Some basic questions about writing good reviews

[JackPowers]

I'd be very happy if some of you could share some of your experiences with me on this topic. I write personal reviews for products I am promoting in finance and I know the content is decent, cause the bounce rate is low and my visitors stay for a while. Still I don't like my clicktrough rates.

Usually, I go with quite a lot of hyperlinks, maybe one every 100 words, including a banner at top (above fold) and bottom. I'm thinking this is sorta the equivalent of how many 'Order' buttons, you would have on a sales page?

Am I better of, niche considering, having fewer links? Are some people put of by being 'led' to click?

[travlinguy]

It's hard to comment without seeing a sample.

I once wrote and article titled, All Writing Is Sales Copy. The premise was that virtually every bit of writing from greeting cards to technical manuals has an intended purpose and if that purpose is achieved, the writer has made the sale.

For example, if a technical manual is easy to follow and the reader is able to use it to better understand how to work some gadget, the writer has made the sale. If the manual is too technical and difficult to follow, as many are, no sale.

Same for a greeting card written to evoke emotion. If you're supposed to smile, or remember a special moment in your life and you do those things after reading, the writer has made the sale. If not, no sale.

If you're writing a review or an article, the desired outcome is to get the reader to click through to the landing or sales page. If you do that more often than not, sale made. Only you can determine the percentage of clickthrough success needed to call a piece successful.

So, with all that said, you say you don't like your clickthrough rates. It might be the links you mentioned. If you had a 600-word review with a link every 100 words, I'd definitely say you have too many links. But the problem might be more than just that. You say your bounce rate is low and that your visitors stay for a while.

Not to slam your copy but I've read articles online where I had to stay for a while simply because it took a lot of time to figure out what the writer was trying to say. I usually don't bother with articles like that but sometimes I will if info on that topic is hard to locate. My point is, you can't necessarily come to the conclusion that the review is good because the visitor is hanging around.

And that brings us back to square one. It's hard to figure out your problem without seeing. Why not post it?

[stuartfile]

I like you opinion on this particular thing . The way present the whole things commendable .

[Scott Murdaugh]

It all comes down to testing and your niche...

When it comes to "reviews", if people see banners above and below the content, along with a bunch of links along the way, it sort of kills the credibility.

Then again, I've done some dating review sites that were full of banners and links and I killed it with those.

I'd say it depends on your content. And yes, a lot of links *can* be a good thing, but you don't want people to click through before they're sold or thinking all of the links are spammy.

I'll go with my default answer here. Test.

Good luck.

-Scott

[JackPowers]

Originally Posted by Scott Murdaugh

It all comes down to testing and your niche...

When it comes to "reviews", if people see banners above and below the content, along with a bunch of links along the way, it sort of kills the credibility.

Then again, I've done some dating review sites that were full of banners and links and I killed it with those.

I'd say it depends on your content. And yes, a lot of links *can* be a good thing, but you don't want people to click through before they're sold or thinking all of the links are spammy.

I'll go with my default answer here. Test.

Good luck.

-Scott

That's interesting, I actually used this approach from success in a dating niche, where it works quite well.

[Loren Woirhaye]

"Any apparent effort to sell creates corresponding resistance" - Claude C. Hopkins

I would be inclined to nix the banners in all but the
corniest of niches and focus on drawing the reader
into a rational examination of the product. You'll
appear unbiased, like a journalist, which is very
useful for list-building.

You might even take the angle of critiquing the
advertising the products use and say whether you
feel they live-up to the hype. Of course you
may just be churning-out craven reviews where
you haven't seen the product at all - of which
practice I would say: do you suppose there might
be a better use of your talents?