Today’s review will be on BlogRating.com

Overview

The concept behind BlogRating.com is not a new one. They auction off backlinks to the highest bidder and then list those links on their site. The entirety of the listings are displayed prominently on the front page in the center column with the ability to look at specific categories if you don’t feel a need to look through everything. The main links (Home, FAQ, About, TOS, and Contact) are displayed prominently in the header of each page which makes navigation a cinch. The colors in the main body of the site are simple yet effective.

The Good

The site has a nice, fresh clean feel to it. It is not cluttered by tons of advertising or rather that is how it seems. Fact of the matter is that the site is meant to be a giant advertising portal. I like the simplicity of the layout. A child of 6 could navigate this site with no small measure of success. I also like the fact that they show the bid amounts prominently next to the listing. I’m not much of a fan of blind/secret auctions so on a personal level the fact I know where I stand before I get involved really appeals to me.

Currently they are running a promotion that allows you to Put your blog link up for free for a limited time. It’s exactly what it sounds like, a means to encourage participation. This promotion is one thing on the site that I have a tiny concern about and I will address it futher on in the review.

There are two other things I like about this site. One they provide a site search located at the top under their display banner (look in the middle of the gray area). Right now a search function isn’t necessary because they don’t have enough listings, but in the future when they have 100, 200, 300 listings it will prove very handy. Finally I like how they boldly display the current highest bidder in the upper right hand corner of the page. It’s a matter of personal taste and aside from that I don’t necessarily have a reason for liking it there.

The Bad

I’d like to say that the site is without fault, however it isn’t. At first glance it looks very solid, but as I’ve dug a bit deeper there have been some things that have come to my attention which cause me some concern. I’ve listed those things below and given some suggestions that I believe might help.

Concern: List Order - The first Q&A in the FAQs says Blog Rating lists links alphabetically in order of highest bid. It would be better to display the highest bidder first without regard to the alphabetical order. Either that or they need to better explain this concept.

Concern: Terms of Service - Under Link Policy we see the following Links to illegal or adult-related Web sites are strictly forbidden yet in the left hand column there at the very top is a listing for Adult Blogs. This tends to leave people a little confused. Either you allow it or you don’t, and by saying one thing in the TOS but doing something different elsewhere on the site that leads me to believe you’re not certain of that particular policy. I believe you should forgo the adult related blogs for the simple fact that if you start having sites like XXX-Hardcare-loveblog.com showing up it will drive away a lot of potential bidders.

Concern: Terms of Service - Once again the TOS has me concerned. Under the Refund & Cancellation Policy it says Bids are non-refundable. Certainly there needs to be a policy of protection to keep from getting scammed but a blanket refusal to refund monies isn’t the way to go. In fact it could jump up to bite them in the future. The payment system they use is Paypal and getting a chargeback on a paypal account can put you into a world of hurt. I speak from experience having had someone contest a computer repair I did for them. Not only did it freeze my Paypal account, but it also froze my regular business checking account for nearly 3 days due to some inconsistencies. I encourage that the owners of BlogRating.com give some serious consideration to not making a blanket policy that bids will not be refunded and instead use a case by case approach.

Concern: Free Link promotion - The link says free, but when you get to the page to fill out your information it tells you to enter any amount between $1.00 and $20.00. The listing is indeed free, but if you tend to be impatient like myself you might not bother to actually go through the steps and fill in the information and see that it actually is free despite it telling you to enter an amount. For the duration of this promotional offer that could possibly be reworded a little bit to make things clearer.

Concern: Contact - When I get to the contact page I am greeted by the one thing I hate the most. A blank comment box. There is no physical address, there is no phone number, there isn’t even an email address that I can see readily. There is only that contact box. If I’m going to pay money to someone I expect the ability to contact them at the drop of a hat, especially if it’s someone online who I’ve never had the pleasure of sizing up face to face. I’d suggest adding some contact information. A physical address and phone number would be ideal, but at the very least a phone number.

Conclusion

This site has definite potential if they take the time to clear up some of the confusion I’ve noted above. Since I personally don’t pay for links (though I will trade) it’s not a service I would use unless it was offered free. That however should not stop anyone else from trying the service out and seeing how you like it. Especially right now since they are offering that free promotional listing.

If you would like a review of your site/blog please look at this posting for details and information.

Don't forget to subscribe to A Blog about Nothing's RSS feed!