🔍 Ian Howells on Building Affiliate Empires, Private SEO Communities, and Why the Basics Still Matter - Episode #36

The SEO Podcast: Page 2 Podcast Hosted by Jon Clark & Joe DeVita

In Episode 36 of The Page 2 Podcast, hosts Jacob Stoops and Jeff Louella are joined by the ever-resourceful Ian Howells, co-founder of Traffic Think Tank and veteran of both the affiliate grind and enterprise SEO world.

From his humble beginnings building websites in high school to monetizing adult content and online poker (yep, really), Ian shares how those early experiences evolved into a career spanning in-house leadership roles, agency pivots, and the creation of one of the SEO industry’s most respected private communities.

📈 Inside this episode:

• How Ian learned to monetize the web at 17—and what crashed his hosting
• His rise from intern to SEO team lead at Pepperjam and GSI Commerce
• Working with Red Ventures and Lending Tree: corporate SEO from the inside
• The origin and growth of Traffic Think Tank—what it is, who it’s for, and how it’s different
• How he picks affiliate niches using Ahrefs, intent, and scale forecasting
• What most SEOs misunderstand about affiliate marketing and “passive” income
• Thoughts on keyword research, Bing vs Google, and why the basics won’t die
• Building a career by building a site—how hiring managers actually think
• Behind the scenes of running Traffic Think Tank Live (hint: hire an event planner)

This one’s packed with strategy, war stories, and unfiltered insights from someone who’s done it all—from bootstrapped affiliate sites to billion-dollar acquisitions.

🔔 Subscribe for weekly episodes with the real stories behind SEO’s most respected voices.

Sponsored by Moving Traffic Media

Follow the Page 2 Podcast

• Page 2 Podcast on Youtube
• Page 2 Podcast on Linkedin
• Page 2 Podcast on Facebook

Follow Jon Clark

• Jon Clark on Bluesky
• Jon Clark on Linkedin