Would you like this feature?

Review my website:

  • Yes

    Votes: 21 67.7%

  • No

    Votes: 10 32.3%
  • Total voters
    31
  • Poll closed .
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G

gemd89

  • #1
    Just by a show of yes and no

    How many paid members would like the Website feedback forum we have for paid members to be open to be answered from free member aswell.

    I understand general site reviews are not allowed however when paid members post in the feedback they get very little replies -

    So would anyone else like paid members site reviews to be open to free members to post back feedback? Obviously this may help free members upgrade to get a site review aswell.

    Thanks
    Gemma
     
    D

    Dawg

  • #3
    It was implemented some years ago to stop people coming on, asking for a review and then never being heard of again.
    They only ever took from the forum rather than gave as well.
    It does mean that some genuine free members suffer by not having the facility despite being good members, but the feeling was then, and is I presume still now, that the input and level of expertise you get from a review is worth £40.
    If you want a review there are lots of other places to get a free one. Most of them seem to gush "I love your brilliant site" over the most unspeakable garbage that they aren't much use though.
    As ever, you gets what you pays for.

    Dawg-not so much a free member as a cheap git.
     
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    gemd89

  • #4
    Sorry dawg - I dont want free members to have the ability to ask for reviews - I want paid members to be able to ask for a review to the whole forum - So free members can post feedback.

    Its just in the review the site section there doesnt get much feedback and i would like more people to review my site. I am happy to support the site - but when i pay i like to get what i want.

    Gemma
     
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    M

    MASSEY

  • #5
    Yes the full members area is a dead beat in terms of getting a decent response to a website review.

    I think it should be made public but obviously the free members can't start threads.

    It wouldn't be hard to make a section so free members can see it but not start new threads.

    Other sites don't seem to get the traffic so even though they offer free reviews it's still rubbish.

    I was only a full member when i needed a lot of advice for my site but as soon as my threads got moved to the private it was pointless paying membership again...
     
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    Matt1959

    Free Member
    Sep 8, 2006
    6,325
    1,225
  • #7
    with site reviews, I think ordinary user opinions count as much if not more than pro's sometimes. Also, with the official site review section, I think there was a kind of malaise whereby people couldnt be bothered to post an opinion. In the main body of the forum, theres always willing posters...
     
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    iArtist

  • #12
    I think it's a good idea Gem.

    I see no reason not to have paid members site reviews posted in public forum. If anything it would encourage more people to sign up for a subscription.

    They'd see how valuable the response was and pay the £36 just to get one for themselves. I think paying for someone to review your site and all it's flaws costs a lot more so really this could be a very good lure for UKBF in terms of paid memberships.

    Meanwhile I think UKBF admin may be concerned people would post a site review request a week just to get their site seen! Not for a review but for self-promotion. If this is the case perhaps therfore they could restrict site reviews to two per annum?

    Perhaps this thread should be in 'feedback' forum, to ensure admin notice it and reply with their thoughts?

    Re people benefitting from the advice...that's why we're here. To give a little, take a little...it's good karma.
     
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    gemd89

  • #13
    Deniser - But what if it was as simple as the text box looks wordy and the colours are dull - It should be a review to that specific website but i see what your saying in terms of SEO and other generalised advice.

    Unique-gift - Yes - Ive posted on netmums forums and got 1 response and a couple of other forums, but as this forum is business based i expected better and more helpful replies but as free members cant respond I only got a few responses for my review my website post. I think it would be good to lure people to upgrade to get a decent informative, helpful review. Also i posted this in here as this is the busiest forum and i wanted more people to respond.

    Gemma
     
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    I

    iArtist

  • #14
    gemd89 said:
    Also i posted this in here as this is the busiest forum and i wanted more people to respond.

    Gemma
    Click to expand...


    Very true :)

    I have a 'website review' section on my cartoonist forum and we get requests from all sorts! People join who aren't cartoonists to get a review about their gardening site.

    What this shows is that there are many people out there desperate for a site review and don't much care where it comes from! LOL :)

    That said, I do think it would a be a significant lure for UKBF but...maybe they don't need extra lures?

    Anyway, let's hope the powers that be respond to the suggestions :)
     
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    MASSEY

  • #19
    Unique Gift said:
    I see no reason not to have paid members site reviews posted in public forum. If anything it would encourage more people to sign up for a subscription.
    Click to expand...

    I meant to add that to my original post. It is shocking :eek: ....how many forum owners struggle to be innovative and monetise them to the full extent. Especially when there is good levels of constant traffic.
     
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    D

    Deleted member 61074

  • #22
    I can't say I'd be tempted to pay for membership in order to get a site review. There are hundreds of other forums I could go to for free.

