Maybe you’re trying to make money as an affiliate? Perhaps you’re looking to fill a need in your community? Whatever the case may be, you’re looking to create a review website.
The question is: how? How do you go about creating the best review website possible? It’s as simple as using the following tips.
Without further ado, here are 7 review website tips.
1. Separate By Industry
There is a bevy of industries out there, each of which caters to different consumers and businesses. To make the most of your review website, you need to highlight each of these industries, separating them into their very own page.
Not only should you separate by industry but by the niche within an industry as well. For instance, instead of just making a page for “automotive”, you should also make sub-pages for “auto body repair”, “transmission repair”, “auto parts”, and the like.
The more sub-groups you create, the easier it will be for your visitors to find the appropriate businesses. Not to mention, having more sub-groups will help with SEO (Search Engine Optimization).
The best place to do this is in your website’s primary navigation menu. Allow it so that when the cursor runs over the “Industry” tab, a window opens up displaying primary industries and their sub-niches. This way, visitors will be able to access every sub-niche from the top of the website.
2. Make Use of Star Ratings
When web users are looking for info about businesses, they’re usually skimming through the page at max speed. As such, you should implement entities that accommodate such skimming. One such entity is star ratings.
Star ratings allow the user to get a quick idea of a business or product’s quality. If the user sees 1 star, he or she can reasonably assume that the business or product is worth avoiding. On the other hand, if he or she sees 4 or 5 stars, he or she can reasonably assume that the business or product is worth pursuing further.
You could make your own star rating for each business and/or product. However, the better idea is to let reviewers leave their own ratings. Then, you can take the averages of those ratings and display that average as the overall rating.
3. Establish Ranking Lists
Another way to help web users find good businesses or products on your website is to establish ranking lists. These are essentially lists in which you rank the top 5 to 10 entities in any single category. By placing these lists on your front page, you can more easily help viewers to find what they’re looking for.
Examples of ranking lists could be “Best Pizza Places in Austin” or “The Top Dentists in Boston”, for example. Examples for products could be “The Best Cheap Headphones” or “The Top Mountain Bikes of 2020”.
Lists like these will spice up your home page and will provide your visitors with an incentive to click through to another page. Plus, they’ll improve navigation, making for greater user experience and optimal SEO.
4. Translate Foreign Languages
If your website is based around US businesses, the vast majority of the reviews on your site will be written in English. That said, from time to time, you’re bound to get a Spanish review or a Japanese review or otherwise.
For obvious reasons, these reviews can be complicated for other users to decipher. As such, when you get a foreign-language review, you’re advised to translate it so that it’s available in both languages.
Handling multilingual reviews isn’t always easy, but it is always possible. Click the fore-posted link for more info.
5. Allow Users to Post Pictures/Videos
Reviews shouldn’t just be walls of text crammed into small boxes. To make them as attractive as possible, they need to allow for enhanced media. This is why, when setting up your review site, you need to allow reviewers to post pictures/videos.
A video or a photograph can go a long way in optimizing the efficacy of a review. For instance, if a restaurant were to have mold growing on its ceiling, a reviewer could take a picture of it to alert potential future visitors. Conversely, if a reviewer found a business to be well-kept, he or she could take a picture to indicate that fact.
Words and sentences are good. But when supplemented with photographs and/or videos, they’re even better.
6. Choose a Review of the Day/Week/Month
A good way to spice up your review site’s home page is to post a review of the day or week or month at the top of the page. This will not only highlight a business or product but it will also help your website to feel like a living, breathing entity.
When posting the review, try to include a photo of the reviewer. Also, make sure that it links to the business or product in question.
This type of feature will turn your website into one worth visiting frequently. If you were to just keep a static website, there would be no reason for visitors to make their way back.
7. Consider a Niche
It’s certainly possible to create a generalist review site that covers all industries, products, and specializations. However, if you do so, you’re going to be competing against some of the best websites in the land.
The better option? Choose a niche and review only entities that exist within that niche. This way, you’ll become the authority on that niche, and will be the website that people come to when they’re trying to learn more about it.
Creating a Review Website is Easier Than it Seems
As you can see, creating a review website is easier than it seems. As long as you implement the above-reviewed tips, your website should start taking off in no time.
Looking for other such info? Our website is the place to be. Check out some of our other blog posts now!
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