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How to build a blog for product reviews?
JaysonFour
Classy Monster KittehRegistered User regular
Classy Monster KittehRegistered User regular
So, lately my sister has gotten into writing product reviews on her blog- she gets samples and stuff in the mail, tries them out, then posts about her experiences and results with said products. It covers all sorts of things- baby stuff, makeup, snacks, pretty much anything that she gets, she does a review about. I didn't think it was really possible to have stuff sent to you for review, but lately, with the amount of boxes I have to juggle into the house... well, if it works...
But anyways, she's been looking into possibly looking into moving her blog away from its current position (she has it up on one of those free blog services currently), and she thinks that moving to her own website, she might get some better results and the like. She's looking at the basic package from GoDaddy, and I convinced her to put off the decision for a day or so to come ask you guys if you had any advice you could possibly give her.
Pretty much, we're looking for the following tips (I say "we", because more than likely I'm going to get to play editor...):
-Is it a good idea to start up a small blog site for your product reviews, or would she be better off just sticking where she is right now, on the free service?
-How many visitors would 500GB worth of traffic account for?
-Would the basic website setup from GoDaddy be enough, or are there better places/deals that she can use?
-General blogging tips and the like would be appreciated, too- hey, the more good information I can gather for her, the better!
Thanks in advance!
But anyways, she's been looking into possibly looking into moving her blog away from its current position (she has it up on one of those free blog services currently), and she thinks that moving to her own website, she might get some better results and the like. She's looking at the basic package from GoDaddy, and I convinced her to put off the decision for a day or so to come ask you guys if you had any advice you could possibly give her.
Pretty much, we're looking for the following tips (I say "we", because more than likely I'm going to get to play editor...):
-Is it a good idea to start up a small blog site for your product reviews, or would she be better off just sticking where she is right now, on the free service?
-How many visitors would 500GB worth of traffic account for?
-Would the basic website setup from GoDaddy be enough, or are there better places/deals that she can use?
-General blogging tips and the like would be appreciated, too- hey, the more good information I can gather for her, the better!
Thanks in advance!
I can has cheezburger, yes?
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What does that mean? Does she want more control over the look? If so going custom will give her more control than the canned layouts/styles of free sites, but it'll cost moneys.
Developing your own site gives you more flexibility and requires more technical ability. You could go with setting up your own server hosting Worpress/Drupal/Joomla, and you'll have some support available through the communities that support such, but there will still be some trial and error and technical work involved. Going with an existing service means she can focus on developing content.
Depends on the content she is serving. If it is all text then 500GB transfers can handle a buttload of legitimate traffic, but if she's serving a bunch of pics or videos in the posts then that goes down several orders of magnitude.
Good content (meaning unbiased, detailed, analyzing the product from multiple angles, and good writing). Frequent updates.
Going away from that web address loses all the SEO stuff, and might lose some readers in the process. I'd suggest keeping the old one active and updated at the same time, and do a slower transition, with big posts/banners about the new URL for the site. I don't think that she can have the old URL automatically redirect, since it's not really owned by her.
[edit: to be slightly more constructive, I agree that Squarespace is a good option, and I'd also recommend registering the domain name with a different company than the one you choose to host with -- it makes switching hosts a lot easier down the track.
1) something like Engadget where you just write a few paragraphs about a product?
or
2) something more like NewEgg where you have 'star' ratings or 1-10 ratings on different product qualities (like "value," "reliability," etc)
If (1), then Wordpress is probably what you want. I highly recommend WP-Engine (http://wpengine.com) for hosting this sort of site. It is a little more expensive than your usual cheap hosting, but it is Wordpress-optimized and their support is great. It's $30 per month.
If (1) and you don't want to commit to $30 per month for WP-Engine, then Bluehost is a good host.
If (2), that gets a little more complicated. You can do it on Wordpress, but from experience building those types of sites, I've found that Wordpress can get very unwieldy very quickly when dealing with custom fields on blog posts (like "Value" where "Value" is a 1-5 star rating). Take a look at the following themes and see if one of them suits your needs: http://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/8-wordpress-themes-and-plugins-for-creating-a-review-site/
If (2), and if none of those themes or plugins looks quite right, then the next level is Drupal. Drupal is like Wordpress, but has better support for custom fields and data types. The drawback of Drupal is that it is more complicated to set up and maintain than Wordpress.
Here's the TLDR version:
Very simple, low-traffic, cheap: Wordpress on Bluehost
Very simple, medium to high traffic: Wordpress on WP-Engine
Moderately simple, limited customization: Wordpress on WP-Engine with a premium theme from http://premium.wpmudev.org/blog/8-wordpress-themes-and-plugins-for-creating-a-review-site/
Moderate complexity, more customization: Drupal hosting on BlueHost or Pantheon
the "no true scotch man" fallacy.
Before taking the plunge I think it is important to consider exactly what the goal is. I find that the really good blogs are those where it all sort of comes together, like for example I read a tech blog that is on both the tech in gear, but very much also on the design and feel of the products covered and the neat thing is that the blog itself has a look and feel of understated and elegant design like those products + there pictures shown are really nice also. It is sort of like reading of those really stylish magazines. Now I'm not say all blogs needs to look like a mix of a lifestyle and MOMA catalog, but only that the feel of a blog can really be enhanced or let down by how it's styled and that when going to a platform where the are much more freedom of design then that design really needs to be spot on (or close).
It's like your car where if you go with the standards options by the manufacturer you won't have that much of a personal look, but on the other hand you're sort of excused if it looks a bit boring. If you instead go and get a custom paint, custom rims and all that then it better be done well or it will reflect really bad on you.
Consistency of work is extremely important for maintaining an audience. People like to know that every Thursday or whatever they can go to your space and see new content.