Writing for eHow

Of the content sites that I write for, eHow imposes the strictest format limitations. All of the titles begin with "How to." The article itself must consist of an introduction, a list of items needed, an indication of how easy or challenging the project is, numbered steps, tips, warnings, and key words.

The template offers a chance to link to other, related eHow articles, as well as off-site resources. eHow has a system of categorization that enables writers to select a broad subject area and two levels of sub-headings.

Whatever you choose to write about, other people have probably written something similar. You must devise a unique title, which may be tricky for popular topics. The number of different perspectives on the same topic certainly benefits the readers.

Like other content sites, eHow functions as a community of writers. Writers seek out each other as friends, comment on each others' articles, recommend each other, and participate in various discussion groups and forums.

Like Factoidz, eHow pays authors (via PayPal) a portion of the money it earns from Google's AdSense. The dashboard makes it easy to see the number of times each article has been read, both recently and in total, and the cumulative amount of money each has earned.

Its formula is proprietary, so authors cannot know how their pay is computed. eHow credits authors' PayPal accounts only if they have accrued at least $10; lesser earnings are carried over from one month to the next.

Recently, eHow deleted a number of old articles. Since it had so many poorly written, even spammy articles, it needed to get rid of them in order to enhance its credibility. Unfortunately, it offered no warning to authors or any clear guidelines.

Many authors lost articles that were earning them money and that they could have rewritten given the chance. The sweeps of old articles caused a great deal of controversy. Many long-term writers have lost trust in eHow's management.

Perhaps because the eHow template has so many steps and pulldown menus (four pages in all), it often does not work properly. Generally speaking, authors for any site should compose their articles on a word processor rather than directly with the site's authoring tools.

It is especially important for eHow, considering how frequently its buggy software frustrates attempts to publish anything. I suggest writing and saving a template of your own, with the various parts of the eHow format listed in order. It should also begin with the warning not to include any HTML in your prose; eHow does not permit even italics or bold face.

When you want to write something, open your template, save it as the subject of your article, write your article, and then copy and paste from there to the site.

Once you finish writing your article and successfully fill out the template, you submit it for publication. It does not appear on the site until after an editorial review. That's usually by the next day, but longer delays have occurred. No one likes having an article rejected or having to rewrite one in order to satisfy the editors, but in the end, the quality control helps everyone.

Compared to Factoidz, eHow seems to have less traffic, but pays a little more. The key to earning a payout every month is both submitting a high volume of traffic and being a member for a long time. It will likely take months (or a high rate of publication). The first articles you write should continue to earn money months or even years later.