Matthew Woodward is a UK-based marketing and SEO guru. He offers many services for businesses and brands via his website.
Matthew Woodward has been on the SEO circuit since 2012, so when the opportunity came around to join his 90 Day SEO Pro course, I jumped in!
Matthew has gained notoriety through his highly acclaimed blog on all things SEO, and also has a growing YouTube channel in which he provides over the shoulder SEO tips and tricks.
Both blog and YT channel focus on focuses on producing articles, tutorials and case studies which help anyone who wants to improve their website.
Whether you need help with link building, social media, traffic generation or conversion rate optimization, Matt's blog is for you.
Some fundamental posts on his blog include:
- The Million Domain Case Study - Which Is The Best Backlink Checker?
- How To Increase Search Visibility With FAQ Rich Snippets
- WP Rocket Review - The Fastest Way To Speed Up Your Site
All of these blog posts have helped thousands of website owners to improve their numbers.
In the following review, I'm going to be answering the questions that you really want to know the answer to:
No fluff.
But before I start this in-depth review that will cover every module, a bit about me..
I've been making money from SEO & Lead Generation since 2014, so believe me when I say, I know what a good SEO course is all about.
In order to get where I am, have had to master SEO.
There's plenty of complexity to this game but if you can master it, there are plenty of benefits.
I've taken some different courses and as a 7-figure earner now in SEO, I still continue to invest in courses to make sure that I keep on top of the curve.
Following this method, I have learned the best SEO skills that help rank my sites globally for some of the toughest keywords out there.
With SEO you are going to be coming up with content that will please the human reader and the Google bots trawling through your site:
This is a lethal combo.
Creating excellent content that is optimized for both Google and humans is a very hard thing to do.
But if you can make them both love your content, you will be rewarded with more traffic, effective backlinks and a higher revenue!
90 Day SEO Pro Course
This course promises to turn you into a Search Engine Optimization expert in the space of 3 months.
DISCLAIMER: I am going to be reviewing the first six weeks of the course, since the second six only unlock after a month from registration. I will update the review as soon as I have new material.
According to Matthew, each week you are going to be given everything you need to make things happen including strategies, checklists, worksheets, spreadsheets and much more'.
It's all there for you, you just have to trust the process and go for that SEO.
This is some info on what you will learn throughout the course:
Preliminary Information
Key Takeaways from Each Module
Week 1
Most first weeks are spent to make the person taking the course feel at ease and get to know the style of teaching.
Not this one: here you're thrown into the action from the first moment.
The main aspects that I took away from this week and would like to mention are two:
1) The Five Main Common SEO Mistakes People Make.
2) Turning Topics into Keywords.
5 Main Common SEO Mistakes
1) Bad Site Design: a good design to your site is crucial: it builds up trust and gives a feel of authenticity to whatever you're selling on your domain.
2)Poor On-Site SEO: this includes both bad website structure and technical SEO errors that can be easily avoided.
This is a map of a websites pages, where the red indicates pages that you can get to only after 5 and up to ten clicks.
A healthy site like the one mapped below should be able to get you to any page in three clicks!
3) Content that Doesn't Deserve to Rank: sometimes your content is hard to read, not up to date or full of affiliate links. That will make it tank!
4) No Link Building Strategy: good content is not enough. You need to have a clear and repeatable backlinking strategy layered on top of your SEO.
5) No SEO Strategy, Period: sometimes there simply isn't a strategy at all, due to ignorance on how Google works and lack of keywords, design and backlinks.
Turning Topics into Keywords
Throughout the course, Matthew insists on the fact that topics are just as useful as keywords and they can be turned into keywords if needs be.
There are two ways to find if a topic deserves the keyword treatment:
1) The free one, checking tools like Google Keyword Planner.
2) The paid one, using advanced tools like Ahrefs.
Matthew definitely suggests to go the Ahrefs way, since it will show you the keyword difficulty, how many searches the topic receives, and how many backlinks you will need to rank.
One of the freemiums of this course is Matthew's personal Topic Research Sheet, which will help you calculate all the above in conjunction with Ahrefs. What a grat tool!
Week 2
In week 2 of the course it's all about building the foundations of on-site SEO. Matthew explains that it all boils down to:
To achieve success with onsite SEO, all you need are free tools to help you in your work:
Through the use of these free tools, you will be able to face any Google algorithm change and give your website solid foundations.
