In this Affiliate Lab review, I will simplify everything inside the course offered by Matt Diggity, one of the most highly regarded educators who teach SEO.
I took four days to complete this course three years back, and I got critical insights into niche selection, website building, performing audits, and, in general, how to make more money from a website.
In the review, you will get a trailer of what the course by Matt Diggity offers, how students are finding the course, and the investment required.
TL:DR: I took the course and followed the teachings to experiment with my SEO goals. Turns out, despite being in the field for five years, there were so many things I still needed to uncover. The Affiliate Lab is legit and offers amazing insights. However, it doesn’t make you rich overnight. I’ll recommend experimenting with the teachings from the course rather than aiming to hit your financial goal right after the course.
Why Should You Trust This Affiliate Lab Review
First things first, why should you trust the credibility of this affiliate lab review? You must have other questions on your mind too, like:
- Have I taken this course myself?
- Have I implemented the methods taught in the course?
- Did the methods work for me?
The answer to all of the above questions is a YES. Also, I met Matt in person at this year’s global SEO conference in Chiang Mai in November. Here is our picture together!
As an SEO, SaaS, and content marketer, I have been a close follower of the Affiliate Lab for three years.
I have used Matt Diggity’s guide line by line to see first-hand improvement in my website in terms of – keyword research, niche selection, website auditing, and the overall SEO of my website.
The Affiliate Lab In A Nutshell – Key Takeaways
Instructors | Matt Diggity & Jay Yap |
Ideal For | Beginner, intermediate, and expert SEOs |
Course Highlights | Niche selection, On-site SEO, Offsite SEO, technical audit, authority site module, and bonuses. |
Pricing | $997 (as a single payment) |
Refund | No refunds |
Course Bonuses | 11+ bonus courses |
This might just be THE course for you to learn the complete process of website building, ranking it, and monetizing it. My main key takeaways from the Affiliate lab are:
- The Affiliate Lab offers details of niche selection, keyword research, on-page and off-page SEO, building a site, content, optimization, maintenance, auditing, and building authority from one of the best SEOs.
- With your investment, you get masterclasses, playbooks, and mastery classes on topics that will help elevate your website and its performance.
- The content taught in the course is something Matt uses himself and is tested and proven to work.
- The course provides his own checklists, SOPs, a niche grading tool, and access to an exclusive Facebook group of SEO enthusiasts and site builders, where Matt himself is active.
- The output of the investment is not limited and gives lifetime access to the courseware with frequent updates made.
Pros and Cons of the Affiliate Lab
I found that the course has some really beneficial and note-worthy features and pieces of knowledge within the course. But it also comes with some drawbacks that can’t be overlooked.
Here’s a quick brief about its Pros and Cons; more details on these further in the article:
Pros
- Teaches grey hat techniques
- Simplifies complex topics
- Success stories and testimonials that show the result.
- 11+ Bonus courses apart from the main course.
Cons
- Challenging to understand the pricing
- No refunds offered
- Some unethical practices taught
- Older modules need updation
Is Matt Diggity legit?
Matt Diggity is an electrical engineer turned SEO expert. After being introduced to the idea of ranking websites and earning commissions from affiliates, Matt decided to take it up as his main career path.
By learning the ropes of it and flipping websites, he decided to share his knowledge and techniques via a masterclass on SEO and affiliate marketing. And that’s how The Affiliate Lab was born.
He hosts an SEO conference every year in Chiang Mai, Thailand. It is like an Affiliate lab community meetup and is one of the best SEO events held in the world. His results support his claims, with thousands of students speaking well about the course.
Over 98% of This year’s conference tickets were sold instantly without even them releasing the line-up of speakers.
Here’s an after-movie of the Chiang Mai 2023 conference:
Apart from being an instructor for this course, Matt Diggity runs a YouTube channel with 144,000 subscribers, where he shares quick SEO tips and addresses common concerns faced by his followers.
Here are Matt’s social media handle that you can follow:
Stick till the end to read the user testimonials and the results they got further in the article below!
But is it the right course for you? Let’s find out.
Who Is The Affiliate Lab For?
To tell you the truth, this course is not for everyone and anyone. It is not an educational course, nor a skill course that you should take as a hobby or for knowledge.
The Affiliate Lab is for someone very serious about building an effective site that generates a generous income and for people willing to put in the effort to implement Matt’s teachings.
You can learn the basics of it from “The Beginners Lab,” without a doubt. However, this course demands patience, willingness, and time (it is a 100+ lesson training)
Here’s a poll from the community group showing the diversity of users of the course and their monthly revenue:
Building an affiliate website that performs and produces income has become tough in today’s time, owing to the frequent updates to the search engines.
