That’s right nobody said the affiliate marketing business was going to be easy but there are some very simple steps that you can follow to write a product review that sells. And I am not talking about writing a review that is actually nothing more than a sales page which is a huge mistake many affiliates make online today…
So What Really Makes A Good Product Review That Sells…
Before writing a product review you really need to understand what it is that your customers are looking for when making a decision to buy online and the most obvious is this… over 70% of all customers online will actually look for product reviews and ratings before making a purchase online. You just have to look at Amazon to see how true that statement really is.
Getting Into The Minds Of Your Website Visitors
You firstly need to place yourself into the potential customers shoes, and that is what they are “potential customers” they are not sold yet and even a little suspicious so they are going to look at more than just your review so you really need it to stand out from the crowd.
This can be very different however if overtime you have built up trust with your site visitors.
The easiest way for you to do this is to follow the steps that you would take when you are going to buy online, do you just purchase at the first site you come across or do you do some market research on the product first.
Once you know what it is you do research on you then need to put this in place for your product review page.
So to break this down even further lets see what you are going to need to create a product review site that sells…
Which ever product or service you are going to be writing a product review on, it is essential that you have used it whether that means you purchased or are using a trial version of the product.
Don’t ever write a product review if you don’t know anything about the product or service this will be reflected in your writing and have a very negative impact on your website.
Trying To Hard Sell In Your Product Review Will Be A Mistake
Don’t try to sell the product on the review page lay down all the features that you have used whether they are good or bad and don’t hold back fearing that you might lose a sale better to be truthful and honest today so that you can pick up a sale at a later date.
Try and make sure these reviews are in your own words not some generic script that you happened to find online or at the vendors site.
Using Video In Your Product Review Is Becoming Much More Effective At Making Sales
If you can even try to use video to show your potential customers how easy the product is to use starting from the install right through to the end result. The video will also become a very good marketing tool for you if it is quality and you place into sites like Tube Mogul.
Allow You Reviewers To Place Comments On The Product Review
Encourage your site visitors to enter comments onto the review and again not just the positives but also any negative results that they have experienced with the product or service. If the negatives far outweigh the positives you may want to reconsider promoting this product at all.
Another very effective tip is to get anybody that is an authority in the product or service to also comment and review. However in saying this make sure it is not anyone associated to the product you are reviewing such as the vendor.have them outline what it is they do in the industry as well as any experiences they have had personally with the product or service.
Remember the more specific you can make it the more credibility your review will have in the eyes of the reader.
Once the user has commented or made their review encourage them to keep posting by replying to every post that they make and even as much as asking any of the quality reviewers to become a feature writer for your review site. You can also encourage anyone who places a comment to also supply a picture or Gravatar for their posts.
To find any free review site plugins for your WordPress blog simply type in your Google™ search box “WordPress Review Plugins” it is really that simple.
If you are looking at something that is more inline with a squeeze page or landing page and are running a WordPress site then maybe you should consider checking out Premise. Which you can still use the review plugin with as well as it is so flexible.
Great article, and good screenshot examples.
The part on not preselling is especially valid, just be honest. I change on of my sites that was based on a sales page to an shorter honest review and I actually made sales as opposed to nothing.
I also found that the shorter your HONEST review is the more chance you’ll have a click through to the product. A paragraph (or 2 max), should do in any review. People get bored after that.
.-= John Domenico´s last blog ..paid-online-surveys =-.
Hi John
Over my years online I have personally used many different types of review site templates and plugins to market products as an affiliate but I always seemed to come back to what Dan Grossman was offering he really has his finger on the pulse with this form of marketing. The one I use on this site is a very basic version called WP-post ratings only because I was not looking to write reviews and only offer information so this plugin just moves the most popular posts onto the front page and dresses it up with some stars to make it look more important.
But there are more coming up all the time with another free review wordpress plugin called GD Star Rating but again it still does not do what the Wp Reviewsite plugin can do.
And you are right the shorter and more to the point you are the better off you will be and this also includes allowing any negative reviews to be placed as well, after all if you were promoting a product the everyone is saying is bad how would that reflect on your own business.
Be honest and upfront with any reviews and as I said in the post it is very important that you have at least used the product or service that you are writing the review on.