Bing SEO Optimization
The first biggest thing that I took away from week 2 was definitely optimizing SEO for Bing:
A little known fact is that 8% of all searches worldwide are conducted through Bing: not optimizing your website for Bing SEO would be plain crazy.
You are basically ignoring 1/10 of all traffic and possible SERPS that you want to be on top of!
Even better for those considering Bing in their SEO is that Bing often performs better than Google! Don't believe me? Check this chart out:
The numbers are pretty crazy, and since SEOs have been focusing on Google since 1998, that means that Bing is still relatively untouched, making it esier to rank there!
These are the factors that make Bing SEO a must in the arsenal of every SEO expert:
Now you can take Bing seriously and check if it should be part of your marketing strategy!
Check your own data, review your traffic source and decide whether the search engine is worth it – It usually is.
Ranking on Bing is much easier than ranking on Google and will get you that 8% of the traffic extra.
On-site SEO
The second aspect that I took away from week 2 of the course was definitely on-site SEO and the importance it has for ranking your site.
It essentially works on two different levels:
1) User Experience: Formatting and displaying content that benefits the reader.
2) Code Optimization: Making sure the HTML code used to create the site is easily crawlable by Google.
Taking care of these two aspects makes sure that the search engine and the users will be able to easily judge
Not only are you going to boost your page rankings with on-site SEO..
You are also going to drive more relevant traffic to your website and attract the right kind of people.
On-site SEO is fundamental when Google crawls your site to see if everything is relevant or in order, and it's usually quite simple to perform.
It builds a solid foundation on top of which you can layer backlinks and other more sophisticated ways of beating the algorithm.
Google clearly looks for website content that is
Matthew makes the example of The Wall Street Oasis, an investment banking and financial community, whose site showed many on-site problems and struggled with traffic.
Its problems were poor structure, messy elements like uber ling URLs and short, dupicated content.
They focused on on-site SEO only, increasing content length, merging duplicate pages together, using headers to give more structure and using supports like videos and pics.
Result?
Their traffic increased by 32% just with on-site SEO.
That's basically one third of traffic extra just by tweaking the already existing site and content.
Mindblowing.
Week 3
In week 3, you are going to gather all the experience from week 2 and check your own website for on-site issues that may affect your domain.
According to Matthew, these issues are mainly four:
The issue that really resonated with me is mobile optimization: so many people today use their mobile devices to check out websites.
The fact that such a large demographic could have problem navigating through your site is a scary thought, isn't it?
It is clear to everyone that the world has gone mobile, and since 2015 Google has received more searches from mobile that from desktop computers.
Yet, this aspect is often forgotten by web designers who claim to care for on-site SEO.
Since 2018, Google have become a mobile first platform, meaning that they are going to judge your desktop site from how it performs on mobile.
Think of it for a second: if your mobile site peforms like a bomb, it will likely perform even better on desktop.
So let's not fool around and get this site mobile friendly!
To ensure that your site is mobile friendly, use the free Google Test Mobile Friendly software.
Heck, I tried it on my own blog, to see if I could improve it, somehow, but I seem to have passed the test!
Mobile friendly designs might seem like a tiny problem in the overall SEO of your site.
But, believe me, when more than 50% of users are having problems visualising your pages, or some look just out of whack because of pic size or other problems..
You're going to wish you'd done something about it.
If you scare a client off with a poor optimization, he is not going to spend time on your blog, or buy the item you are selling, based on how the site looks on his device.
And, honestly, why should he?
Here's a quick list of 11 aspects of the mobile version that you should check to make sure you're creating the best experience for the mobile viewer:
Week 4
Carrying on the optimization of the site, the most important takeaway from this week was the importance of HTTPS as opposed to HTTP.
HTTPS stands for Secure HyperText Transfer Protocol and it's simply a system for transferring information across the internet.
HTTPS signifies that the website owner has secured their website with an SSL certificate.
The difference between HTTP and HTTPS is that when that data is being transmitted it adds an extra layer of encryption.
No outsiders can access that information.
Hence the “secure” in the name.
In 2014 Google announced that HTTPS sites would have precedence over HTTP and this is reason enough to protect your site that extra bit.
Basically Google is capable of verifying the site is secure and their user’s information will be safe.
