Ken Envoy Is At It Again: The Continuing Saga Of Solo Build It!
I just recieved a email from Ken Evoy's Solo Build It! platform mercilessly trashing Wealthy Affiliate...
The only reason I got the email is because I'm an affiliate for Solo Build It!
I'm an affiliate for Solo Build It! is because in the training here at Wealthy Affiliate, Kyle Louduon emphasized "not to leave money on the table" by not becoming an affiliate for other companies.
Even companies you don't particularly like.
The Problem With Alexa Rankings
I don't particularly care for Ken Evoy's tactics or Solo Build It's fake cherry-picking of facts.
Ken Evoy loves to keep mentioning that Alexa rankings prove that websites built with Solo Build It platform out perform and out rank websites built through the Wealthy Affiliate platform.
What I find interesting is a report from a well-respected SEO expert named Rand Fishkin.
Fishkin's website, Moz.com compared a screenshot of Moz.com actual traffic from Google Analytics with traffic data from Alexa.
You can read the entire article here at Moz.com.
Here is Moz.com traffic data from Google Analytics:
Here is Moz.co traffic data from the same period from Alexa.com
Rand Fishkin Got It Right
Fishkin then goes on to make this point:
"Above is Alexa's estimate of SEOmoz's web traffic for the past few months. It's hard to tell how accurate they are, because they're not showing any exact numbers, only 'percent' of 'reach.' They do correctly note that traffic was down in December..."
"Historically, Alexa showed a much longer timespan and much more inaccurate data, at one point estimating that our traffic had dropped year-over-year since 2009.
Now, Alexa's ranking us as the 472nd most popular site in the world, which is definitely way, way off."
Let me make sure I have this right:
Rand Fishkin from Moz.com, a SEO "guru", has shown that Alexa rankings are inaccurate!
These are the very same Alexa rankings Ken Evoy and Solo Build It uses to trash Wealthy Affiliate's SEO rankings.
Please understand that Rand Fishkin and Moz.com are HIGHLY respected when it comes to SEO research and has been for years.
What I like about Fishkin is his research is based of FACTS, not emotion or deep-seated dislike masquerading as objectivity.
Therefore, Solo Build it's long-standing point that Wealthy Affiliate websites rankings are garbage are based on inaccurate facts at best.
Fake News...
But wait...It gets better.
Another well-respected SEO "guru" Neil Patel at NeilPatel.com also did a actual comparison of Alexa rankings ON HIS OWN WEBSITE the same as Rand Fishkin did.
Patel's blog post is "How Accurate are Alexa, Compete, DoubleClick and Google Trends?"
This is what he found in part from statistics on HIS OWN website regarding Alexa acuracy:
- Search % – Alexa estimates that the average percentage of visits received from search engines for the last three months is 6.5%. Google Analytics shows 45.37%.
Let me repeat that:
According to Alexa the percentage of visits received from search engines was 6.5%
Google Analytics showed 45.37%
That is a HUGE diffrence!
You can read the entire article here from NeilPatel.com.
Ken Evoy and Solo Build It Don't Present ALL The Facts
The bottom line is we live in a very treacherous time in which people exchange the truth for the lie and uphold the lie as fact.
Not presenting ALL the facts does a tremendous disservice to individuals who are just looking for the best option for themselves and their families.
People today are blinded by animosity and are not open-minded enough to make reasonable decisions.
Everything I've read from Solo Build it! regarding Wealthy Affiliate has been 100% negative.
Ken Evoy's main beef is the reviews from YOU, the average Wealthy Affiliate member, on his platform Solo Build It!
In Ken Evoy's mind Wealthy Affiliate members are we a bunch of jerks.
Some SBI members even feel WA is a cult!
LOL!
Evoy feels all of the reviews are biased, ignorant, and lacking integrity.
Last I checked, we live in the United States of America where Evoy is entitled to his opinion. That doesn't make it correct, but he's entitled to it.
Wealthy Affiliate members have the right to review Solo Build It! just as Solo Build It! members have the right to review Wealthy Affiliate.
You write your review and make your point.
Make a comparison if you feel the need to do so...
Have your say...THEN MOVE ON!
Ken Evoy has NOT LEARNED how to MOVE ON...
"Don't Leave Money On The Table..."
Understand this point: the admins at Solo Build It are counting on the fact that you aren't intelligent enough to do your own due-dilligence and find the truth for yourself!
The FACT is Alexa as a tool for ranking websites is inaccurate and flawed at best.
In conclusion, at the moment I'll keep my affiliate link with Solo Build It!
Why?
The bottom line is this is a business.
