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Helping small businesses make money using AI | AI Filmmaker | Content Creator

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Jan Barley

The Pros and Cons of Affiliate Marketing: Is It Right for You?

the pros and cons of affiliate marketing

Starting An Affiliate Marketing Business Needn’t Be Complicated Once You Know What To Do

You might not consider the pros and cons of affiliate marketing, but there’s a lot to unpack before you start promoting your first offer.

I started this journey in late 2023, driven to learn digital marketing. Affiliate marketing falls under an enormous umbrella within the digital marketing space.

I began by selling master resell products, but I don’t want the responsibility of setting everything up myself, including payment processors.

Affiliate marketing has become a popular way for anyone to earn money online. Still, like any business model, it comes with advantages and challenges.

Sadly, many people give up on affiliate marketing because they make the typical rookie mistakes that lead to getting no sales.

Affiliate marketing is surprisingly simple to understand, but it takes time to make consistent income.

This article explores the interesting pros and cons of building an affiliate marketing business to help you decide if it’s the right path for you.

Pros of Affiliate Marketing

I love affiliate marketing, and I hope you love it, too. There are so many aspects in its favour that even total beginners can enjoy.

#1: Low Startup Costs

One of the most appealing aspects of affiliate marketing is the minimal initial investment required. Unlike traditional businesses, you don’t need to create, stock, or ship products.

Your main costs are setting up a website and potentially investing in marketing tools.

I pay £6/month for WordPress hosting and $27/month to Systeme for marketing tools.

You need a professional website with a custom domain because most merchants won’t entertain partnerships without one.

The only exception is if you are a social media influencer with a significant following.

Additionally, later, you might want to join Journey by Mediavine’s ad revenue program and earn passive income.

#2: No Customer Service Hassles

One of the biggest hassles with selling digital products is dealing with customers. They aren’t always reasonable.

You’re not responsible for product fulfilment or customer service as an affiliate marketer. The merchant handles these aspects, allowing you to focus on marketing and content creation.

Freedom from responsibility was the primary factor that fueled my interest in pursuing affiliate marketing.

#3: Flexibility and Location Independence

Affiliate marketing gives you total freedom to work from anywhere with an internet connection. You can set your hours and build your business around your lifestyle.

Once you start earning recurring income, you can live life like one big holiday.

#4: Passive Income Potential

Once you’ve created content, set up your affiliate links, and targeted traffic sources, you can earn money 24/7, even while you sleep. This passive income aspect is particularly appealing to many aspiring entrepreneurs.

Still, let’s not beat around the bush. You won’t start making affiliate commissions immediately. It takes commitment to consistently create content on your chosen platforms, such as your blog, YouTube, TikTok, social media or communities.

Content creation might sound like an easy job, but it can be tricky to stay motivated when you’re not seeing financial results. You must push through if you want to make affiliate marketing your full-time income goal.

#5: Diverse Product Options

Whatever niche you are in, there are countless affiliate programs available. You can choose products aligning with your interests and audience needs. This diversity allows you to create multiple income streams without depending on a single product or company.

It’s essential to choose affiliate partners relevant to your niche. Otherwise, your offers may confuse your audience. For example, I promote marketing tools, digital products like Threads UNLEASHED, courses, hosting, AI tools, and software that I use or have used.

The Cons of Affiliate Marketing

There are some disadvantages to affiliate marketing, although, in my opinion, they are easy to overcome.

#1: Fierce Competition

The low barrier to entry means many people are trying their hand at affiliate marketing. You become a blur in a crowded marketplace, which can be challenging, especially in popular niches.

The SaaS (software as a service) industry is highly competitive, though it’s one that newbies often target because it typically pays well and offers recurring income.

If you choose a competitive niche, try to create something unique around your offers that draws people’s attention.

#2: Lack of Control

You don’t control the products you’re promoting, their pricing, or the overall customer experience. If a merchant changes their affiliate program terms or discontinues a product, it can directly impact your income.

Your ONLY job is getting traffic to the merchant’s page. After that, it’s their job to convert viewers into buyers. Sadly, many merchant websites are informational without considering the psychological reasons people buy.

#3: Commission Volatility

Affiliate commission rates can change without notice. A program that once offered high commissions might reduce rates, affecting your earnings potential.

My advice is not to put too many eggs in one basket. Have multiple offers with a variety of merchants.

#4: Delayed Gratification

Building a successful income-generating affiliate marketing business takes time. It often requires months of consistent effort before seeing significant results, which can be discouraging for those seeking quick profits.

My first affiliate commission was $11.38. Honestly, it felt like winning the lottery! Somebody had taken the time to read my article, click the link and buy a product.

Getting my first sale kept my motivation going.

#5: Constant Learning Curve

The digital marketing landscape is constantly evolving. Staying competitive requires continuous learning about SEO, content marketing, and emerging platforms or technologies.

Think on your feet and study analytics. Find what content drives traffic to your affiliate offers and adapt your approach.

Sometimes, merchants make poor decisions that upset their customers or affiliates. Always be prepared to switch to an alternative merchant if the offer is not beneficial to potential customers.

Is Affiliate Marketing Right for You?

is affiliate marketing right for you

Affiliate Marketing Can be – And Should be – Fun

A “certain type” of person enjoys and sticks with affiliate marketing because it can be tedious initially.

To see if affiliate marketing will suit you, consider the following questions:

  1. Are you patient and willing to put in consistent effort without immediate rewards?
  2. Do you enjoy creating content and engaging with an audience?
  3. Are you comfortable with the idea of selling and promoting products?
  4. Can you adapt to changes in the digital marketing landscape?
  5. Are you self-motivated and disciplined enough to work independently?

If you answered yes to most of these questions, affiliate marketing could be a good fit for you.

How to Choose the Best Affiliate Merchants

These tips are the ones I learned the hard way!

#1: Affiliate Network Or Affiliate Program?

Affiliate networks like Impact, Partnerstack, JVzoo and Clickbank have thousands of products, but they’re the first place most newbies start looking for affiliate offers.

Therefore, you’re not standing out promoting these offers.

Affiliate programs are independent of networks. You approach the merchant, and they approve and provide an affiliate link.

Some merchants partner with networks, such as SurferSEO with Partnerstack and Ubersuggest partners with Impact.

#2: Recurring or One-Off Payment?

100% recurring for me.

What’s the point of working hard to drive traffic to an offer paying 20% one-off commission when you can divert attention to an affiliate offer paying 20% monthly recurring commission?

Systeme.io is one of the highest paying programs. It pays a staggering 60% recurring lifetime commission. Some affiliates in the Systeme community are making considerable monthly income.

#3: How Much Commission Does the Merchant Pay?

Many novice affiliate marketers think Amazon is the best place to start affiliate marketing.

Amazon affiliate program pays 3-4% commission. You’ll have challenges making enough money to live on unless you’re selling high-ticket items.

Even with a high ticket item, imagine selling a $2k product and getting paid $60 for your efforts.

My minimum criteria is 20% commission. Ideally, I choose merchants with high commissions, like Systeme.

#4: Does the Merchant Pay Lifetime Commissions?

Ideally, choose a merchant that pays lifetime commissions because that starts working towards building a significant passive income.

#5: How Long Does the Merchant Track Cookies?

365 days/year is the preferred cookie tracking.

#6: Does the Merchant Have Analytics?

Detailed analytics helps you stay motivated when you can see that you’re driving traffic to your offers and from where.

#7: Does the Merchant Offer Instant Affiliate Approval?

Most merchants don’t offer instant approval. They want to check that you have some experience and a live website with relevant content or active social media channels.

Some affiliate networks have filters so you can search for merchants offering instant approval.