So you can see why HTTPS is massively important for SEO.
You know when you end up on sites that tell you that the connection is not private?
Basically Google is trying to tell you that it is not a safe website with an SSL certificate and that your information and data could be at risk..
Why would you want your site to appear like a scam to those who navigate on it?
There are pros and cons in moving to or starting your website with a secure protocol. The pros:
The cons are very few but worth mentioning:
You can hire a professional to move your site to an HTTPS, or you can use services such as Kinsta, or WPXHosting that has a one-click HTTPS migration service.
Using HTTPS should be a no brainer, and you really don't want your site visitors to see that ugly 'unsafe website' to pop up while someone navigates to your domain.
Using HTTPS also proves that you are taking your business seriously and don't mind going the extra mile for some added security, both for you and the customer.
Throughout the module, Matthew makes sure he is crystal clear on the steps to take, and it is a pleasure learning more about SEO or going over things you already knew with him.
Week 5
Week 5 is all about content and keywords and by the end of it, you should be able to
This last point made the biggest impact on me: I was curious as to what I would learn from a pro like Matthew.
After reviewing your current SERPs and the keywords you have chosen in the previous weeks, it'll be quite easy to eliminate most contenders:
The number one rule is that you have no time for keywords that are not going to help you!
Once you have narrowed down the content through observation and exclusion, tools like Surfer SEO will help you choose the final keyword you will focus on.
What next? How much content should you write? Should you favour long posts or shorter and more to the point ones?
Matthew is very clear here:
'It's all about writing content that both Google and readers want'.
Every keyword will be different and they will all have different
Once you have identified your keyword and the content that will contain your keyword, Matthew suggests you go for the highest return with the lowest investment.
Example:
A post with 1000 words, LOW keyword difficulty, HIGH relevancy, HIGH intent, 1000 search
will always be better than
A post with 5000 words, LOW keyword difficulty, HIGH relevancy, LOW intent, 4000 search.
In other words, always quality above quantity.
Another way that Matthew teaches the same concept in week 5 is to 'always prioritize by focusing on ROI with minimal investment'.
The content you should focus on first is that which needs the least amount of resources in content and backlink production in order to shine.
Start with that and your site will start crushing it.
Week 6
Week 6 is the end of the first half of the course and covers graphics, table of contents and other big and small tweaks such as internal linking.
Matthew's ideas on internal linking are exactly what I took home from this week's teaching.
Internal links are important in SEO because they provide you with control over the human traffic and search engine traffic.
Google's internal links report states that 'the number of internal links pointing to a page is a signal to search engines about the relative importance of that page.
But internal linking is so much more than just good SEO!
1) Internal links are fundamental for Google to discover your new content.
To find new content, Google has to crawl and recrawl your site often, and the use of an internal link for new material make it easier to find and rank.
Google always relies on internal links to discover new material, and it will almost always be through an internal link.
When you post something new on your page, the best thing to do is link it on your main page:
that way Google will be able to crawl it sooner rather than later and rank it faster!
2) Google uses the number of internal links to figure out how important a page may be.
Another important aspect of internal links is anchor text (the highlighted text).
Once linked to another page, the anchor text allows Google to understand what the linked page is all about.
This is the reason Matthew always suggests to use anchor texts as close to the real link as possible!
3) Internal links provide you with a way to funnel readers to key pages on your site.
Such a strategy may increase buyers of a certain product or people signing up to a service with their email.
In fact internal links can:
And this is possibly the best reason to have internal links on your website.
The Verdict: the Good and the Bad
Before I go on and look at the pros and cons of Matthew's course, I want to reply to those early questions I'd set down, and that anyone reading a review wants to know immediately.
The course itself is solid, and there are enough lessons every week to keep you very busy.
Especially if you're following the lessons step by step and creating a site in the meanwhile.
Every week comes with so much info, that you'll be wondering how your sites could be performing well before learning SEO from Matthew.
The course definitely delivers what Matthew promises and brings you from the foundation of on-site SEO to backlinking and more.
Matthew is definitely not a scam: his blog and his track record speak for him.
The guy knows his stuff and it really shows, week after week. No way he is a scam.
The pro version of the course costs $797, $300 more than the basic version.
