Webanswers - A Possible Passive Income Generating Site?

Are you looking for a site with some passive-income generation? This hub reveals information regarding Webanswers, a possible option for you to explore.

What is Webanswers?

Webanswers is a free question-and-answer site similar to Yahoo! Answers. If you're not familiar with the latter, it is a free site where people can ask questions, answer questions or vote up and award a "Best Answer" to questions. Questions cover all kinds of topics ranging from computer programming to philosophy to beauty to homework.

So what's the main difference between Yahoo! Answers and Webanswers? Webanswers is actually an Adsense revenue-sharing site as well, similar to Hubpages. That means it displays Google Adsense ads on its answer pages, and members of the site receive a portion of the revenue from ad clicks.

I have been with Webanswers for nearly a week, and have gained nearly three whole dollars (I just checked; it's now over three dollars!). That may not seem like much, but the truth is, I had been happily answering question on Yahoo! Answers before for free. It's also worth noting this was the first site I ever gained earnings online with, so I was pretty ecstatic. I received $0.43 after my first day of joining the site and answering 18 questions (none awarded best answer) and asking 1 question. While I did receive a big fat zero earning the next day, it quickly picked back up to 60 cents the following day, and has been averaging 50 cents a day since. At the time of this writing, I currently have 6 questions and 75 answers posted, with only 1 awarded best answer.

The following link is an example of a Webanswers question. It's essentially a simple poll on how much some members are earning on a single day: http://www.webanswers.com/_2q3pduhnhf/for-fun/how-much-did-you-make-on-webanswers-today-743b9f

One side-effect I've found by participating in question and answer sites such as Webanswers and Yahoo! Answers is that they give me plenty of ideas for writing articles, hubpages and Squidoo lenses! Sometimes I end up researching answers to questions and end up learning a lot.

How do I earn money on Webanswers?

To be able to earn money from Webanswers, you first need to answer at least 10 questions. You will also need a Google Adsense account. If you already have one, you can simply associate it with Webanswers after answering your first 10 questions.

If you do not have one yet, I recommend you go apply for one now either via hubpages.com (you will need to create a hubpage), or via blogger.com (you will need to create a few blog posts before choosing to monetise it; Google owns blogger and is thus more likely to approve an application through it). Google can take quite a while to approve your Adsense account (sometimes a month or more), so it is best to get it approved first before you even answer any questions.

You can try applying for an Adsense account through Webanswers instead of hubpages or blogger after you've answered your first 10 questions. However, for some reason, a few members have encountered issues with such applications through Webanswers. Some get accepted immediately while some get denied and then accepted after repeated attempts.

How does Webanswers' revenue sharing work?

So, how is the revenue split exactly? When you are awarded a "Best Answer" by the asker of a question, you will gain a portion of the revenue from an ad click on that answer page. You can then promote (e.g. by submitting the page to social bookmarking sites or by providing backlinks from other sites) the page to increase your revenue. Note that there is also currently a system being tested where posting questions (instead of just answers) rewards some portion of revenue, although the exact details are not revealed. It is not recommended that you spam useless questions on the site.

However, not all questions award a "Best Answer". Perhaps the asker had simply left the site after getting an adequate answer without bothering to award the best answer, or the asker simply can't decide between the answers. Unlike Yahoo! Answers, there is no voting system in place for a best answer when the asker does not choose one after a few days.

Instead, in such cases, the ads on that page will be rotated among those who have answered the question, so everyone has a chance of gaining some revenue. How frequently do your ads get displayed in such cases? It depends on your "quality score", which is a combination of several factors, the most important being the quality of your answers (for example: proper punctuation, grammar, no promotional links). At the moment, this "quality score" is hidden from members; however, there are plans to reveal it eventually.

I've found (by tracking my impressions in Google Adsense) that your ads do not only appear on the pages you answer! It can be randomly distributed throughout the site, but this will again depend on your quality score. This means you do not need to focus on only answering questions in niches or categories with high-value ads. Simply answer questions that you have expertise in, and answer to the best of your ability, and you will begin reaping the rewards. This also explains why I was able to earn income within a day of joining the site.

Another way to earn additional income is through referrals to the site. You can recommend the site to others and if they join, you receive additional impressions equivalent to 10% of theirs.

Rules of Webanswers

While the format of Webanswers is similar to Yahoo! Answers, it does NOT have the same rules. Some tips that I have learned so far:

• Copy-and-paste from other sites or even your own answers is not allowed. Webanswers wants to remain a quality site with true, unique answers from experts.
• Use proper grammar, spelling and punctuation as well as paragraphs in your answers. Do not answer questions with a single word or sentence; try to write at least 3-4 sentences unless the question demands a short answer.
• Do not answer questions unless you're reasonably sure you are correct (i.e. you should be an actual expert in the subject, able to answer most questions in the subject without much research).
• You CAN answer old questions, even from years ago. Search engines will still find such questions, and answering them can help others searching for the answer, even if the original question poster had long left the site.
• Do NOT post links in your answers if you can help it, unless you need to cite the source of your information. Neither referral links nor affiliate links are allowed. There is no equivalent of Yahoo! Answer's "Source" box in Webanswers.
• Most importantly, do NOT, under any circumstances, click on any ad that you're not actually interested in. In fact, members should not click on any ads on the site. Ads are supposed to be clicked on by users who naturally search for answers (e.g. via Google search engine or from other sites) and find a relevant interesting ad on the answer page (which is why quality answers are extremely important to make the ads relevant and to get the answer to rank naturally in search engines). Clicking on an ad to "help others" to gain income is known as click fraud and is gaming the system. Google can be very strict with click frauds in their Adsense program, and will not hesitate to hit accounts with a lifetime ban. It is not a good idea to risk banning of your Adsense account, which can be used in many other ways besides Webanswers to generate income.

If you're thinking of flouting those rules, think again. Each member has a hidden "quality score" as described earlier, which is dependent on you following the above rules. A lower quality score means fewer ad impressions, which equates to lower revenue for you.

Bottomline

If you're the type of person who loves helping people and answering questions, then I would highly recommend this site. It is definitely not for everyone; those who loathe answering questions will not find much for them here. There are some members who have managed to earn almost $700 in passive income monthly from it. I'm hoping one day to join their ranks. =)

If you'd like to join webanswers, then do visit http://www.webanswers.com/_2q3pduhnhf/how-this-works.cfm. Please note my referral code ('ahmiz') is embedded in that link.

Remember, the goal of the site is to provide answers to questions posted. Do read the FAQ on the site. The earnings from Google Adsense are simply a benefit and should not be your main focus when joining the site. Most importantly, have fun answering others' questions.

I look forward to seeing you on Webanswers!