The web is one of the most exciting developments in the history of the world. Any means that improves information delivery is a big step forward.
It’s difficult to imagine life now without the internet. It’s widely utilized for enterprise, entertainment purposes, and learningand more.
Speaking of web for enterprise, more and more business owners are finally embracing the web. What this means is competition for top search engine rankings is heating up.
Therefore getting outstanding search engine result page listings is a priority for any enterprise. It’s a push for the top spot in every industry.
Therefore, any service or expert that can assist a business get a top search engine ranking is a great resource. In fact, over recent years many great and terrible products and services touting improved SEM have hit the market.
My problem as business owner is picking the good SEM products and not getting suckered with the lousy ones. Few are great, some are helpful, plenty are trash.
It’s impossible to determine a service’s effectiveness by reading the sales page or squeeze page. Those sales pages promise the world.
Fortunately there are reviews on just about anything available for sale. Like I said at the beginning of this article; if you need information, go the internet.
Even then, it sure is fascinating how many web pages provide such great information including reviews. I can just see it; someone buys a new gadget, uses it, jumps on the internet and reports about it. We’re all becoming journalists.
In fact I don’t buy anything without reading a review. Those reviews I find on the web. My rule for reviewing before purchasing specifically applies to all the SEM service tools I buy.
That said, read reviews with a bit of a incredulous eye. Why? Because many reviews are just hype so that they get an affiliate commission.
It’s true, many reviews are there purely for the money received after a sale. You need to look for reviews that neutrally present the facts.
A factual review in my view is a balanced review. Armed with facts I can make a buy decision.
11 suggestions distinguishing the good from the bad when reading internet reviews
1. Does it read like one of those long sales pages (called squeeze pages). If so, I’d ignore it.
2. Is it full of hype and trying to persuade? Not good.
3. What’s the tone of the rest of the site? All hype? Again not good.
4. Does the review detail any disclosure statements? If so, it’s not necessarily bad. It simply helps to know what you’re reading.
5. What’s your opinion of other reviews and articles on the site?
6. Is there any actual value in the review? Any meat and potatoes details about your product or service?
7. Is the author knowledgeable about the product or service?
8. How does the review compare to other reviews? Always read more than one review.
9. Was the review through a pap-per-click link? Not necessarily bad, but definitely a paid link.
10. Just because it’s a respected publication such as a newspaper doesn’t mean it’s not a paid advertisement (i.e. advertorial or affiliate link).
11. Does the review set out both the good and the bad about your product or service?
A factual review writes (or is video footage explaining) both the positive and negative aspects of whatever is being reviewed. It also doesn’t try to persuade; it merely informs. There’s a difference.
I’m not saying affiliate marketing is bad. On the contrary, affiliate marketers offer a useful service; but only those that take their job seriously. Their job in my opinion is informing and sharing information.
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