The course is not a fool-proof guide but, instead, a thorough DIY material that requires a lot of effort and experience.
What are the inclusions of the Affiliate Lab and how does it work?
Getting started with the course is super-easy and has a clean and ad-free interface that I prefer.
Upon signing up, you are thrown straight into the dashboard that includes all the modules and courses offered.
Inside the Affiliate Lab course, you will find:
- An intense 100+ hours of lessons spread across 320 videos.
- 6 grab-and-go templates and tools are used by Matt.
- SOPs and checklists to rank on Google.
- Entry to a live Facebook Community group with SEO doubts handled by Matt.
What you’ll learn in the Affiliate Lab:
- Niche Selection
- On-Site SEO
- Off-Site SEO
- Conversion Rate Optimization (CRO)
- The Kitchen Sink (methods to bring up a stuck website)
- Authority Module
The Affiliate Lab is the first course that is present on the dashboard, with 11+ course bundles forming the core part of your purchase. The other bonus courses that are offered with the subscription are mentioned below.
Here is the list of the bonus courses that come in the bundle:
Sr. No. | Bonus Courses | Instructors |
1 | Website Flipping Masterclass | Matt Diggity |
2 | Downloadables – Checklists and SOPs | Matt Diggity |
3 | The truth about penalties | Matt Diggity |
4 | Outreach Masterclass | Matt Diggity |
5 | Affiliate Email Marketing | Matt Diggity |
6 | The Affiliate Portfolio Playbook | Matt, Jay, Anthony & Mads |
7 | Optimize your Life | Matt Diggity |
8 | SEO Testing | Nick Swan |
9 | The Content Scaling Playbook | Kevin Meng |
10 | Topical Authority Masterclass | Koray Tuðberk GÜBÜR |
11 | 301 Redirect Mastery | Matt Diggity |
12 | AI Content Generation Playbook | Matt Diggity |
13 | Monetization Mastery | Matt Diggity |
14 | Personal Branding | Matt Diggity |
The course has been updated 80+ times and has grown from a 20-hour to 100 hours+ since its launch!
Additionally, it has about 320 videos, which felt like a lot before starting but were easy to consume as the explanation is engaging and the video length is perfect — Not too long, nor too short.
The Affiliate Lab follows a ranking style where the focus is solely on:
- Quality Content for the reader and the robot (Google)
- Highly technical content
- Quality backlinks
- White hat techniques (also has a section of optional grey hat techniques)
- Constant Testing
With this, let me start by sharing my experience of using the Affiliate Lab, the things that I love, and some things that I don’t know about the course!
My Experience Using The Affiliate Lab
The course starts with an introduction to Matt and his journey from being an engineer to a full-time SEO and gradually explains the things I was to learn throughout the course.
Follow the breakdown below where I share my insight on each of the course bundles as it unfolds.
1. Introduction
Lesson length: 25 Minutes
The first module starts with an introduction and a welcome note from Matt Diggity. It included the basics and essential things to focus on in the course, the ways to join the community group, an introduction to the 6-Figure Flipper Club, and a guide to use the features inside the course.
The lesson interface is, again, pretty neat and allows easy access to any module and lesson from the sidebar to the left. What’s more is that below each video includes:
- What you will learn
- Why the video is important and
- Pitfalls to avoid
- The instructor name
- Links for downloadable materials
2. Niche Selection
Lesson length: 1 hour 18 minutes
Next, the module immediately jumps into the basics of niche selection and reaches the expert methods of niche selection that are bound to work!
Matt briefly introduces this and explains the key differences between a niche and an authority site, how to hunt a niche, and how to use a niche grading tool with a live demo.
I highly recommend this module and would advise you to consume this by taking proper notes and going through it attentively! There are very few people who explain the roots of niche selection quite as well as Matt in this module.
The lessons included in this module are:
- Introduction to Niche Selection
- Niche vs. Authority Sites
- Niche Hunting
- Niche Grading Tool
- How to choose a niche that is guaranteed to work
- Why we don’t use Amazon
- How to find non-amazon affiliate programs
Demandsage Bonus: To add up to your selection of the affiliate programs to choose from, you can refer to these 29 top paying affiliate programs.
3. On-site SEO
Lesson length: 7 hours 42 minutes.
