The only way I can think of to earn a reputation for a good product is to in fact offer the product and market it heavily. When you get people in and looking at it, if they like it they'll start sending the site link to their friends- and then you have something. I've created a sort-of business plan for my upcoming comic- and I say sort-of because my goal is not to make money- but I want a huge readership because I'm narcissistic that way. But I'm speculating at this point. You have a few sources to whom you can talk and discover what their experiences are.