Thanks for sharing your tips and experiences. I like your thoughts on pre-selling and asking viewers to leave comments about reviews. I also agree the review should include a product or service you’ve used personally. Will have to check into the review plugin… thanks, Michael
.-= Michael Sweeney´s last blog ..Internet Work At Home Stategic Business Plan =-.
Hi Michael
It was my pleasure and I am glad you found it useful..
And yes it is very important to make sure you know what you are reviewing or this can be really bad for you overtime… Many people seem to forget that regardless of how big the internet seems at the end of the day it is only a very small place if you want to get the news out about something that’s not right such as a badly written or deceptive product review on someone’s site.
You will also see on the home page of Dan’s site where you can actually see the WPreveiwsite plugin working. It has been around for many years now and still makes money… Which as an affiliate is what you want residual income and of course your users constantly updating your content for you.
Great post I have to come back and read this when I am more awake I found way to many ideas to remember all at once. I am just learning affiliate marketing and do not find other marketers willing to share the good stuff very often.
Hi Bruce… and welcome to Affiliate X Files
I am glad that you have found the information useful for your needs… and if you have any questions about affiliate marketing then you can ask them here Affiliate Marketing Questions.
One thing for anyone in affiliate marketing is having to build trust online, as you probably already know many people shy away from affiliates for many reasons but one very prominent reason is when they use redirects for there sites. Meaning you are clicking on one URL only to end up at another this is the fastest way for anyone in the affiliate business to lose credibility, be open and honest and you will find that your site visitors will keep coming back.
I’ve been planning to make a product review site but I really wasn’t sure of making one. Thank you for this blog. It will surely help me 😀
Hi Aubrey..
There are many good templates about now especially for WordPress that can get you started very fast in developing and publishing a review site. If you decide to go down this path it really does pay and will reflect in your reviews if you have actually used the product.
I am really interested in using video to help promote products. It’s not really important whether the video was produced by another party because if I have good products that need a video, then I’ll produce it myself. Video is the way to go – definitely.
Hi Susan
Yes you are right, it might take you time to get your own video productions perfect but while you are getting there you will still be able to get free traffic from all the video publishing sites that you submit your videos to.
Hi the site above is the one I am using for an review website. I am getting conversions with it but I have one more I purchased that should be better but it has no terch support for it. This is the website I have so far using the pro review theme. . I like it much better the slider is cleaner looking and it gives a bit better on page seo.
The inflatable boat motor site is a proven theme and I have friends selling over one k per month profit of Amazon .com products.
I think the market is prime for a better review theme right now. If it had great support it would sell.
I have talked to Dan Nickerson the developer of the Socrates theme and he said he will work on making a review theme up date for Socrates template. i have had excellent service using Dan’s software. He has a few great plugins out I have had success with like the “related rss” .
Hi Bruce
Thanks for sharing this with our readers. However for us the most useful review plugin we have seen for WordPress would have to be MyReviewPlugin it is very easy to use without having to know coding all with a one click integration into your WordPress theme.
This review plugin is designed specifically for beginners but I am now starting to see many seasoned bloggers using this on their sites as well.
Hi Ron I will have a look at the plugin for sure . I have been discussing the new Panda outbreak and they are going to slap review sites as well . It seems google is on the move . I think I am going to use my authority site more and funnel the traffic to review sites on the same topic or niche.
I am finding it is to expensive and time consuming to promote to many websites. I am trying to get my site arranged into a set of information silos.
What I am seeing is I have been to unorganized in setting up my content. It prevents google from seeing it as an authority site because the traffic is not finding what it needs often enough.
I think until I can get this part right I will not make much in profit.
Hi Bruce
That plugin will solve you problems for sure, what I like about it is the ability to only select certain pages that you want to add the review plugin to that way you site is not seen as a full blown review site. You then just add quality content to the site giving it authority if you have used solid content and as you said then funnel the traffic towards the review pages with in the site.
I am a big believer of diversity and you need to make your sites today to cater for everyone and there are still many people out there that like to see products reviewed.
At one stage Bruce I had 52 separate domains all with content, if you don’t like sleep or want any social life this is the way to go but for me I have let many of them go now as it was so time consuming and frustrating to try and keep them all fresh and up to date not to mention hosting them all.