Technology Sales Online: Product Review Sites Sel

With new technology developing at breakneck speed, consumers need trusted sources who can recommend the best in software, hardware and technological gadgets. Product review websites have become popular reference sources and have the potential to be profitable ventures when handled correctly.

Most technology review sites don't sell products directly: users' reviews link to the product manufacturer's site. The review site owner is paid based on either the amount of traffic redirected to the site, or sales generated through redirected traffic.

Given how people make money with technology review sites, some sites link to multiple products and give each product a glowing review in the hopes of making a sale, any sale. This is a bad idea for a number of reasons.

First and foremost, consumers canny enough to read product reviews before making a purchase are probably smart enough to notice if every review on a site scores highly. This deducts from the visitors trust of site reviews, ultimately hurting the site's chances of redirecting traffic. If a site claims to review portable media players, logic dictates some products will score lower in reviews than others.

To avoid losing credibility in the eyes of your customers, create a series of criteria for product reviews and stick to it, judging each product on the same merits. This set of criteria and regular updates of the reviews will build trust with site visitors, who are than more likely to act on your recommendations.

Link to all the products you review, even if you give the item a low review score. Remember, while you provide visitors with the information they need to make a decision, you don't make the decision for them. If a site visitor chooses to purchase a product you scored low, you still profit from it. Your responsibility is to review honestly, not to prevent individuals from making purchases.

When building a review site, the scope of the review is important. Are you going to review audio systems or all technological gadgets? Although technology websites can review all types of products, smaller sites are generally better off reviewing only specific types of technology. By focusing on one area of technology a website fosters a reputation for specialized knowledge. Also, sites that focus on specific topics tend to perform better in search engines than broader based sites.

Finally, as is the case with every successful website, a review site needs good quality content that is updated regularly. In addition to reviews of the latest products, a technology review site might include industry news, tutorials on product use, an explanation of the site's review process, interviews with industry leaders and other information that enriches and supports the reviews.