10 Years with WA - 10 Tips to Succeed with Proof
Can’t believe it’s been 10 years since I was sitting on my bed debating back and forth if I should take the BIG step to become a member of Wealthy Affiliate…
For me I can say 10 years later that it was one of THE best decisions I made for my online marketing career. I’ve enjoyed trainings, Webinars but maybe the most important part... the connections with you guys.
There are many ways to measure success. My biggest success I would have to say is the time online marketing allows me with my kids.
The freedom it gives me, to set my own schedule and work on my own terms. It has allowed me to not only spend time with my family but to travel and enjoy the things we love together. This to me has been priceless!
Doing this for 10 years I’ve learned a lot through my journey! It’s been ups and downs, joy and happiness but also frustration and disappointment. I knew though that I wanted to make this work so bad that I had no other options, I had to make it work!
I was thinking of different ideas for my "10 year anniversary post" and decided to share some real stats and numbers with you along with some tips to make this work...
I run a few different sites. On my online marketing site I do a case study, where I share traffic numbers, income, rankings and more, so I will base the facts on that case study site and share some of those numbers here.
The case study site is based on the training here at WA. You have everything you need to build a successful website, right here! Thank you Kyle and Carson for providing a platform that allows us to learn and grow, to connect with others and to create our own future…
Let’s dive in.
10 Years with WA – 10 Tips to Succeed (with Proof)
First real briefly about the site. The reason I started it was because I was curious if it was possible to make any real money with the Amazon Associate program. Some said yes some said to avoid the program, I created the site to see for myself.
The site had to have the following criteria:
- The site had to be in an evergreen niche, I chose health.
- It had to be hands-off, where I could outsource most content.
- It had to be monetized with Amazon products.
The site is now 2 years and 9 months.
1. Organic Listings Brings Traffic
This site is built on well-written content that is user-friendly and slightly SEO optimized, ranking naturally in Google and other search engines. When using organic listings it does take time to build up traffic to your website.
With patience though organic rankings can bring good traffic. This is the traffic for November 2017.
2. Consistency Pays off
Right now, I have 5 articles go live every week. It didn’t start out that way though, I started with 2 articles weekly and built from there. This method of building traffic does take time but if you stay consistent rankings will increase and traffic improve.
3. Lists Works
There are many different types of posts you can use. Informational, how-to, a guide to… These are all great but one thing that works really well for this site is list posts. Posts like “Top 10…”, “The 5 Best…”.
These are the top 5 traffic generating posts and pages of the site for November… These are the actual posts (without me writing out the whole title) from the site ranking top 5 in traffic. I have two top 10 lists with different items...
Lists works!
- Top 5…
- 5 Best…
- Top 10…
- Top 10…
- 5 Ways…
4. Reviews Converts Well
The list posts then point to in-depth reviews of the products. This is where the visitor can get more specific information about the product. From the reviews I link out to Amazon. How do we know if the traffic is relevant and convert?
Looking at the conversion rate over at Amazon associate account will show if the traffic is targeted and relevant.
Conversion over at Amazon is around 10%. I would say that’s targeted traffic that convert pretty well.
5. Good Content Will Make Your Visitors Stay and Read
We all have different reasons and goals with our visitors. One of mine is to provide great content that makes the reader decide if a product is for them or not. If it is… great, if it’s not… then they have gotten the information they needed and can look for a different solution.
To check and see if your visitors are actually staying on your site and reading the content, I like keeping an eye on the Avg. time on page.
For this site I have an avg. time on page of 3 minutes and 28 seconds. That means that they are actually staying and reading the content.
6. Outsourcing Can Be a Great Time Saver
One of the criteria’s starting the site was that it had to be hands off, that I could outsource most of my content. I’ve been lucky to have found a couple of great writers to create content for the site.
I know a lot of people don’t have much luck with outsourcing here are a few outsourcing tips:
- Be very specific of what you want and what you need from the writer.
- Find niche experts.
- Don’t pick the first writer you find, give them a test job and see if it works out.
- Give very specific instructions for the articles until your writer knows exactly how you want your articles, even down to the subtitles.
- When you find a good writer, hold on to them and treat them well.
I get my writers from Upwork. The key is to find a writer that YOU work well with, a field expert that writes great content for YOU.
For the case study site - The content is ranking, the traffic is improving and the conversions are pretty good I would say that’s proof that my writers are doing a good job.
Note: This is not something you have to do, you can absolutely write all the content yourself.
7. It Is Possible to Make Money with Amazon
So, the main reason to start the site was to see if it was possible for me to make money with the Amazon associate program. My conclusion is … YES, it is possible to make money with Amazon.
The case study site made $1986.34 in Amazon commission for November 2017
8. Test Different Affiliate Programs
This site was based on monetizing with Amazon products. During the process, I’ve come in contact with different companies wanting to send products for me to try out and review. One of them promote high end health products and wanted me to join their affiliate program.
I was debating back and forth, the commission was better but I knew that Amazon converted pretty well… anyway I decided to give them a shot. I’m glad I did!
Using both Amazon and this independent program has been a great combination. When Amazon changed their commission structure earlier this year, this program kind of filled the void.
Looking at the November numbers I’m sure glad I took them on!
The cases study site made $1,169.22 from the independent affiliate program in November 2017.
This totals a commission of $3,155.56 for the case study site in November.
