Review articles, longer or shorter?

17 replies
Hey guys, it is my belief that long reviews 700-1000 word articles are good because the more preselling the better the conversion right?

Yet... I am only assuming.

Maybe in reality, people do not have the attention span for a huge article.

They just want to read a short and sweat article that gets to the point maybe? Like 400-500 words?

What do you guys think?
#articles #longer #review #shorter
  • Profile picture of the author James Gladwell
    My answer's different depending on whether you're writing to get ranked in the search engines or purely to pre-sell the reader.

    For the search engines, minimum of 500 words of quality content.

    For pre-selling, it's going to vary massively depending on the product, the price point, and the market itself. I think it's really a question of writing enough to get the click/sale, by answering potential objections, explaining benefits etc.
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  • Profile picture of the author simplewriting
    If your article is too short... There is a good chance that many of your readers will be left hanging as you may not be able to cover all the information they needed on that particular product/service.

    So I guess writing a 1000 word review is always a better option. If the visitor is genuinely interested in the product (Which is highly likely as they were looking for reviews) he/she wouldn't mind reading through a long article at all. You're simply giving them an excuse to justify their purchase

    This is just my opinion though... I've never tried 500 word reviews on any of my sites. so I wouldn't know how well they work.

    Edit: you could also add a link to your offer several times throughout your article so that your readers have a chance to go straight to the offer if they think they've read enough.

    Hope this helps

    Simplewriting
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    • Profile picture of the author asiancasanova
      As of right now, these are my stats for this one affiliate site in particular.

      671 clicks
      11 sales

      My articles are 800-1000 words long. They include everything a review should have. I'm just wondering how good this performance is, if maybe I shortened my reviews, I could convert better?

      The product is $60 physical product.
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      • Profile picture of the author lotsofsnow
        Originally Posted by asiancasanova View Post

        As of right now, these are my stats for this one affiliate site in particular.

        671 clicks
        11 sales

        My articles are 800-1000 words long. They include everything a review should have. I'm just wondering how good this performance is, if maybe I shortened my reviews, I could convert better?

        The product is $60 physical product.
        While the conversion rate is only OK, not great, a shorter article will most likely not improve conversion rates.

        People that are interested love to get as much information as they can.

        What you can do is to structure the article int 2 sections: 1. a short overview type of review and then the 2nd part which goes deeper into detail. Make sure that you give the reader a chance to go to the merchant immediately after they have read the first 2 or 3 paragraphs.
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  • Profile picture of the author Benjamin Tork
    For SEO longer is better. For conversion longer doesn't mean better. I would try to add a video. A good video review generally increases my conversions.
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  • Profile picture of the author Drew Cleveland
    It really sucks because Google likes 700-1000+ word articles, but the general population doesnt want to read that much.

    For example, why do people read reviews on forums, or amazon? Because the reviews are short, to the point, from real people, and contain no fluff (most of them)

    My solution to this is to create two posts. 1 for Google, and the real (short and sweet) review, for the reader.
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    • Profile picture of the author contentwriting360
      Banned
      I second what James Gladwell and Benjamin Tork said.

      As for SEO purposes, you can follow that scale of 800 to 1200-word worth of quality content that emotionally pushes the reader, at least, into inquiring about the product, if not into buying it on the spot.

      For your sales copy/page, it's not a question of how long or short the content should be. It depends on many factors such as:
      1. your target buyers
      2. features of your product and the benefits buyers will get
      3. your script to overcome objections
      4. proofs to back-up your solution
      5. your buyers' potential fears and frustrations
      6. your guarantees

      Bottom line, for whatever purpose, you should build connection with your reader. Know your market. Find out what they would like to buy. Research why they don't want to buy the products of your competitor. All these play some key roles in writing your solid content that your buyers couldn't resist clicking that hot "BUY" button.
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  • Make sure your review has all of the elements of a good sales page.
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  • Profile picture of the author GlenH
    Originally Posted by asiancasanova View Post

    Hey guys, it is my belief that long reviews 700-1000 word articles are good because the more preselling the better the conversion right?

