Starting an affiliate site: do I differentiate between "real" reviews and just product "ads"?

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Hi there! This is my first post, thanks for reading it. I have a little experience in affiliate marketing but I'm new to the warrior forums.

I'm in the process of making an affiliate site on a domain I've been sitting on. I'm pretty excited because it's a niche I'm passionate about. I'm planning to post 20% real product reviews (things I've used and want to promote) and 80% products that look good but I haven't tried. I'm wondering how much of a distinction I need to make to my visitors.

I'm using a Wordpress plugin for product reviews. Should I also use this on products I haven't tried but want to showcase? Or should I do some other kind of overview?

Thanks!
#main internet marketing discussion forum #ads #affiliate #differentiate #product #real #reviews #site #starting
  • Ask yourself what would YOU want if you landed on a site like yours and you were doing research on that niche.

    Would you want to know if that person tried the product or if they didnt?

    Answer that question and you will have your answer.
  • Be very careful with reviews on products you have not tried, there is a huge crackdown on this..
    • [1] reply
    • That and it's just really bad practice. How can you honestly recommend something if you've never tried it.
      • [1] reply
  • hi
    certainly, the best way to make money with affiliate programs is to create reviews of products and place affiliate links in these reviews.
    I follow the idea that if you want to get maximum results must be sincere reviews. I try the product directly, if I want to be honest I have to believe in the product.
    a small point of view.
  • You can provide people with a lot of "real" information without having used the product.

    It's called pre-selling.
    • [ 1 ] Thanks
  • As long as you disclose what you've tried and what just seems cool to you, there's no harm in that as long as the posts do not mislead the consumer. Some sites are built upon products the site owner hasn't tried, such as, let's say new Star Wars merchandise that the site owner thinks they would like. Other sites, such as vitamins or supplements, must provide useful information instead of making false claims.
  • Instead of a review you could give a lenghty unbiased product description with the pluses and minuses of the product just like a journalist would do. Like the others have said posting a review of something you haven't use is doubtful at best.

    Joel
  • Thank you everyone for your advice and input. It's really helpful. I always had the impression that affiliate marketers were a bit shady, but after seeing the responses here I'm happy to see you're an honest lot.

    I've decided to go ahead and make a clear distinction between real reviews and just product summaries. I have another site where it's just product summaries and no reviews. I don't think it's misleading because I never say that I tried the product and the only opinion I give is, "it looks good". I'm curious to see whether real reviews will get a little more or much more traffic than just product summaries.

    Thanks again! And see you around the forums
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    Starting an affiliate site: do I differentiate between "real" reviews and just product "ads"?

    Hi there! This is my first post, thanks for reading it. I have a little experience in affiliate marketing but I'm new to the warrior forums. I'm in the process of making an affiliate site on a domain I've been sitting on. I'm pretty excited because it's a niche I'm passionate about. I'm planning to post 20% real product reviews (things I've used and want to promote) and 80% products that look good but I haven't tried. I'm wondering how much of a distinction I need to make to my visitors.