Wealthy Affiliate Review 2023: [Is WA STILL Effective?]

Welcome to my revised and totally unbiased review of the Wealthy Affiliate community for 2023!

Some say that Wealthy Affiliate lacks quality and fresh training, and is built on a fantasy fairy tale – where the majority of members struggle to make bank online.

Where as others paint a picture of the community being the best thing since sliced bread – displaying their proof of earnings and numerous member success stories.

But who the heck is right and wrong, you may wonder to yourself?

Can YOU (as an absolute beginner) earn a 5 or 6-figure side income with this “affiliate marketing” thing as a community member or can’t you?

Those are the golden questions, right?

As a Premium member myself, I’m gonna keep things real by giving you the inside scoop and my own true thoughts, so you can arrive at your own conclusion.

Sound good to you?

Right, let’s crack on with this review…

At a Quick Glance:


Wealthy Affiliate Review

Name: Wealthy Affiliate (WA).

Co-Founders: Kyle & Carson.

Website: WealthyAffiliate.com

Cost: Starter ($0), Premium Member ($49/month or $495/year). Premium Plus ($99/month or $995/year) (Join via the free Commission Academy).

Who’s it For?: Novice to Pro – but mostly beginners, in my opinion.

Neil’s Score: 7/10.

PROS

  • Costs $0 to get started (+ no credit card required)
  • In-depth (newbie-friendly) step-by-step training
  • Tools, services & features to build profitable websites
  • Support from the entire community 24/7
  • Kyle & Carson chime into the community every day
  • New features & updates are regularly rolled out
  • The potential to earn a full-time income online
  • Get my sweet bonus bundle for going Premium

CONS

  • Newbies will find it overwhelming to begin with
  • Niche-selection training requires more meat
  • No advanced SEO strategies are being taught
  • No real training on mindset & goal setting (which also play key roles of success)
  • You must upgrade to Premium Plus for the best training
  • WA’s keyword tool (Jaaxy) displays inaccurate SEO metrics (which can potentially sink your Biz)
  • It’s not for “get-rich-quick” seekers – donkey-work is required

Summary:

I must confess, Wealthy Affiliate does have its imperfections – especially when it comes to the core training and keyword tool side of things.

For example, numerous areas of the core training have been neglected by Kyle for years – he really must “freshen it up” to make the course relevant to today’s landscape.

Furthermore, Jaaxy (WA’s keyword tool) can potentially cause harm to your blog in Google – preventing your online Biz growing.

Because the SEO metrics (in terms of keyword competition and traffic volume levels) are way off when compared to more reputable tools like Semrush, KW Finder and ahrefs, to name a few.

But you CAN still produce some monetary results with affiliate marketing IF you follow WA’s blog “post and pray” style of training to the letter and WORK YOUR BUTT OFF.

And especially if you upgrade to the Premium Plus membership level for more advanced training on what’s working today in 2023.

Overall, WA may not be everyone’s cup of tea, since blogging is a long-winded strategy that requires a great deal of commitment and patience. 

But with the level of value on a whole, in terms of training, tools, and community support – makes WA a great “all in one” platform for starting and growing a successful affiliate Biz.

Final Verdict: Legit (Recommended).

However, for your best possible shot at success with WA from the get-go…

I highly recommend you become a $0 Commission Academy member first – which is a WA introductory course comprising “fresh” (2023) training from 2 successful WA Super Affiliates.

What Is Wealthy Affiliate About, You Ask?


As advertised on the tin, Wealthy Affiliate is an affiliate marketing platform catering for all experience levels and walks of life – no matter your age or circumstances.

Whether, you’re seeking a REAL direction for getting started as an affiliate marketer and generating a full-time income.

Or you’re already an online or even traditional Biz owner in need of learning new skills for growing your empire…

Then WA will fit you like a glove.

The most awesome thing about WA is that it’s an “umbrella” platform providing you with all the essentials for success in one spot.

Which, is a rarity in the digital marketing arena, I tell ya!

Inside the platform, you’ll gain access to 3 core elements:

  1. Step-By-Step Training
  2. Tools & Services
  3. Help & Support From a Community (24/7)

When you combine all those components and work your tail off,  you can have a pretty successful business on your hands.

How Wealthy Affiliate Works For Earning The Dough


OK, we’ve already established the resources available at WA.

Now, let’s see how the WA platform works under the hood in terms of the “money-making” process works, yeah?

You’ll basically learn how to create an online business from scratch (around your hobby or passion) and earn a passive income.