My Top Tips For Starting Affiliate Marketing

  1. Only represent merchants whose products or services you have used or that have excellent reviews (I always search on Trustpilot)
  2. Publish at least twenty blog posts before applying to merchants
  3. Attach your website to Google Search Console and Google Analytics so you can regularly assess which pages get the most traffic
  4. After #4, optimise your top-performing pages and interlink to relevant content on your website
  5. Pin blog posts on Pinterest to drive more traffic (anticipate 3-6 months before seeing results, but Pinterest is a goldmine for affiliate marketers)
  6. Build an email list. You can have up to 2k subscribers on the Systeme free plan
  7. Don’t settle for anything less than 20% commissions
  8. Always choose recurring commissions
  9. Join an affiliate marketing community
  10. Start a YouTube channel

Conclusion

Affiliate marketing is a genuinely fantastic way to build recurring passive income. It takes a lot of work initially without results, so be prepared for the long game.

The best time to start is today. In 12-24 months, affiliate marketing could replace your full-time income.

There are also spin-offs, such as teaching others how to become affiliate marketers or creating courses that you can promote to your YouTube channel subscribers, email list, and communities.

Remember, success in affiliate marketing doesn’t happen overnight. It’s a journey that requires persistence, strategy, and a genuine desire to provide value to your audience. That said, affiliate marketing can be a rewarding and profitable venture if you’re willing to put in the work and play the long game.

Disclaimer: There are affiliate links on this page. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.

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Is Systeme.io The Best Free Marketing Platform for Beginners?

is systeme.io the best free marketing platform

Is Systeme.io the Best Free Marketing Platform for Beginners & Experienced Marketers?

Is Systeme.io the best free marketing platform for beginners in 2024? It certainly has been for me. If you want lead generation software, Systeme.io is an excellent start for beginners.

Since joining, I have completed the overall platform certification and sales funnel builder training. There are 140k+ members in the Facebook group, with many crushing their marketing efforts using Systeme.io.

A staggering 64% of small businesses struggle with managing their marketing efforts effectively. Some marketing platforms seem to make it their mission to overcomplicate things, so people give up because there’s too much vertical learning.

If you’re tired of juggling multiple marketing tools and paying hefty monthly subscription fees, Systeme.io could be the answer.

I managed my free account for over a year before upgrading to the starter plan. I’d started building offers and funnels and needed more marketing tools.

What is Systeme.io and How Does it Work?

Is Systeme.io the best marketing platform for beginners and experienced marketers?

Systeme.io is an all-in-one marketing platform. It’s an ideal platform for beginners and offers a certificated course that teaches you how to navigate the dashboard.

Is Systeme.io really free? Yes, it is. The lifetime guarantee isn’t hype. It’s free as long as you stay within the parameters of the free plan.

Understanding Systeme.io’s Features

  • Sales Funnels: Systeme.io gives the user a choice from multiple templates for different purposes. The drag-and-drop feature is easy to use once you figure out how the sales funnel process works. You can create numerous options for order forms, opt-ins, upsells, and thank you pages and track funnel analytics.
  • Email Marketing: You can easily build an email campaign and subscriber list. You can send newsletters, broadcasts and automated email sequences with the free email marketing software.
  • Membership Sites: Create an online course and sell gated access to content. You can choose to give full access or drip feed to your students.
  • Affiliate Management: It’s easy to track affiliate links, monitor performance and automate payments.
  • Blogging: You can create one blog with unlimited posts with the free plan. It has basic SEO, but considering it’s free, it’s not a bad starting option.

What Do You Get With the Systeme.io Free Plan?

Systeme.io's pricing plans

Systeme.io’s Pricing Plans Are Generous. You Get a Lot of Value for Your Subscription (Pay Monthly or Annually)

Systeme’s free lifetime plan is generous. Here is what you get: –

  • One tag
  • 24/7 support
  • 1-click upsell
  • One workflow
  • One order bump
  • One coupon code
  • One A/B split test
  • One custom domain
  • One automation rule
  • Three sales funnels
  • Up to 2,000 contacts
  • One email campaign
  • Run an affiliate program
  • Stripe & PayPal Integration
  • Up to 15 sales funnel steps
  • One blog with unlimited posts
  • One course with unlimited students
  • One community with unlimited members

What Are the Limitations Of the Free Systeme.io Plan?

The main limitation of the Systeme.io FREE plan is having only one automation rule, tag, and workflow. Still, if you build one course with an offer, these limitations shouldn’t be problematic.

The Starter Plan at $27/month gives you: –

  • 5 workflows
  • 10 tags
  • 10 automation rules

The increase in these three sales funnel building tools give you the flexibility for creating more offers.

With the free plan, you cannot migrate your courses or offers from another platform. That functionality is only available on the $97/month unlimited plan.

Migrating your accounts is worth it because the Systeme team can handle the entire migration process.

What’s Available on Systeme.io?

systeme dashboard

Systeme.io’s Dashboard is Easy To Navigate

The Main Dashboard

  • Contacts & tags
  • Funnels
  • Email campaigns, newsletters & tags
  • Blogs
  • Automation rules & workflows
  • Products: Physical, orders, coupons, courses & communities
  • Sales: Transactions, subscriptions, affiliate invoices & my affiliate program

The Affiliate Dashboard

Shows what you have earned from affiliate offers

The Student Dashboard

This area is where you will find the courses you have bought. As a paid member, you get regular access to many free helpful courses to help you grow your business.

The Marketplace

The marketplace has multiple products offering affiliate opportunities for low- and high-ticket products. You can promote any of them without waiting for approval.

Systeme.io User Experience And Interface

I find the Systeme.io interface easy to navigate, but I’ve used the platform for several years. That said, finding your way around is easy without much effort. The interface is user-friendly, clean and easy to navigate.

It is mobile responsive. When building a sales funnel, you can switch between laptop/pc view to mobile view, which means you can design the perfect mobile user experience for your viewers.

systeme.io drag and drop

Building A Sales Page is Simple Drag & Drop With Elements (on the left)

The Pros and Cons of Using Systeme.io Free Plan

No marketing platform is perfect. Systeme.io nails most things we marketers need, but here are what I consider to be the pros and cons.

The Pros of Systeme.io

  1. The free plan gives you access to everything you need to create one course, sell an offer and build a subscriber list without paying a penny
  2. You have 100+ ready-to-go templates to choose from for landing pages and sales pages & they’re adding link in bio templates soon
  3. Systeme.io listens to user feedback and regularly updates and improves the platform
  4. Promote Systeme.io and make 60% recurring commissions from sales.
  5. Automation rules and workflows decrease manual time
  6. You can set up affiliate programs for your offers
  7. The intuitive email editor is great for beginners
  8. Detailed knowledge base and video guides
  9. Multiple payment processor integration
  10. Easy drag-and-drop course builder
  11. The interface is user-friendly
  12. Huge Facebook community
  13. Excellent customer support
  14. Mobile responsive design
  15. Free email list building
  16. 2-factor authentication

Read: How to Make a 6-Figure Income Building Sales Funnels

The Cons of Systeme.io

  1. The community feature lacks social interaction elements. Hopefully, in time, Systeme.io will make it more like a Skool community where members can engage with each other
  2. Funnel editing is a bit of a learning experience. It’s best to play around with one until you figure out how to move everything about, add images and videos, change colours and fonts, etc
  3. The Systeme.io video training can be a little fast and challenging for complete beginners
  4. One tag, workflow and automation role in the free plan does limit your capacity to maximise the use of the three free sales funnels
  5. You cannot test your funnel process without making a live payment
  6. You cannot change payment details unless you cancel your plan
  7. The email design lacks advanced features

Systeme.io vs Clickfunnels: How Do They Stack Up?

Is Systeme.io the same as Clickfunnels? They provide similar marketing tools, and both have an excellent reputation.

However, Systeme.io vs Clickfunnels is an entire blog post I will write soon. Here is my quick overview of both marketing platforms.

systeme.io vs clickfunnels

Systeme.io vs Clickfunnels: Both Are Serious Contenders for Marketing Tools

The main difference between Systeme.io and Clickfunnels is the price.

