I joined the platform back in 2013, which is why I believe myself to be in a position to give an honest Wealthy Affiliate Review about, what it is they do, and what they have to offer. It is my intention, that this review highlights what WA is, and what they have to offer, allowing you to decide if the program is suited for you or not.
Now let me not forget my manners, and first welcome you, and offer my appreciation that you are spending your valuable time here. I hope that your stay will be informative, and helpful but also pleasant.
Speaking of reviews and Wealthy Affiliate, well no easy way to say it, but WA is a massive platform, with tons of training, tools, and features, thus the reason for this lengthy review, which will leave you with a bit of reading to do, but headlines are bolted, and feel free to skip over what you already know, towards what you’re interested in.
Not in the mood for a lengthy review? Read the questions and answers only.
Don’t you just hate it if you only have one opinion to work off?
I implore those of you who have used WA in the past or still are, to please share their experience by leaving a comment. It could just save someone from making a wrong decision, or perhaps, even help them make the right one.
Website
What is Wealthy Affiliate About?
WA is a membership program, which teaches people everything there is about affiliate marketing and website development, as well as provides some of the tools needed to put the new knowledge to use. The lessons and classes are mostly in the format of video courses, which are all properly titled, categorized, simple to follow, and easy to comprehend. Save for the lessons/training, WA also contains one of the largest and most active online communities, filled by skilled and experienced marketers, willing to share and offer help.
In summary, Wealthy Affiliate is an All-in-One platform, concerning learning how-to and then actually building a website/online business. It provides the training and the tools needed to do so.
Short History and Founders/Owners
Founded in 2005 by Kyle and Carson as a keyword membership site that provided monthly popular keyword lists, Wealthy Affiliate has come a long way since. Ever since, they have added upgrade after upgrade, tool after tool, and so on, turning it into the extraordinary program it is now.
Now Kyle and Carson are never sitting on their hands, the two are constantly working, always trying to improve their platform, and keeping up to date with the ever-changing online world. They are constantly evolving with time and trying to meet all their members’ needs.
What Does it Cost to Join Wealthy Affiliate?
There are different plans from which to choose:
Starter plan, which is free to join for life, no credit card required
The Premium plan is $49 per month, or go annually, $497 per year.
Premium Plus plan, $99 per month, or go annually at $697 per year.
Premium Plus+ Accelerated $299 or $1091 a year
Pricing is reasonable considering all you get. They provide something for everyone, from the beginner to the advanced, from the broke to the financially stable.
Are there Up-Sales?
With WA, what you pay for, is what you get. There are no extras that will need to be purchased, other plans or products to buy, or anything of the kind. Just your WA subscription and domain purchase (If you choose to buy your own domain/s).
Do They Have a Money-Back Guarantee?
No. Wealthy Affiliate already has a free-for-life starter plan, which allows you to test the program, its features, and its training without having to give up a cent.
Legit or Scam?
Well, considering scams never last that long, and WA has been around for well over a decade, going on 2, it is safe to say that it is indeed, not a scam.
Then why is it sometimes labeled as a scam?
Well, that answer is quite simple. There are two reasons; first, it takes time and effort to succeed. You need to complete the training, build a working site, create the content, drive the traffic, and so forth. Unfortunately, some just do not have what it takes and expect immediate results in an online world where competition is stiff as it is. Some just feel better blaming something else than admitting to their shortcomings. This world can be brutal, everything worthwhile does not come easy.
The second reason for WA being labeled a scam is competition! Yes, you read that right, competition. The online world is a very competitive one, and people will do anything to get ahead, even label their competition as scams, to get more sales on the product/program they are promoting.
In summary, Wealthy Affiliate works! Every person has their own needs and will choose what is best for them, but WA is a great platform for start-ups and beginners. It is also the least expensive choice for those who do not have large amounts to invest in hosting, tools, and exedra. Their first-page Google rankings in and of themselves are more than enough evidence that the program is reliable, trusted, and works.
Can I Make Money with Wealthy Affiliate and How Long Does it Take?
Not surprisingly, the most frequently asked question and the answer is one I can’t give. I cannot tell you whether or not you will be successful. Every person differs and has different ways of going about things. A different way of living, a different way of thinking, and different amounts of time to spend. Some people have patience, determination, and dedication, and some do not. If you are signing up expecting results within an instant, then you will most definitely fail. If you, however, approach this as a business, set long-term goals, and so forth, then your chances of being successful are quite high.
