How to Write Product Reviews That Sells
The review article is one of the top-notch to make money from blogging.
But on the contrary, few bloggers may leave money on the table by writing reviews that don't convert into sales (Not persuasive enough).
Even I used to be part of that crowd, My reviews were not converting until I discovered these basic fundamentals that are converted inside this article.
Now, My articles convert at 12% which is more than the industry average.
If you're an affiliate marketer that is struggling to get sales or a complete newbie, who'll write the first review article. You're in right place.
In this guide, you'll learn how to write a product review that converts.
Characteristic of a review post
Whenever you're writing a review post or any post you need to decide the end goal before writing a single word. In the case of a review post, Your purpose is to educate people about the product then give them your recommendation.
To educate about the product.
When looking for a review post, Reader is looking for authentic information about the product. Need you to need to add information that makes people crave out for reading your review.
From my 5 years of blogging experience, Adding pros and cons, review boxes, comparison tables, star rating, table of content increase the authenticity of your article. Add to that, this also enhances the readability of blog posts.
Your first aim is to provide authentic information to your audience. Be open about your opinion, don't try to cheat the user for the sake of making money. I always write the truth in my articles, this is the quality that distinguish me from others.
If I haven't purchased the product, then I openly admit this fact in front of the audience. I write in the way of an independent researcher.
There are some additional benefits of this approach. For Instance: authenticity invites more social share, word of mouth, which increases website traffic.
More traffic = more sales.
To persuade
Educating isn't enough. The review must persuade your user.
You should learn about the art of persuasion and selling through words. Here are six rules of persuasion from my fav author by Robert Cialdini
- Reciprocity (People love to give back)
- Scarcity
- Authority
- Commitment and consistency
- Liking
- Consensus (social proof)
To genuinely help
As explained earlier, Review posts help users to get correct information about the product. Not just for the sake of sale and money.
You may get a sale, faking about the product but remember, the user is not going to visit your website ever.
Correct information, whether bad or good, helps you win your visitor's trust. More importantly, it builds your influence.
Tips for writing review posts that convert into a sale
Problem-focused start
When I started writing my first product review article, I had no idea where to start.
I read more than 39 articles based on product reviews, and most of them gave a problem-focused start. They knew the pain the customer is suffering from, which will hook them to their article.
Let it be the introduction or an overview; you need to convince them that you understand their problem. Talk about the conversation going through your reader's head.
For writing this, I create an ideal customer avatar of my reader then, I use that avatar for crafting a story that will resonate with my reader. I include the following things in my avatar
- Demographics, behaviors, etc
- List of reasons why people won’t buy
- Questions related to the product
For starting, You can write 4 to 5 different introductions/overviews until you find that the winning intro speaks your audience's language.
Don't sell the product.
When I started writing, I focused more on the product. I started talking about features that were available on Amazon, and anyone can read them.
So, how'll you stand different?
"Don't sell the product. Sell the solution."
Identifying the pain point of your potential customer is the first thing you should work on.
Before writing any review post, ask yourself, "what's the pain point of my potential customer?"
Bring clarity about the problems of your potential customer. Now you know how the product you're reviewing helps solve your customer's problem.
When someone is going through physical pain, they don't want vitamins but painkillers.
When you change your approach to sell solutions, the way you look at content changes. Now you're not product-focused; you're solution-focused.
That's how you make a sale.
Authentic content wins
A big mistake you can ever make as an affiliate marketer is not authentic. When you're reviewing a product, this means you must have used the product.
People make mistakes for the sake of profitability. And make amazon niche sites on any topic/product-focused. Don't worry if you've made this mistake. I've made too, and one google update; our site was down.
Google wants authenticity and much value for the users. And google will do anything, even if it takes to take your site down in rankings.
Their recent update around review articles also made this game difficult for black-hat marketers.
Just know writing anything that you've not experienced, Google will know it through the freshness and facts of your content.
How do you show your authenticity to google?
- Create topical authority of your website
- Show your expertise in your about page and aurthor
- Google loves to see your self clicked images to your website. If you have the same product, click its picture, don't take stock images or copy images from Amazon.