  • A Clickfunnels subscription is $97/month
  • The Systeme.io Free plan is, well, er, FREE

OK, the free Systeme.io lifetime plan has limitations, but if you’re new to marketing tools, you can play around with the features and upgrade to the starter plan for $27 when ready.

Systeme.io’s pricing is generous, and they often offer price deals on unlimited plans.

Webinar Functionality

If you want a webinar hosting platform to run webinars, Systeme’s Webinar plan includes a vast increase in marketing tools features, plus webinar facilities for only $47/month.

The Unlimited Plan includes FREE migration from other marketing platforms.

Create and Host Your First Course for FREE

systeme AI course creation

Create your first course or course bundle on Systeme IO entirely for free

I built the Systeme 8-course bundle on Systeme in July by integrating it into one course with eight modules. I was shocked at how easy it was. It was something I had put off for months for fear of getting overwhelmed learning something new.

If you host a course somewhere like Kajabi, Mighty Networks and Thinkific, you might pay upwards of $99/month.

Create your first course on Systeme.io, integrate your payments, add a custom domain, and build a sales page. Then you are off to the races, my friend. On the $27/month Starter Plan, you can create and host five courses.

With Systeme’s AB testing tools, you can experiment with sales pages to see which works best. The Systeme.io templates are great for beginners, and you will soon be creating sales pages like a pro.

You can even add funnel building to your list of skills with the free funnel-building certification training.

systeme.io course bundle

You Can Drag & Drop Modules With Systeme.io’s Easy-To-Use Course Builder

Conclusion

I don’t apologise for saying that I think Systeme.io is the best free online marketing platform. Though I’m now on the paid $27/month Starter plan, I intend to upgrade to the Webinar plan in 2025.

I want to create evergreen webinars, a great traffic generation exercise.

Is Systeme.io perfect? No, there is a learning curve, but you’ll experience that with any platform requiring a grasp of technical understanding, such as workflows, tags and automation tools.

The secret is these seemingly technical aspects aren’t as complicated as they seem. I was surprised by how easy it was after watching a tutorial.

Clickfunnels is a fantastic platform, and you can test it out with a 14-day trial. It seems there’s a division between those who love Clickfunnels and those who love Systeme.io.

Ultimately, it’s your choice, but you cannot go wrong with Systeme’s free marketing software.

FAQs

Is Systeme.io Good For SEO

If you start a blog on Systeme.io (you get one blog with a free plan and unlimited posts), the SEO is basic. You will need to optimise all blog posts to start ranking on Google.

Is Systeme.io Free Forever?

Yes, the free unlimited plan is for a lifetime if you stay within the parameters of the free plan.

Is Systeme.io Completely Free?

Yes, Systeme.io is entirely free on the lifetime free plan.

Is Systeme.io Suitable for Beginners

You might experience a bit of a learning curve, but that applies to any marketing tools and software.

What Happens if I Have More Than 3 Sales Funnels on the Free Plan?

You can deactivate the excess funnels. They will stay in your account, ready for when you wish to upgrade or swap over another funnel you’re not using.

Disclaimer: There are affiliate links on this page. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.

Pinterest Account Suspended? What To Do If It Happens to You

deactivated pinterest account

Losing Your Pinterest Account Can Feel Awful. Still, You Are Not Alone. It Happens to Many People

Pinterest account suspended?

Picture this: You’re casually browsing Pinterest, minding your own business, when suddenly – BAM! A big red button on your login page says your account is deactivated.

No warning, no explanation. It’s just digital exile.

Has it happened to you? You’re not alone in this Pinterest purgatory. It happened to me, and I didn’t like it one bit.

Pinterest’s overzealous spam detection is snagging innocent accounts left and right. And their customer service? Well, let’s say it’s not winning any awards.

The worst part is that you’re primarily negotiating with bots, which never ends well.

Pinterest account recovery is NOT easy. Even if the algorithm caused an incorrect Pinterest suspension, you might not get your Pinterest account reactivated.

Still, don’t lose hope – I’ve been there and done that and am here to help you navigate this frustrating event.

I admit I didn’t get my account back, but I’ve learned a lot from the experience. Not least of all that: –

  1. Pinterest doesn’t care about you
  2. We (actually) MUST read Pinterest’s Community Guidelines
  3. The algorithm is draconian – think the worst controller in history
  4. Your appeals go to bots- speaking to a human is challenging, if not impossible
  5. You might not get your Pinterest account reactivated – cutting your losses and starting again might be the best option

The first step is to clarify if your account is genuinely suspended. We’re talking about complete lockout – no logging in, pinning, or any Pinterest activity.

If I tried to look at my page, I received a warning message, followed by an email stating that someone was trying to log in to my account.

If you can still access your account but reach has plummeted, it might be the Pinterest spam block instead. That’s a different beast, a different battle.

I hope, for your sake, the lockout is not a genuine deactivation.

My Pinterest Account Deactivation Saga

I schedule my pins on a Monday morning. For three months, I had built up the number of daily pins to three, spread from morning to evening, seven days a week.

I had 8.9k monthly views, increased engagement, and traffic flowed nicely to my affiliate offers and niche website.

That Monday morning was as typical as any before.

Tuesday morning, I opened the app to check my stats.

And there it was ….

That horrid BIG red button stated that Pinterest had deactivated my account.

I felt sick…

An email pinged in confirming Pinterest had deactivated my account for spam.

Damn?

Spam?

Like you, I manically searched Google and TikTok for answers.

I wanted my bloody account back!

Here’s the kicker: So much advice “out there” claims that Pinterest will reinstate your account quickly if you’re innocent.

Spoiler alert: That’s complete hogwash.

Pinterest’s system is about as reliable as a chocolate teapot.

So, if you’re staring at a suspended account message, take a deep breath. Maybe pour yourself a stiff drink. Then, let’s get to work.

Pinterest Account Suspended? Your Burning Questions Answered

I searched Google for hours trying to find a solution to my deactivated pinterest account. Here are some of the questions you might be asking.

How Do You Know Your Account Is Suspended?

  1. Scenario 1: The Real-Time Suspension Shocker
    You’re pinning away when suddenly, a message pops up declaring your account suspended—game over. No more Pinterest for you.
  2. Scenario 2: The “Your Account Has Been Suspended” Email
    Not online? You’ll get a charming email informing you of your digital downfall. Either way, you’re locked out of your Pinterest account faster than you can say “algorithm error.”

Why Did Pinterest Deactivate My Account?

There are two main reasons for losing your account:

#1: Accidental Spam Shenanigans

Maybe you were a bit overzealous with your pinning strategy. Common slip-ups include:

  • Using short links
  • Duplicating pins galore
  • Pinning the same URL daily
  • Unsolicited DM pin-bombing
  • Using “cloaking” such as a forwarding URL
  • Using outdated tactics like hashtag overload

My mistake was using short links, and I had a forwarding URL on one of my pins. Both of these errors were the first time I had made the mistake.

Pinterest is NOT forgiving of our humanness.

#2: The Dreaded Algorithm Glitch

These glitches are more common than you’d think. Sometimes, it’s a widespread issue affecting thousands.

#3: Sensitive Material

  • Don’t post nudes or anything that constitutes sexy
  • Avoid posting images of children

#4: Copying Someone Else’s Content

  • Design pins of your own. Do the pin design course that I did to learn how to create beautiful pins that convert.

Other times, it’s random; Pinterest’s finicky algorithm singles you out.

How to Appeal To Reactive Your Pinterest Account

Go to the Pinterest Appeal page and submit your appeal.

