Wealthy Affiliate Review
If you’re looking for a brutally honest review of Wealthy Affiliate, you’re in the right spot.
This is not some pseudo-review to just sell Wealthy Affiliate…
Instead, I’ll uncover and present the good as well as the negative aspects of it.
However, I want to be upfront about the following:
Wealthy Affiliate played an important part in getting these results, and I like the community and platform of WA very much.
I’m a premium member of Wealthy Affiliate since 2018.
But nothing is perfect, right? To overcome some of the shortcomings of WA, I put together an epic bonus package for it.
More on that later.
Ok, enough talking. Let’s dive into the review.
Facts
- Product name: Wealthy Affiliate
- First release: 2005
- Owners: Kyle Loudoun and Carson Lim
- Website: https://wealthyaffiliate.com
- Type: Affiliate Marketing Course & Community & Tools (Hosting & Keyword Research)
- Rating: 4.5/5
- Recommended: Yes (Especially for beginners!)
Check Out Wealthy Affiliate Here >>
What Is Wealthy Affiliate?
Wealthy Affiliate is a training program that teaches people how to make money online through affiliate marketing.
It’s a training course, hosting platform and a very active community - all in one.
The extensive, highly practical training course is constantly developed and represents a very professional, structured and up to date internet marketing program.
The course focuses on practical and important basics, how to start your online business from the ground up.
It teaches fundamental knowledge of affiliate marketing for newbies.
At the same time, you won’t be distracted by the latest “make money online methods” or “social media wiz-bang fleshy hacks and loopholes” that stop working in the next couple of days.
Here’s how the basic process looks like:
The hardest part - by far - is the third step: Attracting visitors.
Luckily, Wealthy Affiliate has you covered. More on that later.
When Was Wealthy Affiliate Created And Who’s Behind The Platform?
Wealthy Affiliate was created over 15 years ago(!) by two experienced and very successful online marketers, Kyle Loudoun and Carson Lim.
These guys are true professionals.
Over the course of 15 years, the diverse and very active community at Wealthy Affiliate has rapidly grown and is widely respected within the internet marketing industry.
It became the go-to place for novice and advanced online marketers over the years.
Check Out Wealthy Affiliate Here >>
Wealthy Affiliate’s Pricing And Membership Options
- Starter Membership: $0.00 (completely free, zero risk, no credit card required)
- Premium Membership:
- First month special: $19 per month
- Then: $49 per month (monthly payment) or $29 per month (yearly payment)
- Premium Plus Membership: $995 per year
Also worth noting because it became very rare in the world of online marketing: There are no (high-ticket) upsells.
No tricks, no gimmicks.
And that’s awesome!
Why Are There So Many Wealthy Affiliate Reviews?
You probably came across a few (overly positive) Wealthy Affiliate reviews already.
With titles like “Is Wealthy Affiliate a Scam?” or “Honest Review of Wealthy Affiliate” or “Is Wealthy Affiliate legit?” these affiliate marketers try to - more or less obvious - pitch and sell you Wealthy Affiliate.
But why is that the case?
Because inside of Wealthy Affiliate you learn (as part of the training course) that writing product reviews and comparisons (in your niche) are a good way to attract highly targeted traffic.
Think about it for a second.
Somebody who’s looking for “Is Product XYZ legit?” is already product aware and therefore way closer to buying than somebody who’s never heard of that product, right?
Well, I hope you’re here because you want to see the whole picture and at the same time find out if Wealthy Affiliate is for you - or not.
So let’s continue.
How Is Wealthy Affiliate’s Training Course Structured?
At the core of Wealthy Affiliate’s training is a course called the “Online Entrepreneur Certification” (OEC).
It’s an in-depth training course consisting of 5 phases and 50 lessons in total.
This training program walks you through the process of creating and growing an online business within any niche you choose.
Guidance on how to choose a profitable niche - one that you’re passionate about or at least very interested in - is part of the training.
The course modules are:
Getting Started
In this module you’ll be lead, step-by-step, through choosing a niche for your new website, setting it up (way easier than you think, no coding skills needed), creating the initial content, and setting the stage for the next modules.
Building Your Own Traffic Producing Website/Web Assets
This in-depth module discusses your domain and brand, keyword research and traffic generation, using media content, product reviews, and productivity tips.
