be sure you do it properly in terms of 301 redirects so you don’t lose SEO value or existing traffic.
I respect your opinion, but it seems kind of odd that someone who has so much experience in the writing world doesn’t know the definition of a content mill. Textbroker, WordGigs, Writers Domain, Hire Writer – those are content mills. A content mills is where you grab an assigned topic, write the assigned topic, and get paid a rate per word.
Shared revenue (which is what Writedge is) is ideal for someone who doesn’t have the money or the resources or the knowledge even to manage their own website. I write for Writedge as well as a number of other shared revenue sites and make a decent amount of money doing it too. I also write for content mills and make 2-3K a month doing that (pays the bills). I don’t have the time, money, or know how to manage my own site right now and I’d rather not stretch myself thinner than I have.
Shared revenue isn’t for everyone. But, I don’t think Writedge is a bad site. I think it is PERFECT for someone in my situation or perhaps someone who is new to the world of writing and making money. It’s great that you have your own site and you make money that way. But, I like getting my decent sized paychecks every month without having to upkeep a website or pay any hosting fees.
Not trying to bash or anything, like I said – respect your opinion. Just completely disagree.
Hey StreakAnime,
Thanks for chiming in.
I have years of experience blogging not writing for other sites. So that might be the difference. In terms of the definition of a content mill or farm, I’ll reference wikipedia’s definition here: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Content_farm
But yes you can also refer to them as a revenue share sites as well.
I agree that sites like Writedge may be a nice starting point to get your feet wet. But creating a website and managing it is so much easier nowadays. You can literally create a website in under 5 minutes with many of the options available out there I literally show this here under the “Your own free website” sub heading.
The same amount effort you take to learn how to use these content site’s interface is probably the same amount energy required to learn how to use most of your self hosted content management systems to create and manage your own site. It’s no longer rocket science and huge effort. In the past it was. The cost is also minimal now. You can start your own website for free and later upgrade to get yourself a real domain (.com) for under $!0 and hosting for under $50. If folks are smart they can reinvest some of that extra income they make on these content sites to pay for this minimal investment in yourself.
I applaud you for making 2-4k for writing for multiple content mills. I can only imagine how much more money you would make if the same amount of effort and energy was invested in your own website where you’re cutting a middle man out and keeping more of the profits.
And I agree I don’t think Writedge is a bad site for certain people and have implied as such. But it’s definitely not for everyone and the cons I’ve pointed out are what certain people will feel about sites like this. Just because I’m pointing out these realties doesn’t mean it’s a bad site. Like I said I know folks are making money with sites like this. That’s not in question. My biggest point is you could probably make more in the long run with your own website and you’ll have more control.
No one seems to want to address the fact that at the end of the day if these content sites change their rules on you or get shut down, you’re pretty much screwed. That $2-4k may be wiped out instantly because you accidentally violated their rules or they switched their pay structure for the worse. This happens all the time. And it’s a calculated risk folks are taking. But so is running your own business.
But I guess I prefer more control in my hands. However we’re all different and that’s fine.
Either way, I really appreciate your feedback and I’m happy you’re doing well. You’re one of the few people that came out of the woodwork with a really insightful and balanced comment. So I appreciate that. Again applaud you for what you’re making. But seriously consider running your own site. If you can make th