  1. Step 1: Submit help tickets like you’re trying to cash in a winning lottery ticket.
  2. Step 2: Copy and paste your appeals to save your sanity.
  3. Step 3: Thank Pinterest in advance for the help you hope to receive.
  4. Step 4: Don’t waste time getting angry, whiney or demanding answers. Pinterest isn’t big on explanations.

Pro Tip: Play the advertiser card. Pinterest seems to perk up when there’s potential ad revenue on the table. It didn’t work for me, but it has for some.

Crafting Your Help Ticket

Start with something like this:

“Dear Pinterest team, my account was mistakenly suspended for spam. I assure you I’m a dedicated creator who values the Pinterest community. If any missteps occurred, they were unintentional. Please have a human review my account. Pinterest is crucial to my brand, and I’m eager to continue contributing quality content.”

If that doesn’t work, try the advertiser angle:

“Hello, Pinterest team. I urgently need assistance. My account was incorrectly suspended, halting my plans for an upcoming ad campaign. I’m committed to Pinterest’s creator code and providing value to pinners. Please help reinstate my account so I can rejoin the Pinterest community and explore advertising opportunities.”

The Pinterest Waiting Game

Recovery time varies wildly. It could be hours, or it could be months.

I usually got a rejection email (bot) reply within an hour, but I never got my Pinterest account reactivated.

Harsh reality check: No platform owes us the right to use it. That’s why I wrote about the danger of not owning our content.

When something happens like this, it’s a stark reminder to diversify your traffic sources and build your email list.

Suspension-Proofing Your Pinterest Strategy

  1. Don’t use link shorteners.
  2. Don’t use URLs with forwarding.
  3. Read Pinterest Community Guidelines
  4. Avoid anything remotely spammy. When in doubt, don’t.
  5. Consider hiring a Pinterest expert or coach to keep you on track.
  6. Stay updated on best practices. Join Pinterest marketing groups, read blogs, and listen to podcasts.

What Happened to My Pinterest Account?

I submitted four appeals and received four rejections.

My stress levels were off the roof. I decided it was less stressful to start again.

I opened a new Pinterest account in July 2024 and started scheduling one pin daily.

Even though Pinterest is 100% OK with promoting affiliate links on pins, I no longer do it.

Instead, I write blog posts and link pins to them. My blog is a claimed website on Pinterest.

Whenever I open my Pinterest account, I feel hesitant and anxious about it happening again.

Best Affordable Pinterest Course for Beginners

If you want to avoid getting your account suspended, follow my tips, but a good solid course will give you the best grounding to grow on Pinterest.

Until recently, I recommended a few Pinterest courses, but not all are suitable for beginners, and some are expensive.

Then, in August 2025, Meagan Williamson contacted me to say she was creating a new and affordable Pinterest beginners course together. From my experience with Meagan, I KNEW the course would be good, but what materialised was even better than I expected.

Want to know more? Read my in-depth review of the Pinterest for Beginners course.

Should You Rely on Pinterest For Traffic?

Categorically, No!

I’m focusing on driving traffic to my blog from writing SEO blog content. Yes, Pinterest is a fantastic search engine once your account builds momentum.

Still, I will NEVER rely on Pinterest again.

I advise you to start a blog and learn to write SEO content.

If you can’t be arsed to learn SEO, try SEOWriting AI or SurferSEO to help you write SEO content without all the keyword research stuff.

Final Thoughts

Fighting an unfair Pinterest suspension is frustrating, but don’t give up.

If you’re innocent, keep pushing. Unfortunately, these algorithmic hiccups are now part of the Pinterest game.

The platform never used to be so draconian, but it is what it is, and we must learn to manage our relationship with Pinterest.

Learn as much as you can about Pinterest. Read my article on free Pinterest courses to help you get started.

If you’re ready to take Pinterest seriously, read the best Pinterest courses and best pinterest pin design course articles.

Focus on being the best creator you can be. ALWAYS have a backup plan for your traffic. I’ve considerably increased traffic to my site and work hard to maintain consistency.

Work hardest on the things you own.

Remember, you’re not the first to experience a deactivated Pinterest account. When you search for a solution, you will see hundreds or thousands of people who have lost their accounts.

Stay persistent, stay positive, and may the algorithm never judge your pin content as spam.

If not, F*** em and do your own thing.

Recommended Pinterest Tools: Pin Generator & Pin Inspector

If you’re serious about Pinterest marketing, you’ve probably come across Pin Generator and Pin Inspector—two popular tools designed to help you grow on Pinterest. Still, which one is right for you? It depends on whether you want to grow fast, save time or both. The following is a quick breakdown to help you decide.

Pin Generator Review

Pin Generator is an AI-powered Pinterest automation tool that helps you create, schedule, and post pins automatically—saving you tons of time. It takes me around an hour to create pins on Canva, another hour to write descriptions and another hour to schedule the lot. It gets tiresome after a few months of that weekly regime.

✅ Pros

  • Auto-generates pins from your website or blog (no manual design needed!)
  • Bulk scheduling to keep your Pinterest active 24/7
  • AI-powered designs that match Pinterest’s best practices
  • Keyword optimisation to boost SEO and reach more users
  • Time-saving—great for bloggers, businesses, and content creators

❌ Cons

  • Limited design customisation. It’s not as flexible as Canva, where you have design creativity. Still, the design is less important if your messaging and CTA are spot on. Only you can decide whether you can let go of the creative aspect of Canva.
pin generator calculator

Try the free cost savings calculator on Pin Generator

Is There A Free Plan?

No, but they offer a free trial to test how it works before committing. You can then pay a monthly subscription or get a generous discount when choosing an annual plan. Pin Generator also offers a time-activated lifetime plan.

Who Should Use Pin Generator?

It is ideal for bloggers, business owners, and Pinterest marketers who want to create more pins and save time by automating pin creation and scheduling.

Choose Pin Generator if you want a hands-off, automated Pinterest strategy with AI-generated pins and scheduling.

Pin Inspector Review

Pin Inspector is a Pinterest keyword and analytics tool that helps you find high-performing keywords, trending pins, and competitor insights.

✅ Pros

  • Find viral Pinterest keywords to help your pins rank higher
  • Analyse competitor pins to see what’s working in your niche
  • Discovers trending topics so you can create content people are searching for
  • Great for SEO—helps optimise descriptions for better visibility

❌ Cons

  • Erm! Can’t think of any. It’s an affordable tool for improving Pinterest results
pin inspector

Pin Inspector offers a one-time payment for lifetime access

Is There A Free Plan?

No, but Pin Generator offer a surprisingly reasonable one-time payment (no monthly subscription!), which is great for long-term use. There’s often a $20 discount on the website homepage, too.

Who Should Use It?

Perfect for Pinterest SEO experts, bloggers, and marketers who want to boost visibility with the right keywords and trends.

Pin Inspector is excellent for researching trending Pinterest keywords, platform trends, and competitor strategies to improve Pinterest SEO.

Disclaimer: There are affiliate links on this page. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.

Is Pictory AI Worth It for Text to Video Creation?

is pictory worth it

Pictory AI Text To Video Creation Can Save Hours And Produce High Quality Video Content

Pictory AI is a powerful tool that turns text into videos automatically. It’s great for content creators who want to make professional-looking videos but don’t have technical skills.

The platform handles visuals, voiceovers, editing, and captions, saving creators time. It’s handy for quickly turning articles or scripts into shareable videos.

While Pictory is impressive for its speed and ease of use, it does have some limitations. The videos can sometimes look generic, and there’s less creative control compared to manual editing.

Pictory AI is fantastic for marketers and businesses looking to increase their video content without investing more time or resources.

Overall, Pictory is worth trying if you want to convert written content into video format efficiently. It might not replace custom video production, but it’s a solid option for scaling up video content quickly.

How does Pictory AI work?