This seven-hour-long course is very elaborate and teaches the importance of using the correct keywords as per the algorithm. You learn everything about the on-page SEO game and find yourself in technical information on:
- Domain names
- Keyword research
- Site architecture
- Content building
- Page building
- Onsite optimization
- Featured snippet optimization
- Conversion rate optimization
“The Car Analogy” aptly describes On-site SEO and how it is different from Off-site SEO and stresses its importance for a website.
Additionally, at the end, a chapter on “website maintenance” showed how to develop fresh content, update content, grab keywords, etc.
4. Off-site SEO
Lesson length: 5 hours 9 minutes
Just as the On-site SEO is the frame of a car, the Off-site SEO is the engine of it. In summary, I understood that Off-site SEO tactics can help my content rank higher quickly, but not doing it right will hamper it.
Here’s a summary of what this module taught:
- Creating an online Google-friendly persona
- Creating a social fortress
- Anchor text analysis
- Local Citations
- Social Signals
- Backlink strategy
- PBN linking (Optional)
- Tier 2 link building
5. Technical audits
Lesson length: 31 minutes.
Here, Jay Yap teaches the importance of conducting a full website audit, the reasons for conducting these audits, and the things that need to be considered. He also explains how to use the Google search console, technical on-page and off-page audits, and Ahrefs for an audit.
I learned about a complex term called – “Negative SEO,” its different types, and how to prevent it, which I was unaware of before.
6. The Kitchen Sink
Lesson length: 22 minutes
Further, the course introduced this chapter, which explained this list of methods to get the sites unstuck, and Matt taught this using different techniques, audits, and other important things to debug the site.
The preferred method was to use them all at once, give it some time, and then check up on the positive results.
This module includes lessons on:
- An introduction to the kitchen sink
- Site size explosions
- The ‘Set Up’ technique
- Content and mark-up injections
- The nitty-gritty of it
7. Authority-site module
Lesson length: 1 hour 30 minutes
The seventh module of the Affiliate Lab demonstrates the top-to-bottom breakdown of an authority site, its naming, architecture, backlinking, and more. Building authority is the biggest goal for any website, but it is not an easy job.
However, during this course of over an hour, Matt breaks down every aspect of authority websites. This includes everything about:
- Building authority sites
- Backlinking strategies
- Things to do for authority sites
- Pitfalls that can be faced
- Building real E-A-T
8. What’s Next
Lesson length: 22 minutes
This was the concluding module, where Matt thanked me for the patience and time I invested with valuable advice as critical takeaways of the course. Matt mentions that learning is only 20% of the SEO; the remaining 80% is the experience.
I really agree with this because SEO is constantly evolving and changing; only diverse experience can help you gain mastery with all these valuable insights from this course.
A new module, “Scaling Multiple Affiliate Sites,” was recently added. It teaches the reasons to flip a site and how to gauge the correct timing to do it.
This also had methods to handle sites when they were in sandbox and authority modes.
9. Bonus Module
Lesson length: 4 hours 26 minutes.
In the bonus module, you can find 6 lessons that talk about – a six-figure flip story, the power of SEO masterminds, takeaways on algorithm updates, and a couple of webinars.
And that’s that. This was a sneak peek of what the whole Affiliate Lab course includes, with the lessons and the time you may need to consume them. Get yourself signed up to explore more!
How Does The Affiliate Lab Pricing Look Like?
The Affiliate Lab is priced at $997 if paid as a single payment. If you wish to convert this into an EMI, you can do that by paying 2 EMIs of $597, but you have to pay $197 more.
Plan | Pricing |
Two installments | $597 x 2 = $1,194 |
Single Payment | $997 |
Refer to the screenshot below for a complete breakdown of payment options:
With the Affiliate Lab subscription, I have access to other bonus masterclasses. SOPs and checklists and an entry to the exclusive Facebook member group.
The price may seem like a lot, but the value it holds is certainly way more than what the subscription offers. For a one-time investment, you enjoy a total benefit of $16,364 for only $997
The Affiliate Lab Refund:
Unlike popular sources that you may find online claiming that the lab offers a refund, it does not. Their official page says so too!
Affiliate Lab Suit To Which Audience?
I feel that this course should be on the checklist of every SEO – beginner or expert. For beginners, this course helps build a solid base, and for experts, this can be a guideline they can follow if things aren’t working out for them.
The course offers good and measurable insights into the affiliate marketing techniques used to generate traffic and revenue. With genuine reviews from clients who have benefited from this course, Matt’s techniques and methods work for many.
Here’s what some of the students who took the course have to say:
To see more, head over to their student testimonials section here, where I have sourced the above reviews.
