Coffee With Kyle: A New Front Door to Wealthy Affiliate (And Why It Matters)
Hey Everyone,
Today I want to walk you through an updated “front door” into Wealthy Affiliate, and how we want that to connect cleanly with what new members see the moment they enter the back office.
The goal is simple: make the experience seamless from the first impression on the website, to the first click inside the platform, to the start of training. As we add more tools (especially AI tools), marketing can get misaligned. We want to bring it all back together so it is easy to understand, exciting, and friction-free.
Coffee check first. I have the shiny gold WA mug (looks great, but you cannot microwave it, so it is not ideal if you reheat coffee).
The Website Entrance
The first thing anyone sees is the website. It needs to stay current, but it also needs to make the “what do I do here?” part instantly clear.
The approach we are testing leans into a simple idea:
“Your imagination is the only skill.”
No Photoshop. No coding. If you can type a sentence, you can create professional-level:
- logos
- images and ads
- content
- brand visuals
- and the foundation of a real business
We still want to keep the message focused, because if we explain every business model and every traffic source on the homepage, it just creates overwhelm.
Referral Credits (Affiliate Flow).
One piece we are considering is a referral bonus that changes what someone sees when they arrive from an affiliate link.
For example:
- Regular Starter: 2,000 AI credits
- Arrive via referral: 4,000 AI credits (includes a referral bonus)
That gives affiliates a clean, simple pitch: “Here is a free launch budget you can actually use.” It is tangible, and it is easy to understand.
Keeping the Flow Simple, But Still Inspiring.
We want to show possibilities without dumping everything on someone at once.
So instead of listing 50 ways to build a business, we highlight a few clear paths (that still match the core training), like:
- building a niche brand
- building a social brand
- building a YouTube brand
Then we connect that to the same underlying process:
- choose a niche
- build a foundation (website/brand hub)
- create content
- drive traffic (Pinterest, SEO, paid, social)
- earn revenue
The big focus is: one clear flow first, then expansion later once people have their bearings.
The New Starter Back Office Experience.
Once someone joins, the first screen matters a lot. Before, the dashboard had too much going on and live chat could be overwhelming for a brand-new member.
So now the Starter experience begins with one question:
Why are you here?
Right now the options are:
- Learn to build a business
- Create images with AI
- Explore the platform
Each path gives a “guided start” that matches what they are trying to do.
Learn to Build a Business
This shows the simple 5-step business flow (niche, website, content, traffic, revenue), then sends them directly into the core training.
Create Images With AI
This takes them into a simple preview of what they can create (pins, posts, mockups, ads), then straight into Image Studio.
Explore the Platform
This shows a quick menu of what is possible (create an image, generate an article, find a niche, browse the community, ask a question, create a hub), and still keeps core training one click away.
Live Chat and Focus
Live chat is still there, but it is not shoved in the face of someone brand new. They unlock it through simple setup steps (profile image, description, goals). That keeps the early experience more focused and less distracting.
What I Want Your Feedback On
This is the part I really care about.
- Does the website entrance make sense immediately?
Do you understand what you are getting, what you can do, and what the first step is? - Do the “why are you here?” choices inside the back office feel right?
Would you change the options? Combine some? Remove any? - Do we need two entry paths on the website (start vs scale)?
We get both audiences: people brand new, and people already building and looking to scale. We want to speak to both, without mixing them into one confusing message.
If you have ideas for what to remove, what to simplify, or what would make this smoother, drop them below. We are trying to remove friction and make the first experience inside the platform the clearest it has ever been.
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Recent Comments
114
I agree with taking the live chat off the homepage as it is confusing to have an overabundance of content especially, for a first time visitor. Too much stuff and a number of visitors may simply become overwhelmed and leave.
In my opinion the upgrades you described are a positive Kyle.
Thanks for your feedback, our goal is to eliminate confusion and further momentum! A lot of people get distracted or overwhelmed (at various stages in their business) and our goal is to do our best to remove that. :)
Hey Kyle
I really like the new direction for the landing home page. Yes it makes sense to keep the beginning first steps as confusion free as possible. Good idea for the live chat to be seen from the top page icon and that each direction the new user clicks on lands to a specific page. For the showcasing images they can create within WA why not reduce the size to smaller thumb nail that can be scrollable horizontally - it would allow you to add more types of creations so if the user clicks on any one of them they expand with more detail. This could also give you more white space to reiterate the start training and to decide what type of creator they want to be.
