Let’s face it, every day you are bombarded with ads about making money online. Work from home, live a life of your dreams, become a millionaire and other catchy phrases are probably very familiar. You also probably came across Wealthy Affiliate and are wondering whether it’s legit or just another scam. I joined the platform for five months in 2020 and here is an unbiased wealthy affiliate review to help you decide.

What is Wealthy Affiliate?

WA is a platform that teaches people how to make money online through affiliate marketing. Well it’s more than that but I think the training stands out the most.

The platform has many other aspects like a community of entrepreneurs and resources to help one start an online business. I will get in the details a little later on when I take an in-depth dive into the features.

Of course, there are several alternatives to Wealthy Affiliate that I will briefly break down, later on, to help broaden your options.

What is Affiliate Marketing?

Before going any further, you need to understand the concept in question; affiliate marketing.

Affiliate marketing is where you earn a commission for promoting other people’s products. All you have to do is find a product you like, promote it and earn a percentage of the profit per sale.

Okay, let me break it down some more.

Say you like hunting. You can talk about the crossbow you use and link it to Amazon. When someone reading your post clicks through to Amazon and buys the crossbow, you earn a percentage of the sale.

There literally countless products and you can sell anything.

It could be something you love. It could be something you learn about. Your career can be a basis; for instance, I run a health and fitness business (DrKiks.com) now that I’m in the healthcare industry.

If you have ever dreamt of earning a passive income, then affiliate marketing is your best option. That’s how 99% of people start making money while they sleep, according to Neil Patel, an online legend.

Numbing Reality

Sounds incredible right?

But sadly, 90% of those that start online businesses fail!

Yes, you read that right, a massive 90%. Why is that the case? Is it because it’s not possible to make money online?

Most people are over-ambitious. Most newbies get into online businesses with impossible expectations. But let’s face it, it’s not their fault.

What do you expect when being bombarded with ads about making money fast? Ads, reviews, and even advice from friends seems to revolve around, making it rain overnight.

I must admit, I fell for that too.

Every review about Wealthy Affiliate claimed to be honest, and as it seemed, I was going to hit it big within no time. Heck, I think I started checking out a bigger car and some grand houses.

But well, experience is undoubtedly the best teacher.

Why this Review?

Countless identical reviews about WA, several of which I have realized are misleading, have pushed me to come up with this review. You need to know what you are getting into before you decide.

Affiliate marketing is one of the easiest businesses to get into because you don’t need to have significant capital. You can start as soon as today and have your business running in twenty fours.

Don’t get me wrong; I have not said you will earn from your business within that short time.

Online business is like any other business; it needs time, effort and a whole lot of trial and error.

It takes about three months of consistency in what you are doing for you to start making profits. If you are committed enough, you might even decide to go full time.

The Figures

For instance, if you reach to a point where you get 1000 visitors to your site where 5% purchase items costing $200, you will earn $1000 basing on a standard affiliate commission of 10%.

The great part is that you get to do what you love. If you love fashion, you just talk about fashion, link to products in stores, and you get paid. How cool is that?

However, remember the 90% failure rate? Yes, a major reason for failing is the lack of proper training in affiliate marketing.

People wake up and be like, ‘I want to start an online business.’ They come across affiliate marketing and with the promise of good money, jump onto the wagon.

After putting in the time and investing hundreds of dollars on content, websites, advertising and other costs, give up. If the online world were a sea, the bottom would be filled with shipwrecks which were formerly great startups.

Some take a step and search for platforms like Wealthy Affiliate and after a couple of persuasive reviews, jump in hoping to become the next Jeff Bezos. After the first month, reality starts setting in, and the toughest time of their journey begins.

They realize there is less of magic and more of effort.

Well, enough about affiliate marketing, here’s my Wealthy Affiliate review. At the end of this Wealthy Affiliate review, you will know exactly whether it will work for you or not.

You are definitely burning with questions like is it legit? Is Wealthy Affiliate a scam? Do people make money with Wealthy Affiliate? Are there any Wealthy Affiliate success stories?

History of Wealthy Affiliate

In 2005, Kyle and Carson came up with a platform that was to help individuals with keyword research. The duo knew their way around the online world with remarkable experience in online businesses.

Back then, there was less competition when it came to online marketing. Pioneers who joined WA back then had quite some incredible success.

Over the years, Wealthy Affiliate has evolved into a sophisticated platform with training, tools and resources to help entrepreneurs make money online.

Currently, there are over 1.4m people who have used Wealthy Affiliate. That makes it one of the best platforms.

Some people have shot to financial freedom through the platform. Similarly, some have ended up empty-handed after spending on membership.

So, what exactly, do you get at Wealthy Affiliate? Can’t you just start your website, find affiliate programs and make your money?

The answer lies in the features of Wealthy Affiliate, which will make a significant part of this review. I will review the features individually, including their pros and cons.

Wealthy Affiliate Training

Perhaps the most significant feature of the platform is the training. You get to learn everything there is to know about affiliate marketing. Learning from scratch makes the platform quite suitable for newbies.

There are two types of training that you will go through upon joining. Online Entrepreneur Certification is where you will start. The other training is Affiliate Bootcamp.

Let’s have a look at each of the training and see if you really need them.

Online Entrepreneur Certification

You get 5 courses with 10 lessons each geared at kickstarting your journey as an online entrepreneur. The lessons were prepared by Kyle and have been improved over time.

What if you are not a beginner?

Truth be told, the lessons will act as an excellent refresher to keep you in the game. You may also find easier ways of dealing with the challenges you may be facing with your online business.

Level 1: Getting Started

In the first level, you will be taken through the creation of a successful online business step by step. The exciting part is that you learn by doing. You will accomplish tasks at the end of every lesson.

