April 2023, by Alex Beviss
Wealthy Affiliate is a soup-to-nuts Do It Yourself platform that allows the complete novice to build and operate a website online. It was started in 2005 and has undergone continual improvement since that time.
WA has been around for a long time simply because it works, it delivers what it says it will deliver. It has one of the longest track records in the online world.
It has a 4.8-star rating on Trust Pilot and over 50,000 independent reviews.
WA does not over promise it over-delivers, with close to 3 million members who use it every day.
My own thoughts about the WA platform are listed as a percentage out of 5 below. I am a happy customer, and I believe in the product. I have drunk the Kool-Aid if you will. But the question is – why do I feel that way?
Read on to understand.
Company Name: Wealthy Affiliate
Website URL: https://www.WealthyAffiliate.com
Price: Starter FREE, Premium $49/mth ($497/year), Premium Plus+ $99/mth ($697/year)
Founders: Kyle & Carson
Community: 2.7+ MILLION members
Overall Rating: 4.9/5
Trust Pilot Consumer Rating: 4.8/5
Research Tools: 4.9/5
Customer Support: 5/5
Training/Classes: 5/5
WordPress Hosting: 5/5
Websites: 4.9/5
Free Trial: YES. There is a free trial! (You DO NOT need a credit card to try it out).
Wealthy Affiliate allows you to test drive the system to see if you like it. They provide enough to see if the online world is for you. Note: the free trial is not as comprehensive as it could be but you get to try long enough to see if online is something you can do.
This is a crucial point. The online world is not for everybody. It is not a get-rich-quick place. (I don’t care what you have heard, you cannot make money easily online). It takes time and effort. If that is for you, please read on, if not then by all means feel free to leave this page.
A Hobby that pays.
Personally, I have discovered that I like the online world. Since retiring from my old career, I struggled to fill my days. A friend of mine told me that the secret to having a meaningful life was “hobbies”.
He was right in that the internet is a hobby of mine, I have always been an avid reader and now I can turn that skill into an online business.
I find Wealthy Affiliate to be a Retirees’ Dream. The program is not expensive, it offers endless opportunities and it keeps me busy and actively engaged. I am no longer just surfing the net, I am building my empire.
My Wealthy Affiliate Review
You do not need to read another positive review about Wealthy Affiliate. They are everywhere on the internet. Let’s face it any platform that can grow to almost 3 million members must be doing something right. There are many reviews of Wealthy Affiliate online. So many that one more from me is not going to make a difference to your decision. I invite you to search out Wealthy Affiliate online and read as many of them as you like.
All of them agree on the following.
- Wealthy Affiliate is not a scam, it is a reputable company.
- There is a free trial, with no credit card required.
- Wealthy Affiliate is a good place for beginners to get started online.
- There is a lot of training available for a low price.
- The program allows you to quit when you want to.
- The content is slightly outdated but good to get started.
All of those things are true. There have been some complaints that the training is outdated. To be honest, I did not find it so, but it has been addressed in the last 6 months and they are constantly upgrading and providing new classes every week. So, you have to decide.
When I started with WA, I did not know anything about online business, nor how to become an affiliate marketer. The courses led me through the steps, and I was able to follow and build websites. I am very pleased with the results.
I am constantly learning and I am as busy as I want to be. I cannot ask for more than that. I am able to make money doing this, so what more could I want?
However I know 99% will want more information, before pulling the trigger, so here is a brief look at the WA program…..
The Basics of Wealthy Affiliate
Background – the owners of Wealthy Affiliate
Wealthy Affiliate was started by 2 guys from Canada, who recognized that there was a need for a program that allowed people who did not understand how the internet worked to build something of their own and grow and prosper with it.
To say they succeeded would be an understatement. They have provided something that surpassed my expectations and amazes me every day.
That’s Kyle on the left and Carson on the right. (with their families).
There is no hidden agenda here, Wealthy Affiliate is upfront and very honest about themselves and what you can accomplish on their platform.
Kyle and Carson are youngsters, by my book. They are in their early 40’s and they have been in the Affiliate marketing world since university. They are “hands-on” kind of guys. So when you make a request or ask a question on the platform, there is a chance that you will get a response from them. They are continually adding and evolving the program and the improvements never stop.
Not only that, Kyle and Carson are actively involved with the WA platform. They reply to messages and emails that are sent to them, and they reply to comments within the platform when relevant. It is unusual, to say the least, to find owners who are this involved in supporting their members.
Wealthy Affiliate is in the business for the long haul, they are dedicated to their members and the community that is a big part of the program. If you have questions the community will help to get you the answer.
Wealthy Affiliate has a 4.8-star rating on Trust Pilot. (hey nobody’s perfect). Here are a couple of comments from there.
I encourage you to do your research on Wealthy Affiliate. Do not take my word for it.
- Check out Trust Pilot
- Check Google reviews
Everyone agrees that Wealthy Affiliate is NOT a scam. It provides hands-on training to get you started in the online world.
