My exact blueprint for writing reviews that gets both conversions AND credibility

[Harry Behrens]

Product reviews are a strange beast... they are not exactly articles, and they are not exactly sales letters. You want the reader to take an action (whether that action is to get the product or avoid it at all costs), but you also want to be informative at the same time. You want to emotionally guide the reader, but you also want to be objective in your analysis.

As I've mentioned in other threads my "method" that I've taken the most action with online is "affiliate comparison review" sites, where several reviews of 4-5 different products are compared. Over a bit of time and feedback I've developed my own checklist for what a review should have in order to build trust and also get people to click through.

The first things you have to be aware of are: A review is not impartial: You either want to reader to buy the product or you don't - and A review is not 'copywriting' and it is not a sales letter: The sales letter is the sales letter. What you want to do with a review is to give the reader a sense that someone else other than the product creator has read and has confidence (or not) in the product.

With that in mind here is the blueprint that I use in every review I write these days, that does not fail to give me good conversion results and also good feedback on the review itself:

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1) Describe the problem or issue that the product is trying to solve

This is where you 'pace' the reader's situation and introduce them to why they would in theory need a product like this. (You can also frame it as your own problem that you have/had, if that is the truth).

This is important because it aims to make the reader feel that you understand and sympathize with their situation and are therefore a good person to take advice from.

2) Analyze and describe why the product writer is (or is not) qualified to give a solution or advice on that problem

Here you qualify or disqualify the product creator before the actual product, and say why you think he understands (or doesn't understand) the problem/issue better than most. You mention other products they have done, what their reputation is, etc.

This is important because it establishes not only the authority of the product, but your own authority and the authority of the review itself, by showing that you know of the context and the history which surrounds the product.

3) Describe an overview of the the solution or method that the product proposes without giving too much away

Here is where you'd describe the product, list the benefits, what separates it from other similar products, etc. The part you'd normally think of as the "review" per se.

4) Describe the results that the reader can expect to have on following the solution or method in the product

What you want to do here is be descriptive and emotionally "paint a scene" in the reader's mind of them having already bought the product and gotten results, whether they are good or bad. (You can also describe your own situation after having used the product, if it is the truth).

This is important because you want the reader imagining and picturing things in their mind as much as possible, and preferably as already having happened they way you suggest they will.

5) Make a strong call to action to either get the product or not depending on whether your review was favorable or not

Obviously the most important part of the whole thing, the call to action is what compels the reader to do as you suggest. Of course if any part of the review can be described as "copywriting", it's this part.

No matter how clear your position on the product was during the review you need to strongly push the reader in an either positive or a negative direction at the end.

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I'm not saying this is the "ultimate best and only way" to review a product. It is what I've come up with through several cycles of trial and error. It gives me good results that I am happy with.

If anyone has any comments, ideas, suggestions, improvements, etc. I would certainly love to hear them. I am always trying to improve

[Darrel Hawes]

Harry,

That has got to be one of the clearest explanations on how to write a good review... that I have ever read! Excellent!

[Stephen Root]

Originally Posted by Harry Behrens

Product reviews are a strange beast... they are not exactly articles, and they are not exactly sales letters. You want the reader to take an action (whether that action is to get the product or avoid it at all costs), but you also want to be informative at the same time. You want to emotionally guide the reader, but you also want to be objective in your analysis.

You can't summarize review writing better

This post should be "stickied".. it's gold to almost everybody unless you are seasoned review writer

[Mark McClure]

Harry,
That's a very concise and helpful description. Thx.

Do you only write your reviews or have you applied this format to reviewing via video or audio tools?

[blackscorpion]

Is there a recommended limit on the amount of items you should compare in a review ?

[igorhelpsyousucceed]

Hey Harry,

very nice post. Clear strategic guidelines, loved it.

Igor

[Harry Behrens]

Thanks for the comments everybody

Originally Posted by Mark McClure

Do you only write your reviews or have you applied this format to reviewing via video or audio tools?

Hi Mark, I have not -yet- used this in video but I have plans to and I don't see why it shouldn't work. You could definitely add lots of value in a video by for example navigating to the product creator's website, checking out some of his other products etc.

One thing I am going to add for videos though is for the video to include me actually purchasing the product (with payment info blurred out of course), because this is something that I have read boosts confidence (and therefore, conversions) by a huge amount. I'm actually pretty excited about this idea, I think it's a winner.

Originally Posted by blackscorpion

Is there a recommended limit on the amount of items you should compare in a review ?

I always try to go 3 or 4 products compared. Any less and it's not really a comparison, any more and you quickly fall into "paralysis by overabundance of choices", which is a very real thing: when a reader has to choose between too many things, they tend to go into thinking-mode and leave acting for later. You're much better off with 3-4 good, solid choices that are assumed to be the best ones out of all the others.

[Gregg Cleland]

Hi Harry,

Thanks for laying out your thoughts so clearly. Plenty of meat to chew on.


Gregg

[Zeus66]

Overall, I give Harry's blueprint for writing reviews that gets both conversions AND credibility...



That's my highest rating, so you should "buy" what he's "selling" right now.

[CDarklock]

You can tell when you read something truly brilliant, because before you read it, you can't answer the question it covers very well at all... but after you read it, the answer seems perfectly obvious, and you can't imagine why anybody would need to ask.

[Harry Behrens]

Originally Posted by Zeus66

That's my highest rating, so you should "buy" what he's "selling" right now.

LOL, I knew I should have put that 'free signature' thing as step 6 Thanks for the "review" though

Originally Posted by CDarklock

[...] before you read it, you can't answer the question it covers very well at all... but after you read it, the answer seems perfectly obvious, and you can't imagine why anybody would need to ask.

Dude you just made my day because that is exactly what I was going for, thanks. Goes to show, you read enough awesome stuff from folks on WF, a speck of it is bound to rub off sooner or later.

[monopuff]

Thank you for this, this is the type of post that makes Warrior Forum so great.

[Frankie D]

I threw this into my notepad, very well written! Imagery is so important, and you can quite often tell when someone has not bought the actual product they reviewed.

That's why I believe you should spend a little and give the product a very honest review, before going and spreading it to the world. After all this is your reputation your talking about, and one little black mark can and will destroy you if your not careful.

Really love the way you described how to write a great review that actually would convert

[Harry Behrens]

Originally Posted by Frankie D

That's why I believe you should spend a little and give the product a very honest review, before going and spreading it to the world. After all this is your reputation your talking about, and one little black mark can and will destroy you if your not careful.

Yup!! Plus doing the real stuff is how you open the door for product creators to give you those nice "review" copies... That does happen, but not when the creator looks at your stuff and sees that you'd write the same thing with or without the actual book in hand. They need to see that you're taking the time to establish your context and your opinion, and that you're willing to give bad reviews as well as good, etc.

Another thing that really opens the door for that type of stuff with a product creator is to have bought, genuinely reviewed, and generated sales for a previous product of theirs. This way you develop a "reviewing relationship", which is the first step on the path to that nice "super affiliate" road