Finding the right writing platform for yourself is not easy. After trying Twitter for a while now and not warming up to the platform, I took a closer look at Hubpages today. However, I haven't created an account yet.

Here's what I've learned so far:

On Hubpages, you can write about a variety of topics and have the option to get paid for it. The platform seems to be particularly well suited for SEO content. On the one hand, the earnings opportunities consist of display ads that Hubpages places around your articles, but at the same time, you have the option of including Amazon affiliate links in your texts.

So far, so simple. Here's the catch:

Every article goes through a Quality Assessment by Hubpages, which decides whether or not the article will be featured on the site. However, an article must be featured in order to be indexed by search engines.

So, inevitably, one has to deal with Hubpages' quality guidelines in order to benefit from the site. Also, Hubpages suggests updating the articles regularly to be able to keep the "featured" status.

As a newbie writer, you need to be prepared for Boot Camp.

For Boot Camp, you must write at least 5 articles and all five must be featured. Hubpages argues that this is to learn the site's policies and to ensure the quality of the published content.

However, if one of your articles doesn't pass the Quality Assessment during the Boot Camp phase, it will be unpublished. So having to keep revising an article or submitting new ones when in doubt could be a bit frustrating and dampen the fun right from the start.

So is Hubpages worth looking into?

Personally, I still don't see the benefit of the platform when there are so many requirements associated with publishing on it at the same time.

Experienced SEO writers, in my estimation, fare better by keeping their own blog, where they have all the creative freedom.

Because another catch is that you are not allowed to republish your articles on other platforms. If you want to republish an article somewhere else, you have to delete it from Hubpages first, and that doesn't seem like a very good approach to me.

However, if you are just starting out and don't want to deal with the formalities of running your own blog, Adsense, and affiliate marketing, Hubpages might be a good choice since it seems to take the housekeeping off your hands.

Plus, being edited can help improve your own writing style. Basically, Hubpages applies the rules of the Chicago Manual of Style (CMS). However, since AI also takes over part of the Quality Assessment in addition to the editors, it could be that perhaps one or the other annoyance is pre-programmed.

So just by the outside look, Hubpages seems to have more cons than pros.

Maybe I'll still try the site out, possibly as a new 30-day challenge, since at least you don't have to commit to a niche, but can write about anything that comes to mind.