Last updated: October 18, 2026
This page explains how The Awesome Backyard chooses topics and researches, writes, checks and updates its content.
Our purpose
We publish guides about backyard design, outdoor living, outdoor entertaining and backyard structures for homeowners and renters planning, furnishing and using a backyard or patio. Our guides focus on planning backyard layouts and comparing outdoor furniture, shade, lighting, cooking and structure options for how a space will be used.
How we choose topics
We cover the questions our readers need answered to make a decision or finish a task. Each topic gets one main guide, so we do not publish several near-identical pages on the same question.
How we research
- We base our guides on manufacturer specifications, assembly and care instructions, fire-safety guidance from the National Fire Protection Association (NFPA) and the U.S. Fire Administration, the Consumer Product Safety Commission (CPSC), and local building and permit information.
- We separate facts, estimates and opinion. Facts and figures link to their source; estimates state their assumptions; opinions are labeled as our view.
- Where a guide covers safety, we link to the official source rather than restating it as our own advice, and we place warnings where readers will see them.
Research-based and hands-on content
Most of our guides are research-based: they compare published specifications, manuals and official guidance. If an article is based on our own hands-on use of a product, it says so and describes what we did. We never present research as personal experience.
What we do not do
- We do not invent test results, scores, star ratings, statistics, testimonials or reviews.
- We do not promise results, savings or performance that a source does not support.
- We do not publish hand-typed prices or “deal” claims, because they go out of date quickly.
- We do not accept payment, free products in exchange for coverage, or sponsored placements in our guides.
Safety-sensitive topics
Grills and fire pits need safe clearances from structures and must follow local burn rules. Sheds, decks, pergolas and gazebos may need permits and must be anchored as the manufacturer specifies. Contact 811 before digging post holes, and follow the manufacturer’s instructions for every product.
Affiliate relationships
We earn commissions from some links, as explained in our Affiliate Disclosure. Commissions never decide which products we include or how we describe them, and articles with affiliate links say so before the first link.
Updates and corrections
We review guides when products, specifications, rules or official guidance change, and we show the date a guide was last updated. Errors are handled as described in our Corrections Policy.