In my opinion, this module is extremely important, as it’s the basis for your keyword research and content marketing efforts.
Making Money - Conversion Tactics
In this module Kyle discusses how to monetize your website, affiliate networks and programs, how to add money pages and affiliate links, amazon affiliate marketing, product reviews, advertising on your website, and more traffic training.
Mastering Social Engagement
This module discusses social media, comments on your blog, interaction with your audience, rich media embeds, and more.
The Business of Content - Achieving Maximum Success Through Content Creation
The final module of the Online Entrepreneur Certification (OEC) discusses more content creation strategies, google search console and analytics, website optimization tactics, other search engines, and content planning.
At this point, you’ll have a very good understanding of how you’ll build and run your online business - for many years to come. :)
Check Out Wealthy Affiliate Here >>
And There’s Much More Training…
Wealthy Affiliate also offers a second training program, the “Affiliate Bootcamp”.
It’s an in-depth training course consisting of 7 phases and 70 lessons in total.
The Affiliate Bootcamp walks you through the process of creating and growing an online business within the internet marketing or “make money online” niche.
Similar to the Online Entrepreneur Certification training program, the “Affiliate Bootcamp” covers the most important online business fundamentals and explains how to grow your affiliate marketing business.
You can use this training to promote really any product in any niche, but it’s intended to promote WA itself.
Weekly Live Webinars
Every week, there’s a new live training class.
You can jump in - there are no additional costs involved - and ask questions.
Jay - the weekly live training instructor - covers advanced topics like new monetization strategies, ways to rank your websites higher and more quickly, write better content and be more helpful to your readers.
There are also lessons on how to scale your business even further.
Every live training class is recorded and archived.
You’ll have complete, unrestricted access to the archive and consume the classes at your convenience and speed.
I simply can’t go through every topic ever covered because of the sheer amount, but let me say you can find some decent value and the occasional “golden nugget” here.
Check Out Wealthy Affiliate Here >>
Wealthy Affiliate’s Website Hosting Platform
Over the last couple of years, I’ve tested and hosted many websites on a huge variety of hosting providers.
If any big hosting company comes to your mind, I’ve probably used it.
Wealhty Affiliate’s hosting is based on Amazon’s Web Services (AWS) platform.
This is simply second to none in terms of pricing, speed, availability, support and future outlook.
Especially when you consider that this hosting package is already part of the platform and your payment, what you’ll get is really good value for your money.
(For the pros & geeks: Your websites will be hosted on the cX.large compute-optimized, cloud-based hosting by Amazon Web Services (AWS). The customized hosting by Wealthy Affiliate is managed and comes with a seperate support team, I’m sure you see the pure value here…)
If you’re not a tech geek: You can be sure that your website will be at least in the top 10% of all hosting services.
There’s really no need to buy “external hosting”, especially when you’re just starting out with Wealthy Affiliate.
Jaaxy - Wealthy Affiliate’s Own Keyword Research Tool
With Jaaxy you will have a powerful keyword research tool at your hand.
But even better than this tool - don’t get me wrong, it is a good tool - is the extensive training on how to perform efficient keyword research in 2021.
With the help of this tool and other, free software and clever methods you will know exactly how to drive lots of traffic to your websites.
And traffic is the lifeblood of any form of online business because now you have the attention of a potential customer.
This is powerful!
Check Out Wealthy Affiliate Here >>
An Active, Helpful And Caring Community
This might not sound like a big thing for you, but once you hit a roadblock, once you feel you’re not making any progress, once you need help regarding anything concerning your website: The Wealthy Affiliate community will be able to help you.
Another aspect of this: The success stories and detailed reports of other Wealthy Affiliate members can be super inspiring and might be exactly what you need to stay motivated and on track.
Again, I’m completely honest here: Once you understand how everything works together and you built your initial content, it’s all about applying consistently what you learned.
And as great as affiliate marketing is as a business model, it also can be a very lonely endeavor at times.
This is exactly where an active community of like-minded people with similar goals can come in handy…
Personally, I’ve already met a few of the members in real life and we had great conversations over a few drinks, fully paid by our websites and affiliate marketing. 🙂
Wealthy Affiliate’s Dedicated, Responsive Tech-Support And Live Chat
Due to the sheer size of the community, you can find and reach out to other members of Wealthy Affiliate in the Live Chat at any time of the day.
A dedicated and very responsive technical support team is also available.