    Who cares if non paying peeps ask for reviews? If you are a paid member then simply don't bother to review a site if it's a non payer asking.
     
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    gemd89

  • #25
    Yes dunerider where can i go and get loads of USEFULL advice as i can here and get a good quota of reviews on my website specific to me?

    Just on another note - One of my old posts that slipped past moderation - Turning things around - Its a site review i asked for open to free and paid members - Got 218 replies! My review my site in the paid section - 30

    Big difference!

    Gemma
     
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    Deleted member 61074

  • #27
    The first place I'd go is the forum for the cart you are using. It's always worth building relationships with other users of the same cart as you can pick up lots of info, tips and tricks and learn from other reviews. Often you can improve your own site by seeing what others do.

    Granted I probably exaggerated by stating 'hundreds' But then again there are hundreds of carts. In reality you only need one or 2 review threads to see your glaring errors so here and your cart would suffice.
     
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    F

    Faevilangel

  • #28
    The problem with the forums with free reviews, the reviews are normally crap or just sales based e.g. on one site this week, someone posted a question asking what everyone thought of their site, straight away you had a "non techie" saying it was brilliant and blah blah blah, a "web designer" said it was the worst site he had seen, and then a few other people posted about his copy, the seo etc. There was some good, well thought out replies but a lot were useless and just thinly disguised sales ********.

    My opinion is, if you want a decent review then know what you want reviewed e.g. don't ask for a general view on the site but ask for a specific review e.g. is my copy strong enough, how can I improve conversions, get more traffic etc.

    I believe making the reviews into the main forum would result in the same as my example above, lots of sales from web designers and then lots of "i love your site, I don't know about how to improve it".

    Most of the reviews in this forum are well thought out and are from experienced members, I don't do many reviews anymore due to time constraints but Fisicx and a few others respond to all posts and give brilliant advice which you could pay hundreds for if you went to them.

    Not everyone wants their website reviews in the public forums for Google to see, competitors to see and being given sales spiel.

    I believe the reviews are better where they are but sift do need to try and sell the benefits of paid membership more, get more professions to give advice etc.

    The reviews on this site are of a much higher quality than other sites and that is because of the pay wall. Removing the pay wall will reduce the overall quality. The quality of the reviews leads can lead to work for the reviewer, give good honest advice and you are building up trust with the other person, and that trust can and does lead to opportunities between the 2 people.
     
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    TotallySport

  • #29
    One issue if, if the forum for reviews are in another area and not the internet, eccommerce or general forums, I doubt many none paying members will see them anyway, why browser something you cannot use (unless your selling the service), I also give my time to review other peoples sites, yet I cannot get the same back.

    I would vote doesn't bother me either way, but I wouldn't look at it unless in the forum unless I could get the same as I had put in. Or unless I wanted to scive and there was nothing better for me to do.
     
    Upvote 0
    M

    MASSEY

  • #30
    Faevilangel said:
    The problem with the forums with free reviews, the reviews are normally crap or just sales based e.g. on one site this week, someone posted a question asking what everyone thought of their site, straight away you had a "non techie" saying it was brilliant and blah blah blah, a "web designer" said it was the worst site he had seen, and then a few other people posted about his copy, the seo etc. There was some good, well thought out replies but a lot were useless and just thinly disguised sales ********.

    My opinion is, if you want a decent review then know what you want reviewed e.g. don't ask for a general view on the site but ask for a specific review e.g. is my copy strong enough, how can I improve conversions, get more traffic etc.
    Click to expand...

    This is where i think you are wrong ;)

    People "in the industry" will always say "you could be converting more people if your copy was better", when your copy is almost 100% converting, or the layout is wrong etc etc.

    Where as the normal people whose views are not clouded will say "i like that" or "i don't like that", it gives you more of a glimpse into reality. Code people will be saying "oh your not complying with w3 standards" -- well who cares about w3 standards as long as the site works? :D

    If it was an open area that free members could see and post in but not start threads, their opinions as a whole will be more valuable / impartial than the majority of people in the business.

    Using copy as an example, i see copywriters work and most of the time it just wreaks of spam to me. They make the mistake of applying the same formulas to everything in my opinion.

    If it was a forum in a prominent position so free members can see it and post in it, it would prompt more free members to sign up for full membership. This forum has a small monopoly over others because it has decent traffic.
     
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    Matt1959

    Free Member
    Sep 8, 2006
    6,325
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  • #31
    MASSEY said:
    This is where i think you are wrong ;)

    People "in the industry" will always say "you could be converting more people if your copy was better", when your copy is almost 100% converting, or the layout is wrong etc etc.

