Picking the right software for your business can be a time-consuming process. Examining software features, evaluating deployment choices, and comparing the pricing of hundreds of solutions is not only arduous but also confusing.
So what can you do to make your software search easier?
You can take advantage of business software reviews on unbiased platforms to get a holistic picture of whether a tool is right for your business.
But be warned: Reading one software peer review after another won’t get you anywhere. You need a strategy to be effective in parsing through online reviews to gain a comprehensive understanding of the user experience offered by different platforms.
In this article, you’ll find three tips to make business software reviews research complete and effective.
Here’s what we’ll cover:
Tip #1: Review the software category
Looking for software tools to solve a business challenge or support existing processes is always easier when you explore tools by the complete category. This gives the opportunity to browse several options and shortlist the ones relevant to your business.
For instance, you can visit our project management software category page and filter the products by industry, number of users, price, and user ratings to quickly create a list of products that closely match your business requirements.
Project management software category page (Source)
You can increase the value of peer reviews by filtering through to the ones that will be most relevant to your software search.
Tip #2: Check out industry-ranked reports
While you can begin your software research exploring the complete category, curated lists on software review sites will offer information about specific products that stand out in the market.
For instance, if you’re searching for a project management tool, our Project Management FrontRunners Report will cut down the list of over 400 products to the top few that are well-received by their users.
Project Management FrontRunners (Source)
Ranked on a scale of one through five, all products making it to this list have scored at least three or higher rating on customer satisfaction and usability in the last 12 months.
Here’s a quick list of some more FrontRunner reports B2B software platforms that you can quickly access and browse:
- Accounting Software FrontRunners
- Business Intelligence FrontRunners
- Customer Relationship Management FrontRunners
- Human Resources FrontRunners
Tip #3: Group peer reviews by themes
Once you have your list of products, it’s time to learn how a tool translates into real-world applications. The best way to go about it is to read customer reviews from software buyers. But as cautioned earlier, reading review after review won’t get you anywhere.
To be more effective, we recommend grouping the user reviews under some common themes depending on what’s most important to your business. To do this, use certain keywords that reflect the themes you desire.
The following table provides examples of some keywords you can use to club comments under a particular theme.
| Theme | Keyword to use | What it’ll tell you |
| Ease of use | User interface, learning curve, deployment, installation | How easy the software is to set up and get started with |
| Usability | Navigation menus, glitch, bug, delay, lag | What kind of software issues you may likely come across |
| Capability | (Desired feature name), integrations, API, | The specific features you’re looking for and third-party integrations |
| Pricing | Cheap, expensive, per user pricing, monthly fee, one time license | The pricing structure and whether users think they are paying the right price |
| Support | Knowledgebase, help desk, FAQ, tutorials, customer service, live chat, phone support | The kind of support you can expect from the vendor |
Structure your reviews research
Business software review sites are great for researching what software options your peers are using and what they are avoiding. Here’s a quick recap to help you remember the finer points about researching business software reviews:
- Use the main software category page filters to get a list of products that match your business requirements.
- Save time by leveraging research that provides a recommended product list.
- Perform user review research effectively by using keywords to group reviews under broad themes.
