1.1 Does the expert site have an About Us or Team Page?
1.2 Does their About Us or Team Page include names of team members?
1.3 Does their About Us or Team Page include human photos of team members?
1.4 Is it easy to find author social media profiles linked on the site (About Us page, article, author bio, etc.)?
1.5 Does a business address plus either a phone number or email exist on the site?
1.6 Do they have a privacy policy?
1.7 Is the privacy policy easy to find? (In footer/nested in a dropdown header.)
1.8 Is the privacy policy easy to understand?
1.9 Does the site have its own official, claimed LinkedIn page?
2. Scoring System
2.1 Are there Categories of Performance ratings, scores, badges, etc.?
[OLD] 2.2 Are there Categories of Performance ratings out of 10.0 or 100?
[OLD] 2.3 Are there Categories of Performance ratings out of 100.0?
2.2 Are there Performance Criteria ratings, scores, badges, etc.?
[OLD] 2.5 Are there Performance Criteria ratings out of 10.0 or 100?
[OLD] 2.6 Are there Performance Criteria ratings out of 100.0?
[OLD] 2.7 Are there Various Usage ratings, scores, badges, etc.?
[OLD] 2.8 Are there Various Usage ratings out of 10.0 or 100?
[OLD] 2.9 Are there Various Usage ratings out of 100.0?
2.3 Are there Overall Product Review ratings, scores, etc.?
2.4 Are there Overall Product Review ratings out of 10.0 or 100?
[OLD] 2.12 Are there Overall Product Review ratings out of 100.0?
2.5 Does every product on the Buying Guide get a rating, score, badge, etc.?
[OLD] 2.14 Does every product on the Buying Guide get a rating out of 10.0 or 100?
[OLD] 2.15 Does every product on the Buying Guide get a rating out of 100.0?
[OLD] 2.16 Do they not factor price/value into their ratings or scores?
[OLD] 2.17 Does the site provide a Numerical Score Methodology?
[OLD] 2.18 Do they use weighted numerical scoring?
3. Integrity
3.1 Do they have an ethics statement?
3.2 Is the site free of ads?
3.3 Is an affiliate commission disclosure easy to find on the site, like at the top of articles or in the footer?
3.4 Does the site require a subscription or account sign-up to access its content?
3.5 Is the site free of sponsored content and paid promotions?
3.6 If they have sponsored content, is it clearly marked as such?
3.7 Does the site purchase their own products to review?
4. Helpfulness
4.1 Do all products listed in buying guides link to their own individual reviews on the site?
4.2 Does the content contain feature comparison tables of similar products?
4.3 Is there an interactive product comparison tool?
4.4 Do the product specs exist in the content?
4.5 Are product prices shown on the content?
4.6 Are multiple retailers’ product listings included?
4.7 Is the product’s price history included?
4.8 Does a comment section exist so readers can leave feedback on the content?
4.9 Is the content organized into sections of Categories of Performance?
4.10 Does an overall “How We Test” page exist?
4.11 If a user rating feature exists, does the site at least require users to sign up and/or login in order to reduce spam?
5. Qualification
5.1 Does the site claim to test this product category?
6. Expertise
6.1 Has the author on the most recent category-specific product review written at least five articles in the category on the site?
6.2 Does the author have a public LinkedIn profile?
6.3 Has the author been writing for at least three months?
6.4 Has the author been writing for at least six months?
6.5 Has the author been writing for at least one year?
6.6 Has the author been writing for at least three years?
6.7 Has the author been writing for at least five years?
6.8 Has the author been writing for at least ten years?
7. Visual Evidence
7.1 Do either the product reviews or buying guides contain real-world, non-stock photos?
7.2 Do product reviews or buying guides include images that show any of the following?: Hardware testing equipment; software testing screenshots; test results chart; multiple similar products together; or the journalist pictured with the product?
7.3 Are there photos, data, mentions, etc. showing that hardware testing equipment/software testing materials were actually used?
7.4 BONUS: Has the site produced category-specific video content that includes either a journalist’s face talking or voiceover with the product?
8. Testing & Data Science
8.1 Does a category-specific test method exist, i.e. How We Test Headphones, How We Test Smartphones, etc.?
8.2 Has the category-specific test method been published or updated in the last year?
8.3 Has the category-specific test method been published or updated in the last two years?
8.4 Do they provide correct units of measurement that directly relate to testing the product and the performance criteria to help support that they actually tested?
8.5 Did the reviewer demonstrate that the product was used in a realistic usage scenario? (e.g. assessing a pair of headphones’ sound quality with different genres of music, riding an e-bike on various inclines, blending ice in a blender, etc.)
Performance Criteria List
8.6 Performance Criteria 1
8.7 Performance Criteria 2
8.8 Performance Criteria 3
8.9 Performance Criteria 4
8.10 Performance Criteria 5
8.11 Based on the performance criteria questions and your own assessment, is their claim to test truthful?
8.1 Does a category-specific test method exist, i.e. How We Test Headphones, How We Test Smartphones, etc.?