    Yet... I am only assuming.

    Maybe in reality, people do not have the attention span for a huge article.

    They just want to read a short and sweat article that gets to the point maybe? Like 400-500 words?

    What do you guys think?
    I have alway gotten a significantly better response from articles and reviews that are 800 - 1200 words in length. They rank quicker and stick longer.

    My days of doing 500 words articles and reviews are long gone.
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    • Profile picture of the author matt78
      Longer review articles will provide more value to the visitors looking to buy the product. It will give them better info and judgement for their buying decision.

      Just remember to put your buying link/call to action after the intro paragraph, so it would be easier for them to buy it.

      Longer articles also good for SEO purpose.
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  • Profile picture of the author plongmire
    I actually got 55 clickbank product reviews written. They are anywhere between 400-600 words per review, but they are in word document, so you can change whatever you need to. Make it your own...PM me if you are interested.

    I think the review has to match the type of marketing you are doing. Is it a cold review or a review sent to someone you did some preselling too?
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  • Profile picture of the author webbizgold
    I've also found that typically 500 words onwards is the barest minimum for SEO. As to conversions, it depends on how you capture your reader and entertain them, along with
    the cosmetics of clear call to actions and readability.

    From experience writing articles and reviews, on average I also find that it's easier to pack in more information and value to your visitors at 700+ words onwards. At the same time, bear in mind that longer is not always better, since you still have to maintain your readers' attention and interest at all times for them to click through to your offer.
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  • Profile picture of the author solarwarrior
    The trick is not to overdo it that people will start to skip what you are writing and at the same time, not too brief that it hurts the conversion rate.

    Another tip, always write for people, not for google. Once you does that, everything else will fall into place.
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    • Profile picture of the author Hamida Harland
      My reviews are usually about 800-1200 words long, but that's mostly for products that people actually want to read reviews for before buying. Not every product will warrant such a long review. Some products sell well without a review at all, just something like a product description.

      I don't really worry about the readers attention span because I make sure my reviews are broken down with plenty of subheadings, points etc. which make it easy for them to scan and see which bits they want to read.
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  • Profile picture of the author WinstonTian
    Originally Posted by asiancasanova View Post

    Hey guys, it is my belief that long reviews 700-1000 word articles are good because the more preselling the better the conversion right?

    Yet... I am only assuming.

    Maybe in reality, people do not have the attention span for a huge article.

    They just want to read a short and sweat article that gets to the point maybe? Like 400-500 words?

    What do you guys think?
    It never hurts to write longer reviews. Really.

    But that's if the article is relevant and it
    engages the reader enough.

    You want to "chunk" your review into parts
    and leave sub-headlines. This will help the
    readers with a "Scanning" style of reading.

    You can also bullet your points.

    Heck, just do a video if you have the real
    product by your side.

    Winston Tian
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    Cheers,
    Winston
    The Beginner's Doctor

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  • Until now I always used reviews with up to 500 words. Never more, unless I used PLRs.
    The results were good, especially in Amazon niches. Much depend on the article itself, but try to build them with a friendly tone.

    Include this:

    1) Introduction
    2) Pros
    3) Cons
    4) Personal thoughts
    5) Why you bought it?

    This works like crazy!

    See you soon,
    Alessandro Zamboni
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    • Profile picture of the author JohnMcCabe
      Just a couple of quick thoughts here...

      > AC, why are you only considering shorter reviews? For some products, 1,000 words is a good start.

      People will read longer articles that are on-topic and hold their interest. They won't read short articles that bore them.

      > Why are so many of the responses fixated on Google? As far as I know, the googlebot has never made a bona fide purchase. The OP is getting views to his reviews. Before worrying too much about ranking reviews, he should work on turning more of the readers he has into buyers.
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