Pictory AI converts text input into video content through several automated steps. Here’s a quick overview of how Pictory AI works:

  1. Text Input: Users provide written content like articles, scripts, or blog posts.
  2. Analysis: The AI analyses your text to understand its structure and content.
  3. Visual Selection: Based on the text analysis, the AI selects relevant stock footage, images, and video clips from its library.
  4. Voiceover Generation: The system can generate a professional AI voiceover of the text in various languages and accents.
  5. Music and Sound: Pictory adds background music and sound effects to enhance the video.
  6. Editing and Compilation: The AI assembles all these elements into a coherent video, syncing visuals with the voiceover and text.
  7. Captioning: The AI generates automatic captions.

The great thing about creating video content with Pictory AI is that you can still customise the video if you want to change something, such as adding a few images of your own.

It’s not as fluid a process as editing manually created video content, but overall, Pictory does a great job.

You can download or share the video when you’re happy with it.

Using Pictory AI to Curate Content

Content creation can become challenging if you’re working across multiple social media platforms. Curating content is a massive timesaver, and that’s the beauty of Pictory AI.

Create shareable video content from your blogs, articles, LinkedIn posts or any written content and save 80% of your usual time and effort.

What I Like About Pictory AI

I looked at Invideo before I tried Pictory but I didn’t get along with that platform. Here are six things I love about Pictory AI.

#1: Pictory AI is Quick & Easy to Use

It takes me around 2-3 hours to write a blog post. Pictory AI can convert that to video content in less than 10 minutes.

#2: Converts Your Long-Form Text-Based Content Into Video

Having the capacity to curate long-form content is priceless for us content creators.

#3: High-Quality Voiceovers

I watch hours of video content each week. You generally hear the same few AI voices repeatedly. Pictory voiceovers sound professional and human!

#4: Integration With Social Media Platforms

You can share your Pictory video content directly on YouTube, Instagram, Facebook and other platforms.

#5:  Captions

Overall, Pictory nails video captions’ accuracy and timing. I’d say the AI has around 95% accuracy, so it needs little editing.

#6:  Offers A Money Back Guarantee

Pictory offers a 14-day money-back guarantee.

Pictory AI Pricing Packages

pictory ai price plan

You Get A Lot Of Value With Pictory AI Plans Including Generous Video Creation Minutes

Convert Blog Posts to Videos

Is Pictory AI worth it for curating blog content? I think so, and here’s why.

You may have noticed the change in recent months to video content ranking top in SERPs.

Curating your blog post increases your reach and keeps people on the page who prefer watching video content to reading.

Pictory AI converts your articles into professional, optimised videos for your website, YouTube or other social media platforms.

How Pictory AI Converts Blog Posts into Video

  1. Copy and paste your article into Pictory’s editor or import the URL.
  2. Customise the music, video style, voiceover or visuals to match your brand.
  3. The AI analyses the article and pulls relevant clips and images into video content.
  4. It brings everything together into a professional, shareable video in minutes.

Why Bother Curating Blog Posts?

Curating your blog posts is a powerful way to increase blog traffic.

Remember that traffic = sales.

Curating blog content with Pictory AI saves you hours of manually creating videos. I’m not the fastest at creating video content manually, but even using my content bank and Canva, it still takes me a day and a half to create TikTok content for the week.

If you have aged blog content or articles ranking in SERPs, pulling a video together gets more eyes on your business.

Additionally, Pictory AI can create highlights from long-form content, giving you shareable clips.

Pictory AI Teams Plan

The Team plan enables your team to collaborate on video content in a unified space.

Your team can upload, organise and edit scripts, footage, graphics and storyboards to structured folders.

You can customise permissions, which is super helpful for controlling access to external partners.

The Team plan can help streamline the content creation, improve the workflow and increase output.

Pictory AI Pros and Cons

Pictory is a fantastic platform for video creation. Still, like all tools, it comes with advantages and disadvantages.

Pictory Pros

  1. Fast Video Creation: It transforms text into polished videos within minutes.
  2. User-Friendly Interface: The platform has easy-to-navigate editing tools and personalisation options.
  3. High-Quality AI Voice: Pictory AI has impressive text-to-speech capabilities.
  4. Smart Content Matching: The AI selects relevant visuals and edits effectively.
  5. Automated Features: Includes useful tools like caption generation.
  6. Content Repurposing: Easily converts written content into video format.
  7. Budget-Friendly: At $19 – $99/month, Pictory offers affordable video production solutions.

Pictory Cons

  1. Creative Constraints: There is less design flexibility compared to manual editing.
  2. AI Limitations: It cannot fully replicate human creative decisions.
  3. Caption Accuracy: There is room for improvement in subtitle precision.
  4. Visual Complexity: The AI occasionally struggles with intricate scene representation.
  5. Processing Speed: Video rendering can sometimes be time-consuming. However, it’s still faster than doing it yourself.

Is Pictory AI Better Than Invideo AI?

Invideo AI is a popular platform for AI video creation. Prices are comparable, but you get more bang for your buck with Pictory.

For example, the Pictory AI Starter Plan gives you 200 minutes of video creation for $19/month.

Invideo Plus is $20/month, but you only get 50 minutes of video creation monthly.

That’s a significant difference. If you create five-minute videos, you only get 10 pieces of content with Invideo but 40 with Pictory!

In addition to that, you only get two voice clones with Invideo Plus.

When comparing platforms, I always check Trustpilot. Invideo scores poorly with 3.6* reviews, but Pictory leaps ahead with 4.2* Trustpilot reviews.

Conclusion: Is Pictory AI Worth It?

Pictory AI is an affordable text-to-video creation platform with many advantages over its competitors.

The platform is suitable for beginners. It significantly shortens manual video creation and has a 4.2* with Trustpilot reviews.

There’s nothing to lose with the 14-day money-back guarantee. Once you start curating text-based content into video, you will never want to go back to creating video content manually.

Disclaimer: There are affiliate links on this page. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.

Is Faceless Marketing Worth It for Content Creators?

is faceless marketing worth it

Faceless Marketing Is Less Stressful Than Camera Facing. It Decreases the Risk if Content Creation Burnout

Is faceless marketing worth it?

Most digital marketing courses say it takes longer to build a following with faceless marketing.

Supposedly, it’s the “know, like, trust” aspect.

I don’t get that. Just because you can see someone’s face doesn’t mean that person is honest and ethical.

I know many people who’ve bought from an influencer and then got ghosted once they’d handed over their hard-earned cash.

Additionally, it’s not followers you need. It’s a loyal tribe of people who want to buy your products or services.

Be aware of the dopamine hit of wanting more followers for the sake of it.

Still, notably, in 2024, more people are switching to faceless marketing, and there are sound reasons for doing so.

What’s the Deal with Faceless Marketing?

Simply put, faceless marketing is content without a face. No influencers. No celebrities or you turning up on video each day. It’s just a pure, unadulterated product or message.

I switched to faceless marketing in May 2024 because I had an allergic reaction on my face and neck.

Going faceless was the best thing that happened.

Why Faceless Marketing Is Catching Fire

Is faceless digital marketing worth it for individuals and businesses? I think so.

Maybe I am biased, but faceless marketing has made my life as a content creator considerably easier.

The following section explores the benefits of faceless marketing for creators like me and online or brick-and-mortar businesses.

Faceless Marketing For Creators

As a content creator, I think faceless marketing is the dog’s wotsits. I wish I’d done it sooner.

Privacy: The Invisible Superhero

Imagine being famous, but not really.

It comes with a whole heap of disadvantages.

Weirdly, your followers start thinking they have some rights to your time and energy. They can get quite put out if you pull back from your camera-facing marketing campaign.

Faceless marketing lets you keep your personal life personal. No more random fan encounters at the grocery store or unwanted attention towards your family and friends.

Fewer trolls. Fewer negative comments and DMs.

You’re free to create without the baggage of a public persona, giving you the power to switch off when you’re not ‘on duty’.

