by Chukwumah Ezeobika

Created on: September 17, 2010   Last Updated: September 19, 2010

Associated Content (AC) and Helium are arguably the most popular websites for freelance writers who earn money online from submitting articles. They are both highly ranked by Google and other major search engines and receive a lot of search traffic. They are better ranked than most other websites that also pay for articles and writing for them ensures that your articles will come up much earlier in search results. Despite their similar rankings and earning potentials, Associated Content and Helium differ in the ways in which writers write for them and earn money. The following is a comparison of both websites:

Writing and Submission Process

-  Helium accepts only text submissions written in English. Writers are allowed to submit content to titles to which articles have already been written and so you may see a single title with more than 200 articles. On submission, your article appears on the site immediately and it is rated against other articles if it not the only one written to that title.

-  Associated Content accepts text, image, audio and video submissions which have been created in English. If you are eligible for upfront payments (citizens and residents of the US), your article has to be accepted by AC before it is published. If you are not eligible for upfront payments, your submission is automatically published after your submissions have been accepted three times.

Earnings

-  On Helium, writers can earn in a lot of ways. You get upfront payments for being one of the first five writers to a particular title. Upfront payments depend on your number of writing stars and range from $0.50 to $2.50. If you are the first writer to contribute to a title, you receive an empty title bonus of $1. After submitting an article, it keeps earning for you based on page views and a share of ad revenue. For having 5 rating stars at the end of each month which you earn by completing at least 500 ratings in 90 days, you get a $3 rating bonus.

Helium has a Marketplace where you can submit articles to titles provided by publishers. If your submission is chosen, you can earn between $20 and $200. There are also regular contests organized on Helium where winners can earn as much $60. You also get paid when your article is licensed by a publisher; this is called Stock Content.

-  Writers on Associated Content may earn through upfront payments and/or performance payments. Upfront payments are only paid to citizens and legal residents

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