The process works in 4 easy steps.

How Affiliate Marketing Works in Four Steps
  1. Your potential customer does a search on Google, Bing or Yahoo
  2. They discover your niche website & click to read your content
  3. They buy a product/service through your affiliate link
  4. And BOOM, you make a commission!

But make no mistake, you will need to hustle your guts out (as I keep pointing out lol) for the 4 steps to actually work and pay off.

Which, brings me to the next part…

Who Wealthy Affiliate is “NOT” For


If you’re the type of person who’s a firm believer in all that easy-peasy “get-rich-quick” baloney.

And who’s also unwilling to get his or her hands dirty in the muddy fields of affiliate marketing…

Then jog the hell on!

Kermit The Frog Imitating Three Wise Monkeys

Because, becoming a truly successful WA warrior is no picnic in the park.

However, working your socks off is one thing.

But what happens when you reach the 3 – 6-month mark and you haven’t made a penny?

The chances are you’ll either slow right down to the speed of a snail or hit that Top Gun fighter jet eject button, right?

So it’s important for you to know two things:

Firstly, Ancient Rome wasn’t built in a single day.

It can take a good 12 – 18 months before your online Biz really shoots for the stars – depending on your niche and commitment level, to name some factors.

Secondly, success is a NON-linear journey because you will suffer many knee grazes along the steep and rocky path.

So adopting an “iron mindset” from day one is crucial for success – which is why more emphasis must be placed on this topic inside WA’s core training.

A Glimpse of The Wealthy Affiliate Co-Founders


Two best friends – Kyle Loudon and Carson Lim (both successful Canadian marketers) gave birth to the WA community in 2005.

Say hi to the cool duo, along with their families.

Kyle Loudon and Carson Lim Digital Marketers

Kyle and Carson originally designed WA as a database providing tons of keywords for running profitable Pay Per Click (PPC) campaigns.

But has since shed its skin to evolve into one of the best (in my opinion) platforms for folks (mostly beginners) of all backgrounds to start and grow successful businesses.

Will WA’s Training Create The “WOW” Factor?


To cut a long story.

YES, indeedy!

But with that said, there’s still room for improvement, which I’ll explain shortly.

First though, here’s a run-through of what you’ll gain access to.

$0 Appetizer (Getting Started)…


Once you gain access to WA’s dashboardyou’ll see that Kyle has put together a 10-lesson package called ‘Online Entrepreneur Certification’ – (Getting Started Level 1) located under the “training” tab:

Wealthy Affiliate Ten Free Getting Started Lessons

The free video lessons cover:

  1. Getting Rolling! (21.19 minutes)
  2. Understanding How to Make Money Online (13.26 mins)
  3. Choose a Niche (17.06 mins)
  4. Building Your Own Niche Website (21.35 mins)
  5. Setting up Your Website (21.53 mins)
  6. Getting Your Site Ready for Search Engines (13.37 mins)
  7. Creating Your Initial Website Content (27.32 mins)
  8. Creating Custom Menus on Your Website (14.34 mins)
  9. Understanding Keywords, The Start of Your Content (20.12 mins)
  10. Congratulations & Your Next Steps (text-based lesson)

All in all, I personally think the lessons are superb because Kyle shows you HOW to lay the foundations of your new online Biz.

Which, I’m sure you’ll agree, is a crucial area where a lot of money-making products fall short.

I also love the fact that Kyle has created text-based lessons alongside the videos, as well as actionable checklists to prevent you from derailing.

My only concern about the getting started training is the niche-selection part.

Since, there are other ways of choosing niches besides using interests or passions – like the strategies taught inside First-Time Internet Marketing Profits.

Which, Kyle doesn’t discuss.

Main Course (Premium Training)…


If you’re happy to proceed with advanced training, there are 4 more modules to sink your teeth into (each containing 10 video lessons):

  • Building Your Own Traffic Producing Website (Level 2)
  • Making Money! (Level 3)
  • Mastering Social Engagement (Level 4)
  • Achieving Maximum Success Through Content Creation (Level 5)

The tutorials are jam-packed full of goodness.

And contain by-the-hand guidance on producing quality blog content that gets ranked in the search engines, monetizing it, and generally exploring other traffic channels.

But, however, some videos are a little dated and in need of a makeover – which I hope Kyle addresses before WA comes under even more heavy fire from outside internet marketing pros.

Furthermore, the core training doesn’t contain any modules on YouTube, which I’m surprised about.

Because it’s only one of the biggest content marketing/Biz building strategies of the 21st century that complements blogging just nicely.

