Do webmasters actually WANT their sites reviewed?
 

With all the recent threads related to website reviews I've decided to weigh in.

1) If you are a website owner (free/avs/paysite/tgp/links/??), what is your attitude towards having your site objectively reviewed?

2) If you value fair, honestly upbeat reviews, and would like to have your website(s) promoted with well-written articles, I am offering a solution from the 'other' end.

I am compiling a website review repository which will make available uniquely phrased detailed reviews of sites (no two reviews would be textually identical) to those who want to incorporate them into their bona-fide directories and web sites.

At this time, there is no fee to webmasters wanting to have their sites professionally reviewed - a link with any access info and permission is all it takes to get queued for the repository.

If you operate a bona-fide links or directory site (NO spamdex or hijacked pages) and you are interested in licensing exclusive text versions of the reviews, please contact me.

Unlike many of the other 'reviewers' currently writing individual reviews (with and without site owners permissions), I am interested in doing full workups for sites wanting to particpate in this program.

Also, I have proprietary authoring tools which facilitate the economic production of diverse (but on point and coherent) versions of text content. Once a site has been researched and reviewed, many excellent versions of the individual articles can be produced on demand.

Please check my sig for details and contact info.

Thanks,
-Dino

I love getting my site reviewed, but only if it's a real review. Too often I've had people run through it and just tell people what pictures I have online at the time, which is useless because that's always changing. I would prefer someone to talk about the value for the dollar, the features offered, etc etc.

I have a problem with people that don't know a thing about design/marketing saying something sucks.

I only ask people whose opinion I respect, and now I'll get an honest answer from.

That's a very reasonable view.

The reviews I'm proposing to write do allow the site creator/owner to offer their comments and share the spirit of their site. I'm a real believer in a good old fashioned sit down to get a true sense of things.

Thanks for your comments!
-Dino

In many ways, this is not unlike a TV (or other media) interview.

Choosing an apropriate interviewer is a very important. Censoring/editing an interview or review after the fact is not as practical an option as being sure to make good choice up front.

This rides the classic line that many media publishers face - how positive can one be without losing credibility (re objectivity).

My solution to this dilemma is to up front state that the repository of sites reviewed will be good to excellent sites only - anyone who runs a risk of being reviewed unfavorably will be advised after preliminary review and have the option of rebutting any constructive points publicly or passing completely on having their site included (and potentially lambasted).

Rather than trying to make bad sites look good (and tainting the validity of highly praised sites), the focus will be on sites which demonstrate a good profile to start with.

-Dino

As a website operator, which aspects of your site(s) do you want visitors to know about?

Also as a site operator, from other reviews (or those of your own site) which features are generally porrly covered and/or points of contention with you?

eg.

- Too much focus on # of photos

- 'unfair' subjective criticism

- 'lopsided' summary

- guessing what the membership are must be like without actually experiencing it

- shameless snatch and grab of your key branding phrases

I know what it's like to build up a site over years and start seeing SE traffic come in, only to realize that the moment my branding and key phrases are becoming prominent, they are page-jacked.

Legitimate directory listings which direct visitors to my site(s) are great, but listings which use the key phrases I have build my branding on/with and not even provide a link (or actual URL) to my site (which is what the surfer came looking for in the first place) is criminal in spirit.

What do you say, I make this Website Review Repository a full meal deal? To complete the service, webmasters who offer their sites to be reviewed will be informed on an ongoing basis of any page jackers found cutting and pasting from their sites as SE bait without honest linking.

C & D 's can be issued (by you) along with complaints to the SEs which host the unsanctioned materials.

I was surprised when violators were actually removed by the SEs and even their hosts for copyright complaints.

-Dino

bump

I enjoy reading what reviewers have to write about my site, whether it be critisism or just general praise.. what I don't like is someone saying, oh it was shit.

Some reviewers have no opinion of their own and just say it sucked.. stay away from people like that =P

I don't think web site owners want honest reviews.

And they will always insist on modifying the review.

Reviews are just a marketing stategy from two directions, if you know what I mean. :winkwink:

Who wants to spend the time to review something and both ends are unhappy because the site sucks?

Who won? The surfer? He would have figured that out himself

Yea doesnt really make much sense unless you are writting some
sort of educational aspect of the review for newbies to understand
what certain areas of the site does for marketing and revenue reasons.

Anyone agree?

preach on, sister.

i've changed my hair color a few times over the last several years. reviewers confuse my different hair colors as being different chicks.

rushed reviews are becoming a problem, imho.

I have not been impressed with review sites that I have been contacted from.

How ridiculous is it to put a real amateur girl site and compare it to a fake amateur girl site that some guy paid thousands of dollars for the design and pics...

Most of the reviews were negative..not for lack of or shitty content.. but just because they kept comparing sites to one another that were totally different in every way imaginable.