As for the time frame, again it differs from person to person, but if you give everything you have, put in the time and effort needed, and use the training, then you can expect results within 6 months. If you’re only working here and there, doing little bits at a time, then it will take longer.
Personally, I’ve been making money with the program for 11 years now. Some years are slow, while others are much more successful. It all depends on how much time I invest. So yeah, you can make money with the platform, If YOU PUT IN THE WORK!
How Do You Go About Making WA Work for You?
- Start at the beginning with the training, and complete all of it. If there is something you do not understand, then watch it again.
- Build your website, and continue to work on it, don’t stop. Without a website, it is pointless, as the site will be what makes you your money. The longer you wait to create your site and start publishing content, the longer you will have to wait before you start earning.
- Pick any niche other than online marketing, as this niche is over-saturated and very competitive. Create multiple sites, with multiple niches, or multiple sites with one niche, all of them connected, or perhaps one large variety niche, multiple sites promoting different areas of the niche.
- Combine WA with other methods of making money online for a better success rate. And YES, Wealthy Affiliate provides training for some of those as well, like Facebook marketing, YouTube, and so forth.
User Interface
The platform is very easy to use, and simple to navigate, with guides, and tutorials to show you the way. The tabs, categories, and so forth, are all marked and indicated, making the user interface beginner-friendly. Training can be marked as finished once completed, helping to mark where you are in your training. They also have a search bar that can be used to search and find what it is you are looking for.
Community and Support
Wealthy Affiliate has one of the largest online communities there is, and they will always help in any way they possibly can. The live chats allow people from all over the world to talk with one another, no matter their experience level. Not one for live support? No worries, WA also has technical support as well.
SiteSupport is one of many features provided by Wealthy Affiliate and a more technical support system. If tech support is also not within your cards, don’t worry, WA will provide it. They have a private messaging option that will allow you to communicate with a WA member privately, not to mention the, ask a question feature, that allows people to ask questions and have them answered. Just check if the answers you’re looking for are already there, if not fire away with the questions. Most problems will be solved within 48 hours.
Wealthy Affiliate and WordPress
Wealthy Affiliate only works with WordPress as its website builder. When it comes to building websites or blogging, WordPress is the most popular platform there is, so no surprise WA works with them. WordPress is a reputable company that always makes an effort, and as such, the hosting with WA is secure and performs very well. WA also, unlike many others, gives you the freedom to move your website to another platform, should you choose to leave WA.
Here you can view one of my WordPress websites on Wealthy Affiliate as an example: https://shaggydragon.com/
Wealthy Affiliate Review — Pros
- The platform is easy to navigate, especially after their latest remodel.
- They have an abundance of training videos, lessons, courses, and step-by-step tutorials, not to mention the expert classes, and best of all, it’s all self-paced. There’s no one watching over your shoulder telling you to hurry up.
- 24/7 support.
- The premium membership has a 7-day grace period for payment.
- The free membership has no limit. You can stay a free member for however long you please, without having to give credit card information.
- WA websites are mobile-friendly, meaning that no matter the platform, template, and so on, they will also work on mobile.
- All Premium and Premium Plus websites get free SSL Certificates.
- Other than great hosting, WA websites tend to do very well within search engines. (the work still needs to be done)
Cons
- WA has a substantial amount of information and beginners can get overwhelmed rather quickly if they do not first start with the tutorials and such.
- The free membership for life is not available in all countries, though it is in most. Some countries have high fraud statistics like Nigeria, and as such free membership, is not available.
My Personal Opinion on Wealthy Affiliate
Over the years I have joined multiple programs, looking for something of higher quality, to supply my followers/readers with, and in the end, I just ended up back with Wealthy Affiliate. I am rather picky with what I promote, because if I were to promote something and that something fails, not only will I fail, but those who followed me would fail as well, along with my reputation. I can with all honesty say, I am comfortable with recommending WA, because if they were to put in the time and effort, then the chance of success is great.
Not to mention, money doesn’t grow on trees, and purchasing everything separately is a financial nightmare. Wealthy Affiliate includes everything, the training, hosting, features, tools, website builder, keyword tool, and so forth, all in one place, which is why they are an All-in-One platform.
In addition, WA goes the extra mile to provide members with what they need, including great support, and such. They even work with credits, to help their members to pay for memberships.
Feel free to read my article about What it Takes to be Successful Online.