It gets you rolling, and gives you an understanding of how to make money online in the first two lessons. You will then learn about niches, choose one and set up your site in the subsequent ones. Next up, the focus turns to optimizing your website for search engines, creating content, keyword research and custom menus.

Level 2: Building Your Traffic Producing Website

Once you are set, the next step focusses on traffic. You will cover aspects like owning a domain, branding, keyword-rich content, domain-specific email accounts, and utilizing visuals.

This level is all about reaching and connecting with your target audience. It was quite a thrilling experience for me.

You will also learn about boosting your rank in the Wealthy Affiliate community and what it means. I will take about the community a little later.

Level 3: Making Money

It’s now time to move on to the money aspect of your business. In this level, you will cover aspects like:

• Understanding affiliate programs and networks
• Adding affiliate links on your pages
• Leveraging product reviews
• Getting paid to run ads on your site
• Analytics and tracking your progress

Level 4: Mastering Social Engagement

Social media provides an excellent opportunity for affiliate marketers to get more traffic and subsequently, more sales. Wealthy Affiliate University teaches you how to use social media effectively.

You will learn about Facebook, Pinterest, Instagram, Twitter, Linkedin for your business on this level.

Additionally, you get to understand how to leverage the WA community for more success.

Level 5: Maximum Success through Content Creation

By now, you must have come across the phrase ‘Content is king.’ In Affiliate marketing, it’s all about creating quality content that will keep people visiting your site and subsequently buy through your links. That is the focus of this level.

The ten lessons of this level teach you all the tips and tricks of coming up with winning content. It doesn’t matter whether you have challenges writing; you will learn how to write like a pro. (Read our article on how to become a writer.)

Wealthy Affiliate Bootcamp Training

The other training provided to WA members is the Affiliate Bootcamp training. It has 7 phases with a total of 70 lessons that cover the creation and establishment of a business around the promotion of Wealthy Affiliate.

You may be wondering, how is that even a business? Yes, it’s a business. When you opt for this path, you will set up an online business in a niche that relates to Wealthy Affiliate.

It can be anything related to making money online.

So how do much do you earn from such a venture? Hold on just a little longer; I will be covering that in a subsequent section.

Back to the lessons, what exactly do you learn in the Affiliate Bootcamp?

Phase 1: Getting Your Business Rolling

In the first phase, you get to choose your direction and build your website. Once you get started, subsequent lessons walk you through optimizing your site for search engines and target audience.

Like what you learn in the Online Entrepreneur certification, you’ll be taught about keywords, creation of content and reviews.

Phase 2: Content, Keywords and Conversions

You’ll take a deeper dive into the creation of content that converts based on the proper use of keywords.

Every aspect is covered, from readability to affiliate links, keywords, reviews and all the things you can do to make your site fantastic.

Phase 3: Giving Your Site Social Value

At this point, you will have your site up and running with content already present. Phase 3 will take you step by step through making your website more social and engaging.

It’s all about getting your content shareable which leads to more and more traffic.

As you already know, the more the traffic you get to your site, the better your chances of selling.

This phase contains the greatest secrets of carving out a name for yourself online. You will also learn how to promote other programs for some extra earnings.

Phase 4: Get Visual

Boosting your site’s aesthetics can take you to the next level, and that’s what you learn and do in phase 4. With the lessons in this phase, you will turn your site into a memorable brand.

The ten lessons in this phase are quite transforming to your life as an online entrepreneur. By this point, you will start to notice the difference you are making.

Phase 5: Knowing Your Audience

Your aim is to help people, so how can you help unless you understand them? This phase is all about getting to know your audience.

In the lesson under this phase, you will learn about connecting better with your audience through content and other avenues.

Phase 6: Bing, Yahoo and the Power of PPC

Now that Bing and Yahoo take up 30% of the search engine market share, leveraging them can be a significant boost to your online business.

By this point, you will be quite a pro at running an online business, and that is when ads are introduced. You will learn all there is to know about paid traffic.

This phase aims to unlock the power of PPC.

Phase 7: Scaling Successful PPC Campaigns

After you have everything running perfectly, it is time to scale up. In this final phase, it’s all about turbo-boosting your earnings.

The 10 lessons are a final touch to your long-lasting journey of promoting WA and other relevant programs and products on your site.

Well, that was quite a ride covering all that you will learn in the WA training, but well it’s worth it. Probably I shouldn’t be sharing but heck; you need to know precisely what you are going into before you make up your mind.

You probably are thinking that they are way too many. They are just enough. You can dedicate 2 hours daily to go through one or two lessons, and you will be done in a couple of months. I took a month and a couple of days to complete the Online Entrepreneur Certification. You can also take as many months as time allows.

It’s not like a webinar or a live class. They are lessons already prepared together with videos that you can go through at your own pace.

So here are my thoughts about the training. Let me break it down into pros and cons of Wealthy Affiliate training to make it easy to understand.

Pros of Wealthy Affiliate Training

• Beginner-friendly
• Detailed step by step learning
• Do as you learn model that allows you to earn as you learn
• Uses videos which make it easy to understand
• The comment section under each lesson for questions
• A supportive community to help you out

Cons

• May be slow-paced for experienced affiliate marketers
• Time-consuming

Wealthy Affiliate Website Tools

I’m pretty sure you are wondering how you will build a website without any coding skills. Don’t worry; the platform has your back.

You can build a website in 2minutes!

Yes, I said that, it only takes two minutes to have your site up and running. So how does the magic happen? The answer lies in the Wealthy Affiliate Website tools and resources discussed in this section.

Site Builder

The platform allows you to build your website right in WA. It’s made possible by two powerful resources: siterubix and WA WordPress. You most likely have heard of WordPress but not Siterubix.