- Share your own experience; if possible, make a youtube video of the product review and link the video to your site.
Google wants to know that you are writing the product review article, not anyone else. For instance, let have a look at a review article image below -
The above image is taken from TomsGuide, which was a review article for a smartwatch. He used his own smartwatch to write a review. This shows authenticity.
Google knows about this, and including this and 100's of other factors, he is dominating the higher search results.
Don't sell features, sell benefits (example included)
Have you heard this before - "Feature tells, Benefit sells"?
You'll find features everywhere on amazon; what really lacks is the benefits that the user will get when he purchases the product.
Seems confusing? I know, features and benefits sometimes trick your mind. Don't worry, I'll explain to you with the help of examples.
Let's take the example of an umbrella -
Features of an umbrella: Wooden hold, unbreakable designing, waterproof material.
Benefits of an umbrella: Protects skin from sun rays and rain.
Would you buy the features or benefits?
Nobody cares about wooden handles or unbreakable designs, yes it is a concern to some, but majorly people buy protection from the sun and rain.
Use Amazon reviews
Amazon can be an excellent tool for persuasion.
If you don't have the product, you can check the review section of Amazon for persuasive words. Amazon is a gold mine for content.
But it's better to take ideas from Amazon than to copy the entire content.
The review section has words that people relate to the product.
Important note - Do not copy the entire content from the Amazon review page/user-generated content. It's against the amazon policy; your affiliate account can be banned for it.
Use infographics
You might be aware; the attention span is decreasing day by day. Once they used to spend hours reading, but now they seek information quickly.
Infographics and graphic elements can help your users understand your point quickly without much explanation.
You have to convey all the information to the user without getting them bored and leave your site.
Have a look at the image below.
Source - Amazon
The graphic itself is speaking about the product with a premium design, pollution-free, and pocket-friendly. Use as many images as possible (obviously not overuse, to have enough load for a website).
Use bullet points, not chunks of text
During my first article based on product review, I used chunks of text. And I got a check from my mentor, which goes like - "Badly terrible I have no interest in reading this article"
I wrote around 3000 words, and my mentor just rejected it. That's how bad it was.
Then I got feedback on chunks of text that nobody likes to read. Avoid the mistake I made, keep the product review short and crisp.
How to avoid chunks of text in a review article?
Don't worry if it doesn't work for you in the first round.
Write a chunk of a paragraph. Now think of the short alternate corresponding sentence. Use the short one.
What not to do while writing a product review article?
Plagiarism from amazon or any other blog
Any content which doesn't belong to you, Without any suitable credit leads to the blacklisting of your site in google's eye.
Affiliate programs such as Amazon have a strict policy regarding content plagiarism. Use your own knowledge about the product instead of copying from another article. This way, you'll not be able to rank higher or get traffic.
Make fresh content that Google loves to suggest to its users.
Not spending time on research.
My worst habit, I used to believe I'm god I know everything about the topic. Once you make a mistake, you learn from it.
Researching is the most essential part before writing any product review article. Use the keyword in google you're working for and hit search. Read top 5 blogs ranking on the top.
Suppose your blog demands insights or stats. Work for it instead of copying from someone else's blog.
Research helps you generate fresh content; you know the loopholes that you can fill. The content no one can copy without knowing you.
Only speaking the positives.
You are reviewing a product, doesn't mean it has to have only positives so that people may buy.
Show the negative side of the product also. Be vulnerable about your product. Because when you give an honest review, you earn respect.
Not experimenting on content.
Believe it or not, your first content may or may not work.
Keep experimenting with content and its format. As far as I've noticed, the content which has chunks of paragraphs doesn't rank well.
We made few changes. We added bullet points and shortened the content. Our site got loaded with traffic. Why? Because we experiment, and now we know what works and whatnot.
Takeaway
Product review articles are an experimental game. Things that work for you may not work for me. One experiment can turn 5 clicks into 500 clicks. I hope you've understood how things in product review blog posts work.
Now it's your turn to let us know if there is any query regarding the topic. If you've liked the article, do not forget to share.
