5 Ways to Avoid Getting Duped on Review Sites

Original Article from IntelliSites, the smart choice for web design (and SEO!)
Last week we told you about a company that forced it’s employees to write glowing reviews of it’s services on independent rating sites. The company was eventually sued, but not before some unsuspecting people got duped.

When you read reviews on rating sites, take each one with a grain of salt. Here are five grains to help you evaluate the independence of a reviewer:

Is it all positive? Good reviewers know that their opinion is valuable only if it’s honest. Reviews that don’t touch on negatives or downsides to a service may not be in touch with the same reality that we normal people live in. Be skeptical of the all positive review.

Is it hyperbole? Does the review use a lot of extreme phrases like “Amazing” or “will change your life”? Chances are good that you won’t have the same experience. Call me a cynic, but I think we’re pretty well-educated consumers, and it’s rare that a product or service can truly amaze us.

Does the reviewer have a profile? If a review smacks of insincerity, read the writer’s profile. If possible, read other reviews they’ve written and compare the writing style. Do they always write the same way? Have they written reviews that bash competitors? Both are indicators of where a writer is coming from.

Does the reviewer rate other things? A good way to measure the value of a review is to see what else a reviewer has rated. If they’ve only written reviews of this one service, there’s probably a reason (e.g. maybe the place is owned by a friend). If they’ve written many reviews and come to different, realistic conclusions, you’re probably getting more honest answers.

Does the review apply to you? When I lived in Brooklyn, I used to get my hair cut at a barber shop that served alcohol. Actually, more like a barber shop that let you serve yourself some of their alcohol. They had this little bar in the back, and you could just grab a glass of whatever you wanted. It was the craziest thing.

It was a pretty cool little spot, but let me tell you something - it was not kid friendly. It was raw, smoky, and ... well let’s just say “Not P.C.”

I would have written a good review of the place, but I bet any mom who brought her kid in for a haircut would have given it a horrible review. Fair enough. It’s up to the reader to determine which of our reviews applies to him or her.



Hope this helps.

-Dave