Be a Web Site Reviewer

By Stephen Bucaro
Posted Sunday, December 26, 2004

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I don't have to tell you that there are millions of sites on the Web that - to be blunt - stink! The owners of these sites either don't have the time or skill to fix them, or they don‘t understand why their site is not working. They are losing money, and they don't know what to do. Ah - an opportunity!

You can be a Web Site Reviewer. Contact the owner of a poorly designed Web site, and offer to analyze it and provide a detailed report of problems and suggested improvements. This will improve the effectiveness and increase the revenue from the Web site.

The fees charged for this service range from free, to over $10,000 depending upon the size of the Web site. You could review a Web site for free, if you also just happen to provide the services required to fix the reported problems, and you expected to profit from that.

You could form partnerships with Web designers and programmers, and let them handle some parts of the job. They could implement solutions, or they could even assist in the initial review.

Use a checklist to review a Web site. For each item in the checklist write your findings in a report. Report the good features of the site as well as the bad. State the problems you find in a factual, non-critical manner. Below is an example checklist.

[] The site's objectives
[] Target audience
[] Branding features
[] Navigation
[] Bad links
[] Load time
[] Browser compatibility
[] "Above the fold" interest
[] Readability - color clash, font, layout
[] Poorly written copy
[] Typos and misspelled words
[] Forms don't work
[] Trust features.
[] Provisions to accept feedback
[] Reason for repeat visits

One warning note: Don't make a free review offer to a contractor that designed the site. First, you will be insulting their work, and second, they will fix the problems themselves, and charge the owner. Try to contact the owner of the Web site, not someone who had been hired to design it.

Remember, a large part of your work will be marketing. Contact the owners of web sites to inform them of the benefits they will receive as a result of your analysis. The more of an emotional slant you can put on the benefits, the better. Don't expect them to buy on the first contact.

Here are a few examples of people/companies profiting by reviewing Web sites:
(http://www.mysitestinks.com) (http://eons.com/_Web_Site_Review.asp) (http://internetsuccesscoach.com/webfix.html)

Resource Box:
Copyright(C)2002 Bucaro TecHelp. To learn how to maintain your computer and use it more effectively to design a Web site and make money on the Web visit (http://bucarotechelp.com) To subscribe to Bucaro TecHelp Newsletter Send a blank email to bucarotechelp-subscribe@topica.com

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