This page explains how we review products on ArsalanMasood.com: how hosts, SEO tools, themes, plugins, AI writers and ad networks are researched, tested and scored, where the facts come from, how the star rating is worked out, and what a company can and can’t influence. Every review on the site follows the same method, so you can compare a hosting review with an SEO tool review and know the scores mean the same thing.
The short version: facts come from the company’s own pages and from real use, prices are always shown with the renewal price, the score comes from four published criteria, and no company can pay for a rating or a place in a list.
How we review: the five steps
- Choose what to review. Products bloggers and website owners actually use or ask about, whether or not they have an affiliate programme. A product is never reviewed because a company asked or offered to pay.
- Use it where possible. Hosting, themes, plugins and tools are tested on real or test websites. Where hands-on use isn’t possible (an enterprise plan, a service that needs an approved site), the review says so plainly.
- Check every fact at the source. Plans, prices, limits, requirements and refund rules are read on the company’s own pricing, documentation and terms pages, and each source is listed at the end of the review with the date it was checked.
- Score it on four criteria. The scoring is explained below. The score is about fit for readers, not about commission.
- Keep it current. Reviews are re-checked when prices, plans or policies change, and the date at the top of the page shows the last check.
What we check in every review
- The real price: the first-term price and the renewal price side by side, the contract length the low price needs, and what’s extra (domains, backups, email, add-ons).
- Features that matter for the job: for hosts, things like backups, staging, caching, support and data centres; for SEO tools, data size, limits and update frequency; for ad networks, entry requirements and payment terms.
- Limits and fine print: fair-use rules, inode or visit limits, per-user charges, cancellation and refund terms.
- Who it suits and who should skip it: every review ends with a clear “best for” and the alternatives worth considering.
- Safety: anything that could hurt your site, such as link schemes that break Google’s spam policies, is called out, even when it’s cheap or popular.
How the rating is calculated
Each product gets a score from 0 to 5 on four criteria, with equal weight. The overall rating is the average, rounded to one decimal.
| Criterion | What it measures |
|---|---|
| Features | How well the product does its main job, compared with the leading alternatives. |
| Value for money | What you get for the price, using the renewal price, not just the first-term offer. |
| Fair terms | Refund window, contract length, cancellation, hidden limits and how clearly prices are shown. |
| Fit for bloggers | How well it suits people building and growing their own websites, from beginners to small businesses. |
For example, scores of 4.8, 3.6, 4.4 and 4.2 average 4.25, which shows as 4.3 out of 5. The scores appear in each review under “How it scores”, so you can see where a product wins and where it loses points.
Real screenshots and illustrations
Screenshots marked as screenshots are real captures of the company’s own pages, with the date they were taken. Where a screen can’t be captured (it needs a paid account or a login), the review uses a clearly labelled illustration of the layout instead, so you know exactly what you’re looking at.
What companies can’t influence
- No paid ratings or rankings. A company can’t buy a score, a better position in a list, or a review.
- No approval before publishing. Companies don’t see or approve a review before it goes live. If they point out a factual mistake, it’s checked against the source and fixed if they’re right.
- Affiliate links don’t change verdicts. Some links earn a commission; products without an affiliate programme are reviewed and recommended in the same way. See the affiliate disclosure.
- Free access is disclosed. If a company gives free access to a paid plan for testing, the review says so.
Updates and corrections
Prices and plans change often, so reviews are re-checked and re-dated, and an “Updated” note says what changed. If you spot something out of date or wrong, please send it through the contact page with the page address; corrections are checked against the source and made quickly. The wider rules for every page on the site are in the editorial policy.
Browse every review on the reviews page, or start with the WordPress hosting reviews.