Many people looking for an easy way out do not stay. Because from the beginning Wealthy Affiliate promises to teach you but does not guarantee results, you are responsible for your own success. If you ever believed differently, then WA is not for you.
Core Strength – Training with results.
We have all heard that keeping our Core strong is one of the secrets to longevity. Online it is no different, in order to succeed at anything worthwhile, you need to be learning and honing the skills that make it possible.
Training for the sake of training is a pointless exercise. I could not begin to tell you the number of online courses that I have signed up for and never completed. It is difficult to push ourselves. (You know the old saying My boss is an asshole)…..well when we are our own boss, he/she can be a pushover. It is difficult to continue learning for the sake of education. It is easy to tell yourself you will “get around to it”.
I don’t know if you remember, but someone made a lot of money selling “I’ll get a round to it” things back in the 70s and 80s. Somebody made a lot of money poking fun at our inability to get things done. We had one at my house, and the fact is we paid good money for it.
At Wealthy Affiliate, you learn as you build, so you can see your website come to life as you go through the training. You don’t have to get around to it, because you are continually doing it and it feels good. It is great to be productive and see your website come alive before your eyes.
Wealthy Affiliate has a very comprehensive database of classes that allow you to delve into all aspects of the online world, with thousands of resources and hundreds of hours of classes.
Wealthy Affiliate is a DIY Masterpiece
From day 1 you are responsible for what happens in your online business. There is no hidden, or secret access portal that you need to pay extra for, nor any phony promise of being able to make thousands of dollars per day. Only good information and the promise that if you follow the training…..
You will build a website, and you will see it grow
There are 2 main pathways available on Wealthy Affiliate.
- The Online Entrepreneur Certification – build your own Affiliate Website
- Affiliate Bootcamp – how to Become a WA affiliate master
Both the Online Entrepreneur Certification course and the Bootcamp offer the first 5 lessons free. Is that enough to succeed, no definitely not. Is it enough to see if you want to continue, yes, it is.
We will focus on the Online Entrepreneur Certification course because that is where WA recommends everyone start.
- It is where you will decide on a niche – preferably something you love
- you will build a website
- you will learn what Keywords and SEO are
- you will be shown step-by-step, so anyone can do it
Bootcamp is for promoting Wealthy Affiliate, and they do not recommend that you start here, as it will not be something you love, nor will it be easy.
Online Entrepreneur Certification
This is the Core – The fundamental building blocks that you will need to build a foundation for your website and you are enrolled as soon as you join Wealthy Affiliate.
With this course, you will be able to make your own way online. A real DIY experience. But, make no mistake you are not alone, there are 5 lessons in the free section of the course, which is enough for you to realize that you can do this and you will see results. A few things you will learn are outlined here.
- You will decide what interests you
- Build a website that is ready to make money
- Learn SEO and how to rank your articles
- SEO (Search Engine Optimization) – simply how to get Google to see your content with Keywords
- Keywords – what Google uses to find your content
- Build a solid foundation for future success
This is a very basic list, and everything is covered in detail in the training.
Wealthy Affiliate makes no promises that you will make thousands of dollars. They promise to give you the basics and then expert classes when you are ready for them.
Wealthy Affiliate promises to provide you with the tools to build your own website and rank for keywords, learn SEO, and build a solid foundation for your online business.
The training at Wealthy Affiliate walks you through the key and critical steps that you need to understand when building out a successful business.
The first 5 lessons are free and by the end of those 5 you will have a website up and running and you will know if you want to continue or not.
If you want to try the first few lessons then Get Started Now.
There is a process that you need to follow if you are looking to create a long-term and sustainable business (or multiple businesses), and if you can master this process you are going to have a brilliant journey ahead of you.
Build a good foundation. A good foundation as any DIY expert can tell you is essential for building higher.
Expert Classes To Infinity and Beyond
To master any subject you need to go beyond the basics. Nobody learned to play an instrument in the first few days of picking it up. But they were able to play a tune.
Internet marketing is similar, you can pick up the basics within the first few lessons (The first 5 are free). But if you want to really learn how to become proficient at Affiliate Marketing, you will need to learn more. One of the many strengths of the Wealthy Affiliate program is that there are expert classes available and more are being added all the time.
Each class is announced ahead of time and is recorded so you can review it at your own pace. The instructors are available in live chat while the class is playing, so you can ask any question and get an answer.
If you miss the live class, then you can leave your question in the comment section below the class and you will get your answer.
In short, you do not need to go outside the WA platform to increase your learning. Though I suggest that you do, in true DIY fashion, you can never know enough and there is always room for more.
This is from my WA platform on expert classes available and the next one that is due to broadcast.
Note: all classes are available for replay, so you can watch live and then review (which I often do) and or just wait for the replay if you cannot make the live class.
After a class takes place, you also have access to the replay and can watch it as many times as you like…it goes into our expert class database of classes which has over 500+ HOURS of incredible training.
You won’t find more current, more expert, and more interactive training in the industry that will help you take your business to the next level.
