There's a plethora of crowdfunding sites out there to sift through. Crowdfunding, also known as crowdsourcing, is a way to raise money for something online. If you've never crowdfunded before, then there are several considerations to keep in mind to make sure you don't regret your choice.
What factors should you consider when choosing a site to crowdfund with?
First, you should only consider crowdfunding sites that allow you to present your project in the way that you have already organized. If you have a visual campaign ready and you cannot place video on the crowdfunding site directly, that site should be struck from your list immediately.
Second, consider the price that you will be paying in order to use a certain website's administrative functionality. All crowdfunding sites take a percentage of the money that is raised; however, if this percentage is out of sync with the market, you may be looking at a fly-by-night company that is only trying to sucker in a few dollars before it closes its doors.
Third, consider how the crowdfunding site makes your project appear to the public. Would the site design immediately draw in a visitor? Is there easy access to your other social media links? Do people know exactly what they are getting from the homepage of your listing, and are you able to adequately describe your project on the site?
How do you spot a reputable crowdsourcing site?
Reputable sites are quite easy to find in today's crowdfunding market. You can look for reputable businesses and simply choose to trust the crowdfunding administrators that they trust. You can also look for sites that have a lot of projects listed in the major search engines. The major search engines all have filters that will not let in listings that attempt to take advantage of search algorithms. Since this is usually a practice that is employed by less reputable crowdfunding sites, you can take it as a sign of trustworthiness if a crowdfunding site has a lot of projects on the first couple of pages in Google, Yahoo, or Bing.
How do you avoid the crowdfund scam sites?
It is not industry-standard to ask for a fee upfront simply to list your project. If you find a website that requires an upfront fee for a listing, run, do not walk, in the other direction.
It is also not industry-standard to advertise more visible listings for money. Any crowdfunding site that claims that it can get your listing higher in search engines should be avoided as well. It is likely that they use black hat techniques to push your listing to the top for the short term while hurting your long-term prospects and lowering your social media page rank.
