What is User Generated Reviews?
In the world of Web 2.0, user generated content is gaining a lot of importance. Web 2.0 is largely user based, where users will dictate what goes on the Internet and not a handful of webmasters. This is the concept behind user generated reviews. Websites like Squidoo, Wikidot, Hub Pages and Wetpaint already have this concept. These websites do not have a staff that writes the content on them
– it is written by visitors and users of the sites.
Marketers can induce people to comment on their business opportunities, in much the same way as it is done on blogs. When that happens, the website gets a lot of content, which is generated by the user.
What are the Pros of User Generated Reviews?
If the product is indeed good, user generated reviews will have a great positive impact on the business. Because of reviews from users and not the promoters, people who are reading through them will be more inclined to get into the opportunity. This adds to the credibility of the business too.
Since the content is regularly updated, search engines will rank these websites highly. This is because search engines are always on the lookout for websites with quality content and user generated websites have no dearth of it.
Though initially difficult and somewhat too technical to set up, these websites are fully automated which require the webmasters to do almost nothing later on. The sites keep getting populated with user content. Widgets and other features make the whole show automated.
What are the Cons of User Generated Reviews?
User generated reviews are not considered authoritative content because it is mostly generated by nonprofessionals. This can have a negative impact on the website.
It takes a lot of effort to get people to add content to the website. There should be something in it for them so that they may consider this option.