9. Patience Pays off
When starting out it can be highly frustrating to not see the wanted results, to not get the immediate traction that we are looking for. In today’s busy world we tend to move on to other things if we don’t get that immediate fix. Don’t do that with online marketing.
Be patient, it really does pay off. Let's look at the history of this site.
Income for the Case study site after expenses:
- November 2015 - $108.94
- November 2016 - $2,198.46
- November 2017 - $3,023.06
10. Believe in Yourself… Don’t Quit
If you are new and just starting out promise yourself that you will give this an honest go. Something brought you here, you are here for a reason, it is part of your journey.
Don’t say... if this doesn’t work out I’ll do something else… It has worked for many people and it can for you too. You just have to find your way of doing it.
Believe in yourself and DO NOT Quit.
I’ve been here for 10 years lol. That's a long time!
Imagine where you can be in 10 years if you give this a good try…
Make 2018 your success year!!
Vicky
Recent Comments
305
This is an inspiration I've not come across here in our community so far. Your longevity of stay at WA has sent out a vibe and benumbed my bones - OMG! that's a DECADE!
Looking at the stretch of your Time Chart, it makes us think we haven't started the journey yet.
But no worries, I've also seen people here at WA who testified being successful in just 6 months mark.
Thanks for sharing your 10 Years' Tips.
Awesome Feelings
You can for sure make it work in 6 months. I've had many different money making sites over the years. Some making money real fast some taking a little longer to make work...
It's been a fun journey for sure,
I love reading post like this from people who are walking the walk and doing the work. It works.
Many times people asking does this really work or saying it doesn't out weighs post like this. That is because the ones doing the work or not on here that much.
So seeing your post about perseverance and being consistence which led to your success made me very happy.
Thank you for posting this.
Thank you, I think it's easy to get scattered in the beginning, focus on one project until you make it work is important!
Wow, I always love seeing your updates Vicky! I have been here just short of two years so I guess I am doing ok.
I always see a direct correlation in how much time I put in and how much traffic and then sales I get on the other end. It is hard to put enough time in to make it successful but as long as I keep at it, when I do have more time I will have a good base to take off from.
Yes that's the key, building a good base. Outsourcing saves me so much time, for me it's totally worth it!!
thank you for the encouraging post. I am doing the content for my wealthy affiliate site and getting the lay out for presentation done so that when i actually build my website I can just fill in the blancks and be up and running. I think my next site would be a n Amazon type thing as you show its possible. Thank you for the helpful info stawhu
H,i Vicky. Congratulations to your 10-year membership here at WA! This was a very well-written and highly educational article coming from a person who has been an online business owner for at least a decade here at WA.
I especially like your tips about growing traffic in one's business, (it takes time and will not be done overnight), your thoughts about content articles themselves, and finally tip #10 in which you clearly state that everyone should have positive belief about him/herself as an online business owner!
I wish you another 10 years of success here at WA in the future for you, Vicky!
Jeff
Hi there
Awesome post and thanks for sharing your honest assessment of WA
You are living proof of how this business will work if we give it time and also, we need to do the work on our sites.
As you said yourself, post regularly, make sure its good content and Google will do the rest.
We have been writing here at WA for some time, mainly that members who have success and have been doing it consistently to post about their achievements.
So for that, well done and thanks again.
It will give us here at WA inspiration and motivation to keep going, (no matter how bad or how good) and never ever give up.
Congrats again and continued success
Cheers PB
Thank you PB! Yes, it's easy to give up when you don't see great results right away but it does take time and consistency to build a well-ranking site.
Thank you Vicky. You have reminded me that I should NEVER give up on MYSELF or think my dream is not important.
A few questions though why did you mention in your list "Top 10" twice? See I was reading. And what is an Organic list? I know what a list is but I have never heard of the term "organic" list. (If I have I don't remember what it is) please help me out.
I did love your inspirational article and congrats on making it 10 years. I have something to shoot for because I have only been here a few months!
These are actual posts (without me writing out the whole title) from the site ranking top 5 in traffic. So I have two top 10 lists with different items...
Organic just means that the post ranks by itself in Google and other search engines and brings in traffic that way.
Hope that clarifies it,
I'm with ya Verinica. Got some success with my DJ business but closing the books unless I get into managing other djs. I have several sites of my own and several I purchased also. Been here 5 years and still no income from these. Still swinging and will continue with wealthy affiliate. I strongly believe in W.A.........Scotty B
Hi Scotty,
Sounds like you have a lot of projects going. How about focusing on a couple of them?
Good to hear from you!
Loved this post. Thanks for sharing.
Your section on "Lists Works" I found interesting and informative.
Examples 3 (Top 10...) and 4 (Top 10...) on that topic appear to be the same. Not sure if that was the intention. Maybe example 4 would have been Top 100...
Congratulations for 10 years in WA and thanks for sharing this information.
These are actual posts (without me writing out the whole title) from the site ranking top 5 in traffic. So I have two top 10 lists with different items...
Hope that clarifies it...
See more comments
Oh dear!!!
Thanks so much for taking the time to share this and give back to the community. What a case-study and what an inspiration. You are the "mentor" material we need for those who are discouraged.
Congrats on sticking it for 10 years. That's proof that something was working on your behalf...
All the best and continued success, Veronica.
David
Thank you David! Feel free to PM me if you want the link to the full case study,
Definitely!
:))))