How To Write a Decent Product review
Credit: @sachyn xchng
One of the best ways to provide value to your readers on your blog is by writing honest, informative product reviews. No matter what niche you are blogging about, there are products that your audience could be interested in. By giving them the opportunity to pick up the best products to address their needs, you can not only build trust but also keep them coming back for more.
There are several reasons why you want to put product reviews on your blog. Sometimes, product manufacturers get in touch with you and ask you for a review of their product. In some other cases, you may want to write a review on an affiliate product to make some money on your blog. In that case, you may be inclined to write a positive review on your blog. There is nothing wrong about liking a certain product, but not everyone knows how to write a decent product review.
How To Write a Product Review
Reviewing a product is more than just providing a general set of information to your readers. Think about it. Your readers come to your blog to get value out of it. If you just grab product descriptions from Amazon and other sites and put them on your blog, you are not providing any unique value to your readers. Let’s not forget about dishonest marketers who endorse products just to make money in the process. Sometimes you can get lucky and the product you have lied about can turn out to be very good. But if you are not taking time to test products yourself, you are putting your blog’s credibility in risk.
Write a Review Not a Testimonial
This is the main problem when reviewing an affiliate product. You do want to write a review that encourages people to buy products using your affiliate links. But you don’t want to lie in your reviews. It always pays to test affiliate products and promote only the ones that are high quality. Not all affiliate programs are willing to provide you with a demo, but there is no reason to ask for a review unit (if you are reviewing a physical product).
Your Experience With The Product
Nobody wants to hear what you think others’ experience has been with the product you are reviewing on your blog. I have seen so many bloggers who use Amazon.com reviews to make judgment about a product. Some actually quote other people’s reviews on their blogs. There is nothing wrong with that if you take time to share your experience with the product you are planning to review.
Add Rich Content
Many bloggers use images that are available on Amazon or through their affiliate programs in their reviews. While there is nothing wrong with that, showing people the pictures you have taken yourself can add more credibility to your review. If you add a short video review to your post, that would be even better.
Listen and Address Issues
Everytime I review a product on my blogs, I take time to ask my readers what they think about the product and how their experience has been with it. No product is perfect, and there are always issues that owners have to deal with. If you take time to write a review on a product, you better be ready to get feedback (sometimes nasty) from your audience. Don’t take it personally. Work with your audience to address common issues. It also never hurts if you can get product makers to provide answers to questions on your blog.
Writing a review is not as straight forward as some want it to be. Sure. It’s so easy to write a positive review about a product and be dishonest about the whole process. That’s not only unethical, but it could cost you considering the latest guidelines provided by the FTC. If you are a serious blogger, you would never post a fake or incomplete review to your blog. Would you?
