Review site

According to statistics, more than 80% of people use reviews when making consumer decisions. This means that when a person wants to buy a smartphone, hire a lawyer, or book a hotel room, he first of all looks at reviews of a product or service, and only after that makes a decision about what exactly he will buy or from whom to order the desired service.

This makes reviews one of the most effective tools for generating traffic, and the popularity of sites like Google My Business, TripAdvisor and Yelp is clear proof of this. This tendency of people can also be used for commercial purposes, for example, to launch and monetize your own review portal. We’ll tell you exactly how to do this in this article.

Most review sites operate in the same way: they provide visitors with an online platform with a list of companies where they can share their own experiences with brands or read other people’s opinions.

Such portals make their profit mainly through the referral program, and you can earn quite a lot this way. For example, the American review site Yelp generates $1 billion in revenue per year. This monetization option is indeed the simplest and most accessible, but it is far from the only one. Let’s consider several alternatives:

• Advertising placement. Platforms with reviews often generate a lot of traffic, so paid promotion of brands on such a platform looks quite appropriate and organic.

• Paid features. This could be disabling advertising, expanding profile functionality, automating responses to reviews, etc. There can be quite a lot of options, but the main thing is that they meet the needs of the site’s audience.
• Implementation of subscriptions. Additional functionality can be provided not only for a fixed fee, but also comprehensively – as part of monthly subscriptions. This will increase its relevance as you can use “trials” and other marketing tools to promote features.
• Operating income. You can implement online booking functions, cashback accruals, gift certificates, etc. on your review site. In return, an additional commission can be charged for each transaction carried out through such instruments.

To run a successful review site, you will need to implement a number of important features. Here are the main ones:

• Registration/Authorization. This is an integral part of a review site, as users will only be able to leave reviews after creating a personal profile. This is usually implemented through API integration with Google or Facebook accounts, but manual registration is also an option.
• User profile. Must include the ability to add, edit and delete reviews. It will also be useful to create tools for profile customization, such as changing the color scheme, adding a photo, etc.
• Ratings and reviews. Users have many ways to post reviews on different platforms. The simplest and most convenient of them is adding a rating and, if desired, a text review. To increase the information content, the rating can be divided into several criteria, for example, as implemented on Booking.

• Search system. It should be as convenient and intuitive as possible so that users can find the right brand in a few clicks and not be distracted by banners, listings and other content. The right solution would be to add logical sorting, filtering and categorization systems.
• Supplier panel. It is necessary so that representatives of companies and brands can respond to reviews of their consumers.
• Administrator panel. Used to manage listings, content, user profiles, payment gateways and other tools on the site.
• Fraud protection. A common problem with review sites is that they inflate reviews. This negatively affects the reputation of the platform and can even lead to a loss of trust among visitors. To avoid this, you will need to implement reliable security elements: checking IP, email addresses, mobile phones and an anti-spam system.

A review site generates a large amount of traffic, so when developing it, it is very important to choose the optimal technology stack that will withstand high loads and ensure stable operation of the project. Good choices would be:

• For the backend part: Python/PHP programming languages and their frameworks Django/Flask and Yii2/Laravel – with a monolithic architecture.

Java is perfect when choosing a microservice architecture. Also, the server part can be built on the Node.js JavaScript platform.

• For the frontend part: JavaScript frameworks Vue and React, or static HTML/CSS/JS technologies.

The review platform development life cycle consists of six main stages. Let’s look at them in more detail:

• Collection of information. The team discusses the project with the client, determines the business model, target audience and site priorities, and then conducts an in-depth analysis of the market and competitors.
• Prototype. A very important stage, during which the concept of the site is determined and its prototype is created. Most often, a mockup consists of four main components: a schematic representation of pages, a table describing functions, block diagrams of modules and formulas that will be used to implement business logic. Based on the design results, it is possible to assess the viability of the project and more accurately calculate the timing of its implementation.
• UI/UX design. A design is created that is tailored to your niche and target audience. Successful visual design will make the site convenient, comfortable and understandable for users, which will increase its chances of success.

• Technical development. This is the most extensive and labor-intensive stage of implementation, during which developers create the server and client parts of the project. The server part (backend) is responsible for processing and storing data, implementing business logic, correct operation of functionality and integration with external services via API. Client part (frontend) – ensures correct display of the site in the browser, correct placement of content on pages, operation of visual effects and user input.
• Testing. After development is completed, the functionality of the review site is tested and debugged.
• Technical support and development. When the site is released and the first registrations appear, it is important to ensure its continuous support and prompt correction of technical problems. In addition, you need to focus on further development of the platform and improving functionality so that it always meets market requirements and user requests. Our technical support team will easily solve these problems.

Today, review sites are in high demand, so launching such a project is likely to be a successful investment of resources. However, to achieve success in the market, it is important to consider many technical nuances – from choosing the optimal stack to ensuring security and transparency when publishing reviews.

AVADA MEDIA will help you design an effective review website and ensure its professional development at all stages. Contact us through the form on the website, and together let’s bring your idea to life!