There are many successful blogs and websites that have built themselves on the back of writing reviews. They are able to do so because so many people use the web to research purchases and make decisions about products and services.
Review posts require some knowledge of the thing you’re reviewing and they can take a little time to write (because you need to think carefully about what you write as your readers may base decisions upon your opinion) but they can be a highly effective post to include on a blog from time to time as they express an opinion rather than just write what everyone else is writing in your niche.
Some of the benefits of reviews that I’ve seen include:
- incoming links – some of my most linked to posts are reviews.
- conversation – stating an opinion about something can be the starting point for wonderful conversations, debates and exchanges of ideas.
- relationships – I’m amazed by how many of the reviews that I’ve written have been the thing that has actually put me into contact with the creators of the products or services that I review.
- search engine traffic – I quite often see traffic from SE’s coming from terms like ‘xxxx review’. ‘Review’ is a hot word.
- reviews can work well with affiliate programs – one of the best places to put an affiliate link inside a well written and balanced review of a product. Warning – don’t fall for the temptation of talking up bad products just to get an affiliate commission, all you’ll do is put readers offside. Give pros and cons of products that you’ve actually used and you’ll find readers respect that and will make more informed purchases.
More reading on how to write reviews – 10 Ways to Maximize the Value of a Product Review
Homework – Now it’s time to go write your review post. This might be easier for some of you than others as some of you have actual products or services that directly relate to your niche – however you don’t need to just review products.
Here are a few ideas for what to review:
- Review a related website or blog to yours
- Review a book about your topic
- Review the last few months of your own writing on your blog (highlighting some of your best posts)
- Review a movie, play, TV show, song, restaurant
Once you’ve written your review come back to this post and share the link to it so we can all be a little inspired by what you’ve written.
note: while your previously written review posts might be interesting – I’d prefer it if you only posted links to new posts in comments below – after all, this series is about helping you to improve your blog NOW rather than looking back – thanks for understanding.
PS: I wrote a review today of my own of the Canon EOS 5D DSLR
