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

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