Which I guess is one of the many reasons Kyle and Carson now offer Premium Plus membership to amplify your knowledge and success (their words).

In other words, you get access to more advanced stuff.

For example (at the time of writing), 400+ expert video classes taught by successful WA members are available to plug into.

In my opinion, these classes combined are worth MANY $1,000s – and then some!

Dessert (Jay’s Weekly Video Classes)…


The other cool aspect of the training is that Jay (an experienced WA’er) hosts a 1-hour live webinar every Friday, which is also recorded.

In my opinion, the webinars are a great way of supplementing your learning at WA because Jay shares plenty of golden nuggets.

Moreover, Jay ends his webinars on a high with ‘Q & A’ sessions – allowing you to pick his brains.

So whether or not you’re painting the town red on a Friday, you can certainly brush up on your marketing skills at WA.

To get started with WA…

==> Join Commission Academy!

Affiliate Bootcamp, A Bit of a Sore Subject 


If you find it tough to pick a niche following Kyle’s ‘OEC’ getting started training, then the alternative is to roll with Wealthy Affiliate’s affiliate program & Bootcamp’.

Wealthy Affiliate Bootcamp

It pretty much offers the same training as both the free and advanced ‘OEC’ courses.

Except, Bootcamp shows you how to recommend WA itself for affiliate commissions.

While Kyle delivers plenty of insightful training for helping you earn from WA’s affiliate program (+ qualify for a free yearly Vegas trip)…

Most folks seem to struggle with Bootcamp for a whole host of reasons.

Unfortunately, some WA members’ (myself included in the past) have literally invested 100s of hours into their blogs for 18+ months.

Only to get minimal traffic from Google – equating to a measly part-time income.

Some have even quit Bootcamp as a result and chosen the ‘OEC’ path instead.

Whereas others thrive with Bootcamp – creating 5 to 6-figure businesses.

It seems to me that Bootcamp is a “luck of the draw” type of thing… 

Or could it be the fact that it revolves around a highly competitive niche that’s a tough nut to crack – where some Bootcampers are sneakily implementing advanced SEO strategies OUTSIDE of WA?

Furthermore, if you’re not clued-up on the topics of internet and affiliate marketing, then I’d seriously sit Bootcamp out if I were you.

Tools & Services, Just What The Doctor Ordered!


Inside WA, you’ll discover an array of tools and services to take advantage for starting and building out your online Biz into a monster.

But with so many to cover in-depth, I’ll just skim over the surfaces of the main ones.

Is that OK with you?

#1: SiteRubix, Build it & They Will Come…


Firstly, there’s WA’s in-house website builder called SiteRubix.

As a starter member, you can quickly and easily build 1 free WordPress website with SiteRubix!

But as a Premium member, you’re allowed to build up to 10 powerful sites.

Tied in with your sites, you’ll get:

  • Ultra-fast & secure web hosting
  • The option to buy & connect domain names (using WA’s domain platform)
  • And a site manager for monitoring the health and overall progress of your sites.

Furthermore, there’s a content writing platform with free images to use, templates, the ability to set writing goals, and also a spell checker for efficient blog content creation.

2023 update: there’s a new addition to the WA tool family called ‘Niche Finder’.

So, if you’re struggling to come up with a niche in your industry to build a website around from the offset, then Niche Finder will come up with 10 suggestions to roll with.

You simply type in your niche and let the tool work its magic – I guess it’s similar to ChatGPT that everyone’s raving about at the moment.

#2: Jaaxy, Created by Affiliates “For” Affiliates…


The Jaaxy keyword tool (LITE) enables you to find the right keywords for producing content around and getting it ranked in the search engines for traffic.

Also, with the tool, comes a great bunch of cool features.

Like, the ‘Alphabet Soup Technique’ for keeping keyword ideas flowing, and a tracker for keeping tabs on your Google rankings, to name a couple.

However, the LITE version has some feature limitations.

But there’s no real need to upgrade your Jaaxy plan (in my opinion) unless you want the full benefits of the tool.

But my beef with Jaaxy is that when you compare its SEO keyword metrics to other keyword tools like KW Finder, Semrush and ahrefs (only some of the best tools on the cyber planet) for example...

The results tell an entirely different story.

Where Jaaxy tells you that certain keywords will generate you some decent traffic and are easy-peasy to rank for (+ even vice-versa) in Google...

Other said tools usually state the opposite, unfortunately.

Jaaxy delivers some great keyword suggestions, don’t get me wrong.