    Where as the normal people whose views are not clouded will say "i like that" or "i don't like that", it gives you more of a glimpse into reality. Code people will be saying "oh your not complying with w3 standards" -- well who cares about w3 standards as long as the site works? :D

    If it was an open area that free members could see and post in but not start threads, their opinions as a whole will be more valuable / impartial than the majority of people in the business.

    Using copy as an example, i see copywriters work and most of the time it just wreaks of spam to me. They make the mistake of applying the same formulas to everything in my opinion.

    If it was a forum in a prominent position so free members can see it and post in it, it would prompt more free members to sign up for full membership. This forum has a small monopoly over others because it has decent traffic.
    Click to expand...

    some pertinent points there which I see havnt been picked up upon:)

    I think professional opinions regarding website coding stuff is invaluable and unarguable but user experiences are more of a grey area where everyones opinion should count. As in any trade, those that are experts are often too close to look at things in perspective possibly?
     
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    MASSEY

  • #33
    angry_man.png


    GIVE US A FREE REVIEW FORUM AHHHHH. LOL
     
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    directmarketingadvice

    directmarketingadvice

    Free Member
    Aug 2, 2005
    10,887
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  • #36
    MASSEY said:
    Yes the full members area is a dead beat in terms of getting a decent response to a website review.
    Click to expand...

    I wonder how many people get good advice from these reviews and actually implement it.

    I've long felt that most good website advice is wasted. People only tend to take what they wanted to hear (or what's easy to implement).

    Steve
     
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    LicensedToTrade

    LicensedToTrade

    Free Member
    Nov 7, 2009
    6,312
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  • #37
    SteveGibson said:
    I wonder how many people get good advice from these reviews and actually implement it.

    I've long felt that most good website advice is wasted. People only tend to take what they wanted to hear (or what's easy to implement).

    Steve
    Click to expand...

    No kidding, in my experience the reasons behind an individual having such a poor site in the first place tend to be same reasons why they will never implement changes when given advice... they can't look beyond their own opinion.
     
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    MillieMaesworld

    MillieMaesworld

    Free Member
    Apr 2, 2011
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    Tamworth Staffordshire
  • #38
    SteveGibson said:
    I wonder how many people get good advice from these reviews and actually implement it.

    I've long felt that most good website advice is wasted. People only tend to take what they wanted to hear (or what's easy to implement).

    Steve
    Click to expand...
    Personally I listened to every point made in my website review and implemented all changes. To the best of my ability. I am gratefull for those who took part. Nick :):)
     
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    LicensedToTrade

    LicensedToTrade

    Free Member
    Nov 7, 2009
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  • #39
    MillieMaesworld said:
    Personally I listened to every point made in my website review and implemented all changes. To the best of my ability. I am gratefull for those who took part. Nick :):)
    Click to expand...

    This is the flip-side of the coin whereby the person seeking the review might take all of the advice on offer as gospel. Just remember that not all good advice is good advice (this advice excluded of course :rolleyes:). I would take any advice you get on a forum with a pinch of salt.

    As the forum stands at the moment the only thing you really know about users who can review your website in the members only section is that they have had access to £40.00 at some point this year...that's all :D
     
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    prince_capri

    Free Member
    May 23, 2011
    21
    2
  • #40
    I am a little confused by what is being discussed here, but I will post my 2 pence:

    - Yes, website reviews should be allowed. Should they be comprehensive and detailed and professional? Well, this is the grey area, can you make them so? Majority are likely to come in and say 'Wow! The flash on the looks cool..', 'I don't like the layout there...'. I think it will be VERY irresponsible to assume that paid members are more likely to give good feedback. You are cornering yourself to think that MONEY = QUALITY. Well, no. I think what you need are dedicated people, not people with money. These two are not inclusive of each other!

    - So I think website reviews should either be:
    1) Open to public; in which case take the advice from a general public that would most likely visit your website. They might not be able to tell you how to fix things, but they will tell you what's missing. After all, you are catering to them!
    2) Only available for professional website builders to review. They will be very likely to focus on and tell you the essential aspects of the website that are currently missing. Great in my opinion if your website lacks the basic structure (I Would go for this), but this would be a minor representation for the overall feedback that I seek. After this, I am very likely to go back to Step 1 to get an overall review, a user review per se.

    - But can anyone stroll in and ask people to review their website?
    Definitely not! I think people have to earn them, either with their input, or money. So paid members are allowed to. Non paid-Members who get a 'thanks' when they post reviews should 'collect points' which allow them to utilize this service as well, although this should be restricted.

    I just think it needs a better, more incentive based structure to fully capitalize.

    Thoughts?
     
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