I recently paid $600+ for the Pinterest SEO Secrets Course created by popular YouTuber Anastasia Blogger. In this student review, I cover everything you need to know.
Pinterest SEO Secrets Course Review
Much like you, I was drawn into her charm and charismatic nature on YouTube, yet I didn’t want to get too drawn into free information. After all, YouTube is a place for entertainment and where I’ve noticed training to be very surfaced-based.
I didn’t want to waste time. Pinterest was completely new to me as a Google SEO and Amazon FBA guy. Essentially, I bought the course to get up and going as quickly as possible.
From my experience, having bought 10+ online marketing and eCommerce courses, that the best training you’ll ever find is that you’ll pay for. And yes – that was certainly the case with Anastasia’s course….but there were some minor shortfalls.
It should be noted that:
a) I’ve decided to become an affiliate of this course after finishing it and putting my knowledge into action and gaining solid results. Thus, I might earn a commission with the links below, and;
b) I still mention the shortfalls as there is no perfect course. I don’t let such earning opportunities get in my way of judgement. i.e. I don’t downplay where shortfalls could be as you’ll further see below.
Let’s begin.
Course Layout
Anastasia uses Thinkific to host her course and the layout is very good. One issue is that it’s clumsy to go and re-watch videos you’ve already watched. Unlike YouTube, you can’t simply click ‘replay’ and watch it again. You’ll need to head back to the main dashboard and look for the module again.
There are 10 modules in the Pinterest SEO Secrets course. It’s clear that Anastasia really knows Pinterest like the back of her hand, yet she caters this for beginners like me. Even basic knowledge like setting up a Pinterest account is covered.
In addition, there are many PDF handouts as well as text notes. This was helpful to read after watching the videos, since this was completely new to me, I often needed a 2nd run through the content.
I believe there’s a certain vulnerability in being so learning something new for the first time. This helps me better understand where those learning digital assets or Amazon FBA might be coming from.
What I loved
Anastasia really knows her craft and is quite enthusiastic. In her course, she loses the joy a little and gets into business. The vibe is more serious but also, more authoratative as well.
She goes quite advanced including some technical setups. Having checked her work history on socials, she’s been in the SEO and social media game for almost a decade, so this in-depth knowledge now doesn’t surprise me.
Many people who use Pinterest already for their marketing know of Anastasia. Thus, her account and boards have strong following and she’s well known within Tribes.
What’s incredible is the Facebook group. There are 500+ people in there already with dozens of questions each with, and yes, Anastasia carves out 1 hour each day dedicated to her own community.
>> Check Lowest Pricing <<
Lastly – branding. This isn’t duck-taped together unlike some other training I’ve seen. The essence of her course is building a strong brand as is evident with her blog color pallate, YouTube videos and more.
The Shortfalls
Chances are that you’re looking for a review on Anastasia Blogger to see the shortfalls. “Surely it’s not perfectl?!” and it isn’t. I don’t believe there is a perfect course out there in any niche, as each can improve.
Notably:
- In some of Anastasia’s videos (about 5%), the videos were about 2 years old. The rest was fresh content for 2020. I imagine that, while I was going through the course, Anastasia was actually updating such content. Yet leaving a course untouched for 2 years, in an ever-changing industry, isn’t helpful when YouTube videos go up weekly for free, to many of whom will never spend a dime.
- Anastasia gets 90% of her traffic from Pinterest, but she’s considered to be an authority within the platform and many know of her blog. I think some people expect these same or similar results. For many other niches, I imagine you can only expect 10% to 40% which still isn’t too bad, since your focus should always be on Google SEO first and foremost. Others may exceed these numbers, particularly if you’re in the make-money-online niche. I’m using Pinterest for my yoga brand initally, not my blog here.
- In Module 2, video #6 in the series has a terrible background sound of people renovating. In fact, in some other videos, there was mild overlaying background noise too and this is quite distracting. I was surprised that Anastasia would simply let this fly as this wouldn’t cut it on YouTube. If I were creating a course (and I soon will on brand building through Google SEO) and if there is background noise, I’d wait until later in the day to record the element and always check your video before publishing.
Now – am I being too obtuse? Not really. I’m the last guy to be riding a high horse and grew up from a low socio-economic background, and simply hustle every day to make myself, and the brands I build, simply better.
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As someone who has bought and reviewed dozens of courses, I just expect a strong standard having spent tens of thousands on quality training. When you’re willing to spend 50x what a Udemy course would cost, I believe a high standard is expected. By noting these shortfalls, course creators can improve their student experiences and thus reduce refund rates or buyer remorse.
The industry has been tainted over the years and course evaluators like me simply help everyone rise to a higher standard.
**Update September 2020**
Anastasia has since been in touch with me regarding these shortfalls, was appreciative of my honesty and she will be addressing these over these coming months. I’ve also had my 1-hour coaching call which was very helpful for my yoga brand where I took 1 full page of notes and the call was recorded and sent to me immediately afterwards. In addition, she has been very responsive in the days after this and helpful via email and the Facebook group is very much alive.
Final thoughts
Anastasia’s Pinterest YouTube channel has a strong following and her course lives up to expectations. It isn’t perfect, but really goes in-depth into Pinterest elements, and to the best of my knowledge, is very much complete. This is echo’d by the fact that many of her students have taken multiple courses before finally arriving ‘home’ to hers.
I do look forward to taking some other Pinterest courses to compare this one to in the near future. Also, I purchased the 1-hour coaching session and look forward to making use of that one next week. 🙂
Are there cheaper alternatives? Absolutely, but many (I imagine) would fall short and serve a different market of students who value low pricing.
Would I still recommend her course? Sure – if it’s within budget and you value high quality training built around strong branding.
If you’d like to support my work with the Destiny Rescue charity (more info here), then you may wish to use my affiliate link where the price is the same.
Catch you in her Facebook group. 🙂
