A Solo Build It Review – Sound Facts Without Being Ruthless
As I compose this blog post, I wanted A Solo Build It Review to include information regarding the accuracy of Alexa rankings.
Ken Evoy’s massive report “exposing” Wealthy Affiliate has been cited by a number on marketing “authorities” as accurate.
This was done by Mr. Evoy although thousands of people have gone on to create profitable online businesses using the Wealthy Affiliate platform.
A mainstay of the SBI study is the Alexa rankings in relation to websites hosted by Wealthy Affiliate.
We’re going to discuss the accuracy of Alexa rankings and if those statistics can really be trusted?
A Solo Build It Review: Using Alexa as a Tool in the Study
Unfortunately, many of the top authorities on the web don’t trust the information from Alexa.
When it comes to discussing internet marketing issues Moz.com is a well-known and respected online marketing forum.
There’s an excellent post concerning just how accurate Alexa rankings are and if they can be trusted.
A Solo Build It Review: What Rand Fishkin Found
Moz.com also has a post by Rand Fishkin on the website Sparktoro.com which has a killer post on the accuracy of traffic websites.
In the first paragraph of this post Mr Fishkin states that although services that claim to predict the traffic websites receive have been around for over 15 years, he’s been very skeptical of their accuracy.
Also, after having seen how poorly some of the websites have predicted traffic on sites whose analytics he personally accessed, he wondered just how accurate the reporting really was.
In other words, the data wasn’t adding up.
In 2012,
He came away very unimpressed.
Also, he stated that Mark Collier (of the Open Algorithm Project) expanded on these tests.
In 2013 Mr Collier discovered similarly disappointing results.
Mr Fishkin and his colleagues discovered the following:
In recent years one fact had become obvious: services like Alexa, Compete, Quantcast, and others simply don’t do a consistently good job of estimating a website’s traffic.
A Solo Build It Review: Testing The Accuracy Of Alexa
Rand Fishkin wrote another blog post on Moz.com about the accuracy of traffic testing websites
On the surface,
However, what’s not exciting is the external perception created by third-parties like Compete, Alexa, Quantcast, Doubleclick and Google Trends for Websites.
These sites reported massively lower and wrongly trending data.
In addition, SEOmoz isn’t alone in experiencing this frustration.
These sites lamented poor growth thanks to these “horrifically inaccurate services” as he called them.
The point here is this: the site that’s used in Ken Evoy’s report to measure website traffic is seriously questioned.
It’s questioned by reputable marketers as being unreliable and deeply flawed.
I would highly recommend taking a few minutes to read the comments and analyses in the following report:
A Solo Build It Review: Not Practicing What They Preach
Now I want to discuss another reason that I wrote this post: The topic of Solo Build It vs Wealthy Affiliate.
The whole squabble started because the owner of SBI took offense to some negative reviews about his system.
Ken Evoy said these same people were doing a bait and switch and luring people away from SBI to different opportunities.
SBI seems to think that affiliates doing this are unethical.
Therefore, SBI’s owner Ken Evoy publishes a report which excoriates Wealthy Affiliate.
But here is one thing that many people need to know about SBI: They use affiliates to promote their program too.
Likewise, many Solo Build It affiliates have written unflattering reviews on Wealthy Affiliate as well.
The kicker is that a large percentage of Solo Build It affiliates who promote the product never actually used it!
So
This happens all the time and is nothing new.
Food for thought!
A Solo Build It Review: What Have We Learned So Far
The report by Ken Evoy to humiliate Wealthy Affiliate is flawed.
However,
Other experienced webmasters insist that traffic reporting services Alexa, Compete, Google Trends, Doubleclick & Quantcast” and others not mentioned are deeply flawed.
For example, Techpluto has a blog post: Is Alexa Web Analytics Flawed & Inaccurate?
Why You Shouldn’t Use Alexa Traffic Statistics is a blog post on Real Skeptic.
Also, Syed Balkhi on the website Building Business Online has the post “Alexa is Bull$#%t – Please Stop Using it as a Traffic Comparison Tool”
The internet makes it easy to put information out there in hopes that it will result in something positive for our businesses.
However, that does not always happen!
The only way to get real data that’s not biased or possibly manipulated is by using a totally independent third party to conduct the research.
Using Tools For Competitor Research
Is Alexa, Compete, Google Trends, Doubleclick & Quantcast 100% accurate? No, they’re not.
But, they all offer some good data that you can use for competitor research.
You can easily use them to do the following:
- Compare website traffic – although the numbers might not be accurate, which in many cases they’re not, you can still see whether Site A is getting more traffic than Site B on average and use that info to your advantage.
- Learn more about competitors keywords – one fact you can bank on is most of the above mentioned networks share some basic keyword data. You can use this to find out what the competitors are targeting and get some keyword ideas for your own website. That’s smart marketing.
- See how related sites rank – find additional competitors by looking at related sites and add those to your research.