I’m not a ghost but instead, I apply what I teach, I actively work on my affiliate marketing websites on a daily basis.
You can reach out to me anytime.
In fact, throught the Secret Affiliate Insider bonus you’ll have direct live chat access to me (more on that later).
When I’m not working on my own sites, I’m helping clients with building their own web assets and getting more traffic and sales.
In addition, you can reach out to me anytime via e-mail or via private message within Wealthy Affiliate’s platform.
With all these supporting resources at your disposal, there’s really no reason or excuse why you can’t start earning affiliate commissions in 2021 and beyond!
Check Out Wealthy Affiliate Here >>
Wealthy Affiliate FAQ & Common Concerns
Why Should I Create an Account at Wealthy Affiliate?
Because it’s free to join and if you’re still reading chances are you will love it.
Wealthy Affiliate provides an excellent, structured training environment and a nice, active and very helpful community.
Did I mention it’s free to test things out? 🙂
Why Would Wealthy Affiliate Offer Something For Free? Where Is The Catch?
The owners are absolutely convinced that you will benefit from WA tremendously.
Wealthy Affiliate obviously generates revenue in case you upgrade to a premium membership, but you’re by no means forced to do so.
You can join for free, learn the basic process and start making money online with the tools Wealthy Affiliate is providing you.
Again, nobody will force you to upgrade your membership and you can stay a free member forever, no problem.
It’s totally up to you.
Isn’t The Name A Bit Sketchy?
Maybe, but what’s your point?
Doesn’t Amazon sound like a big, wet forest to you? Now what?!
Who cares! It’s just a brand name… 🙂
But I Don’t Know Anything About Websites!
Relax.
Modern technology makes it super easy these days to start a website.
It literally takes a couple of mouse clicks. Nothing fancy here.
You’ll learn inside Wealthy Affiliate all you need about writing very helpful, valuable content and how to get your website ranked on Google and other search engines like Yahoo and BING.
At this point all you need to understand is how the basic concept of affiliate marketing works: You help others by creating useful content and recommend products that help them.
If they buy through your link, you make an affiliate commission.
That’s it and everyone is happy.
Check Out Wealthy Affiliate Here >>
But There Must Be Something Wrong With Wealthy Affiliate, This Can’t Be Perfect!
You’re right!
And while I consider these points very minor, I will tell you what I personally don’t like about Wealthy Affiliate…
What I Don’t Like About Wealthy Affiliate
The Internal Member Ranking System
This ranking system is the reason why a couple of members lose the focus on their own, income-producing websites and web assets but instead try to rank high within Wealthy Affiliate.
Please don’t make this mistake!
Build and work on your own websites, work on your content and don’t put too much importance on the internal ranks.
A member within WA can be an “ambassador” (in the top 25 of WA’s ranking system), and still not make a lot of money.
And, someone can be making tons of affiliate commissions with their websites, but not be within the top 200 people of WA.
That’s why I think the ranking system is flawed, not very helpful, often distracting, and kind of useless.
I’m not a fan of it, obviously.
Overwhelm
The amount of available training and knowledge resources can easily be overwhelming at first.
Therefore it’s best to start your training with level 1 of the online entrepreneur certification and then take your time and walk your way through the course while applying what you learn!
You can always deep-dive into PPC advertising and other (more advanced) forms of internet marketing later, but don’t rush into these without having finished first the basic training.
The Diversity Of Members
While it can be a great thing to get many different viewpoints and opinions when you have a question and need quick help, sometimes it can be annoying.
An example of this: Two experienced super affiliates and very successful internet marketers discuss an important factor of success in the Live Chat, while a newbie member steps in and tries to explain the world.
Or: A newbie trying to explain something, without having a deep understanding of it.
These situations are unavoidable, but with the “internal blogging” and ranking system, these behaviours are often rewarded.
I’d like to focus on affiliate marketing and online business building exclusively, and rather not read about the medical condition of some members that I’ve never heard of…
Hey, I probably sound like an a-hole here to some, but I think we shouldn’t let Wealthy Affiliate become a Facebook-ish type place.
In the end, it’s about affiliate marketing and making money online, right?
No Focus On Email Marketing
Wealthy Affiliate doesn’t focus on email marketing, and they don’t provide a page builder (for building landing pages).
But don’t worry: I’ll have you covered through my bonus package.
