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Thoughts on review site length

by timpears
9 replies
When you build a review site, what do you believe the optimum length of the content to be? Not taking into consideration the graphics, just talking about the text.

Happy to hear your ideas of the use of graphics, one, two or many.

Any other ideas to make your best review page would be appreciated.
#length #review #site #thoughts
  • Profile picture of the author trevord92
    Apart from the obvious answer of as long as it needs to be without boring your audience...

    I've written short reviews (around 200 words) and long ones (2,000 words or more) and all points between.

    Much like the product reviews on Amazon range from a couple of sentences through to full-on essays,

    In my view, longer reviews should be like a sales letter - bullets and obvious "skim" paths.

    And with links off to technical details if appropriate.

    My reviews tend to be wordy and also light on graphics. But that's my personal style and other people prefer the opposite (Pinterest takes that to extremes).

    A video would be good and could lead to views from YouTube and plus points with their algorithm from an embedded video on your site.

    Experiment - you've found your voice on this site and can do the same on your own review site.
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    • Profile picture of the author myob
      Although I have never done "reviews" per se, in my experience content should be long enough to not only make an informed buying decision but also to engage the prospect into making the purchase from your link/site. This nearly always requires multiple exposure such as several articles or autoresponder messages for optimum conversions. Take into consideration the prospects' expectations, publication standards/constraints, and your affinity or perceived competence of your reading audience. Effective conversions can seldom be achieved with short content or a single composition such as a "review".
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    • Profile picture of the author Sojourn
      Originally Posted by trevord92 View Post

      ..bullets and obvious "skim" paths.
      I've never heard of the phrase "skim paths" but I like it. I tend to write very lengthy reviews and I think there are some benefits in terms of SEO traffic as a result but the challenge is then making large amounts of content useful to visitors. Skim paths...

      When writing reviews, think about why a consumer might be searching for a review. There are a couple of main reasons - does the product do what it says it does, how well does it do what it says it does, will it hold up over time (making it worth my money), and how does it differ from the number of similar product choices (model confusion).

      Then write as many words as you need to cover those points in detail.
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  • Profile picture of the author Marked09
    Length does not matter IMO. As long as you give useful information about the product that would be fine. I've seen a lot of review just being taken from the sales page and It really does not help in the sales.
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  • Profile picture of the author alvinhy
    You can also add tutorials how to use the product if you can.
    I think more information the better but it might scare off potential buyers.

    find a fine line between the two to. It really depends on the product.
    If the product needs a demonstration to show its qualities then create one.

    If it is just a simple notebook, just note out the benefits and why the user should need one.
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  • Profile picture of the author jross07
    Make sure you've got a couple hundred words. That's good for your visitor, but also for SEO purposes too. You don't want something so thin that it's giving no all around value.

    Include multiple images if you can. As others have said, add video too!
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  • Profile picture of the author Barry Unruh
    Obviously a review for a 10 page ebook covering a single technique would be much shorter than a course including several ebooks and dozens of videos.

    Just give a review that highlights the items that you would have found important to make a buying decision. If it takes 200 words, then stop there. If it takes 3,000 words, then do it.

    Google may prefer longer content, but readers prefer content that is concise. Keep it on topic, fast moving, and entertaining.
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  • Profile picture of the author seekdefo
    I generally write above 1000 words for reviews. The landing page is generally 2000 words plus. Together with the images, they look massively impressive.
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  • Profile picture of the author WillR
    The boring answers is the answer you need to hear.

    There's no set length for a review page and no one should be telling you there is.

    Whether writing sales copy, articles, reviews, whatever, the optimal length is the length it takes to get across all of your points and benefits without wasting words. Don't use two words when 1 will do.

    The length is going to be different depending on the niche, the product, etc.
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