Working from home is the dream for a lot of people.
You don’t have to change your clothes, put on make-up, or brush your teeth (although you should).
But what about making money without having to work?
For SEO professionals, the SpyFu Affiliate Program is a great way to make money every month without putting in continuous hours of work. By signing up on the website, an affiliate will earn a commission for every new SpyFu client who purchases their SEO services from your link.
It seems too good to be true, but this article will explain the ins and outs of the SpyFu Affiliate Program, how to use it, and what you can earn in reality.
Basics of SpyFu Affiliate
What Is SpyFu?
An affiliate program (or associate program) is an arrangement between a major web-based merchant and an affiliate (associate) site, where the major site pays the affiliate to send them traffic.
SpyFu’s program is the same. Except, SpyFu sells SEO (search engine optimization) products and not a general retailer like Amazon.
Those who sign up for the SpyFu Affiliate Program should be influencers in the SEO market so as to reach the right consumers.
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How Does It Work?
- You sign up to be in the affiliate program. You must be able to link to the SpyFu web page from your media of choice. This can be through a website you own, email blast, social media accounts, or YouTube Channel. SpyFu is particular about what kind of website they allow their link to be associated with. Make sure you follow their guidelines
- Post the link provided by SpyFu. Once you are in the program, your link will be provided through your affiliate panel, or you can use the provided banners for your website. They have no restrictions on how many times you use the link. Feel free to post them across all your media accounts.
- Earn commission. When a consumer of your website uses your link to visit the SpyFu website and purchases an SEO package, you will receive a 40% monthly commission from the plan the consumer purchased. You will continue to earn this commission for the life the consumer keeps their account with SpyFu.
- Deposit your money. SpyFu pays out up to 2 times a month to your connected PayPal account or by wire transfer.
It’s that simple.
There’s little work required.
SpyFu refers to the affiliate program as passive income, because you don’t need to do anything to earn money (assuming you have somewhere to post the link).
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Why Is SpyFu Better?
SpyFu is a great company to be affiliated with because they offer a great product.
The website offers SEO and PPC (pay-per-click) screening, research, and advising, so your website ranks better on Google than your competitors.
Potential customers can pick between 3 different package options:
Basic ($39/month):
- Unlimited search results and data exports
- 250 sale leads
- 5,000 weekly keyword rankings
- 10,000 top lists results
Professional ($78/month):
- Unlimited search results and data exports
- 500 sale leads
- 15,000 weekly keyword rankings
- 50,000 top lists results
- 10,000 API rows returned
- Custom reports
Team ($299/month):
- Unlimited search results and data exports
- 2,000 sale leads
- 40,000 weekly keyword rankings
- 75,000 top lists results
- 10,000 API rows returned
- Custom reports
- 5 user logins
SpyFu has great conversion numbers that help get you the commission.
Their services have a less than 4% turn over rate, meaning they don’t lose customers often.
They also convert 2.5% of customers who use the affiliate links to visit their website.
Lastly, they offer a 365-day tracking cookie, which means if a consumer uses your link to visit the website but doesn’t sign-up at that moment, there’s a 365-day window for them to return, sign-up, and you get the commission.
How Much Does SpyFu Cost?
The cost to become a SpyFu Affiliate is ZERO.
It’s totally free to sign-up and start posting the links to your website or other social media pages.
Earning passive income from SpyFu can be totally free if you don’t pay for a domain or website host.
How Much Can I Earn?
You are considering an affiliate program to earn cash, but is it enough to quit your day job?
The answer to this will depend on how hard you work to get traffic to your website.
Earning money through affiliate programs is a form of passive income, but if you don’t have traffic to your site or social media, you won’t convert.
Let’s Do Some Quick Math
SpyFu claims to convert 2.5% of the people who visit their website, meaning they convert 1 in 50 people.
A 1:50 ratio seems like a bad ratio, but there are hundreds of thousands of people out in the world who use the internet hourly.
It will also depend on which of the 3 plans your successful click signed-up for.
There’s a big difference between a commission of $15.60 (Basic plan) and $119.60 (Team plan).
The tables below give you an idea of what the smallest and largest amount of earnings looks like for each plan:
| Accounts Per Month | Basic Plan | Team Plan |
| 1 | $15.60 | $119.60 |
| 2 | $31.20 | $239.20 |
| 3 | $46.80 | $358.80 |
| 4 | $62.40 | $478.40 |
| 5 | $78.00 | $598.00 |
The more people you get to your website, the more likely you are to convert.
To get 5 new commissions in a single month, you will need to have at least 250 people click the affiliate link on your website.
But not everyone will click the link. Assuming the same 2.5% conversion applied to the people who clicked the link on your website, you will need a traffic count of 10,000 people on your website each month.
Keep in mind this is for 5 new commissions each month, which is a high number to start with.
Assuming you converted 1 person a month for the first 12 months, you are in the affiliate program your earnings will look like this:
| Month In Program | Num. Of Commissions | Basic Plan | Team Plan |
| 1st | 1 | $15.60 | $119.60 |
| 2nd | 2 | $31.20 | $239.20 |
| 3rd | 3 | $46.80 | $358.80 |
| 4th | 4 | $62.40 | $478.40 |
| 5th | 5 | $78.00 | $598.00 |
| 6th | 6 | $93.60 | $717.60 |
| 7th | 7 | $109.20 | $837.20 |
| 8th | 8 | $124.80 | $956.80 |
| 9th | 9 | $140.40 | $1076.40 |
| 10th | 10 | $156.00 | $1196.00 |
| 11th | 11 | $171.60 | $1315.60 |
| 12th | 12 | $187.20 | $1435.20 |
| Total For Year | $1216.80 | $9328.80 |
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How to Sign Up
To sign-up for SpyFu Affiliate Program, click this link or go to their website.
You will need to fill out a short form with your basic information and tell them where you are going to post your affiliate link.
SpyFu doesn’t limit international affiliates, so it doesn’t matter where you live.
Anyone is welcome to become a SpyFu Affiliate.
The FAQ states they will pay out to PayPal or a wire transfer, but the current affiliate form makes you fill in your PayPal account information.
If you don’t already have a PayPal it will be easiest to sign-up for one before applying to be a SpyFu Affiliate.
To Sum It Up
The SpyFu Affiliate Program is pretty simple.
There aren’t hoops to jump through, and it’s possible to earn money.
You won’t be able to make a full-time income right away, but if you work towards building the traffic to your site, you could earn serious cash over the course of a year and more.