.. thinking of collecting Trustpilot reviews again.. shall we?

[HelmutsHelmuts is verified member.]

Good morning all,

I received an email from Trustpilot this morning and, for the first time in quite a while, had a proper look at our Acorn Domains page there.

Ouch

Then I had a look on our profile - uhhhh.. we currently sit at 2.2/5 from 21 reviews: https://uk.trustpilot.com/review/acorndomains.co.uk

Some of the reviews are painful to read (feel unfair). .. too emotional? hmm.. maybe.. A few are critical of decisions I made after taking over Acorn in 2024, particularly around moderation and the decision to move away from the old occasional "anything goes" culture.

Still, of course, the criticism is useful. .. so there are 2 sides to this.. it is great that the previous admin Felix did set these up..

What are thoughts on this? Personally, I like having genuine reviews as allows understanding the reality (good or bad).

Looking at the page also reminded me that we haven't actively asked members for Trustpilot reviews for a long time. Trustpilot even shows: "No recent history of asking for reviews."

So... I am thinking to change this.

Would you be comfortable with TrustPilot occasionally asking you, a real Acorn members to leave an honest Trustpilot review? .. the free plan would allow only 50 requests/month (I think), so should be quite random.

No asking specifically for 5 stars

of course, there is a risk involved.. If somebody doesn't like Acorn (and there seem to be some), they might give us another 1 star. Though perhaps that is exactly how it should work.

Yes, Acorn has changed considerably since 2024. Some people disliked those changes and left. Some later returned. Yes, deep insightful conversations that I enjoyed reading seem to have vanished, at least for now.

At the same time, we also have many newer members. And the marketplace moves on and on - and it is good for business, isn't it?

probably our Trustpilot page should gradually become a reflection of the community as it exists today.

I am a bit confused on how to make sure that these system emails don't get wasted - sent to spammers that try opening accounts here and get rejected.. after all - we get 50 random emails/month only. .. though, do have some ideas

What do you think?

And yes... I promise to continue reading and replying to the 1-star ones as well, even when they hurt . try me

Happy Friday!!!
Helmuts

 

[HelmutsHelmuts is verified member.]

/codex what do you think of this approach? .. would it help seo and getting more eyeballs to our free UK-centric marketpalce = potentially more sales? would it help us - admins (moderators are already doing a great job, we are proud to have them.. so it is all about the admins probably.. is it?) better understanding the forum and seeing issues that need to be improved. also, what would be the best way not wasting these 50 free trustpilot random system messages on a Xenforo forum that gets a number of daily spammer account registration requests (we decline these) - how other xenforo admins address this in a creative way?

 

[Acorn AIAcorn AI is verified member.]

Acorn Codex

Short answer: yes, but mainly as a reputation and feedback exercise — not as an SEO tactic.

If the quoted 2.2/5 from 21 reviews is still accurate, collecting more genuine reviews is sensible. A larger, more recent review base may improve trust and conversion when people find Acorn through Google or elsewhere, but Trustpilot reviews should not be expected to produce a direct ranking boost or automatically generate more marketplace sales.

The biggest benefit may be helping the administrators understand how Acorn is perceived by people who do not post openly on the forum. Moderators deal with day-to-day issues, but reviews can reveal broader concerns about:

• Policy changes and communication
• Perceived fairness of moderation
• Marketplace confidence and buyer protection
• Registration, validation and account restrictions
• The overall tone and direction of Acorn since 2024

I would treat the project as three separate things:

1. Collect balanced Trustpilot feedback

Do not use the 50 invitations on random accounts, declined spam registrations or only members who are likely to be positive. Trustpilot’s current rules require invitations to be fair, neutral and consistent. Selective invitations, incentives, review-gating and asking only happy users create both credibility and policy risks.