But it seriously falls short in the SEO metrics department.

Which, is why I now rely on a more reputable tool for my data (cough cough, Semrush).

No offense to WA, BTW (lol) – it’s an issue they must fix pronto.

#3: Affiliate Programs, an Affiliate’s Wet Dream…


My apologies for being so crude.

But WA’s newly-released ‘Affiliate Programs’ feature makes searching for the right affiliate programs to join a total doddle.

Affiliate Programs Platform

So instead of spending hours sifting through Google results for niche-related affiliate programs and products that are going to be your cuppa…

WA allows you to do it with speed and ease – also displaying all the affiliate program metrics you need to know before submitting your applications.

I’d say this is definitely one of my most favourite features inside the community – that will make non-WA members green with envy.

24/7 Support, Your Life Raft Keeping You Afloat


I won’t lie to you, the help and support from WA’s ‘Help Center’ is second to none.

Help Center

And here are some VERY good reasons why:

First up, there’s ‘SiteSupport’.

If you have a problem…

If no one else can help…

You CAN hire the A-… (sorry, “Site Support” team!)

Joking aside, if your website breaks, there’s no need to get your knickers in a twist because you can simply shoot the support team a message.

And within minutes, you’ll find a reply sat in your WA message box – usually accompanied by a quick fix.

Secondly, you can ask questions inside classrooms, PM members’, and even pick the brains of members’ on live chat around the clock.

You’re always guaranteed to get plenty of assistance inside the community.

However, there is a small downside because at times you may not get the right answers you need – which can be frustrating.

Thirdly, you can reach out to either Kyle or Carson through Private Message.

But you won’t always get a response because the pair are inundated with messages.

In spite of a couple of cons, you still won’t find the same level of support with any other affiliate marketing platform. Period.

The Cost of Wealthy Affiliate is a Drop in The Ocean…


When it comes to WA’s costbecoming a starter member won’t cost you a single cent.

What’s even better is that no credit card details are required until you decide to go Premium for WA’s full benefits.

The awesome thing about Premium membership is that Kyle and Carson won’t charge you a kidney (unlike most training platforms).

Plus, they offer various Premium membership plans to suit budgets of all shapes and sizes.

Premium:

  • $49/month
  • Or $495 per year

Premium Plus:

  • $99/month
  • Or $995/year

Obviously, the bigger the plan, the more you save, and the more benefits you also receive.

On top of those prices, buying a .COM, .NET or .ORG domain from WA for your website will only cost from $13.99 to $15.99 each year (per site).

Wealthy Affiliate Success Stories – Show Me The Money!!


With WA being in business for so long and over 2 million community members’, success is definitely happening, baby!

But with so many folks making money from Kyle’s teachings and leveraging the tools, services, and support, I really don’t know where to start.

The success stories range from members’ making their first $ online to literally earning $10,000+ per month in a space of a few years.

Here’s a small bunch of stories from folks in various niches.

Four Bloggers Sharing Money Making Success Stories

And as for more recent 2022 – 2023 member success stories, there are some posted within the community.

Which proves that WA can work (despite its numerous cracks) for members who are willing to learn and work hard.

Drawing to a Close: Is Wealthy Affiliate Worth it?…


Pardon the expression, but does a bear sh*t in the woods?

While there are some aspects of the Wealthy Affiliate community that leave a sour taste in my mouth (as outlined in this review)…

It’s still one of the best, if not, the best damn affiliate marketing platform you’ll lay your hands on.

By no means is making money a stroll in the park, though.

The notion of “get-rich-quick” is nothing but an old wives’ tale.

But if you follow Kyle’s training to the letter, make good use of WA’s resources, and work your butt off as if your life depends on it…

Then earning a full-time income down the road as an affiliate marketer is doable.

“How much can I earn at WA”, you ask?

Only YOU can answer that question.

To become a member of Wealthy Affiliate and build super profitable empire from scratch…

==> Get Free Access to Commission Academy!

Your buddy, Neil 😀

Got any further questions you’d like to ask or thoughts to add on WA? Please drop them in the comments below…

18 Comments

  1. Cogito September 29, 2021
    • Neil September 30, 2021
  2. Leahrae September 28, 2021
    • Neil September 29, 2021
  3. Darlene Pritchard September 15, 2020
    • Neil September 16, 2020
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  5. Ann June 16, 2020
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  6. Ronald Rutgersson January 19, 2020
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  7. Charles August 15, 2019
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  8. Henderson August 15, 2019
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  9. RoDarrick August 15, 2019
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