Faceless marketing is like having a secret identity, minus the cape and tights.

Less Stress: Goodbye Burnout!

Say goodbye to the pressure of looking Instagram-perfect 24/7. OK, filters these days are amazing, but it’s a lot of faffing.

After six weeks of posting twice daily on TikTok, I’d had enough.

Each day, I shared one forward-facing and one faceless video. The former took 5 or 6 takes. I then added filters and captions and cut the ums and errs. One video took me 30-60 minutes, and I did fourteen videos weekly!

Creating faceless content is simple and quick, primarily created on Canva with faceless aesthetic video content.

With faceless marketing, you can skip the drama of social media comments about your appearance and avoid the expectation to weigh in on every trending topic.

It’s a break from the ‘always on’ mentality of personal branding.

You’ll feel the weight lift off your shoulders as you reduce anxiety about being judged for every word or action.

Maintaining work-life balance becomes much easier when your face isn’t your brand.

Since starting faceless marketing, I no longer feel the exhaustion of a day spent creating video content.

faceless marketing

Faceless Marketing is Less Stressful & it’s Quicker to Create Content

Focus on Content: It’s All About the Message

With faceless marketing, your ideas take the stage, not your personality.

That said, I believe you can inject personality into your faceless content.

Still, your audience engages with your content, not your personal life.

Faceless marketing allows you to evolve your content without explaining personal changes or confusing your audience with pivots in topics or styles.

Collaboration becomes a breeze without worrying about personal brand conflicts.

Best of all, your work is judged on its quality, not on whether your nose is too big or your hair is a mess. It’s pure, unadulterated content – your ideas, message, and superpower.

I’ve found it easier to stick to my brand colours and provide a cohesive look throughout my TikTok content. I then curate to Instagram.

Remember, in this world, your content speaks louder than any selfie ever could. It’s all about what you say, not how you look when saying it.

Faceless Marketing For Brands

If you’re building a brand online, don’t assume you need to show your face. Creating a faceless brand might be the best decision you make.

No PR Nightmares: Brand Safety on Autopilot

Imagine a world where your brand isn’t one tweet away from disaster.

Do they still call them tweets or baby Xs?

You’re free from the rollercoaster of influencer scandals and public meltdowns. Your brand stays squeaky clean, focused on what matters – your product or service.

That’s the beauty of faceless marketing.

Adapting to trends and building a force field around your reputation is easier, protecting you from the unpredictable highs and lows of personal branding.

Your Product Takes Centre Stage: The Real Star of the Show

In faceless marketing, your product isn’t playing second fiddle to a famous face. It’s the headline act, the main event, the reason people tune in.

Without a celebrity distraction, consumers build a relationship directly with your brand.

They’re not buying because “Jennifer Aniston uses it.” Your product becomes authentic and stands on its own merits.

It becomes known for what it is, not who is selling it.

It’s Easier on the Wallet: Champagne Marketing on a Beer Budget

Faceless marketing lets you create impactful campaigns without breaking the bank.

You’re investing in creativity and quality content, not celebrity fees.

Or, if you’re doing it yourself, you can create faceless content wearing your pyjamas, eating a bag of crisps and sitting next to your dog.

That means more bang for your buck, more campaign content, and more marketing strategy flexibility. It’s an effective shortcut to marketing success that doesn’t require a Hollywood budget.

Become a faceless marketer

One Primary Benefit of Faceless Marketing is You Can Hire Someone to do it for You.

Content Stays Fresh Longer: The Gift That Keeps on Giving

Evergreen content is the bomb!

I’ve posted faceless content on TikTok since May 2024. I post Monday to Friday twice daily. Recently, I’m switching to once daily.

Creating fourteen faceless videos each week is still time-consuming.

I’m reducing my content output because I still get similar views and followers over the weekend whether I post or not.

Faceless content has serious staying power. Unlike influencer campaigns that can feel dated faster than last season’s fashion, anonymous content remains relevant for longer.

It’s not tied to fleeting trends or fading stars.

This longevity means your content works harder for you. It’s a marketing strategy that keeps giving long after you’ve created it.

Scales Like a Dream: Growth Without Growing Pains

Want to expand your campaign? With faceless marketing, it’s a breeze.

If you’ve spent a year producing face-forward content, you can only hire a team to edit your videos. You must still show up on camera.

With faceless, you can hand the job to anyone capable of creating faceless content that adheres to your branding.

Multiple creators can work on your content simultaneously. Whether targeting different regions or ramping up production, faceless content scales effortlessly.

It’s a functional marketing strategy that grows with you without the growing pains.

In the world of faceless marketing, your brand isn’t just a face – it’s about the power of creativity and branding.

250 FREE Reels Just For You

As a thank you for reading to the end, here is a link to 250 faceless reels. Use the coupon code FACELESS
Enjoy. They are 100% free.

Conclusion: Is Faceless Marketing Worth It, And Is It Here To Stay?

Maybe.

Is it the only way forward?

Not necessarily. I notice that novice marketers switch from face forward to faceless marketing and then back again.

That ineffective strategy happens because they are impatient and don’t give their marketing plan enough time to work.

Only you can answer the question, “Is faceless marketing worth it?” If you plan to give it a try, here’s a few tips

  • Map out ideas on paper
  • Add impactful, upbeat music
  • Add captions if you do voice-over
  • Create brand colours, styles & font
  • Use simple editing tools like Canva
  • Monitor analytics to see which content performs best & do more of that

There are disadvantages to faceless marketing, but for me, it is the quickest and easiest way to create video content.

Best Pinterest Pin Design Course: Great for Beginners

best pinterest pin design course

Best Pinterest pin design course on the planet is the Pin Design Perfection. It’s the only pin design course you will ever need without paying an arm and a leg for it.

I love this course, and it has transformed my pin designs. My first Pinterest account got suspended (my own mistakes) and I was determined to start afresh with my new Pinterest account.

Have you ever wondered why some Pinterest accounts effortlessly generate viral content while others struggle to gain traction?

While numerous factors contribute to a pin’s success, one crucial element stands out: visual appeal.

After all, Pinterest is, at its core, a visual platform. If your pin designs aren’t captivating, people won’t click and save your designs, which reduces traffic and sales opportunities.

Why Does Pin Design Mattter?

When I first ventured into pin design in early 2024, I spent countless hours crafting just one or two pins. It was a frustrating process.

I somehow could never quite get my pins to look right. They always looked a bit blah.

My Pinterest pin design journey took a turn for the better after discovering Kristin Rappaport’s work.

Her stunning pins consistently appeared in my feed, inspiring me to improve my designs. Intrigued by Kristin’s expertise, I immersed myself in her content, learning invaluable tips and tricks from a professional graphic designer.

I watched Kristin’s incredible free 5-Part Pin Design Formula workshop and got hooked.

I’d been overthinking my Pinterest pin designs because I lacked basic understanding of branding, typography, fonts, colours and styles, etc.

In addition, Kristin’s style of teaching appealed to me. She gave away priceless information in the free Pin Design Masterclass.

Investing in Kristin’s Pin Design Perfection course wasa no-brainer. She offered an instalment plan, and a discount, which meant I could afford to buy it without paying out a lump sum.

best pinterest pin design course

Pin Perfection is the perfect Pinterest pin design course for beginners. Modules are bite-sized and easy to follow

What I Love About Kristins Pinterest Pin DesignTraining

Pin Design Perfection is a fantastic course. Not only to learn about creating fabulous pins. It also helps improve your design skills for any creative project.

I was astonished at how many Canva pin templates I got with the course. I haven’t counted them, but there appear to be at least a 100+ pin templates.

The impact of the training was immediate – I could now create visually appealing pins quickly and confidently.

This newfound skill dramatically improved my online presence.

Kristin’s course, Pin Design Perfection, offers a comprehensive guide for bloggers and Pinterest managers. The training provides step-by-step instructions on creating click-worthy pins quickly, complete with customisable Canva templates.

