A Guideline to how a Review is created.
Contributed by: Editor on Monday, January 19 2004 @ 05:37 pm
Last modified on
The first thing I do when I want to write a review is to join the dating site in question. From here I explore every corner and aspect of the website. I go through the entire process that someone would do to join a online personals site, search for the perfect partner and contact other members.
What I want in a review and what I felt most people want in a review is something that is quick and easy to read, is setup in an organized manner and has the positive and negative points of the dating service marked and are easy to find.
From this I decided on having an introduction of the dating site that include such things as when the company started, how many members it has and in general, what sticks out which makes it a good dating site to join.
After the introduction, I then list any Awards we have given the dating site over the years. For more information on our Dating Sites Reviews Choice Awards check out our Awards topic. If a dating site has not received an award, this section will not be visible.
This section of the review is marked by this icon:
After the Awards, I then list the major positive and negative features of the dating site in point form. These points may not only be my observations but also general observations from singles who have posted their opinions on the internet.
The section is marked by this icon for Positive Features of the dating site:
and this icon for Negative Features:
After the positive and negative features, the At a Glance details are listed which includes the number of members, lowest cost per month and any restrictions on the free trial of the dating site. We also include any Related Categories the dating site belongs too. The Average User Reviews & Ratings are also listed along with the number of user reviews available to read. From here you can click View to read the user submitted reviews.
Following the above sections, I include point form categories of the other important parts of an online personals site. Reviews will include most of the listed categories below as long as they fit the dating site being reviewed and I have information available for it. These include:
- Free Membership - Here I describe what is included in the Free and Pay memberships as well as what information is required in creating a profile.
- Costs - The available types of memberships and how much each membership costs and what upgraded features do you get. On average one month costs between $30 and $50. Paying for a membership per month usually will cost more than buying a membership for a term.
- Relationship Types - What relationship types the personals site supports. As example Heterosexual, Gay, Lesbian and Bisexual.
- Relationship Status - What relationship status is available, as example can married or separated people (but not yet divorced) join?
- Looking For - Different communities and types of relationships singles are looking for which may exist on the site like "Just Friends" or "Long Term Relationship". Related to Relationship Types category.
- Regions - What countries can sign up for a membership.
- Viewing & Communication Tools - This category use to be called "How to View and Communicate with Members". Here you can find how you as a member can fine information about other members (ie. Photos, voice, etc...). As well as how you can communicate with members (ie. Chat, email, etc...)
- Search By - How and what you can search for, to bring up matching profiles of members.
- Success Stories - Here are listed one or more success stories from the reviewed dating site. These stories are usually supplied by the site and are confirmed they are from real members of the dating site.
- Items of Note - This category maybe included if anything stands out on the Dating Site that is different from the majority of other sites.
- Awards - This category maybe included if any Awards (other than our own) have been given to the dating site.
- Other Information - This category maybe included if other information needs to be included in the review that doesn't fall within the other categories.
I hope this helps in explaining the process I use to create a review. If you have any comments on this topic, or any Dating Site Review, or you would like to see a category added to the reviews please post a comment.