It's really hard for me to promote a platform owned and maintained by people who literally HATE Wealthy Affiliate.
However, as Kyle mentioned, "don't leave money on the table..."
Regardless how I feel, there are going to be people who will choose Solo Build It! over Wealthy Affiliate.
If they do, I want to profit from it.
Be Relentless...Don't Leave Money On The Table!
Talk Soon,
Howard
Recent Comments
22
The internet world has 4.8B people. Whatever you sell, good or bad? It can and will attract a following.
That is why we have people falling for scams. The scammers see a demand, they will create products to benefit from it.
There is the law, right or wrong and if you break it. Then, it is a crime.
However, the reality is the big grey area where the measurement is conscience, integrity and moral.
This thin line when someone twist the truth to benefit themselves, may not be entirely criminal so people get away with it.
Have we been scammed by what is criminal?
Have we bought products that failed to deliver what it promise?
Have we bought products that don’t work at all?
I am sure many of us have.
But...
We also
Buy products we don’t use.
Buy products we fail to understand the benefits.
That is the reason why as affiliate marketers, we can tell our story.
Our experience with products that we promote why we believe it is the right decision.
That is the reason why someone would click on my link to buy a product I promote because I added value to help them avoid making a wrong buying decision.
Wow. Very enlightening! I'm not familiar with this platform, and from the looks of it, am not only not missing anything but wouldn't want to be. One of the things I appreciate most about the World of WA is that it is positive. It's more about culture than cult. There's enough nastiness in the outside world that doesn't really serve us at all. I sure don't miss FB or national 'news'. Thank you so much for sharing this!!
Christine
Hey Christine,
Very glad I could provide a bit of value to your business.
Thank you for reading.
Howard
Yes, Solo Build It does seem to have a real heartache with Wealthy Affiliate...I have seen some of their mails and posts/comments in various places...
At some point, you just tend to ignore it, but they are casting an inaccurate picture of Wealthy Affiliate that others pick up on. I promote some products for vendors that also hate Wealthy Affiliate, and if they do not like that I promote and support Wealthy Affiliate, they can remove me as an affiliate (I do not care).
I have even had fellow marketers unfriend me because I have defended Wealthy Affiliate on various Facebook groups. When other marketers slam the platform with no facts, only innuendo (and effectively do the same as what they accuse Wealthy Affiliate members of doing) I call them out...
Who was it that said, "Frankly, Scarlett, I don't give a damn!" (or something like that hehe)...
Bottom line is that statistics lie and liars use statistics. That is what I was told a long time ago, and 99% of the time from my data this has proven to be true (hehe again)...
Did you catch what I just did? There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics... ;)
Cheers!
Dave : )
“There are lies, damn lies, and then there are statistics...”
I love that!
Thanks for reading.
Howard
This is an interesting post. Thank you for pointing out the facts, and dispelling cherry-picked information!
Having used this platform to grow so much, I also feel quite defensive for the community 🙏
On another note, this type of "platform" beef sure reminds me of political pudit-ism, in a way.
For example, content like his "attacks" sure generate a lot of attention and emotion. Perfect for any marketer that is capturing attention.
The angle being that - at the very least, those who subscribe will be on a "winning team".
Anyway, I have a hunch that anyone who is actually successful in using both, or at least one of these platforms would not have the need to maliciously slander the other, other than for marketing purposes.
I personally try not to engage with content like that, anyhow.
Thanks again for informing me about the Alexa searches! It's good to know people are out there trying to find the truth 👍
See more comments
Great post, Howard.
I talked to Ken Evoy for several hours on the phone in 2017 around the time I wrote my WA blog post, Hatchet Job? I am not a fan of Alexa, even though Ken is a big proponent. He mentioned using other tools when he did his big study in 2017. He mentioned SEMRush and SimilarWeb. I am familiar with and use SEMRush as well as Moz. ( I like Rand's White Board on Fridays). I also have been affiliated with SBI since the late 90's. (leave no money on the table).
As I said to Ken E., many successful WA members do not necessarily host their websites on WA. Last time I checked, a good percentage of Ambassadors had websites hosted elsewhere.
While he can analyze the sites hosted at SBI, he can't measure the success of his customers who use the SBI for WordPress product. The SBI for WP is for WP content management systems hosted elsewhere. So unless he has the domain URLs, he can't measure the "success" rates of those non-SBI hosted sites.
I would be interested in seeing his analysis of Weebly if he does one. His study compares Wix, WA, Squarespace, GoDaddy, and SBI.
Thank you for reading Galen.
Great comments regarding SBI.
Everything you’ve said in your comments is spot on. Ken E for some reason just can’t let it go...
Howard