When looking for roofing services in St Charles, most consumers today will utilize a search engine such as Google or Bing.
And each year, millions of people turn to the so called consumer review sites such as Angie’s List, HomeAdvisor and Porch.
One of the reasons why, is that they are drawn into emotional catch phrases such as, the best roofing company in St Charles.
The problem is, these so-called consumer review sites are really lead generating operations. Can homeowners fully trust the recommendations given by these companies that have multi-million dollar advertising budgets? Common sense would dictate that the answer is a hard no.
These claims of having the best roofers is simply unfounded. The quality controls that would need to be implemented to validate such statements are simply not in place. Bottom line; nice sounding reviews will not protect customers from con-artists.
So we say buyer beware. Great reviews are an important consideration; just remember the scores can easily be manipulated by self-serving individuals.
In our opinion, it is quite impossible for any online lead generation business to give accurate or trustworthy ratings regarding their paying clients that offer roofing services.
Consumers and contractors alike need to understand how lead generating marketplaces actually operate.
Companies like Angie’s List say they’re consumer-driven, but is this an accurate statement?
The main source of their revenue is received from advertising paid for by the companies they rate.
And just as important is the fact that Roofing Contractors that spend more than a competitor can often pay to appear higher up in the search results.
Does this not compromise the validity of the whole process? It all comes down to dollars spent, and who pays the most to advertise their services.
Forbes has an interesting article on the inner workings of Angie’s List that is very enlightening. A Consumer Reports study on various consumer review sites, including Angie’s List, claims they are not all are as trustworthy as they claim to be.
When it comes to online reviews, do your own research. And look for a super high customer service rating that is constant across a variety of internet based platforms.
To access the entire article related to online roofing reviews, click HERE.