Let’s have a look at how they work.

WordPress by Wealthy Affiliate allows you to build your website fast. You will have access to dozens of website themes to choose from as a free member or thousands as a Premium member. I will be covering membership in a later section, so, be a little patient.

Here are the steps to building a website in 2 minutes:

1. Select the domain type for your site: free domain, a domain you own or buy a new domain
2. Choose a domain name for your website: something easy and memorable
3. Enter a title for your site
4. Choose a design for your site from the many themes

Siterubix will then get the rest of the process done for you. That’s how you can get a website in 2 minutes.

Note that if you choose a free domain, it will have a .siterubix.com in the name. For example, if your website is Glamour Hacks and your chosen domain glamourhax, your site domain will be www.glamourhax.siterubix.com.

You can always make it glamourhax.com by buying the domain right on the Wealthy Affiliate platform.

Site Domains

A domain is your property on the web, and owning one is the key to unlimited possibilities. You can find, register or manage your domains in the Wealthy Affiliate Site Domains.

If you have a fancy name in mind but not sure if it’s taken, you can just punch it in the search box, and you will find out. It makes everything easy. Instead of having to keep searching online, you get to do it easily.

It also has a list of the domains you have registered at Wealthy Affiliate. In case you need to move or make any changes, you will do it in the Site Domains. Addition of subdomains is also done right here.

You can also transfer a domain that you registered somewhere else to WA. It’s quite a simple process.

The final aspect of Site Domains is that you can point the domains you registered outside of WA to Wealthy Affiliate servers and also host your websites. You will be told what to do step by step.

Site Manager

You’ll manage all your websites from the Site Manager. It has a dashboard that shows a summary of everything you need to know about your site. A website preview, number of pages, posts and comments, Google indexing, site health, WordPress version and SitePlus status are shown in summary.

There is a login button that allows you to get into the back office of your website.

Expanding the details of your site reveals just how much you get from Wealthy Affiliate in terms of site management.

Some of the details you will see are:

• The SiteSpeed- speeds up your site for better ranking, engagement and user experience
• SiteSSL- free website 256-bit encryption that gives your site the https
• SiteProtect- blocks spam on your site for instance automated comment spam
• PageSpeed Insights- check the speed of your site on both mobile and PC to ensure better user experience and better search engine rankings

The site security and site health you get at WA is unparalleled.

Honestly speaking, I realized I was saving hundreds of dollars a month that I could spend on all the above by signing up for Premium membership and getting all of them for free.

Site Feedback

Getting some feedback from other people about the quality of your website can go a long way in improving your online business. Site Feedback lets other people give their thoughts about your site.

I remember when I put up my first site; I was so excited that I thought it was flawless. I mean, the theme was beautiful, you know one of those that look like professional news sites with all the great live displays.

The site was great until I asked for some feedback.

It did not take long before I realized one critical mistake I had made. I had focused on the beauty of my site and forgotten about the speed. It was basically a beautiful tortoise!

You could stare at your screen for several seconds as the loading circle took its time. And I knew nobody would be patient enough to wait for it to load. Heck, I wouldn’t wait for such a site either.

So I went back and asked around for ultra-fast themes. To cut the long story short, the site is now instantaneous. Search engines love it, and so do the people visiting it.

That’s just an illustration of how Site Feedback can transform your website.

You will need to give feedback on other people’s sites for you to receive feedback. When you leave your thoughts on other people’s websites, you earn WA credits which you can spend on getting feedback on your site.

Site Content

Remember the phrase ‘Content is King’ mentioned earlier? It determines your success online. There are tons of other people promoting precisely the same thing you are promoting, what will make them buy through your links? The answer is consistent high quality content.

WA’s Site Content allows you to type your posts right in the platform and post them to your website. It highlights errors in your writing and suggests corrections. You will also get countless free images that you can use in your posts.

You never have to worry about infringing on the rights of other people’s visual property.

Once posted, Site Content monitors your content and lets you know if Google has indexed it. It also keeps track of how many words you have written so far as compared to other people on the WA platform.

What I’ve found most appealing about Site Content is the availability of templates. I honestly don’t like reading privacy policies, terms of conditions, disclosures and other unappealing but necessary website details. Now you can imagine when I had to create them for my site.

Lucky for me, there were templates available on Site Content. All I had to do was change the business name details in the documents, tweak some details, and that was it.

It didn’t take long before I had my privacy policy, affiliate disclosure and a couple of other pages up on my website.

You don’t have to worry about Google punishing you for plagiarism. All you have to do is click on non-index buttons when editing your post in WordPress, and Google won’t find the pages.

Site Comments

Another aspect that search engines look out for is your comment section. If you have great content but no comments, it won’t reflect well for your site on Google and other search engines.

But how do you get people to comment on your site?

You will learn how to create posts that leave people burning to leave comments.

Additionally, there is a Site Comments resource on WA that allows you to invite the many members of the platform to read your content and leave comments.

Wealthy Affiliate allows people to help each other grow. Part of the help is in the giving and receiving of comments.

When you leave a comment on a website, you earn a WA credit. You can use your accumulated WA credits to request for comments from other people.

If you become a certified commenter with high approval ratings, you can earn money for leaving comments on sites in the niches that interest you.

A comment earns you $0.50, which is quite a great bargain.

Site Support

You have access to technical support for all the issues you have with your website. In case you come across a problem, you simply have to go to Site Support and submit a ticket with your question.

It’s quite an impressive feature. You can always count on WA to sort out whatever issues you have.

It doesn’t take long before you get a detailed response. It is actually surprising with Wealthy Affiliate hosting millions of websites.

Well, that was quite a ride through the website tools and resources, wasn’t it?

