11 Best Practices for Building and Running a Good Review Website

Building and running a good review website is a continuous process. Of course, continuously writing good reviews of new and upcoming products are the main criteria. But there are several other factors as well. A website is just like a home which we should maintain and decorate in a proper way in the hope of getting real and positive appreciations. Here I am with some tips and tricks that you can follow and practice on your review site on a regular basis. These practices will help you to maintain a healthy and positive quality of your website.

Recommended reading: 10 Premium WordPress Review Themes with Built-in Rating System.

Online Reputation Management

1) Video Reviews are more Appealing:

11 Best Practices for Building and Running a Good Review Website - Point 1First of all, videos are excellent for conversion. As an affiliate or a direct seller, it will increase the conversions and sales statistics of your site. Video reviews are more appealing than a standard written review. It also has the potentiality to create trust among your visitors. The video is also good for SEO purpose; Google loves to do video monitoring. The video review also helps to keep your visitors engaged on your site for a longer period. It also has an enormous impact on social networking sites, and you can expect a lot of social shares. So, if you are capable of doing video reviews, you should try it. As an example, you can check the CNET video review of iPhone 7 for getting the most awesome inspiration for adding video review to your site.

2) The Quality of Product Image should be Good:

11 Best Practices for Building and Running a Good Review Website - Point 2The product pictures you are adding to your content should be large and clear. A proper image brings a better product understanding. A better understanding is going to give you more viewers. And more viewers are equivalent to the increasing popularity of your website. So try to add prominent images into your content. For example, try out the Beats Solo 3 Review where the Verge includes quite large images. Check how the images are increasing the lifeness of the review.

3) Add a Rating System along with Review:

11 Best Practices for Building and Running a Good Review Website - Point 3A rating system can attract visitors to get a quick understanding of the quality of the product. A score (i.e. between 0-to-10, a star rating or similar) on some main criteria of the product can give a visitor a clear idea about the product and can also enrich your content. Google search engine is also collecting these ratings (i.e. Google rich snippets) to show along with their search results. This can also highlight your Google search listings for each review. If you have developed your review site in WordPress, then you can try the Taqyeem plugin to add a rating system on your website.

4) A Comparison Table or Chart is Promising:

11 Best Practices for Building and Running a Good Review Website - Point 4A comparison table or chart is an unusual feature for improving the quality of your review site. Buyer loves to compare many similar products before making a decision. A comparison table helps them to compare many products in an easy to read table structure. So, if your website provides the option for comparison, visitors will love to utilize it. This will definitely increase the creditability of your site. WordPress users can use a free plugin called TablePress and can add comparison tables anywhere in your article.

5) A Summary Section with Pros & Cons can be Worthy:

11 Best Practices for Building and Running a Good Review Website - Point 5This can be the most highlighted part of your review. It is also good practice to add this section almost at the top of your review. In this section, the visitor can get a summary of what you think about the product. Just highlight the main selling point of the product along with the real positives and negatives of the product. A great verdict can engage the reader to read the entire review. For better understanding do check the “At a Glance” section of Moov HR Sweat review by PCWorld. Although they have added this section at the bottom of their article, you can get the idea about how to arrange this section.

6) Option for User Review & Rating can be Engaging:

11 Best Practices for Building and Running a Good Review Website - Point 6On the “Point 3” above, we have mentioned about the rating system. Now, if you wish to engage your visitors more with your review, you can give them a chance to discuss and rate the product. The guest can share their feelings and opinion for the product you are reviewing. This can help to hold the visitors for a longer time and can also increase the conversion rates. For WordPress users, there is a great plugin called “Reviewer”. Along with many features, this plugin also comes with a user review and rating system.

7) Do Not Over Use the Affiliate Links and Buy Now Buttons:

11 Best Practices for Building and Running a Good Review Website - Point 7Over usage of anything always kill conversion rate in the long run. So if you want to see your website getting popularity then do not overuse your affiliate links and buy now buttons. This can reduce the creditability of your site towards your visitors and also towards any search engines.

8) Maintain a Clean Home Page Without Any Affiliate Link:

11 Best Practices for Building and Running a Good Review Website - Point 8It is important to keep a clean homepage, especially without any affiliate link. It is good for Google and any other search engines. If the home page took more time in loading, if it looks messy and if it contains may promotional links, it will surely kill your search engine rankings. So try not to add any affiliate links in your homepage for getting more benefits in the long run. As an example, have a look at the perfect home page designed by BestAdvisor.com, where the home page is super clean, excellently fast loading and containing no external affiliate links.

9) Mention the Negatives of a Product also:

11 Best Practices for Building and Running a Good Review Website - Point 9Telling the actual truth behind any product is vital for you. This can help your visitors to trust your review. You can be only able to build trust by sharing your original opinion without sharing any false statement. So always keep in mind of adding the negatives of the product if there is any.

10) Adding Related Product Box can be Valuable:

11 Best Practices for Building and Running a Good Review Website - Point 10Well, if you add related product box, just below of your review or in the sidebar, then it can go to increase the page view of your site. This can gain more attractions on your visitors about similar items, and passively this will decrease the bounce rate. You can check an example here. Visit the review page of JVC LT-43C862 on TrustedReviews and check the “MORE ON TRUSTED REVIEWS” sidebar widget section. You will get a good idea of what I am talking about.

11) Do Not Push for Purchase, Only Recommend:

11 Best Practices for Building and Running a Good Review Website - Point 11Yes, the last thing I must say that never push your visitors to buy a product. Unnecessary provoking the buyer for buying any product does not seem okay to anyone. Just recommend the best product and share your opinion through your review. Your review should feel appealing; then the visitors are going to buy it automatically.

Conclusion:

Negative Feedback may harm your business

Try the tips mentioned above on your review site and see the result of your own. Write and publish reviews with passion, follow these simple strategies and I am sure the success will come toward you.

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Published By: Souvik Banerjee

Souvik BanerjeeWeb Developer & SEO Specialist with 15+ years of experience in Open Source Web Development specialized in Joomla & WordPress development. He is also the moderator of this blog "RS Web Solutions".