Furthermore, here’s a snippet of the Facebook community group I have been praising:
Why do I recommend The Affiliate Lab?
I liked how Matt actively works on newer things and experiments with things; what he teaches has genuine value.
- The platform is frequently updated with new and relevant information on topics. As mentioned above, it has been updated 80+ times, and the content, which was 20+ hours before, is now over 100 hours.
- Students get access to a Facebook group consisting of over 3800 members who belong to different industries and have different experiences to share. These types of platforms really make a course stand out and make the students self-sufficient after finishing the courseware.
- Lastly, the topics contain a lot of bonus content, templates, and documents; be vigilant and use them to your benefit.
What I Didn’t like about the Affiliate Lab?
While reviewing this course, I was mostly satisfied with the inclusions and the interface, but there are some things I did not like and would like to highlight.
Important things you should know:
- There is no free trial for students to try out this course. You have to make an informed decision to buy the course and cannot use this as a trial.
- The bonus content included may seem overwhelming, and the instructors sometimes don’t teach the subject as well as Matt does.
- The major downside I found about the course is the sound. Some videos are well-edited, while others feel like being on a video call with Matt.
I think these are some things that can be looked at to make the experience much better.
Some Great Affiliate Lab Alternatives
Though this course is well-known and trusted to give students results, some notable platforms offer similar courses at varying prices.
1. The Authority Hacker
The highly coveted affiliate marketing program that Mark Webster and Gael Breton offer has helped over 13,000 students from 120 countries. It is perfectly crafted for beginners and experts alike.
With the course, you get over 125+ videos that teach you the A to Zs of affiliate marketing, a members community, templates, and real-life case studies that demonstrate the credibility of these techniques.
We have covered more details about this course. Read our expert review on Authority Hacker to know if this course is right for you!
2. Blog Growth Engine
Another highly rated course will teach you how to start, grow, and scale a blog that can generate up to $10K/month. The course is offered by Adam Enfroy, who has shown how he has generated seven figures in a year by blogging.
Although the price of this course may seem a bit expensive, the value that this course will provide you just cannot be measured in monetary terms. Before purchasing, try attending their 80-minute masterclass to get to know the course better, or check out our honest Blog Growth Engine Review.
3. Project 24
This is one of the most affordable courses that will teach you about blogging and YouTube and the ways you can generate money from both sources. The course is designed for beginners and teaches a range of topics in depth. Know more about Project 24 here.
Demandsage Bonus: Have a look at some of the best affiliate marketing courses that the team has covered in the past.
Is Affiliate Lab Worth the HYPE?
The Affiliate Lab has been groundbreaking for me, where I learned about some topics that others seem to miss. He focused on giving practical knowledge about what works and what doesn’t while consistently providing updates.
This course is priced perfectly within the budget, and I am sure you will get a good ROI from it. Its focus on building and scaling niche sites helps you create a unique identity, making it remarkable and different from its competition.
Why you should go for Affiliate Lab:
- Matt discusses tried and tested techniques that have helped him scale and flip multiple websites.
- It is affordable and more valuable than most other SEO and affiliate marketing courses out there.
- The course has lifetime access and free updates once you subscribe.
Besides, affiliate marketing is expected to reach 40 billion by the end of 2023, and The Affiliate Lab will surely help you to get a heads up in the market and stay ahead of the competition.
Do let me know how you liked the course in the comment below. Happy learning!
FAQ
Affiliate Lab assumes that participants have zero knowledge of affiliate marketing or SEO. So, it begins with the basic concepts of digital marketing. Therefore, it’s suitable for newbies.
The course offers 100+ hours of video content. But you can complete it at your own pace. On average, typical participants complete the course in 3 to 4 weeks.
No. The course presents everything upfront. There’s no upsell, hidden charges, or extra add-ons. Once you pay, you have access to everything the course offers.
Yes indeed. The very first module of the course includes Comprehensive videos on how to choose a profitable niche. You will find all the points you need to decide on a niche.
Yes. Inside the course is a ‘Content Building’ section with around seven videos dedicated to crafting catchy content that attracts more visitors.
The affiliate lab course is priced at $997 if you buy in one payment and can pay for it in two installments of $597 each.
The course is worth the price for its inclusions. With the purchase, you can access lifetime updates and other bonus modules to help you scale your affiliate marketing business.
You can get a discount of $200 on the $997 for a limited time period. There is no discount offered for the installment payment option.
Affiliate marketing is a growing industry; its worth is estimated at around $17 billion and is expected to reach $40 billion by 2023.