Here’s what I think based on what is offered and my experience. I will organize it in pros and cons.

Pros of Wealthy Affiliate Website Tools and Resources

• Saves you a lot of money
• Easy to use
• Comprehensive coverage of all your needs
• Fosters growth of your business

Cons

• The price of domains is a bit higher than other sources
• Building a site in 2 minutes doesn’t put later customizations into consideration

Live Events

In the spirit of being resourceful, there are weekly live events to keep you abreast with what the pros are doing in affiliate marketing. The live events cover a variety of topics around running an online business.

The live events are in the form of webinars.

When you head over to the Live Events section, you will come across a calendar that shows both past and upcoming events.

Some of the recent ones include:

• Flow of relevancy
• Typography and colors
• Choosing an awesome theme
• Components that make a website beautiful
• Reading Google analytics

As you can see, the topics are varied and very helpful. Most of them are done by Jay from Magistudios. You may also come across others done by other prolific members of the platform.

Webinars always happen on Friday. You will receive a notification earlier that asks you if you would like to attend. If you are interested, you can click register which will automatically alert you 30 minutes to the live webinar.

Your time zone may make it somehow challenging to attend. For instance, it might be happening past midnight or during office hours for you.

Don’t worry about that; there is a solution.

You can always watch it later.

Tons of Past Webinars

You can watch any webinar that happened in the past. You simply have to go to the Live Events dashboard and scroll through the past events.

If you find one that interests you, click on Watch Now and you will get all the juicy details that people enjoyed live.

I personally have a crazy schedule balancing everything and therefore find it easier to watch the events when it is convenient for me.

Perhaps what I find most amazing is the search feature in the Live Events. I can simply punch in the topic I would love to dive into and then select from the relevant events that show up in the results.

Filter Events

You can choose to browse all the events or use their filter feature. When you click on Upcoming, you will get to see the scheduled events.

The past events filter grants you access to all the events that have been held in the past.

My personal favorite is the Subscribed filter. It allows me to see all the events I subscribed to whether I attended or missed. Now that I often fail to attend, I can watch them at the time of my choosing.

I like that feature because it allows me to see only events I was interested in and not every event. That’s why I never miss subscribing for an upcoming event that interests me.

Later on, I always check this folder to see what I need to catch up on and what to ignore.

When you are juggling between a couple of things, time is of the essence, so I spend my time on things that will directly improve my online business.

Awesome Ideas

My biggest gain when it comes to Live Events is the number of excellent ideas I get. I’m more of an active listener, and so while someone presents something, my brain fishes around for great ideas.

It could be a business idea or a way to improve my own website.

My only goal is growth, and I do that by all means possible.

For instance, there was a live event about running a local SEO firm, and two days later, I had my SEO site up and running. I had five years of experience in SEO content, and I had learned about how to optimize websites for search engines. When I came across the webinar, I just jumped into the action, and the rest is a story for another day.

Pardon my forgetfulness; I was to mention how long the webinars take. It takes only an hour of your time.

An hour is not much, right?

It only gets too much when its past midnight or it’s during office hours in this fast-paced world.

That’s why I stick to watching my webinars later.

It’s easier for me to grab my laptop, head to the balcony on a beautiful evening with a glass of fresh juice and catch up with the webinar.

Webinar Details

Well, how do you decide if a webinar is worth watching? The answer lies in the details. When you click on a past or upcoming webinar, you will get the details of the live event.

A brief written introduction will give you an idea of what the webinar is all about. You will find out what the webinar will cover.

Additionally, there is a section that covers webinar benefits and learning outcomes. If the event objectives and benefits align with your needs, then you can go ahead and watch it.

Under the introduction and webinar benefits and outcomes section, there is a section of member reviews.

The reviews are from people who attended the live event and will give you a good idea of the quality of that webinar.

Good star ratings by high-ranking WA members mean that the content in the webinar is great.

Once you watch the webinar, you can also leave a review to help other people know if it is worth watching.

Find it Later

You can also save a webinar you find interesting so that you can find it later. This feature comes in handy, especially when the live event is about a topic you will want to check up later after implementing on your site.

It is simple; all you have to do is click on the star under the webinar cover image. You will then be asked to add a tag so that you can find it later.

Well, now you know what Wealthy Affiliate Live Events are all about. But is this feature effective? Here’s what I think organized in pros and cons.

Pros of Wealthy Affiliate Live Events

• Covers diverse topics
• Highly resourceful
• You can watch it later
• A searchable database of past events

Cons

• The timing makes live attendance a challenge
• Adds to the time-consuming nature of the training

Jaaxy Research Tool

How do you know what people want to read? How do you best present your idea? How do you outdo your competition so that your posts rank high? It all lies in the keywords you use.

The right keywords will get your content more visible. That’s how you get traffic.

Creating content becomes easier when you have the right keyword research strategy. You never have to be stuck wondering what people would love to read on your site.

Independently, Jaaxy costs $49 a month. It is totally worth the cost as your content will be profitable. As a WA premium member, you get it for free.

But what exactly do you get in Jaaxy?

Keyword Research

The primary function of Jaaxy is to help you in your keyword research.

You probably have heard of the words SEO or Search Engine Optimization. SEO is what you do to rank higher in search engine results. Keyword research is at the core of SEO.

If you have the right keywords, search engines will deem your posts more relevant and place them on the first page of search results. That means more traffic for your site and consequently more sales.

Jaaxy keyword research yields the following parameters

• Avg- Average number of searches for the keyword per month
• Traffic- how much traffic you will get if you rank on page 1 of search engines
• QSR- Quoted Search Results which is the number of sites ranked in Google for the keyword
• KQI- Keyword Quality Indicator that shows how good the keyword is
• SEO- A score based on traffic and competition to show how well you can rank with the keyword
• Domains- in case you haven’t chosen a domain yet, you will get great ideas here

Search Analysis

When you start your online business, you are going up against businesses that have been in the industry for a long time. You will, therefore, need to find out what they are doing and do it better. That’s what Jaaxy Search analysis helps you do.