But with the pro version you get so many extra perks, that it's worth it:
- Unlimited private consulting with Matthew Woodward via Email: It’s not likely you’ll need Matt's help in the first month, but after that you’ll have 6 weeks of unlimited one on one consulting via email.
- The Complete 90 Day SEO Program: This includes all 12 modules of the program along with all of the videos, worksheets, and intelligent spreadsheets. There are 116 lessons in total.
- Access to the private 90 Day SEO Community: Meet, network and learn from other 90 Day SEO students and graduates. You’ll be able to share your experiences and learn from others’ success.
- 9 Repeatable SEO Processes: Never be stuck again. You’ll have repeatable processes for every scenario.
- Matthew's Email Outreach Templates: You’ll get access to all of the email templates he uses to build links.
- Matthew's Latest Intelligent Google Sheets: Matthew's advanced topic research sheet takes keyword research to a level you’ve never seen before along with his optimisation planner which will tell you which content to optimise, how to optimise it and WHEN to optimise it.
- Unlimited Lifetime Access: You can access the program as many times as you want for life.
- Lifetime Updates: You’ll get future updates and program upgrades absolutely free of charge. Matthew updated my last program 7 times which included entirely new modules, lessons, resources and videos.
- Exclusive Bonus Swag: Matthew will also send you a special box of surprise gifts in the post when you complete the program.
PROS:
CONS:
For a beginner I think you can't go wrong with Matt's course.
However these days, I don't really recommend going down the path of building the SEO agency like Matt is teaching.
Lead Generation, where you rank your own website, is a far superior model to monetize your SEO skills.
Let me explain, keep reading...
Why I Quit Doing SEO... Lead Generation Proved to be a Much Better Biz Model, Here's Why...
Look at it this way:
You can make loads of money doing SEO and ranking clients' websites on page 1 of Google but the issue is, how long will that client keep paying you month after month once you get them to page 1?
If you're learning Matthew's course to then sell your newly learned skill, that's the biggest issue with a SEO client.
Client Retention.
You work hard for 6 months to rank another person's website, and once they get their results, they feel like they no longer need to pay you anymore.
They feel like you've done your job, the website is at its best and you're no longer needed.
And you're off looking for a new client again.
Pretty depressing, huh?
Having to chase clients offering your skills, only to get told you are no longer needed when you've only done half of your job, getting the website to rank.
I hate chasing SEO clients for my money...
This is why today I no longer take SEO clients.
I do lead generation instead, which means I rank my own websites & make money on the leads.
For example, this is my very own site that I own.
I own the site, I build it, I rank it and whatever free organic traffic (leads) that flows through that site, I send to a business owner who's looking for more work. In turn, I make bucks for every lead I send.
Client is happy, I am happy.
And even better: a client can't fire me.
With SEO you're ranking other people's websites, but with Lead Generation you're ranking your own websites!
I much rather rank my own sites and sell the lead, if the client stops paying me, I can send the leads to their competitor and keep making money.
I'm in 100% control of my website & where I send the leads.
Once I have a lead generation client, they cannot leave me.
This is what that whole process looks like:
So it's pretty much passive income, I don’t have to worry about the performance of my ads or anything. Once my site ranks it generally stays ranks with very little to no maintenance.
The problem with SEO is that you are constantly looking at your at your stats and how your page is doing, dreading the moment your employer is going to stop needing you.
Lead Generation is much more chilled and stress free, and once the money starts rolling in, it won't stop. Trust me, I make more than $ 50k a month with it.
You create the sites, build them and rank them, and you own the assets: the client will be happy to pay you for leads because he will be making money too!
Conclusion
If you know how to generate leads with free traffic, you can virtually go into any niche and create amazing level results for you and your clients.
That’s how 90% of my multiple 6 figure income is generated. And I should add that it's passive income, see free traffic never stops.
In 2020, even during Covid-19, I continue to build more lead gen sites and I write at least 1 blog post for this site, because I’ve come to realize that these are the high-income producing activities because it directly increases my free traffic every month.
If you want to know how I went from a corporate job to six figures a year through lead gen, click the button below!
The course is just amazing.. It has everything, from starting a affiliate blog to making money.. I am a beginner and I learnt a lot.. Thanks.. A must buy course
I’m glad you enjoyed the course.
I always try to give credit where credit is due, and this is a good course for Affiliate Marketing.