How to create a reviews web app

I’m a huge fan of trying new restaurants and cafes, and I also definitely have my favorite spots that I return to regularly.

But I’ve seen how online reviews can have a big impact on these businesses. Some great places don’t get as much foot traffic due to a few bad reviews that could have been easily fixed.

That’s why I was inspired to build a solution that could encourage more positive reviews on public websites and platforms, while directing negative feedback straight to the owners – giving them a chance to improve before their reputation suffers.

With Hostinger Horizons, I built this kind of web app without writing a single line of code.

In this guide, I’ll walk you through how to create a reviews web app, from initial concept to final launch.

Reviews web app – planning and design

My goal with the reviews web app is to channel negative ratings to a private form that goes directly to the business. This gives business owners the chance to address concerns before they become public.

The app would also direct positive ratings to public platforms like Google Reviews and TripAdvisor, encouraging satisfied customers to leave public reviews.

To get started, I sketched out the core features my app would need:

• Star rating system. A simple 1-5 star rating interface that’s easy for customers to use.
• Feedback form. For collecting detailed information on negative experiences.
• Review redirection. To send positive reviewers to their preferred platform.

Normally, creating a web app like this would require weeks of coding and a technical setup I wasn’t equipped for. That’s why Hostinger Horizons was a great solution.

All I did was describe my idea and the features I wanted with simple prompts and let AI do the work.

It was also easy to update the look and feel of the web app by describing what I wanted in the chat box.

When it was ready, I could publish the app with one click and host it on a custom domain, all from the same dashboard. There was no need for a technical setup.

How I created a reviews web app with Hostinger Horizons

By following the steps in our guide about how to make a web app, I was able to create my web app pretty quickly.

I also made sure to use our prompting with Hostinger Horizons guide to write effective prompts and get the results I was looking for.

Here’s how it went.

Step 1: Describe the idea

To get started, I went into Hostinger Horizons and entered the following prompt:

Create a web app that helps small businesses manage customer reviews. The app should have a star rating system (1-5 stars). If customers give 4-5 stars, redirect them to leave a public review on Google, TripAdvisor, or similar platforms. If they give 1-3 stars, send them to a feedback form that delivers their comments privately to the business owner.

The AI app generator got to work and created a basic interface with the star rating system and a submit button.

It was actually interesting to see the steps it went through to create the web app.

While I wanted to improve the visuals, I also made sure not to make one of the common web app building mistakes: focusing too much on visuals before functionality.

I tested the rating system, and for a negative rating, it redirected me to a feedback form, just as I wanted.

I refreshed the interface and then entered a positive rating. This time it just redirected me to Google Maps and showed this message:

This wasn’t quite what I wanted. The aim was to have a redirect to the thank you page with buttons that would link to the public platforms to leave a review.

I realized I should have been more specific in the prompt, so it was time to focus on making the core features work properly.

Step 2: Refine the features

I wanted a page with buttons that would link to a business’ specific profile where people can leave a review.

Here’s the prompt I used:

When there is a positive rating, please don't redirect to anything. Just go to the thank you page and have two different buttons: one button says "Leave a review on TripAdvisor" and links to this https://www.tripadvisor.es/Restaurant_Review-g488307-d17195579-Reviews-DuKELA-Pontevedra_Province_of_Pontevedra_Galicia.html?m=69573 The other button says "Leave a review on Google" and links to this https://g.co/kgs/wr1t32A In the thank you message encourage people to click and leave a positive review on the platforms.

And this worked perfectly. When someone clicks on a button, they will be taken to the restaurant’s review page and be able to leave a review on that platform:

Step 3: Update the visuals

Once I got the core functionality to work the way I wanted, the next step was to make everything look better.

First, I added the business logo at the top of the web app. I did this by attaching an image in the chat box and using this prompt:

I then made the color scheme match the logo’s colors and updated the copy to sound more engaging.

Something I enjoyed about building a web app with Hostinger Horizons was being able to speak to it naturally. My prompts didn’t need to be complex or have technical wording. I just had to describe what I wanted in a straightforward way.

Overall, it turned out quite well:

Reviews web app – publishing and testing

Once everything was working and looking the way I wanted, publishing was as simple as clicking a button.

It was also possible to host the web app on a custom domain straight from the interface.

Normally this would require a third-party setup with a separate hosting provider. With Hostinger Horizons, you get hosting, a domain, and the web app builder all in one.

After testing the deployed app, I noticed businesses could benefit from more details on the feedback form after a negative rating.

So, I went back in and added a dropdown menu to select which aspect they were unhappy with and a checkbox asking if they wanted the business to contact them. If someone checked the contact box, then an email field would appear.

And it worked:

Future updates

Now, this is the minimum viable product (MVP) for the reviews web app. It’s the simplest working version of the tool that a business can use with its customers.

Building an MVP is important because it lets you test it in real-world conditions and get feedback from actual users.

That way, you can continue to improve your web app with even more features and advanced functionality.

After testing the web app in real-world conditions, I plan to allow other restaurants to create profiles and have their own versions of the web app.

This will include:

• Hosting the web app on a custom domain and giving restaurants their own page on a subdirectory. That way, they can create a QR code that links to their page or link to it on their social media profiles.
• A login feature for restaurants to customize their pages.
• Options to add different platforms, including Yelp and Facebook.

The key is to validate the core idea first, see what real users think, and then make improvements based on their feedback.

Conclusion

Creating this reviews web app was surprisingly simple, but there are a few important things to keep in mind if you want to build your own web app.

First, keep your prompts clear and specific. Use natural language to explain what you want without overwhelming the AI with unnecessary information.

Then focus on making the core functionality work properly before spending time on visual elements.

And finally, ensure you test your MVP to receive feedback from real users and update your web app regularly to make it even better.

If you’re looking to create a useful tool for yourself or your clients, Hostinger Horizons makes it incredibly easy without any coding knowledge.

Give it a try with a 30-day money-back guarantee.

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