It shows you all the articles that ranked on page one of the search engines so that you can find out what helped them rank.

You will find the following parameters under each search engine listing:

• Word count- you can find out how many words you need to write to be competitive
• Links on site- the number of internal and external links on the page
• Backlinks- number of websites which link back to this site
• Alexa rank- rank of the site on Alexa
• Adsense- indicates whether the site runs Google ads on the page

Site Rank

As you progress in your journey, your posts will start ranking on the top pages of search engines. It sometimes happens without you knowing. Jaaxy Site Rank shows you your ranking on search engines.

It tracks your performance on Google, Bing and Yahoo.

All you have to do is key in the keyword phrase and your domain. It will show your performance in search engines.

You can also track the keywords which automatically follows your rankings. Tracking can be daily, twice a week, weekly, twice a month or monthly.

Additionally, you get auto-tracking scans. The tool scans your website automatically in search engines periodically.

Alphabet Soup

I’m sure you’ve noticed when you start typing in the Google search box, Google predicts what you are going to type, which makes your search easier. That’s the Alphabet soup. Jaaxy Alphabet Soup helps you cover what Google will predict when people start typing.

You will consequently be ahead of the game.

Simply key in the keyword plus a letter of the alphabet, and you will get all the possible keywords.

Saved Lists

When searching for keywords, you may come across several amazing ones. You can save all the great keywords you come across for later reference when you start working on your content.

When you save the keywords, they will be accessible under Saved Lists. Once you come across other amazing keywords for your other post, you can save them under a different list.

Brainstorm HQ

Having a hard time coming up with content for your site? Don’t you worry, Jaaxy Brainstorm HQ has got you covered.

It covers the trending topics in the following:

• Google trends
• Alexa Topics
• Amazon best sellers
• Twitter trends

The best way to use this feature is to key in a topic and see what is trending around that topic. You will, therefore, be able to churn out content that people are actually looking for at the moment.

It will be easier to get traffic when you leverage trending topics in your niche.

Affiliate Programs

Affiliate marketing is all about promoting products. But not all products will be profitable. You will need to promote what people are looking for, and that calls for the careful analysis of the products.

Jaaxy Affiliate Programs is a feature that allows you to find the best affiliate programs in your niche.

Looking for products to market is easy. You will start by selecting your niche and then browse through the hundreds of thousands of products that you can market.

Jaaxy Affiliate Program

You can choose to promote Jaaxy and earn monthly commissions when people sign up for premium or enterprise memberships.

It’s quite a great way to boost your earnings as an affiliate marketer. You will not only be helping people find a great keyword research tool but also earn some considerable amount while doing that.

I will write an in-depth review of Jaaxy sometime later to help you comprehend the awesomeness of this tool.

Here are my two cents on the Wealthy Affiliate Jaaxy tool. As always, I will divide it into pros and cons.

Pros of Jaaxy

• Easy to use
• Highly accurate
• Many different features
• Available for free on WA membership

Cons

• You get Jaaxy Lite which has some limitations

Wealthy Affiliate Community

One distinctive feature of Wealthy Affiliate is the community. I have always thought of it as a sort of Facebook for entrepreneurs. You get to connect with people who are working on their online businesses which helps you grow.

When you sign up, you will set up a profile which lets you interact with other members. Setting up your profile is easy and fun.

Personal Coach

When you join Wealthy Affiliate, you will get a personal coach who will help you find your way around. I was lucky to have a great personal coach who was not only inspiring but helped me make the best of the platform.

I personally think that is an excellent feature of WA. As a beginner, everything may feel a bit overwhelming and having a mentor to help you out is terrific.

If you join through my link, I will be your personal coach and will be responsible for your progress and sorting out any immediate issues you may come across.

Dashboard

When you click on the dashboard, you will enter your WA feed. It contains posts by members about their progress and anything they feel like sharing.

Just like Facebook, you also get to share how you are feeling or how you are doing. You can leave comments on posts that you find interesting to you.

You will follow some people and get followed by others. When those you follow post, you will see their blogs in the feed. I personally use the feed to get inspired, get ideas, share my journey and interact with friends.

A strip of new Premium members is also displayed. You can follow and welcome the new members to WA to expand your network.

There are also top 10 posts for the day which have the highest number of likes and comments. I have come to find these posts quite transforming.

Questions

In case you have any questions, you can always ask the members, and you will be overwhelmed by how helpful the community is when it comes to questions. You can also offer answers to questions by other members in case you feel comfortable to do so.

I have found the questions mind-opening and therefore ensure I go through the questions daily. You may find answers to questions you had no idea you had.

Rank Posts

In the feed, there is a section for posts by members whose sites have ranked on search engines. Such posts help you know what people have been doing to boost their rank on Google and other search engines.

It’s also inspiring to read how people are finding their way to the first page of search engines.

It comes in handy, especially when you have been putting in the effort with no sign of light at the end of the tunnel.

Success Posts

However, inspiration is taken to the next level with the success posts. That’s where you get to see people making sales in their online ventures.

You may be wondering whether people are actually making money on the platform. Yes, there are countless success stories.

There is nothing as satisfying as waking up and finding that there are sales on the earnings report in the Amazon associates page, Commission Junction, and Click Bank. When you make sales, it’s always good to share and motivate other members who are not yet there.

Motivating Posts

Beyond the sales and earnings, there is the next level of how people have quit their jobs and gone full time running their online businesses.