The ability to create professional-grade graphics is an invaluable asset in the digital landscape.

Whether you’re a blogger, entrepreneur, or aspiring Pinterest manager, honing your graphic design skills can open doors to numerous opportunities.

I plan to use the course to build my Pinterest account and start selling off-the-shelf pin templates for business.

Want a More Affordable All-Round Pinterest Course for Beginners?

Until recently, I recommended a few Pinterest courses, but not all are suitable for beginners, and some are expensive.

Then, in August 2025, Meagan Williamson contacted me to say she was creating a new and affordable Pinterest beginners course together. From my experience with Meagan, I KNEW the course would be good, but what materialised was even better than I expected.

Meagan’s course comes with pin design training and pin design templates and is a fraction of the cost of the Pin Perfection course, which is moreorless purely about design.

Want to know more? Read my in-depth review of the Pinterest for Beginners course.

How Designing Better Pins Helped My Business

My design skills weren’t bad. There was just something missing that I couldn’t quite put my finger on

Before the pin perfection design course

BEFORE: My pins had no cohesive design & were all over the place

It didn’t take long for me to start improving my Pinterest pin design. Armed With Kristin’s templates and understanding how to build a Pinterest brand, I got to work.

I picked four colours, four font’s and a range of templates to work with.

In the image below, you can see my brand stands out more and the designs are more balanced and cohesive.

pin design perfection

AFTER: Better typography and designed pins that stand out amongst the sea of blah on Pinterest

Free Pin Design Workshop

To give you a taste of her expertise, Kristin’s free 5-Part Pin Design Formula workshop has many fantastic tips you can implement immediately.

This hour-long video session covers essential topics such as:

  1. Crafting compelling headlines that drive clicks
  2. Techniques for creating unique pins that stand out
  3. Time-saving design hacks for efficient pin creation
  4. Key elements that significantly increase website traffic
  5. Strategies to boost your visibility and establish a professional image

Investing in learning graphic design skills, particularly for platforms like Pinterest, can yield substantial returns.

It can help you attract more traffic, gain subscribers, and increase your income. For Pinterest virtual assistants, it’s a surefire way to impress clients and deliver results.

In summary, if you struggle with pin design or spend excessive time on creation, Pin Design Perfection could be the solution you’re looking for.

Primarily, the course can help you create, with confidence and speed, skills that you can leverage across various graphic design fields.

Secondly, the best pin design courses teach strategic pin design for traffic building and engagement, and that’s what Kristin’s course does.

Since doing the course, I’ve found my design skills have improved for everything I create on Canva.

I recommend starting with the free 5-Part Pin Design Formula workshop. After that, you can decide if the Pin Design Perfection course aligns with your needs. It’s an excellent opportunity to experience Kristin’s teaching style and get a preview of the program’s content.

In conclusion, remember in the visually-driven world of Pinterest, strong design skills can be the difference between obscurity and virality. Why not give your pins – and your Pinterest strategy – the boost they deserve and check out the best Pinterest pin design course?

If you want to learn about other Pinterest courses I have completed, read the Best Pinterest Courses post.

Recommended Pinterest Tools: Pin Generator & Pin Inspector

If you’re serious about Pinterest marketing, you’ve probably come across Pin Generator and Pin Inspector—two popular tools designed to help you grow on Pinterest. Still, which one is right for you? It depends on whether you want to grow fast, save time or both. The following is a quick breakdown to help you decide.

Pin Generator Review

Pin Generator is an AI-powered Pinterest automation tool that helps you create, schedule, and post pins automatically—saving you tons of time. It takes me around an hour to create pins on Canva, another hour to write descriptions and another hour to schedule the lot. It gets tiresome after a few months of that weekly regime.

✅ Pros

  • Auto-generates pins from your website or blog (no manual design needed!)
  • Bulk scheduling to keep your Pinterest active 24/7
  • AI-powered designs that match Pinterest’s best practices
  • Keyword optimisation to boost SEO and reach more users
  • Time-saving—great for bloggers, businesses, and content creators

❌ Cons

  • Limited design customisation. It’s not as flexible as Canva, where you have design creativity. Still, the design is less important if your messaging and CTA are spot on. Only you can decide whether you can let go of the creative aspect of Canva.
pin generator calculator

Try the free cost savings calculator on Pin Generator

Is There A Free Plan?

No, but they offer a free trial to test how it works before committing. You can then pay a monthly subscription or get a generous discount when choosing an annual plan. Pin Generator also offers a time-activated lifetime plan.

Who Should Use Pin Generator?

It is ideal for bloggers, business owners, and Pinterest marketers who want to create more pins and save time by automating pin creation and scheduling.

Choose Pin Generator if you want a hands-off, automated Pinterest strategy with AI-generated pins and scheduling.

Pin Inspector Review

Pin Inspector is a Pinterest keyword and analytics tool that helps you find high-performing keywords, trending pins, and competitor insights.

✅ Pros

  • Find viral Pinterest keywords to help your pins rank higher
  • Analyse competitor pins to see what’s working in your niche
  • Discovers trending topics so you can create content people are searching for
  • Great for SEO—helps optimise descriptions for better visibility

❌ Cons

  • Erm! Can’t think of any. It’s an affordable tool for improving Pinterest results
pin inspector

Pin Inspector offers a one-time payment for lifetime access

Is There A Free Plan?

No, but Pin Generator offer a surprisingly reasonable one-time payment (no monthly subscription!), which is great for long-term use. There’s often a $20 discount on the website homepage, too.

Who Should Use It?

Perfect for Pinterest SEO experts, bloggers, and marketers who want to boost visibility with the right keywords and trends.

Pin Inspector is excellent for researching trending Pinterest keywords, platform trends, and competitor strategies to improve Pinterest SEO.

Disclaimer: There are affiliate links on this page. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.

3 Cheaper SEO Tools Than Ahrefs

cheaper seo tools

Ahrefs Has Fantastic SEO Tools But There Are Alternatives for New Bloggers On A Budget

Ahrefs is one of the most popular SEO tools. It’s considered the heavyweight SEO platform for keyword research, content ideas, site audits, competitor analysis, and more. However, it’s costly, and people search for alternatives to Ahrefs.

This SEO tools comparison guide covers the best alternatives to Ahrefs, which are notably less expensive.

SurferSEO: Best On-Page Optimisation

SurferSEO vs Ahrefs?

SurferSEO is a different beast from Ahrefs. Still, if your goal is to write SEO content that ranks, it is one of the best I ever used. I wrote content up to 8,000 words with SurferSEO when I created crypto articles for Coin Bureau.

The article I wrote on “Crypto Trading Psychology” is still on page one of SERPs.

Search for that phrase and see for yourself.

SurferSEO is an in-depth SEO tool that has a proven track record.

SurferSEO Features & Benefits

Unlike traditional SEO tools focusing primarily on backlinks and technical aspects, SurferSEO’s unique selling point is its laser focus on on-page SEO.

It’s like having an SEO content optimisation guru beside you, guiding every word you write!

SurferSEO uses advanced algorithms to analyse top-ranking pages for target keywords, providing real-time suggestions to optimise your content.

This data-driven approach takes the guesswork out of content creation, ensuring that every piece you produce is spot-on for SERP success.

  • Content Score: You know exactly how likely your content will rank because SurferSEO gives your content a score. The scale turns green when you’ve nailed it (usually at around 70%)
  • Comprehensive SERP Analysis: SurferSEO doesn’t just tell you what keywords to use. It gives you insights into keyword density, how many headings to use, word count, and the number of images or videos that top-ranking competing pages use.
  • Content Editor: The Content Editor provides real-time suggestions for improving your content’s SEO potential. It suggests relevant keywords and semantics and optimises your content.