A Solo Build It Review – Ken Evoy Shows No Mercy Toward Wealthy Affiliate
Things change quickly on the web, and it can be hard to keep up with the technology.
So, is the Solo Build It vs Wealthy Affiliate saga going to end?
I wish it would!
Enough Already!
I guess we will have to see how things work out in the near future.
What would help Solo Build Its reputation at this point?
If Solo Build It wants to continue to look like a respectable company, then
Move away from accusing Wealthy Affiliate and the Make Money Online niche as being the problem.
It would help if they would focus less on making Wealthy Affiliate look unethical and just improve their platform in a positive way
Also, there are some really good data in Ken Evoy’s report, but there’s also a ton of negative bashing of Wealthy Affiliate.
Mr. Envoys report is heavily biased AGAINST Wealthy Affiliate!
A Solo Build It Review – It’s The Facts That Matter
A Solo Build It Review may try to cast a negative shadow on Wealthy Affiliate, but in the end, it’s the actual results that matter.
Actually, when you read the report from Ken Evoy, It comes off as very negative, retaliatory and vengeful.
However, here are a few highlights you need to know that I’d like to point out:
It’s absolutely true that Solo Build It and Wealthy Affiliate both offer a valuable service.
Also, It’s obvious that both platforms have produced six and seven-figure earners.
Below are some bullet points highlighting statements Ken Evoy have made regarding Wealthy Affiliate:
- You cannot be successful using the Free Wealthy Affiliate membership and free Wealthy Affiliate sites.
This is just NOT TRUE! Ken Evoy is WRONG on this point.
I personally started out in affiliate marketing using free websites. Many successful online marketers have used free resources to build their business. To say using free resources will not lead to success is just not correct
One of the main things that attracted me to Wealthy Affiliate was the fact that I could have access to a large part of the platform FREE with NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED.
This allows you to “kick the tires” and try building an affiliate site for with no financial comittment.
For those people who really aren’t sure if online marketing is for them, this is GREAT!
- Solo Build It websites have been shown by Alexa rankings to be are more successful than websites created through Wealthy Affiliate.
Ken Envoy was very clever in the way he came to this conclusion in his report.
However, his conclusion is flawed and really doesn’t prove much
That statement has a nice ring to it, but it proves absolutely NOTHING.
There’s NO CONCRETE PROOF that Solo Build It is better than Wealthy Affiliate.
There’s an obvious reason why SBI sites could be getting more traffic than WA sites.
Wealthy Affiliate teaches extensively how to get “targeted”, organic traffic from the search engines rather than large amounts of traffic from sources other than organic that doesn’t convert.
More Facts That Matter
- Ken Evoy’s report complains that Wealthy Affiliate members write negative reviews with the sole purpose of funneling traffic to their WA affiliate offer.
This point from Mr Evoy is actually a fair statement.
However, every single online marketer is entitled to their opinion, even if it lack substance and makes no sence.
The problem from
Although Solo Build It is a great platform unfortunately, you will always find that some people will offer their opinion without having all the facts.
Even some among Wealthy Affiliate have posted negative reviews about SBI that do not present all the facts.
Personally, I have reviews I’ve posted about Solo Build It.
However, when you read my reviews, 99% of my information is FAVORABLE toward the actual Solo Build It platform.
My criticism in my Solo Build It reviews is with Ken Evoy’s mammoth report tearing apart Wealthy Affiliate.
In my opinion, less time and resources should have been spent producing a report that 1) most people really don’t care about and 2) most marketers will never read in
They are going to skim through
It’s been scientifically proven that people don’t really read webpages anymore, they SCAN them.
- It’s very difficult to get a refund from Wealthy Affiliate.
I have no idea where this erroneous statement came from. This is absolutely not true. Wealthy Affiliate has a VERY LOW refund rate and a liberal refund policy.
If you want your money back, it’s never been a problem
The reason why WA has a LOW refund rate id due in large part to the 7-day FREE trial
With the FREE trial, people know exactly what they are getting into before they pay their money for a premium membership
A Solo Build It Review – The Controversy Continues
“I just can’t believe all the things people say…Controversy“
From the song “Controversy” by Prince
For many, the “controversy” between Wealthy Affiliate and Solo Build It will continue for some time.
The fact that negative reviews about SBI have been published by WA members without having all the facts would
However, Mr. Evoy’s colossal review of Wealthy Affiliate had some gaping holes of
In my opinion, his report was not entirely factual.
While many of my colleagues I would call this battle between Solo Build It and Wealthy Affiliate a draw, I would not do so.
The reason I give the edge to Wealthy Affiliate is for two main reasons:
- The owners of Wealthy Affiliate are Kyle Loudoun and Carson Lim. Basically, throughout this whole WA vs SBI controversy, They’ve said nothing negative about SBI or it’s founder Ken Evoy. They’ve taken the high road on this and choose NOT to retaliate.
- It’s an undeniable fact that the WA platform is constantly updated to meet the challenges of today’s affiliate marketer. The owners are constantly working to make the Wealthy Affiliate experience a smooth and stress-free as possible so you can focus on learning how to make money online.
