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Build Guide

Build a Review/Rating Site Without WordPress

WordPress review plugins are designed for product reviews on blog posts. Build a dedicated review platform where reviews are the product.

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The Old Way

The WordPress Approach

Required Plugins

1WP Product Review ($79/year) — review boxes in posts
2flavor Theme ($39 one-time) — review theme
3Site Reviews (free/$89/year) — user review submissions
4StarCat Reviews ($49 one-time) — review and comparison
5WP Review ($67/year) — review schema and rating boxes

Limitations

Review plugins are designed for single product reviews in blog posts, not a review platform
No comparison engine — can't compare items side-by-side
User review submissions have no spam protection beyond CAPTCHA
Rating aggregation across multiple criteria is basic or nonexistent
Review schema markup is per-post, not structured for a review aggregation site

Typical Cost

$80-200/year in plugins + hosting

The Modern Way

The Modern Approach

Next.js + Payload CMS + Supabase + Algolia

Payload CMS manages the items being reviewed (products, services, businesses). Supabase stores user reviews with ratings across multiple criteria. Algolia enables search and filtering by rating, category, and features.

Multi-criteria ratings — rate items on multiple dimensions, not just a single score
Side-by-side comparison pages for SEO and user utility
User review submissions with moderation workflow
AggregateRating schema markup auto-generated from review data
Each item page is an SEO-optimized review aggregation page

WordPress vs. Modern Stack

WordPress

  • Review plugins are designed for single product reviews in blog posts, not a review platform
  • No comparison engine — can't compare items side-by-side
  • User review submissions have no spam protection beyond CAPTCHA
  • Rating aggregation across multiple criteria is basic or nonexistent
  • $80-200/year in plugins + hosting

Modern Stack

  • Multi-criteria ratings — rate items on multiple dimensions, not just a single score
  • Side-by-side comparison pages for SEO and user utility
  • User review submissions with moderation workflow
  • AggregateRating schema markup auto-generated from review data
  • Each item page is an SEO-optimized review aggregation page

Recommended Tools

Payload CMS

Items/products being reviewed with specs and details

Free (self-hosted) or $50/month cloud

Supabase

User reviews, ratings, and review moderation

Free up to 500MB, $25/month Pro

Algolia

Search and filtering by rating, category, and features

Free up to 10,000 requests/month

Clerk

User authentication for verified reviewers

Free up to 10,000 MAU

Vercel

Hosting with ISR for review aggregation updates

Free hobby tier, $20/month pro

Step-by-Step Build Guide

1

Design the data model in Payload CMS — Items (products/services) with specs, and Review criteria (quality, value, support, etc.)

2

Set up Supabase for user reviews with multi-criteria ratings, text content, and helpful vote tracking

3

Build item pages with aggregated ratings, review distribution charts, and individual review list

4

Create a review submission form with authentication (Clerk), rate limiting, and moderation queue

5

Add comparison pages that pull two items side-by-side with specs and rating comparisons

6

Implement AggregateRating and Review schema markup on each item page for Google rich results

7

Add Algolia search so users can find items by name, category, or minimum rating threshold

Frequently Asked Questions

How do I prevent fake reviews?
Require authentication for reviews (Clerk), implement one-review-per-user-per-item rules at the database level, add moderation queues for flagged content, and use IP-based rate limiting. These layers together make gaming the system difficult.
How do comparison pages help SEO?
Comparison pages rank for "[X] vs [Y]" queries, which have high commercial intent. Each comparison generates a unique page. With 100 items, you can generate thousands of comparison pages — a pSEO goldmine.
Can users vote on review helpfulness?
Yes. Store helpful/not helpful votes in Supabase with user references to prevent duplicate voting. Sort reviews by helpfulness score to surface the most useful reviews first.

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