A review should be of that one site.. not a freaking comparison to another site..

Guess no one gives a flying fuck.

Well, the topic seems to have struck a chord with the amateur webmistress market, if you read the thread carefully.

One review site I really like is The Best Porn 4 people each go through the site seperately and write their own reviews

Excellent comments!

Thanks to all who have contacted me to have their sites properly reviewed.

You can be assured that the main points discussed in this thread will be kept in mind as your reviews are prepared.

Keep those comments and review requests coming!

-Dino

You nailed it. When I put up mine, it emphasized that we reviewed based on each site's merit and did not compare it to other sites, so the little guy just starting out would have an equal chance of a great review against, say, a huge long-time website.

I still keep to that credo and have to continually remind my reviewers about this.

I also have started a review site Fetish Shark

I have an amateur girl site myself so do take into account of the smaller things that webmasters do that makes their site unique. Maybe Im slightly biased :)

I've tried to model my future plans after them - I like they way they provide complete details about sites, not just "it's cool/it sucks".

Review sites do convert when the audience believes they are relatively objective.

From a site owner perspective I can't say, but so far all the owners/aff. managers have been very cool and willing to help out - it's a win-win.

nice! my thinking exactly

This seems to be a common concern. Aside from lack of professional authoring skills, I think the main reason for poor quality reviews is the wrong incentive (on the part of the reviewer). Many 'SEO' hacks practise 'site scraping' which is sometimes veiled as a 'review' - this is nothing more than a shameless stringing of text with the subject site's keywords laced throughout a meaningless babble.

This does very little for the owner of the site, but regrettably benefits the 'reviewer'.

A proper review takes time and skill.

If the purpose of a review is to bolster the SERPs of the publisher of the review, the website reviewed is not likely to benefit much.

The reviews I'm working on are oriented to provide benefits for the site owners, their affiliates, the reviewer, and the publisher by the nature of the process and the format/distribution of the finished product.

Thanks to those who have already invited me to review their sites.

If you have a site (or cluster of sites) and would like to have it professionally reviewed please let me know.

If you are operating an affiliate program and would like to offer your affiliates some effective additional tools for promoting your site(s) without stepping all over each others' feet (duplicate content penalties are REAL on search engines), contact me.

http://DinoCortez.com/contact-us.html

Thanks and all the best for the new year!
-Dino

there has to be a set of uniform criteria that one uses for all reviews, otherwise you're applying double standards. one can't give a nasty dollars site 10/10 for the amount of content and give the same to an amateur site; it would be misleading to surfers.

as for negative reviews.... there has to be a balance- good is only relative to bad. besides, i'm consistently getting signups to sites with lowest scores, beats me why. perhaps people just like the name and wish to see for themselves, perhaps its just my traffic ;)

rabbit

We are back to this again..

AMEN!
I may not have the best looking site, but it loads quickly and I have top quality content. So judge my site on what the potential members are interested in, not what it looks like in comparison to some pro site.

sounds like a good idea

especially if youre looking for ideas :bigears

:thumbsup a real review sure but the 12 hits a day site that wants a free pass on a beam.to url nah thanks

Thanks for the bump! :thumbsup

Regarding standards for reviews -- from all the reviews I have seen so far, there are often quite a few attributes left out which members (or prospective members) are interested in.

The folks behind a site can add (or subract) from a site's uniqueness. Simply tallying up the number of photos on a site is the same as trying to associate quality of forum contributer with their post count. Often the exceptionally massive counts belong to so-so sources. When I see a site which offers weekly updates and out of the 150 new pics (of one model) only 25 or 30 are original (not 1 degree change in the same pose), I'd much rather view a site which offers smaller official updates of original content without fluffing (no pun intended) their additions.

This is a point of distinction between sites which levels out the playing field. A small volume gallery operator can compete with a massive archive.

The bulk of website 'operators' seem to place more value in the community of webmasters than recognize the tremendous community building opportunities they have with their memberships.

Some sites facilliate community building (and I don't mean links to dating services). Their members signed up because they were looking for something more than a pile of pics or clips. Anyone who has participated in the adult social scene will understand this. This is another feature which sets websites apart and should be included in reviews.

Sure, many surfers are private and want to enjoy their erotic content quietly and on their own - a faceless site which interacts with them only when it's time to charge their credit card again is perfect - no embarrasing interactions.

To my endless surprise (and delight), many members enjoy participating in a safe adult community and, not unlike any other venue in the hospitality industry, they like to get to know the people behind the establishment they are patronizing. These are loyal members and are not easily swayed by gallery counts or mysoginistic promises.

If a website caters to true adult community building, it deserves to be recognized for it in any review.

These are some of the extra elements I include when I author reviews for others.

All the best for the new year!
-Dino

i agree! no doubt about it