Go check it out!
Cons Of Wealthy Affiliate: Summary
I consider these rather minor issues, but they’re still there.
You should be aware of these and focus on your own training progress, building your own websites and creating high quality, helpful content, because these are your traffic-generating tasks.
Follow the training and implement what you learn.
A Personal Note About Wealthy Affiliate And Affiliate Marketing In General
Treat Affiliate Marketing As A Serious Business - Because It Is!
Don’t let this “affiliate marketing thing” be just another try to make some quick bucks on the side.
Instead, I suggest you treat this as a business and give it your best.
By no means, one has to be smart to make this work.
Intelligence is no requirement, instead focus on:
- good work ethic
- perseverance
- consistently applying the (proven) basics
- getting back on track quickly in case life happens - shit hits the fan from time to time for all of us
- a solid training based on working and proven business principles
- a supportive community
- the right tools
You bring the first points to the table, Wealthy Affiliate provides the latter three.
And I’ll personally kick your butt in case that’s what you need in order for you to succeed at this! 😉
If I Can Make This Work, You Can Do It, Too!
Seriously, making money online is not rocket science.
But you’ll have it much easier than most if you start out with professional training and understanding of doing things the right way.
Let me know in the comments below if you have any questions.
Stay awesome,
Tim for Online Business Dude
PS: If you haven’t signed up for free yet, here is the link again. Go sign up when you’re ready.
Is Wealthy Affiliate’s Big Promise True? Can You Become a Successful Affiliate Marketer?
Can Wealthy Affiliate hold up to the big promise?
In my opinion, that’s the wrong question.
Here’s why: The business model (affiliate marketing) simply works.
It has proven itself over and over and over again, in all kinds of industries.
In fact, it’s growing.
And chances are, if you’re reading this, you are already convinced that affiliate marketing works.
So while you’re looking for an honest, comprehensive, no-nonsense review of Wealthy Affiliate, the real question is:
Can I Make Wealthy Affiliate Work For Me? Is It Truly Beginner-Friendly?
Now we’re getting to the nitty-gritty.
Wealthy Affiliate and its owners are around for over 15 years, actively practicing affiliate marketing in the markets - and not just teaching it.
They built a very active, caring community of new and experienced affiliate marketers at Wealthy Affiliate.
And they created an excellent training program for newbies.
If you’re willing to put in the necessary time and effort, I’m absolutely convinced that you can make Wealthy Affiliate work.
So the answer is:
Yes, Wealthy Affiliate is not just beginner-friendly, but actually designed for new affiliate marketers.
It’s 100% newbie-friendly and people make an income from affiliate marketing in all kinds of niches.
What’s The Goal Of Wealthy Affiliate?
You don’t just want to build an online business for fun or for the sake of it, but to create a true business for yourself.
It’s all about creating and growing very reliable, sustainable, highly profitable and location-independent income streams.
Wealthy Affiliate can help you become a successful, profitable affiliate marketer in 2021 and beyond.
At the same time, there are some things within Wealthy Affiliate that I don’t like or 100% agree with.
That’s why I came up with this insane bonus package to improve Wealthy Affiliate’s offering even further…
Is Wealthy Affiliate Really Working? Are People Getting Results?
Yes, 100%.
In the end, it’s all about getting results, right?
There are plenty of proofs and examples.
Here’s a short extract:
The Best Wealthy Affiliate Bonus Package You Can Find Online, Ever
As you read, I like WA a lot.
That’s why I created this crazy, EPIC bonus package for you.
I put it together in a way to make up for Wealthy Affiliate’s biggest weaknesses, and to give you the best possible start into affiliate marketing and making money online in 2021.
Check Out The Best Bonus Package For WA Here!
What Else?
If you’re still reading, you probably want to give Wealthy Affiliate a try.
That’s awesome, great decision!
Here’s the thing: As an affiliate, I earn a commission if you sign up through my link.
But:
I only earn commissions if you become successful and stay as a premium member of Wealthy Affiliate.
And for that to happen, I honestly need YOU to succeed with WA!
Otherwise, you continue your search… Or quit.
And I don’t want that to happen.
Can you see how our interests are heavily aligned here?!
Check Out The Best Bonus Package For WA Here!
What Are You Waiting For?
See you on the inside! 😉
Stay awesome,
Tim for Online Business Dude