When I started marketing online, I remember that one of the biggest hurdles my mind had to jump over was how to write reviews of so many products, when there was no way that I could own everything I wrote about. I simply couldn't get on Amazon, spend $10,000 on toys, and then give my opinion on each of them.
It just didn't make sense! How could I sell stuff when I didn't own or really know anything about it?
Part of the issue is choosing a proper niche and finding something to write about that you DO know about. But not all niches can be effectively monetized, so many times as professional niche marketers we need to branch into areas we're unfamiliar with.
Here are three styles of reviews I use on my sites. The first one of course depends on you actually using the product or very similar ones. The other two you can do simply by being an expert in an area or utilizing proper research techniques.
Product Review Style 1: I Own It. Here's My Review
Anyone with an internet connection is aware that there are ways to make better buying decisions by searching online. Who doesn't want to read an honest review of a product or service they are thinking about buying?
Product reviews do not have to be limited to “I've tried that and here's my opinion”. In fact, many of these types of reviews are extremely biased. There's nothing wrong with that, but every product is going to have people that love and people that hate it. In spite of this bias, physically owning a product you are reviewing is a powerful tool. If you do own it, be sure to include pictures or video you took, and share anecdotal stories to go with your review. Not including these these could arouse suspicion as to whether or not you actually bought it. A lot of people write fake reviews because it's profitable.
Here is an example of a review of service that I've tried:Wealthy Affiliate Review
Product Review Style 2: I'm An Expert. Here's My Review
Another route is to talk about something related to a field you know a lot about. For example, I've been brewing my own beer for a few months now. I have a system that works for me. I know quite a bit about the process and how it works.
I also spend my time reading about it in books, blogs, and talking to other people with similar interests. Though I'm not a master brewer, I think I know quite a bit more than a beginner. In some ways, I'm a beginner expert. I have an educated opinion, and that counts for something!
And though I might not know everything, I think my thoughts on various related topics can be helpful to at least a number of visitors to my blog. Heck, even the ‘real experts' can be wrong (and are) sometimes. Oh, did I mention that the so-called experts disagree on a lot of things too? There's no reason to think that just because you don't have a PhD in your niche doesn't mean you aren't allowed to write a blog post about it!
This means that I don't have to buy or use everything I review. Just be honest. For example, if I want to negatively review a game I've never tried I could list previous games the company produced that I DID try and didn't like. I could post links to forums with other people that tried this game and didn't' like it. I could use screenshots to demonstrate my points, and explain my opinions so that my thought process was clear to the reader. I don't have to tell them I tried it just to create a false sense of authority.
Here is an example of a product review of something I haven't tried, but it's in a field I know a lot about:IMPho Review
Product Review Style 3: I'm an Unbiased Researcher. Here's My Review
Yet another style of product review could be the unbiased researcher approach. For this style of review, you do not have to mention that you have or haven't tried a product. That's irrelevant. There's tons of other people that have tried it, and if you do your research properly, you can give an objective view of what a potential buyer can expect.
Do not just copy and paste what other people say. This is plagiarism, and can get you into serious trouble. But you can take a screenshot of parts of reviews to demonstrate points. The problem with this is that you need to link back to the source, and it can be a way for people to leave YOUR review and go to someone else's. This is going to be a decision you need to consider.
Even without exact quotes, you can still reference information, such as “7/10 forums I visited had an overall majority of negative comments”, or “83% of reviewers gave this product 4+ stars on Amazon”
You can also dig into related products, previous releases, compare features with other products in the same niche, or simply feature the specs. You should always have VALUE in mind when doing this. Again, this should NOT just be a copy/paste marathon where you take information from a bunch of resources in an effort to piggy-back traffic and make sales. You should always be thinking about what a visitor can gain from reading your review.
Did you consolidate a lot of scattered information? Did you create an awesome graphic that demonstrates a written point from somewhere else? Did you take some technical jargon and explain it more simply? Did you break down the main differences between two similar products to make comparing them easier? YouTube is also a great way to include information from a person that actually owns the product AND you can embed any video on YT in your blog post! These are all great ways to use research as a means to write a product review of something you don't own.
Here's a review of something I haven't tried, but was able to review with proper research:Predator Review
What Now?
Product reviews can be a great way to get traffic to your blog, but if you're like me, doing review after review after review will get a bit boring and monotonous. But don't worry. There are tons of other ways to get targeted traffic to your website. Part of this is learning how to do proper keyword research and knowing what people in your niche are looking for. Below is a video on the importance of keyword research.
Nathaniell
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This is a godsend! I felt weird just googling the question, but I see I’m not alone. I was a bit pressured to review some products that I honestly can’t afford, but these techniques should help.
Great and helpful posts. I am trying to review a bunch of hotels but I could not possibly have went to every single hotels in the world. Any Tips ?
There’s so much information on Yelp and other Hotel review sites that you could aggregate this information and put it in a review. If 80/100 people in reviews say that a hotel is “too expensive”, then you can bet that it’s too expensive, and you didn’t even have to go there yourself!
