How To Write A Review Post: The Experts Explain
What Is A Review Post? A Short Overview
Review posts have commercial intent (you want people to purchase something) and are about a single product.
They are the “bread and butter” of most affiliate sites.
Help your customers with their purchasing decisions by educating them on the product. Be real, authentic, and honest. Treat them as you want to be treated.
The more you can educate someone about a product the more likely they will trust your opinion and purchase from you.
Remember your customer can go anywhere at the click of the mouse so show them why they want to purchase from you. Show them why they should trust your opinion. You must solve their problem(s). The visitor comes first!
You need to be able to answer the customers questions about the product. Who? What? When? Where? Why? How? Don’t forget to add pictures of the product! Is there a video you can add or create?
What The Experts Say
As part of our research for this article we wanted to see what the experts had to say.
authorityhacker.com
1. Create product review summary box
2. Empathze with your readers
3. Idenitfy with your readers
4. Introduce the solution with the product
5. Explain the relationship between features and benefits
6. Offer social proof
7. List product alternatives
8. Use the right format
partners.livechat.com
1. Get your hands on the product
2. Become an affiliate
3. Learn about the product
4. Be honest, don’t hype
5. Confront with other players (product comparison)
6. Get a discussion going
7. Write a take home message (personal opinion)
8. Use a rating system
Wikihow
1. Get to know the product, research, buy, use
2. Find out questions others are asking about the product
3. Write the introduction
4. Describe product
5. Be balanced
6. Product comparison
7. Pinpoint audience
8. Write conclusion
9. Publish
affilimate.com
- Craft a title for your review that stands out
- Establish authority as a reviewer
- Include a product review summary
- Include a buying guide for the product (And its category)
- Share your results (Images, Screenshots, Social Proof)
- List product alternatives
- Conclude with a strong CTA
smallbiztrends.com
- Be Willing to Commit the Time
- Decide on the Product
- Get to Know Your Readers
- Be Unbiased and Objective
- Know the Product Inside and Out
- Don’t Rely on PR and Marketing Material
- List the Pros and Cons
- Include Technical Information
- Provide Practical Examples
- Monetize Your Reviews
Table
Table shows the steps to writing a review and where on the list it falls for each website
| Steps | authorityhacker | partners.livechat | Wikihow | smallbiztrends | affilimate |
| Get To Know Product | 4 | 1 | 1 | 2 and 5 | 2 |
| Find Questions | 2 | 3 | 2 | 0 | 0 |
| Craft Title | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| Write Introduction | 1 | 0 | 3 | 0 | 0 |
| Describe Product | 5 | 4 | 4 | 0 | 3 and 4 |
| Be Balanced and Unbiased | 0 | 4 | 5 | 4 | 0 |
| Product Comparison | 7 | 5 | 6 | 0 | 6 |
| Target audience | 3 | 6 | 7 | 3 | 0 |
| Pros And Cons Or Rating System | 0 | 8 | 0 | 7 | 0 |
| Specs/ Technical Information | 0 | 0 | 0 | 6 | 0 |
| Social Proof | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 5 |
| Monetize | 0 | 0 | 0 | 0 | 10 |
| Write conclusion | 8 | 7 | 8 | 0 | 7 |
| Publish | 8 | 0 | 9 | 0 | 0 |
The Results?
- Get To Know The Product: Do your research and take your time. You can’t write about what you don’t know. Read other reviews and opinions.
- Find Questions To Answer In Your Article: Find out what people are actually searching for on the internet.
- Craft Title: Title should be engaging and eye catching.
- Write Introduction: Introduce your product
- Describe The Product: Also describe how to use the product.
- Be Balanced And Unbiased: If you are biased state that too.
- Product Comparison: Are there other products for a comparison? Are they better or worse? Good or bad?
- Target Audience: Who is the product for? Who is the ideal customer?
- Pros and Cons And/Or A Rating System: Create A Pros and Cons list and use a rating system (We list a plugin you can use below)
- Specs/Technical Information
- Social Proof: “…people are more likely to engage in an action if other people are doing it.” -optimizely.com
- Monetize Your Post: Don’t forget about the commercial intent of this post.
- Write Conclusion: Sum up your article and Add a CTA (Call To Action)
- Publish
Adding Review Stars To Your Reviews
Use A Review Plugin: WP Product Review Lite (and it’s completely free!)
By: ThemeIsle
Behind the scenes it uses code to let Google know what your rating/opinion of the specific product is.
How To Install And Activate WP Product Review Lite
Go to your WordPress backoffice and highlight “plugins”.
Click “Add New”
Type In “WP Product Review” in the plugin search box.
Click “Install”. Then click again on “Activate”.
Now Head over to “Posts” in your WordPress Back Office. Then “Add New”.
Scroll down to the bottom of the page and you should see “Is this a review post?”
Click “Yes”.
Now all you have to do is fill out the relevant data.
Note: If you are using block editor it will appear in the right sidebar under the “Post” tab.
Once you fill out all the information and click to “Publish” your article you will be able to see what the plugin looks like when on a published page.
Final Words
Take your time and do your research. There is nothing worse than a biased one-sided review aimed at manipulating your customers. Your visitor wants an honest review so that they can make the best purchasing decision for their situation.
You can make your point a little easier using a review plugin as it helps to sum up everything your visitor wants to know. (It is not a necessity but it does look nice!)
Connect with your reader on an emotional level and show them how the product solves their problem.
There are many ways to do a review but after asking the experts we have a better idea of what to include.
Check out one of our reviews HERE