A sensible eligible group would be genuine users who have had a real Acorn experience, such as:

• Recent buyers and sellers who completed a transaction
• Members who have used the marketplace repeatedly
• People who have received meaningful administrative help
• Long-standing active members, provided they have a genuine experience to describe

Use one invitation per genuine experience, not one per account, and send the same neutral wording to the selected cohort. For example:

You have used Acorn Domains recently, and we would welcome your honest feedback about your experience. Reviews may be positive, negative or mixed. Acorn will not influence the rating or wording. Please only review us if you feel you have had a genuine experience of the forum or marketplace.

I would avoid saying “please leave us a five-star review”, asking people to contact the admins instead if unhappy, or offering any reward.

2. Gather private operational feedback as well

Trustpilot is a poor substitute for a proper feedback process because it is public and usually attracts people with unusually strong feelings. Alongside the invitations, create a short anonymous survey for members, perhaps with six to eight questions:

• How easy is it to buy or sell a domain here?
• How fair and understandable are the rules?
• How confident are you dealing with another member?
• What currently puts you off listing or buying?
• What is one thing Acorn should stop doing?
• What is one thing Acorn should start doing?
• Would you recommend Acorn to another domain investor?

That will give admins actionable information rather than just star ratings. Publish a brief “what we heard and what we changed” update afterwards. That is likely to build more trust than simply displaying a higher score.

3. Use the invitations as a controlled test

Do not send all 50 at once. I would use:

• 10 invitations to recent completed marketplace participants
• 10 to regular buyers
• 10 to regular sellers
• 10 to active long-term members
• 10 held back for a later, genuinely eligible cohort

Keep a simple internal record of when the invitation was sent, the type of Acorn experience involved, response rate and themes in the feedback. Do not record or infer which star rating somebody is expected to give.

On the SEO and sales question

The likely chain is indirect:

• More genuine reviews can improve public credibility.
• Better credibility may improve click-through and conversion when visitors compare marketplaces.
• More successful transactions and repeat participation can create stronger natural activity and word-of-mouth.
• That activity, useful pages and marketplace liquidity may help visibility over time.

The Trustpilot review itself is not a magic SEO signal. I would measure organic impressions, branded searches, new registrations, completed listings, enquiries and completed sales before and after the campaign. Otherwise it will be impossible to know whether the exercise generated business or merely produced more reviews.

Creative ways to reduce XenForo spam and improve feedback

Rather than treating every registration as a potential review source, separate the workflows:

• Use XenForo’s existing anti-spam tools properly: StopForumSpam checks, DNS block lists, CAPTCHA or question-and-answer challenges, registration timers, spam phrases, Akismet and flood controls.
• Put new accounts into a low-permission “new member” state until they pass a small amount of human activity or manual validation.
• Restrict links, private conversations and marketplace privileges for new accounts until they have built a little trust.
• Add a short UK-domain-related registration question that is easy for genuine users but inconvenient for automated scripts. Rotate it occasionally.
• Use a registration form field asking what the applicant wants to do: buy, sell, broker, learn or browse. This helps both spam triage and future member analysis.
• Review declined registrations in monthly batches and look for patterns in email domains, usernames, IP ranges, profile text and timing. Feed recurring patterns back into spam phrases and block lists.
• Create an internal admin dashboard or spreadsheet showing registrations, approvals, first posts, marketplace listings, reports, bans and completed transactions by month.
• Ask for feedback at natural points — after a completed sale, after a support issue is resolved, or after a member has been active for a reasonable period — rather than immediately after registration.

One particularly useful idea would be a private “new member experience” form shown after approval. It could ask why they joined and what nearly stopped them from joining. That would capture people who never become active enough to leave a public review.

My recommendation

Go ahead, but do not present it internally as “a campaign to improve our Trustpilot score”. Present it as a fair feedback and service-improvement exercise.

Use the 50 invitations only for genuine Acorn users, send them neutrally and consistently, collect separate anonymous feedback, and publish a short follow-up explaining what the admins learned and what will change. That approach gives you the best chance of improving reputation, member confidence and eventually sales without creating the appearance of review manipulation.