Yeah, I think we are going to be removing those images altogether, we are really rethinking the entrance and the flow into Wealthy Affiliate. I think you are going to see some big changes, but good ones that lead to more clarity for everyone. :)
Sorry this is also late but in reviewing my website I have been putting together in the Bootcamp, I took a look at the revised WA landing page again. Thought struck me that we are primarily trying to get people looking at developing a starting a new online business to consider Wealthy Affiliate. I know that recent AI developments here at WA have been phenomenal but should the not the section on the page "50+ Real Businesses You Can Start Today" be before "Image Studio: Create Stunning Visuals with AI" etc? Then lead into how WA's AI tools can support that the development of online businesses?
Yeah, we are going to be focusing much more on "online business" and making money online, that is why 99% of people are here at WA, the tools they use to make this happen are secondary. So don't worry, that is the direction we are going to be heading with all of these updates.
Thanks for your feedback Geoff, it is definitely in line with what we are thinking here. :)
Something I noticed today re-navigation:
1. if you could tweak search to include a category called 'profiles' rather than have profiles dominate all searches eg I searched for Hubs and got all members with the letters hubs associated with their names then didn't even see what was underneath, I thought it only yielded profiles
2 . then the results only showed me posts and training related to hubs
3. there was no access to hubs via search [or it is lost somewhere there] it was not like the promise in Carson's article on the new search function from 2 years back...
4. same with every other direct search, it will not bring up Kyle's training, core training, just the same sequence of profiles and popular blogs which may or may not include training
I will think more about onboarding, it is what we should all really be doing as it concerns every affiliate!
Yeah, this is not really related to the onboarding or homepage, but all good suggestions. I find that the "favourites" often times consume my search, and the latest content doesn't show up. So that is something that I think we really need to focus on as well in that respect.
So good feedback there Mary, totally agree with you that this needs some improvements and we will get an update in place in the future here where the search results are improved as they are good, but sometimes they have too much of one thing that takes away from the other. ;)
I'm looking at the onboarding question today - there's quite a bit I would tweak there for it to make sense to me and make me click to enter as a noob ... will get back to you on this....
Yeah, it is too busy. We are removing the "existing business" option, and we are really going to simplify things there. Any feedback that you have though, I would love to hear it!
or pm me in a way that I can reply, if I try to pm you it just goes to the community and this is something for you
yes, i think for me it would work to have starter accounts more focused and not pulled so many directions. It's difficult when you first start out, or it was for me.
Also your changes and innovative ideas are the best and i think by continually moving forward especially your and Carson always are open to community? and what works and does not work so well is a great approach, and by having input from WA community in my mind is what sets you apart from so many other platforms.
Truly, we agree. We are not a community, without involving the community here in all of our decisions. You all use, touch, feel and in some cases are annoyed by aspects of the platform here that could use improvement.
We get a lot of feedback on a daily basis, but having more targeted discussions about areas we can improve and changes that we are making and involving the community through the process can lead to a better result.
As always, thanks for your feedback! :)
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Join FREE & Launch Your Business!
Exclusive Bonus - Offer Ends at Midnight Today
00
Hours
:
00
Minutes
:
00
Seconds
2,000 AI Credits Worth $10 USD
Build a Logo + Website That Attracts Customers
400 Credits
Discover Hot Niches with AI Market Research
100 Credits
Create SEO Content That Ranks & Converts
800 Credits
Find Affiliate Offers Up to $500/Sale
10 Credits
Access a Community of 2.9M+ Members
Hi Kyle
Huge improvement coming up and great idea to have the options at the start.
I like the idea for starters, to first complete the sign in process before unlocking chat. This gives them the opportunity to first fill in the details they need then they can go to chat later if needed.
With the images you currently have on what you can create I would put that when they click on the second option on AI rather than on the actual welcome to WA part. That way as you said they are not overwhelmed and in fact being taken away from the three options.
Also you mentioned about those who come in and already may have a website elsewhere and what to learn more on scaliing their sites. That section for them would be great somewhere towards the top as you stated. So you can have the just exploring part perhaps and have the two options one for total starters and one for those who already have some experience and most likely a website.
Also in that same section for those who have some experience perhaps a small section that gives them the details to either points their sites to WA with the
DNS details or to transfer their sites here totally with futher details. I know we can give them details of the DNS for example but keeping it neatly and together on the one main spot will be more helpful.
Also perhaps in one of the training somewhere perhaps a new lesson or part within the lesson to show people how to save a post or blog again that will help them further.
Otherwise great look and can't wait to see it all happen when you guys and finally ready to show it all for all to see.
i know a lot of what you are showing is already there for starters just those small but important amendments to do.
Thank you both Kyle and Carson.
Andre
Thanks for your feedback Andre, that is definitely in line with what we are thinking here. I agree that they images on the first why are you here page when people arrive is confusing, and that should be more of a "showcase" what the image studio can do.
Instead, it should offer people a path if they are there to start a business, and one to scale. This will be tackled with an update to that onboarding process. ;)
Thanks Kyle glad it what you guys are thinking.
:)