So it really comes down to this simple truth: The platform that YOU feel is the right fit FOR YOU is the one YOU should choose! Regardless if it’s Solo Build It or Wealthy Affiliate, whatever platform “feels” like the proper one for YOU is the right choice…Period!
It’s ALWAYS About The Money
When people tell you “It’s not about the money”, they’re absolutely lying through their teeth!
We’re here because we want to help people solve their problems AND make a comfortable living in the process.
Therefore, I’ve provided some links to Wealthy Affiliate members who have had financial success using this platform.
2019 Income Proof List
2018 Income Proof List
2017 Income Proof List
Additional Resources
- How Can I Make Money With Affiliate Marketing
- What Is The Best Affiliate Marketing Training For Beginners?
My Final Thoughts: A Solo Build It Review – Is Alexa Accurate?
Internet marketing is here to stay and there’s no doubt it will become more competitive over time for both Solo Built It and Wealthy Affiliate.
The accuracy of data from sites like Alexa is flawed and cannot be trusted in it’s entirety, which has been proven by a wide range of industry leaders.
While Ken Envoy’s review of Wealthy Affiliate had a few valid points, what’s clear is that he is so heavily biased against Wealthy Affiliate that he is unable to make a fair comparison.
Therefore, you must discount Ken Evoy’s mammoth review, or expose, or whatever you want to call it, of Wealthy Affiliate if you see it while doing your due diligence.
Your choice of either Wealthy Affiliate or Solo Build It is a personal decision.
For
Feel Free To Leave Comments Below!
Talk Soon,
Howard
Sounds to me like Solo Build It are scared of hard work and instead they are busy pointing fingers. And to hear people who are reviewing their product don’t even have experience with the product. in my opinion, I think they (Solo Build It) need to put more effort in improving their product rather than blaming business that are doing things the right way period. that’s my opinion.
greate post by the way.
Hello Rose,
Thank you for your comments on this post.
Howard
Ken Envoy – that’s a blast from the past! I did SBI many moons ago when it was called Site B uild It. I’m not going to dis it because, quite honestly, I’d totally forgotten about it until I ready your post and I can remember nothing about it 🙂 . However, needless to say, I didn’t get anywhere with it although that may have been down to my mindset as much as anything.
I remember reading somewhere words to the effect that you won’t get ahead by knocking your opposition back. In other words, don’t bad-mouth them unjustly, so it’s disappointing to read of this spat. Having said that, to refresh my memory, I Googled it and the first organic result for “solo build it reviews” (without quotes) made interesting reading… If it’s not the top organic result when you Google it, Dear Reader, it’s the review on an interior decorating site! You just gotta laugh 🙂
Anyway, I was more interested in the rankings report. I’m guessing that if different sites use different tools to measure these things then their results will be different. As you say, the best measurement is simply to compare the ratings of two sites to get a comparative reading. I’m not sure if we should be surprised by the lack of accuracy given the complexity and difficulty of the task.
Well, that took me back, Howard :-)Ian
Hello Ian,
Great comments…
Thanks for taking the time to reply.
Howard
Does it seem that the accuracy of Alexa findings can only be as reliable as the data it receives, and as the data is flawed, so is the result?
Won’t it be more damaging if we keep the controversy in the headlines? Is this big enough that if we walk away from it, It won’t just die?
Aren’t we wasting more valuable time and resources combatting this then just letting it die?
Hello Rod,
I agree with you…I would rather just let the so-called controversy die…
However, negativity gets clicks, and as long as people keep this crap going, it will never end.
Thank you for taking the time to read my post.
Talk Soon,
Howard
I have to agree 100% with everything you have just said here. One thing I had to do was to read part one in order to completely understand and comment this part 2. What struck out the most about part one is the fact that you clearly explain that “If any member of Wealthy Affiliate is writing negatively about Solo Build It! they are acting on their own”. This is very true and it’s not what is thought at Wealthy Affiliate!!
Now if someone uses data that is basically flawed to begin with to bash the other one, it should be noted and I think that you did a great job of saying things as they are. If the data used is not giving the full picture, then it should be said out loud! It’s a common fact that some of Wealthy Affiliate’s websites are gathering “cyber dust” since we have 50 to play with at no extra cost!!! I for one have quite a few that are just doing that: “Gathering cyber dust”, and I only use them when I need to test a new plugin or theme…
You also mention this in your part 2 : “The bottom line is there’s absolutely nothing you can do about it EXCEPT continue making a great product and improving on it.”
Well there you go! That is the answer to the Solo Build it! and Wealthy Affiliate saga! Be the best and prove to everybody else who is better than the other. There will always be people that have their own opinion no matter what.
Thanks for taking the time to read this post, Denis.
For SEO purposes, I’ve combined both articles (part one & two) into this blog post.
As you stated at the end of your comment: “There will always be people that have their own opinion no matter what.”
Frankly, that statement pretty much sums it up!
Talk Soon,
Howard