For those of you like me, my favourite aspect of SurferSEO is that the keywords and semantics turn green when you have optimised them enough on the page.

Pricing: How Does SurferSEO Stack Up Against Ahrefs?

SurferSEO’s basic plan begins at $89/month (July 2024).

It’s an attractive option for smaller businesses or individual content creators who might find Ahrefs’ $129 pricing for Lite a bit steep.

However, note that SurferSEO and Ahrefs aren’t direct competitors in functionality. SurferSEO specialises in on-page optimisation, while Ahrefs offers a broader range of SEO tools.

Many SEO professionals use both tools in tandem for a comprehensive approach.


Pros and Cons: Is SurferSEO Right for You?

Like any tool, SurferSEO has strengths and limitations.

SurferSEO Pros

  • Content Editor: Can save writing time. Always download and edit in Grammarly or equivalent & read out loud for auditory rhythm.
  • Content Audit: Audit, evaluate and optimise your content.
  • SurferSEO is Easy to Use: Its intuitive interface and actionable suggestions make it easy to create SEO-friendly content, even if you’re not an SEO expert.
  • Ideal for Bloggers, Small Businesses & Content Creators: SurferSEO is affordable, and you can write up to 30 articles a month with the $89 package.
  • Unlimited AI Detection: You want your published content to pass AI detection tests.
  • Invite 2 Members: You can have up to two members on your SurferSEO content team.

For small to medium-sized businesses, bloggers, and content marketers, SurferSEO offers an excellent balance of functionality and affordability.

Larger enterprises or agencies with more complex SEO needs might find it helpful as part of a broader toolkit rather than a standalone solution.

SurferSEO Cons

  • Content is Data-Driven: Be careful when mindlessly writing articles in SurferSEO because data-driven content can affect readability, content quality, and user experience.
  • The Interface Can be Clunky: However, that might be my issue. I write my content in Word, run it through Grammarly and copy and paste it into SurferSEO.
  • Limited to 30 Articles: If you’re a small blogger, 1 article a day is fantastic, but if you want more, you must upgrade.

Note: SurferSEO has a free Chrome extension to assess search volume, which is helpful. However, I advise prioritising user intent over search volume.

SurferSEO Trustpilot Score

SurferSEO has a Trustpilot score of 4.2 *

😊Try SurferSEO to Fastrack Your SEO Results

Please note: If you purchase a SurferSEO subscription, I may receive a small commission at no cost to yourself.

Ubersuggest: The User-Friendly SEO Companion

Ubersuggest, created by digital marketing guru Neil Patel, is an excellent alternative to Ahrefs for user-friendly SEO.

If you’re a fan of Neil Patel SEO tools, you will love Ubersuggest.

Ubersuggest has an intuitive interface that doesn’t sacrifice depth, allowing users to dive into SEO without drowning in complexity.

Please read my Ubersuggest review to learn more about this low-cost SEO software.

Ubersuggest Features & Benefits

  • Keyword Research: It uncovers valuable long-tail keywords and provides search volume data, helping you target the right audience.
  • Content Ideas: Coming up with content ideas can be tricky. Ubersuggest now has an AI content writer with the paid package.
  • Site Audit: Scan your website for issues that could affect ranking.
  • Backlinks Checker: Identify your backlinks. Check their domain authority and spam score.

Ubersuggest is not as in-depth as Ahrefs, but, for the low price for individuals, it’s perfect for the small blogger writing 2 or 3 articles weekly.

Pricing: How Does Ubersuggest Stack Up Against Ahrefs?

Ubersuggest is $29 for individuals and $99 for enterprise users (July 2024).

The free version offers much value but is limited to three keyword searches daily, and you don’t get access to the AI content writer.

Ubersuggest content writer

Ubersuggest Content Writer Is Excellent Value on The Starter Package

Pros and Cons: Is Ubersuggest Right for You?

Ubersuggest does not have many pros and cons. It’s an excellent all-round SEO tool.

Ubersuggest Pros

  • Low Cost: At $29/month, Ubersuggest is $100 cheaper than Ahrefs, and the SEO tools are more than enough for the small blogger.
  • Digestible Format: It is easy to navigate the Ubersuggest interface. Ahrefs can be daunting for beginners.
  • Actionable Insights: Ubersuggest tells you how to optimise your website for SEO success.

Ubersuggest Cons

  • Data Volume Less Than Ahrefs: Ahrefs is the best for tracking volume. If you’re an advanced SEO user, you may find Ubersuggest limiting. That said, it’s spot on for new bloggers to gain experience.
  • Not as in-depth: Ahrefs has multiple SEO tools you can use to assess the chances of your keywords ranking. Ubersuggest is effective, but there’s a reason Ahrefs is so expensive. That said, I found I hardly used many of the Ahrefs SEO tools.

Ubersuggest Trustpilot Score

Ubersuggest is a popular and successful SEO tool with a Trustpilot score of 4.6 *

😊 Open a FREE Account With Ubersuggest

Please note: If you purchase the paid version of Ubersuggest, I may receive a small commission at no cost to yourself.

SEOWriting AI: An Alternative to Ahrefs for the Lazy Blogger

If the idea of doing intensive keyword research or writing long-form content in SurferSEO, consider trialling SEOWriting AI.

SEOWriting does all the heavy lifting by writing the content for you using AI.

SEOWriting Features & Benefits

  • 50 SEOWriting Generations: With the paid version, you can create up to 50 pieces of content
  • Unlimited Words: Many AI writers limit the wordcount, which can become restrictive
  • Bulk Generations: It takes time to write SEO content. SEOWriting AI can create it for you in bulk.
  • Outline Editor: Get a shapely outline for your SEO blog content.
  • GPT-40 and Claude 3 Opus: These are the AI used for the platform

Pricing: How Does SEOWriting AI Stack Up Against Ahrefs?

You cannot compare SEOWriting AI to Ahrefs, as it’s purely an SEO writing tool.

The starter package on the annual plan is $14/month and $19 if you pay monthly for 50 generations (July 2024).

The professional package gives you 250 generations and costs $59/month if paid annually and $79/month if you pay monthly (July 2024).

Pros and Cons: Is SEOWriting AI Right for You?

SEOWriting AI Pros

  • Easy to Use: The interface is intuitive
  • Bulk Create: Saves a ton of time writing SEO content
  • Low Cost: From $14/month (July 2024)

SEOWriting AI Cons

  • Mixed Reviews: Although SEOWriting AI scores 4.2 * on Trustpilot reviews, some users love the SEO tool, and others share a negative experience. One has to allow for user error, and SEOWriting AI responds to all reviews.
  • It’s not a Keyword Research Tool: However, many people do not want the leg work of hunting for low-difficulty keywords, and it’s a perfect option.

SEOWriting AI Trustpilot Score

SEOWriting has a Trustpilot score of 4.2 *

😊 Try SEOWriting for Free

Please note: If you purchase a SEOWriting subscription, I may receive a small commission at no cost to yourself.

Conclusion

SEO for small businesses is vital to bring customers to your business. Of course, we all want affordable SEO software, but should price factor in our decisions?

I’ve used all three Ahrefs alternatives, and my first choice for functionality and performance is SurferSEO.

This excellent SEO software has the highest Trustpilot score, and it performs. I’ve written dozens of SEO articles using SurferSEO. They all ranked in SERPs.

If budget is a concern, my next choice is Ubersuggest. At $29/month, it is an excellent value SEO tool.

Ahrefs is a fantastic SEO tool, but as a small business, I baulk at paying $129 a month when cheaper SEO tools can rank your content in SERPs, such as Ubersuggest, for a fraction of the price.

Using free SEO tools is great. The downside is it takes longer because you have to confirm data accuracy. For the sake of spending $29 to $89/month, you’d save a lot of wasted time.

Disclaimer: There are affiliate links on this page. If you make a purchase, I may receive a small commission.