Thank God i found this article today. This issue has been giving me headache in the last 3 days. I noticed i was getting hundreds of clicks per day but no affiliate sale. Nothing!!!
I’ve been trying to figure out the problem , and i’m guessing the problem is my style of writing. Maybe my review is not authentic enough , that’s why they’re not encouraged to buy.
Starting today , i will implement the “I’m An Expert. Here’s My Review” strategy and see how it goes. I’ll be back here to give my testimony.
BTW , You have a nice blog. Cheers
Great post. This helps me overcome a major hurdle as well. As I posted on another article on your site, I just couldn’t grasp how I could review a product or products I’ve never owned or bought, but it makes perfect sense now. Thanks!
I’m glad this post could help you Chris!
You have really great tips and advice on your site. I particularily enjoyed going through your “niche selection” page and “niche research” section with all those different niches you gave info about as well as good keywords to target.
It even helped re-focused the niche I am in to something even more targeted with the possibility to be more profitable… because I had a few doubts on the direction I was in lately if it would go anywhere.
I think with what I choose, I can have a really good chance, and it’s something I can easily talk about.
Also I was curious about this product review writing page talking about writing product reviews on products you don’t own but showing how you can still talk about them with all honesty.
Guy
I’m really glad this page could help you out Guy. It’s definitely possible to write an awesome review of something that helps people decide what to buy, even if you don’t own the thing. In fact, sometimes personal biases can make reviews hard to interpret what’s “true” and what’s “opinion”.
Nathaniell,
This post has really helped me understand how to approach review writing. It’s also one of my hurdles. Naturally, I would PREFER to own the product I’m reviewing, but, like you mentioned, it’s not all that realistic.
Just a quick question: How long do you typically take to research and write a review?
Thanks for the great info!
Beckie
I always read other reviews if they are out there and read product descriptions as well. I search for news related to the product if there is any, and see if there has been any changes over time worth talking about. If I have a review template I use, that’s usually enough to write 400-500 words. Add an introduction, a conclusion, and maybe a comparison section, and you have a 1,000 word article!
Was just struggling with how to deal with two affiliate products who have both given me very cool freebies but are essentially direct competitors. You may well have given me an option to please everyone.
Cool! Glad I could help 🙂
Nathaniell.
I am very glad to have found your site and I really have grabbed a lot of value from this particular post.
The manner in which you present the 3 styles is very clear, clean, concise & very much right on point.
I especially liked your breakdown of researching and the use of related & previous versions, as well as the most important concept, that of providing actual “helpful” information to folks.
Awesome site, great info, thanks again,
Gary
nice post. can a blog related to education books review be good?
If your niche is related to education, then reviewing educational books could be a good way to monetize your site.
Being in the fishing niche I tend to write about products I have tried or own. Fishermen usually need to know how the action of a rod feels and the only real way to do that is test it yourself.
Although as an informed person in the niche I can write reviews on products taken from magazines or websites where I can then compare them to similar items I have used. Making note of the new improvements in technology ie why this new rod is so much lighter and stronger than before, etc.
I suppose it really depends on the niche your in.
True. I think if you are an expert in any industry, you begin to get a feel of what’s going on. I’m sure if you have tried X rod, you can guess that X+1 rod can perform in whatever way, and DEFINITELY, with a some shop-talk with the million people in your circles in Google+ you can get a good understand of what the customer can expect.
In fact, I would rather trust an industry expert that’s never tried a product than a newbie that has tried only one. Usually the expert can offer better advice and insight, while the newbie can only offer a subject opinion.
As always, thanks for taking the time to comment Mark!
More great information, Nathaniell. This post is very well-written and logically presented. I’m bookmarking this for future reference. On a more reflective note…do you think the shiny reflection of cold steel is what ‘attracted’ Dom into the straight razor business? 🙂
Glad you liked it. Hm. Are you suggesting that Dom is in fact a robot? You might be on to something. I will write my next post in binary and see if he responds.
Great post. I’m more a three but like the emphasis you put on it from the researcher perspective. Also like Dom’s comment about the “what attracted” me.
Yeah, that was a good tip from Dom. I mean, you don’t have to write a review from the perspective of “this is what you get”. I think it’s perfectly acceptable to write a review from a fan’s perspective, as in “this is what I want” as long as you make this clear to the reader. People love to connect with similar-interest folks on the internet, and writing about what you are passionate about is an awesome way to get your content in front of the eyes of interested readers.
Very nice. This is a common question and something a lot of people struggle with. I’m definitely going to be recommending this post to people as well.
I should add that I tend to gravitate to number 2, but sometimes number 3. One trick I like to use is also to say what “attracts” me to a product.
That’s a good idea. People forget that there there’s nothing wrong with writing an opinion, a wish, or and idea. That’s one of the main advantages of owning your own website 🙂
Awesome! This was something that took me a long time to figure out, so I hope it help some people ‘click’ a bit sooner.