Posts by people who have made the leap are quite a turning point on how you see your side hustle. Finding financial freedom by doing what you love is everybody’s dream and those who achieve it share their posts in this section.

Some notable ones I have read include how WA helped someone quit their Aviation career and how someone made a 25 years-worth of commissions in 60 minutes work.

Some members have gone on retirement either early or more comfortably courtesy of Wealthy Affiliate. Such posts make you realize just how the platform is transforming lives.

Indexed by Google Posts

Members whose sites get indexed share their success in this section. When you start off and have your website gets indexed, it’s always a great idea to share your success.

If you have been on the platform for some time, looking back and encouraging someone won’t hurt either. It can help keep someone inspired.

Take some time and leave a comment on such posts.

Members Accomplishments

There also posts by members who have accomplished steps like completing their profile set up, completing training, creating their first website and other milestones.

I often go through these posts to give an encouraging word to those just starting. We at WA are a family no matter the continent we live on. It’s like a global meeting place for those working on their online businesses.

Training HQ

After three months of membership, you will have enough knowledge and experience to create training in your area of expertise. You can also utilize the tons of training by other members in Training HQ.

The tutorials and training cover virtually all topics related to running an affiliate marketing business.

When searching for a training or tutorial, you can filter based on topic, classroom, time or popularity. It’s an exciting way for people to help each other grow within the platform.

Why Participate in the Wealthy Affiliate Community

You may be wondering, why spend time being active in the community while you can put that time somewhere else? There is a ranking of members at Wealthy Affiliate.

How much you are contributing to the community determines your rank. When you post blogs, read and comment on other people’s blogs, help out with questions, ask questions, welcome new members and generally stay active on the platform, your rank improves.

Several benefits come with a high rank. You will receive some rewards for your participation. When you get to the top 200, you get a badge. You can also proceed to become a Wealthy Affiliate Ambassador which happens when you hit the top 25.

Your overall rank is as a result of creator rank (blogs, training, questions), helper rank (answering questions) and activity rank (reading and commenting on blogs, welcoming new members and other activities).

Besides a better ranking, being active in the community lets you find your bearing when it comes to running your online business.

It’s a sort of benchmarking, and it can turbo-boost your venture online. Every day you will learn a thing or two that will help shape how you run your website.

Pros and Cons of Wealthy Affiliate Community

By now, you know how I evaluate the features. Here are the pros and cons that summarize my thoughts about the community.

Pros

• Resourceful and helpful
• Rewards active participation
• Great social networking with likeminded people

Cons

• Only shows the good side of the platform
• Time-consuming if you focus on getting a high rank

Live Chat and Help Center

An additional way to participate in the community is through the Live Chat feature. It is more of a chat room where online members can converse freely.

There are no restrictions as long as you follow the standard etiquette when interacting with people in the Live Chat. Simply read through what is going on and jump into the conversation.

It is usually a great way to link up with people and grow your network of friends.

I, at times, find time to check-in and connect with a couple of people. It usually feels relieving to know how other people are keeping up with their lives.

You can also ask for help in the Live Chat if it’s urgent. The chances are that there will always be a member online to answer your question right away.

It is a faster method than having to write a question and waiting for someone who feels competent enough to leave an answer for you.

Help Center

The help center brings together all the avenues you need in case you have a question. As I had said earlier, you can always count on the platform to have your back every step of the way.

You can access the following through the help center:

• Site Support- for issues related to your website
• Ask a Question- leave a question for members of the community
• Live Chat- consult online members
• Private Message- you can ask for help from any member

Premium Coaches

An advantage with Wealthy Affiliate is the accessibility you have to everyone. Unlike pyramid schemes where you only have access to the person who signed you up, WA grants you access to every member, including the founders.

Yes, that’s right; you can talk to Kyle or Carson directly. Together with AffTraining, they are the three premium coaches.

I have had conversations with Kyle right from the beginning, and that really changed how I thought about Wealthy Affiliate.

Seriously, which other founder of a platform which has helped over 1.4m people is accessible to everyone including newbies?

Top Helpers Today

You can also consult the most helpful individuals for that day. Remember the ranking system; it determines those who have earned the highest helper rank points and pins them under the Top Helpers Today section.

It makes it easier to get help from someone who is actually invested in being helpful.

Thanks to the need for people to rank high, you will always have someone to sort out your issues. All the problems I have personally had have been sorted out without any delays. It makes the journey feel like a breeze.

Pros and Cons of the Wealthy Affiliate Help Center

After utilizing this feature for some time now, here are my thoughts.

Pros

• Easy to get help
• Access to all members
• Multiple inputs for multiple ways of solving an issue
• Timely answers

Cons

• Anyone can answer your question regardless of their expertise
• It may take some while in some cases

WA Affiliate Program

Wealthy Affiliate helps you start and grow your online business in affiliate marketing. A bonus way to earn money is through the WA affiliate program. You simply earn money on the platform by referring people to WA.

Frankly speaking, it is one of the most user friendly affiliate program.

It also lets you leverage your newly acquired affiliate marketing skills for some extra earnings. Let’s have a more in-depth look at this affiliate program.

How Much Do You Earn?

For every member you refer to Wealthy Affiliate, you earn $23.50 per month when they upgrade to premium membership.

Here is some math to help you realize how much you can make every month through this program alone. If you refer five people a day and 12% of them upgrade, you will be earning over $1400 monthly by the 4th month.

Make that 50 referrals a day and at an upgrade rate of 12% and you will be making over $22k monthly by the 6th month.

A member you refer may decide to pay for the yearly membership, which means you get an annual $235 that recurs yearly.

What if You Don’t Go Premium?

