Online writing jobs have always been popular – inside all of us is a voice just waiting to get out! If you want to make money writing online, then you need to understand the different sorts of opportunities and jobs available to you.
Some online writing jobs sites pay you for specific bookings – and other online writing jobs sites simply give you a platform to write on – and you’re paid based on views, or on a revenue share basis. Over the years I’ve tried out a few and had some good successes and some disappointments.
There is no one site that will suit everybody, for your first venture into making money doing online writing it’s best to stick with one of the simpler sites, then find out how things work and why – and move onto the more robust sites that have stricter rules that you have to get your head around.
Below is a list of online writing jobs sites that you might like to try. I’ve noted the sites where I have written, or do write, with an * but this is no indication that they are the best sites, they are simply the ones that suit me for a variety of reasons. When you first start with any writing site you invest quite a bit of your time in getting around the site and learning to write better – so it’s not easy to just drop one on a whim! 
How Many Online Writing Sites Should You Write For?
There is no hard and fast rule, it’s purely personal – but I’d say that you shouldn’t aim for more than 1-3, in order to do them and yourself, justice.
So here it is – my list of online writing jobs sites, good and bad! some of the links lead through to sample posts, to show they’re not that hard to write!
- Hubpages* – you’re paid on a revenue sharing basis. This is best for people who currently hold a Google Adsense account, or who wish to obtain one. I’ve written on Hubpages since 2007 and it does produce a good passive income once you’ve got more than 50 or so good articles written. In 2014 Hubpages bought Squidoo.
- Wizzley* – It takes quite a bit of effort to get your writing accepted here, but once you’ve got the hang of how your articles need to look/read then things become easier! Income is from a variety of sources, including eBay, Amazon and Zazzle.
- Bubblews * – NOW CLOSED DOWN. Bubblews used to pay well, then the pay was slashed. You are paid based on views and comments received. In the past they have simply failed to pay some members – and even emptied everybody’s account in November 2013.
- PersonaPaper* – NO LONGER PAYS WRITERS. A simple site where you just write short posts. You’re paid based on views. It can be slow going getting any income as the site’s traffic is fairly low at present. I write there, but make about $0.10 per post, so it’s really more a bit of fun. PersonaPaper CPM is $3.
- DailyTwoCents* – I have written some posts on this site – they have changed their payment model. DailyTwoCents used to pay based on the number of views, now it’s a revenue share so you need a Google Adsense account. The interface can be daunting unless you’re used to seeing the back end of WordPress. I have been paid some small amounts for what I wrote in the past, but views are low and I really didn’t spend enough time to do the site justice.
- Seekyt – I have not tried this site. You are paid in points, which you accumulate for writing, commenting and liking. If you are one of the Top 10 most active users, you’ll get your posts featured – bringing you fresh traffic. It’s a time intensive site where it pays you to interact more, so if you’re the social type with loads of time on your hands, this might fit your needs. You will need either an Adsense account or a Chitika account.
- Writedge – You are paid/view with writedge. The rate in February 2015 gives a CPM of $5. you will need an Adsense or Chitika account, but you can promote your own site/products as they do allow affiliate links.
Which Sites Allow Affiliate Links?
Most writing sites will not allow, or will restrict, you using affiliate links. Any site that allows you to use affiliate links in an article will have rules about how many you can use. Make sure you understand their rules before posting any link from your post/article.
The following sites do allow affiliate links:
- Hubpages – up to two per article, except those on their “banned” list, e.g. Clickbank affiliate links are not allowed
- DailyTwoCents – you can use up to one affiliate link per post.
- Writedge – you can use affiliate links in your posts.
Other Writing Sites
To write out all the writing sitess and to keep on top of the list would be a full-time job in itself, so below is simply a list of names for you to investigate, presented in alphabetical order so as to not show any preference for any of them. For my own personal reasons these are not sites I’ve tried to write on, a lot of that was based on the time I had available:
- BlogMutt (US only), CGP Gallery, Constant Content, Crowd Source, Elite Visitors, Factoidz/Knoji, InfoBarrel, iWriter, Listverse, TextBroker, Triond, Wikinut, ZuJava,
Writing Sites That Closed Down
Over the years many sites have closed down, stopped paying, been bought out, or other events occurred. Below is a list of the sites that no longer either operate, or pay money for blogging:
- Helium, MyLot, Squidoo (2005-2014), Suite101 (1996-2014), Teckler (2012-2013)
As always, all the above information is likely to change at any time – sites come, go and change how they operate regularly. That’s why I stick with the few I’m already established with.
E&OE