Web Matter publishes guides and reviews to help UK small businesses choose web tools: hosting, website builders, SEO, analytics and e-commerce software. This page explains how we decide what to recommend.
What we review
We focus on tools we use on our own websites and products, set up for clients, or have tested hands-on. Where we haven’t used a tool ourselves, we say so and base the guide on published information, which we link to.
How we review
- Real use first. Where possible we use the product on a live site. For example, our Zume Hosting review is based on hosting this website, and includes speeds we measured ourselves.
- UK context. We check UK pricing (including VAT), support hours, data location and whether the product actually serves UK customers.
- Who it’s not for. Every review says who should look elsewhere, not just who it suits.
- Total cost, not intro price. We compare renewal prices and the cost over two to three years, not just first-month offers.
- Kept up to date. We revisit popular guides and show the year we last updated them.
Independence
Some links on our site are affiliate links, which means we may earn a commission if you buy (see our affiliate disclosure). Companies cannot pay for a positive review, and commission never decides our recommendations: we recommend products we would use ourselves, and we include products we don’t earn from when they are the better choice.
Corrections
If you spot something out of date or wrong, please tell us and we’ll check and correct it.