In case you sign up for free membership and refer people to WA, you will earn about half the amount. You will earn $11.75 monthly for every referral who upgrades. In case your referrals choose the yearly subscription, you will earn $117.50 annual commissions for every member.

There are not many affiliate programs that allow you such benefits.

Impressive Conversion Rate

WA affiliate program has one of the best conversion rates. For every 8 people, you refer to WA, 1 will upgrade. That’s over 12% of people going Premium.

Such a conversion rate means you will make some good amounts if you get to convince people to check out the platform.

Responsibilities

Once people join Wealthy Affiliate through your links, you will be responsible for helping them out if the need arises. The platform makes it easy for you to take care of your referrals effectively.

In the WA affiliate program dashboard, you will find the following tabs:

• Details- program details in terms of how much you earn
• Tasks- shows you what needs your attention like commenting on user profiles, replying on comments on your profile, answering questions, goals and private messages
• Stats- your performance in terms of earnings
• Referrals- the list of those you have referred to the platform
• Messages- create automated custom messages to connect with your referrals
• Training- catch up with the Affiliate Bootcamp training
• Tracking- monitor your links
• Banners- resources that help you promote Wealthy Affiliate

Comprehensive

It is evident that the WA affiliate program is quite a comprehensive one. You get all the necessary support so that you can be helpful to those who join under you.

However, you need to remember that it is not just about the numbers. It’s about genuinely helping people out. There are countless people out there who are talented but have no idea about the many opportunities that affiliate marketing offers.

When you join the platform and grow as an affiliate marketer, it is only fair that you share the opportunities with other people.

A great example is this long post. When I joined the platform, I had no idea how affiliate marketing works. But after tasting the awesomeness, I had to share about the platform.

I envisioned my Wealthy Affiliate review being in-depth enough so that as a reader, you have all you need to make an informed decision.

I hope that you find a way to make money online. If my Wealthy Affiliate review makes you realize that it is a great idea, then go ahead and sign up. On the other hand, if you realize it will not work for you, you will at least have a better understanding of how affiliate marketing works.

Pros and Cons of WA Affiliate Program

It may sound all amazing, but it still has its flaws. Here is my analysis of the affiliate program organized in pros and cons:

Pros

• High commission
• High conversion rate
• Availability of useful resources
• Great training
• Earn even without going Premium

Cons

• Makes the site seem like a multi-level marketing platform

Super Affiliate Conference

Although it is a part of the referral program, I have chosen to assess this feature separately. The WA super affiliate conference is an annual conference held in Las Vegas that brings together members who have achieved 300 premium referrals within the year.

It is an all-paid private conference.

Yes, you read that right. Everything is paid for, from flights to accommodation, food, entertainment and other fun activities in the magical Vegas.

In this conference, you get to hang out with Kyle and Carson, who are the founders of WA. You will be in the company of the best of the best when it comes to the WA affiliate program.

Your ticket is just 300 premium referrals between 1st January and 31st December.

Getting referrals will not be a challenge once you understand WA and how to do affiliate marketing.

Don’t stress about the numbers, just help people looking for means to earn money online and you will be on your way to earning your slot.

Pros and Cons of the WA Super Affiliate Conference

Here is my take when it comes to the conference. It is a continuation of the WA affiliate program and therefore the pros and cons in that section still count when it comes to these Super Affiliate Conference. Additionally:

Pros

• Unbeatable offer in terms of cost
• An achievable target
• Great destination

Cons

• Needs a lot of time and effort

Wealthy Affiliate Membership

By now, you have almost made up your mind. You are most likely waiting to hear about the cost before you decide to either opt for it or pass.

You can opt for either the Starter membership that will cost you nothing or the Premium membership that will cost you $49 a month.

Have a look at this table to see exactly what you get for each membership option.

Starter Membership

Let me give you some weird advice. I call it weird because it is unexpected from me. The best way to start off is to sign up for Starter membership so that you can assess the platform on your own first.

It will allow you to have a taste and feel of the program without spending a dime. Take some time and assess the program.

After some time, you will know whether what it offers is worth your money or not.

Personally, I had gone through a review that was so convincing that I signed up straight away. However, I held off spending on membership until I understood what it was all about.

The funny part is that even with my scepticism and high index of suspicion; it took me just six days to come to a decision. I made the leap, and here I am a proud owner of a couple of online businesses.

Wealthy Affiliate Premium Membership

The holy grail of all memberships is the Premium option which grants you access to everything the platform has to offer. You will part with $49 a month, but you will start earning more than what you spend in a couple of months.

Is the cost too high?

No, not at all because you get tools and resources that would cost you hundreds of totals a month in total. It is a great bargain.

With the cost of Wealthy Affiliate tools being that beginner-friendly, most people upgrade to Premium within no time.

An even better offer exists when you sign up. Instead of paying the $49, you will only pay $19 for the first month if you upgrade within the first week.

It’s fantastic if you ask me. I find it an unbeatable offer, to say the least.

Wealthy Affiliate Yearly Membership

If having to pay monthly doesn’t sit well with you, there is the option of Premium yearly membership. It will save you 16% off the regular price. Instead of $588, you will spend $495 for a whole year of access to the platform.

Besides the savings, you get additional benefits when you go yearly:

• 100 community credits free- have a $50 value
• Free .com domain registration- value of $14
• Diamond traffic bonus training

As you can see, these bonuses make the yearly option quite the ultimate option if you can afford it. That’s beside the peace of mind you get so that you can focus on growing your business.

You will earn that money back in about 3 to 6 months of running your online business depending on your rate of growth.

Critically looking at the membership options at Wealthy Affiliate reveals a couple of things which I will cover as pros and cons of Wealthy Affiliate membership options.