Even as a Starter member, you are going to be warmly introduced to classes as you will immediately have access to Kyle’s class on The 4 Steps to Creating a Successful Business Online. This is going to showcase the exact 4-step and simplified process that we teach at Wealthy Affiliate, and that is leading to 6 and 7-figure affiliate marketers.
Yes, some WA members have gone on to make millions, it is possible. Most are content with less and make what they want to make. It is in your hands. WA does give you the tools to make money.
I encourage you to check this out, for free, if you are looking to get started. Again, you can jump in as a Starter Member and get rolling with your business right away and that will give you immediate access to this class.
BENEFITS of Classes:
- Learning directly from the experts
- Speed up success by years, learning from those that are successful
- Avoid critical failures in business
- Expand upon your skill set and success, weekly
- Current training, not like 99% of the training online that is outdated
Jaaxy – your Keyword and SEO friend
You need to understand Keywords and SEO to be successful online. You are competing with everybody on the planet, so winging it, will not cut it.
But if you are still here with me then I know you are capable of getting things done your own way and you just need the right tools for the job.
Jaaxy is such a tool, is it the best tool? Perhaps, not, but it is certainly a good tool and it will get the job done for you.
Keywords, keywords, everywhere, which one works?
Keywords are the lynchpin of the online world.
When you search for anything online, you do so with the intent of finding an answer. Google and Bing and every other search engine out there will attempt to give you the best result for the words that you typoe into the search bar.
Those words are Keywords – that’s it, nothing special, you have been using keywords ever since you started looking for things online.
Now that you want to build an online business, you need to own keywords. You want your keyword to be the one that people see when they search for an item.
This is SEO – Search Engine Optimization.
The art of making your article float to the top of the Google pile.
So your keywords need to be specific to get you to the top of the Google pile. If they are not then you will be buried on pages 10, or 20, or more on Google.
Be honest when was the last time you went past the first or second page of Google search results?
Wealthy affiliate comes bundled with the Jaaxy keyword research tool. Keyword research allows you to check how much competition there is for your chosen keyword or keyword phrase.
This is valuable information and as you grow online you will use keyword tools more and more to be effective.
QSR = Quoted Search Results. These are the number of sites that have the same keywords, when you start off you want this number to be below 50 or even less.
If you look at the QSR column, that is a metric that ONLY Wealthy Affiliate provides through technology built. This is your TRUE competition, and having access to this data will help you rank with efficiency in Google, Bing and Yahoo. This leads to free, high-value traffic (and subsequent opportunity).
Researching your niche and having access to elite, and progressive research platforms is imperative to the success of your business. Let’s have a quick look at this platform and its true value that will offer your business.
BENEFITS of the Research Platform to Your Success:
- Save’s lots of time, because it’s super efficient
- Leads to the revelation of big pockets of opportunity
- Can spy on your competition, gives you a competitive edge
- Track your website to see exactly where you are ranked, and start to form ideas on patterns and trends in terms of Google rankings
- Uncover MILLIONS of keyword (traffic) opportunities.
- Find HIGH-value domain assets (up to 75 new domains in a 3-second search)
- Reveal new niches
Upon joining Wealthy Affiliate, you will have immediate access to this platform. If you understand how to research your audience and keywords, you are going to master things like Search Engine Optimization (SEO) and Pay-Per-Click (PPC) marketing with efficiency.
My Final Thoughts.
Yes, I am biased about Wealthy Affiliate, it allowed me to pick myself up and gave me purpose after being pushed out of my job at 55 years old. I was not ready to be retired at 55 and I was, and still am interested in being productive.
Wealthy Affiliate allows me to be productive. I have a sense of accomplishment and pride in what I can accomplish online.
WA Invests Millions Annually into Its Members. Every year WA invests millions into the platform, the services, and back into the community Wealthy Affiliate. That is something I have yet to see anywhere in the industry. We continue to push the envelope in terms of technology, education, and community. You can be sure that you will see WA evolve efficiently, and your life will continue to be easier as an online business owner with every day that passes.
WA is cost Efficient The cost of Premium level service is one of the lowest in the industry, there are programs charging $10,000+ that offer a small fraction of what you get with the Premium membership for $49 per month. Not to mention the no-cost, test-drive Starter membership that is better than 99.9% of the paid products out there.
WA Puts People First. One thing that holds true to this day and is ingrained in the backbone of Wealthy Affiliate, is that their members are important to them. This is not a place where you are wined and dined right up until you sign up and then left on your own. No WA is committed to helping you get on your feet and running toward success.
The platform and community evolve as a result of feedback from their members, requests for improvements, and suggestions about how to improve the overall service. That will continue to be the case moving forward, helping their members achieve success within the online world is the goal. Always has been, and always will be.
What to do from Here
If you have made it this far, I would guess, you are ready to pull the trigger.
Now either get off this site and go back to surfing the net, or pick yourself up and get something more going with your life.
There is no need to dig out your credit card you can sign up without it, and take the test drive, without the pushy salesman in the back seat.
By lesson 4 of the “core” training, you will be up and running with your own website and foundation for your online business.
===> Get started with your free Test Drive TODAY!
I think it is a great place to be, but you need to find out for yourself.