If you do not know this already there are three types of review regarding any website, product, or service available online. The first type is a customer review, which is often short, found on the site you are looking at, and somewhat informative. The second type of web hosting review is a professional review for an online comparison or review company. This type of site sends their writers to various sites to compare usability, features, available products, and the company as a whole. Some of these professionals will check up on the customer service by calling the hosting company or even using the product for a time. The last type of review is the one the reviewed company has paid for. They found a writer to give a glowing report about their services that may or may not even use the site.
There are pitfalls in all of these reviews. You can get trapped in a review that is not offering you helpful advice or is even less than honest. To help you avoid these issues we have three areas you should concentrate on.
1. Determine the objectivity of the writer. This is number one and most important for any review, whether it is a web hosting review or other review. Is the review offering you both pros and cons? Have you been able to find who wrote the review? Is that reviewer in anyway tied to the company? Professional reviewers will begin that they are offering an unbiased review. Customers are pretty easy to see because grammar and spelling is not often paramount with them. A review that is definitely biased will either seem spammy or too good to be true.
2. Look at the analysis offered of the site. Did the writer really get into the meat of the web host? A good review will begin with information about the company. It will then delve into a list or a paragraph of the features available. From there the review will examine a few of the more important web host features to determine the positive and negative aspects of the site. The review should state exactly what they are reviewing, whether it is 4 key features or all.
3. Here is the biggest example of how to tell who the reviewer is and if they are the best to write a web hosting review. What is the writer’s expertise? A professional review tends to be removed from the conversation. They may not tell you their expertise, but examine the full range of products. A paid review will definitely omit who they are and make it very hard for you to find out. A customer is more than happy to tell you that they tried the site and what their experience was.
It is always best to look at all three review types. The customer reviews should tell you exactly what their experience is helping you to find the truth behind the site. A professional review in an unbiased manner tells you the features in a one shot deal, so that you do not have to read pages and pages of information.