In Summary
Is it a perfect platform? Sorry, but no. Perfect doesn’t exist in the online world. On the other hand, if you want to earn money with affiliate marketing and website development/blogging, then WA is a great place to start. Not to mention, the free membership contains more than enough to get you started.
Wealthy Affiliate University Review — Features that Stand Out
A list with a description of the features Wealthy Affiliate has to offer. These are NOT all the features, merely the ones that I find cool and definitely worth mentioning.
1. Hosting
These days, everyone is aware of what hosting is, and how to choose the right web host. WA provides secure, fast, and reliable hosting.
Grow a Business — Whether you are well experienced and want to build multiple businesses, or are a beginner just starting, SiteRubix (hosting platform) will be there throughout your journey. There are currently people using WA’s platform to run million-dollar companies with great success.
Fast — Slow hosting can severely impact your ranking within Google, but luckily, you don’t have to stress about that with WA. One of their main points of focus is speed, and with WordPress, you can be assured that your website will be hosted on the most powerful and latest servers. Their average page load time is 1.3 seconds, and they have a load limit process that ensures your website will always run at optimal speeds.
Double Host — Downtime is the thing that everyone fears when it comes to hosting. A feature called double hosting is WA’s way of ensuring no downtime for their members. What is double hosting? Well, double hosting is a mirror of your website. When one goes down, the other is put in its place, ensuring there is always a site up and running.
Back-ups — Has anyone ever messed up playing with tech? Everyone has. With Wealthy Affiliates managed WordPress Hosting, all your data is backed up, so you can restore it at any time should you so wish.
2. Create a Business Hub
A Business Hub serves as the “control center” of your business. You are going to get instant access to your website, writing milestones, core training, help with the structure and blueprint of your website, the ability to manage your writing tasks, and plenty of detailed research ideas that are directly tied into the Jaaxy keyword tool.
(As a Premium member, you can create up to 3 Hubs, as a Premium Plus+ member you can create up to 10 Hubs.)
3. Site Manager
This is a handy WA feature, that allows you to better manage your site, along with notifying you of when you last updated, your site health, the last time you made a back-up, and so forth.
4. Site Builder
Wealthy Affiliate uses WordPress, a great website-building platform. You can build on new domains, already owned ones, and even free ones. Once you have a domain, just choose out of the thousands of templates they give access to, and start creating.
5. Site Domains
Site Domains is a special category set aside for just domains and everything domain-related such as:
- Free Domains
- Transfers
- Registrations
- Domain Search
- Not to mention being able to register and/or transfer multiple domains.
6. Site Content
Content is one of the most important things on a website, so having it look dull or uninteresting is a big no-no. WA’s Site Content allows you to easily and comfortably create, design, and manage your content. Features include:
- Full Metrics on content in real-time
- Manage versions of documents
- Instantly export directly to WordPress’ Create and Utilize templates
7. Site Comments
When it comes to ranking on Google, everyone knows that comments play a key role. With Site Comments, you can earn credits for commenting on other members’ posts, or request and pay for comments on your website.
8. Site Feedback
Just like with comments, feedback is a very important part of the process. Again, you can earn credits by providing feedback, or you can request and pay for feedback on your site.
9. Training
Wealthy Affiliate’s training is improved, and yet it is simple. After joining, there is a step-by-step, state-of-the-art training platform that you will be guided through, whether you are an expert or a beginner. The program focuses on teaching everything one needs to know, to have a successful, long-term business.
Training includes:
- Tutorial training
- Questions and Answers
- Task-based Courses
- Expert Classes
- Video Training
- Classrooms on specific topics
- Live Weekly Training Classes
- Interactive discussions
10. Classrooms
A feature that provides you with a list of classrooms that offer webinars, tutorials, videos, and courses, each containing a Q&A section where you can get the answers you need.
11. WA — Research
Doing the proper research will make or break you. This rather useful feature will help you to do the necessary research on topics such as:
- Site Rank
- My Keyword Lists
- Alphabet Soup
- Search Analysis
- Niche Keyword Lists
- Affiliate programs
- Brainstorm HQ
12. Live Events
There are live events weekly, which are fun and great to learn from. A large range of topics are covered, which include everything you need to know about creating a successful online business. All events are published afterward for those who could not attend, want to go through it again, or want to go through it at a slower pace.
Well, that is it for this Wealthy Affiliate University review. Again, thanks for stopping by and reading to the end. Have something to add? Please do so via the comment box, your feedback would be much appreciated.
Thank You and Have Yourself an Awesome Day!