Pros

• Availability of free membership
• Premium membership saves on costs
• Subsidized yearly membership option
• Discounted rate if a member upgrades in the first week

Cons

• The premium membership may be expensive for some beginners

Wealthy Affiliate Payment Methods

In my experience, some platforms may be all great until you get to the payment method that throws you off. Luckily, Wealthy Affiliate accepts both credit cards and PayPal.

These two payment methods are accessible in almost all countries.

If you cannot access PayPal, you should visit your bank and get a credit or debit card. You need a payment method which allows the charging of subsequent payments.

In case you choose to cancel your membership, you will not be charged when it gets to the date of renewal of your membership.

Affiliate Programs

When it comes to affiliate programs like Amazon, however, you may need to use your bank account if you are in a region that allows direct deposits or Payoneer if outside the regions that are covered.

WA credits can also be used when paying for membership or buying domains within the platform. WA credits are a form of currency within the platform.

All the activities you do within the platform will earn your credits. You can exchange these credits for money. You will be able to withdraw the money through PayPal.

Receiving payments for commissions from the WA affiliate program is through PayPal. You will, therefore, need to set up a PayPal account in case you don’t have one yet.

Withdrawals from Wealthy Affiliate

There is a minimum threshold of $10 before your payments are disbursed to you. You can, however, increase the minimum payout threshold to an amount of your liking based on your earnings.

Here’s my honest review of the payment methods at Wealthy Affiliate. As the norm, I will talk about the methods in terms of pros and cons.

Pros

• PayPal and Visa or MasterCard are the most popular methods globally
• Easy to use
• Ensures minimal transaction fees

Cons

• May not be accessible for some users
• Only one withdrawal option

Alternatives to Wealthy Affiliate

Now that I have met my objective of making my Wealthy Affiliate review exhaustive, I’m sure you have made up your mind now. In case you feel like Wealthy Affiliate won’t work for you, here are several great alternatives.

You will need to be cautious when choosing platforms because many of the available ones are scams. After a long search, I came across the following platforms, which were legit and can help you earn money online through affiliate marketing.

Udemy.com

The chances are that you have seen Udemy in ads or in a forum. It’s a platform where experts create training in their area of expertise for people. Users can then purchase the training from the instructor.

In this case, you will buy training from an experienced affiliate marketer.

Once you purchase a course, you will have unrestricted access and will learn at your own pace. It’s quite a convenient way to learn online.

Pros

• Variety of courses available
• Learn at your convenience
• Some courses are affordable
• Access to some free courses

Cons

• Courses can be expensive
• It’s just training without the tools and resources you find at WA
• Challenging to choose the right course as a newbie

Authority Hacker

A more similar option to Wealthy Affiliate is Authority Hacker. It is has training geared at helping people build authority niche websites.

It contains 420+ over the shoulder videos to help you in internet marketing. You will learn about building your first site, how to build links and other aspects.

Although it is a great alternative, it is an expensive option.

You will have to part with an onetime fee of $1997 for access throughout the year. That’s quite a hefty amount given that Authority Hacker Pro is only available once a year.

There’s an alternative where you get to pay 12 payments that cost you $197 a month.

Yes, it is that costly, and that is just for training. You will not be getting the hosting, resources, and other tools like you would at Wealthy Affiliate. You will pay almost 4 times the WA price every month and still have to pay for a domain, hosting, and other expenses.

Pros

• Popular among pro internet marketers
• High quality training
• Tons of videos

Cons

• Very expensive
• You only get the training

Solo Build It

An even more similar alternative to Wealthy Affiliate is Solo Build It. You will get up to date training that covers the 4 main areas of their CTPM framework, which stands for:

• C- Content you create which defines your online presence and includes both site content and social media posts
• T- Traffic where you learn how to drive traffic through search engines and social media
• P- Presell where you engage with your visitors to build trust
• M- monetize which involves converting your visitors who were ‘presold’ into sales

Their BlockBuilder 2 Option allows you to build websites and comes with tools, training, support, web hosting and domain registration. It costs $29.99 a month or $299 if you go the yearly option.

Although it offers an affordable option, the tools and resources you get are much inferior to what you get at WA. I gave it a try and realized just how sophisticated, wealthy Affiliate is when it comes to affiliate marketing.

Pros

• Affordable
• Covers all aspects of online businesses
• Provides both tools and training

Cons

• Inadequate in terms of training, resources and tools
• It’s not focused on affiliate marketing alone

FAQs

Is Wealthy Affiliate Worth the Money?

Yes, wealthy Affiliate is worth the cost as it provides you with the training, tools and resources to help you create and grow your affiliate marketing business. It may take a couple of months before you start seeing profits so you will have to be patient.

Can You Make Money With Wealthy Affiliate?

There are several ways of making money with Wealthy Affiliate. The first and foremost is through setting up a website in a niche of choosing and promoting products which allow you to earn a commission. The second option is referring people to Wealthy Affiliate and earning $23.50 for each premium referral per month.

Is Wealthy Affiliate a Pyramid Scheme?

No, Wealthy Affiliate is not a pyramid scheme based on the following reasons. One, there are products you are paying for which are training, website tools and resources and other features which are unlike pyramid schemes.

Secondly, the referral of members to the platform is not the main method of earning, and you can make all the money you want without referring anyone.

Can Affiliate Marketing Make You Rich?

Yes, if you put in the time and effort in creating content and some good amount of traffic, you will earn a substantial amount of money. Reinvesting and growing your online ventures will make you rich after some time.

Final Thoughts on Wealthy Affiliate

As I bring my Wealthy Affiliate review 2020 to a close, I just hope I covered everything you wanted to know about the platform. In case there are aspects I didn’t cover, let me know in the comments section. You can also ask any questions that you have about affiliate marketing and wealthy Affiliate.