As the economy continues its downward spiral, one trend that is on the upswing is comparison/review sites. These are sites or landing pages that feature many products usually with a chart of ratings based on certain criteria. Studies have shown that as money gets tighter, people are doing more online research before making any purchases. They are less in buy mode and more in research mode. The savvy internet marketer can hop on this growing trend and help these consumers out, while helping themselves make better profits.
My first experience with comparison landing sites was back when VOIP offers were paying close to $90. I had a large chart with the pros and cons of each VOIP service and of course my affiliate links to each service. The site did very well, and even started ranking organically for several VOIP phrases.
Tips for building comparison/review sites:
1. Build your comparison site with consumers in mind. These are researching consumers not direct buyers, so give them the actual information they are looking for to make their buying decisions.
2. Build in comment functionality. If you can get an actual community of users commenting on the reviews you will have a goldmine.
3. Build your site with SEO in mind. Search engines love to index review pages, and you might end up getting free traffic. Your pay per click campaigns will have higher scores and not be slapped.
4. Don’t make up your reviews. Do research, visit authority sites and the product vendors. Tell them you are building a review site and ask for permission. Provide real info, not made up ratings to push the highest paying offer.
When done right, comparison/review sites should continue to work better and better in the current economic climate. Good luck!
You are so right. I am seeing more taffic as well as conversions on my review sites, than any other type.
That’s one reason why I am helping a friend launch a new membership site where he will provide lps for review sites, as well as regular lps. For a taste, here is an example of his work -> http://thinklikeansob.com/images/review1.jpg
That’s a very nice article for a newbie like me. Thanx a lot.
I’m finding it to be very true that consumers are researching more online. I have customers walk in to my shop on a daily basis who have previously researched online the different plans and cellphones offered. This is a fairly new thing in that its so much more commonplace. With that said, comparison and review sites are great and offer lots of potential for good traffic and profit. The key is like you said, make yours stand out by utilizing seo, commenting, and legitimate information about the products!
But wouldn’t a fake blog do better?
j.k. Thanks Chad for helping keep our eyes on the long-term.
Nice article. I agree with the comments part. Comments helps a lot.
I was just thinking the same thing! With money getting tight, everyone will do more research before making a final buying decision.
MTBr and RoadBikeReview.com seem to have a good hold on the cycling market, but they are lacking in a few areas. This could be a good time for the small niche review sites to make it big.
Nice article! Maybe I will go ahead and develop my consumer review domain. What are your thoughts on making it revenue share to allow others to make money on their personal reviews for products they have purchased?