How to Write a Product Review

Product reviews are an important part of the purchasing process. Buyers want to know if a product meets their needs or if another product would be a better option for them. This opens a lot of opportunities to write product reviews. Writing a product review is both an art and a science. In this post, we’ll see how to write a product review that attracts attention, builds credibility and trust, and brings readers back for more.

Follow a Template

A good product review should follow a simple structure, such as this template:

• Good Title

• Concise Introduction

• Summary

• Description

• Use case

• Results

• Alternatives

• Conclusion

We’ll explore the elements of this structure in this post to create a product review that gets attention and social shares.

The Purpose of the Product Review

Product reviews are a great way to make money through affiliate marketing, grow your authority and following, and build your brand. A product review must be more than a list of the product’s features or restating of the sales material. Go deeper than that and discuss the experience of using the product.

A product review should:

• Identify the main features

• Show the main features in use

• Discuss how to use the product

• Provide your opinion of the product’s value

Review the Product from Experience

Write the product review based on your experience with using it. Tell what worked well and what didn’t work well for you. Discuss a problem you’ve faced and how the product helped you solve it. Inform the reader that you’re reviewing the product from personal experience.

Write with the Reader in Mind

The goal of the product review should be to help the reader make the right decision for their needs and budget. This means focusing on how well the product solves real problems for the reader. This makes you relatable, which in turn makes you more likable, which builds trust. Talk like a person and not a brand. Talk to your audience in the first person as if speaking with friends.

Review Process

The body of the review will focus on the product’s features, benefits, and how well it performs. Rather than listing the features, show how the product solves a problem. This works as a miniature case study with real-world results and is more helpful to the reader.

Introduce the Product

Introduce the product with a couple of sentences focusing on its value. Follow this with a sentence or two that describes what the review will cover. Write the introduction last. That’s when you can write with the most knowledge of the product and the review.

Tell, Don’t Sell

Describe the product in your own words without using marketing speech. Don’t just read the list provided by the company. Readers don’t want to hear a sales pitch or read product sales copy. The product review is not an advertisement, and it shouldn’t look or feel like one. It should work as a pre-sale, which shows the product’s value and answers the reader’s questions. This sets the stage that helps the reader make a decision.

Focus on the Results

Show the problems the product can solve. When you do mention features, focus on details that aren’t mentioned on the sales page and show what is included. Describe how the product performs in real-world situations. This means knowing how to use the product, what they need the product to do, and knowing how well it performs.

Approach the Review as a Case Study

A case study tells a story. It describes the problem, shows a product that can solve that problem, and then shares the results. It includes information about the product, such as its features, but it isn’t just a list of features. Show the product in use and focus on what problems it solves and how it performs. This can work as a tutorial on using the product and is a great way to showcase the product’s features.

Tell Who the Product is For

Identify the target market for the product and how they’re expected to benefit from it. This helps readers filter products not meant for them and focus on products they can benefit from. This builds trust because you’re not trying to sell the product to everyone. You’re showing that you have their best interests in mind. This can also help them decide if an alternative product might be a better fit.

Describe the Product’s Popularity

People like popular products. This is one reason we look at reviews on sites such as Amazon. We do want the information, but we often purchase the popular product over the non-popular product if they are equal. Popular products seem successful and more trustworthy. One way to show this is by quoting a reputable reviewer. This adds credibility to the review and offers another voice.

Use Columns for Comparisons

For lists such as pros and cons or comparisons, show each list within a column and place them together. This makes them easier to see and understand.

Provide Star Ratings

Star ratings are an easy visual to understand. Readers know instantly if a product is worth their time and money. Star ratings can also appear in search results, which improves SEO. You can rate the overall product or rank individual features and provide an overall rating from that.

Provide Alternatives

Show similar products and provide a short comparison. This makes visitors aware of other options, shows that you’re impartial, and provides an alternative if they’re not interested in the product. Don’t just focus on products with an affiliate link. This builds your credibility because you’re not just pushing the product you’re reviewing, and you’re not just pushing affiliates.

Be Honest

For a product review to be successful, visitors must trust the product reviewer. You must build trust as an author. This means not writing clickbait with the obvious goal of getting the reader to click on the affiliate link. We’ve all seen hundreds of reviews like this, and we usually don’t return to the website.

Don’t focus just on the positives or just the negatives. Instead, include the good and the bad and how the user might be affected by both. Keep the reader’s best interest at the forefront of the product review. Don’t oversell the product. This builds your credibility and readers will return to your website for future reviews because they know they can trust you.

Don’t Focus on the CTA

Every article needs a call to action, and a product review is no different. However, if the CTA is the primary focus of the article, the product review will look like a sketchy affiliate site that’s dishonest and untrustworthy.

Include a CTA

Even though the call to action shouldn’t be the focus of the product review, your article should include a few CTAs. Visitors will want to know how to purchase the product. This is usually an affiliate link that provides you with a portion of the sale if buyers use your links. Visitors will appreciate your honest review and in exchange, they will want to pay you back by using your links.

Don’t use too many CTAs or it will look like a sales ad. Place the CTA at the top and the bottom. For larger reviews, add a CTA in the middle. Use text that lets the reader understand the offer. For example, instead of “buy now” use something like “get 10% off now” or “get your free trial”. Use buttons that stand out with bright colors or animation to draw attention.

List Why and Why Not to Buy

This is similar to a pros and cons list and shows reasons to buy or not to buy. These should be the most important points and can help the reader make a decision. Even if they don’t purchase the product, they might purchase one of the alternative products, which will likely include an affiliate link. In certain cases, they might purchase more than one product.

Use Lots of Headings

Use headings to divide the review into logical sections. This creates navigation, keeps similar information together, and makes the review easier to scan and use. This is also great for SEO since search engines use headings to understand articles.

Mention the Legal Stuff

Visitors must be aware if a link is an affiliate before they click on it. It’s best to disclose this information somewhere before the link itself. The disclosure must be within the article and not just in the footer or on the About page.

Visitors must be informed if you’ve received the product from the company for your review. Countries have different laws regarding the disclosure of receiving products for review. In the US, the FTC requires a statement that the product was received in exchange for an honest review. Be sure to check the laws and follow them closely.

Create a Strong Conclusion

Readers should be aware they’ve reached the end of the review. They want a summary of the features and your thoughts and recommendations. This only needs to be a paragraph or two and should include what you like the most and the least. You could list the why and why not to buy in the conclusion. It should work as the final verdict and should also include a CTA at the end.

Add a Review Summary at the Top

This provides the main information in a summarized form. It should identify the product, show who it’s for, rate specific features, list its pros and cons, summarize the information, and provide a link to purchase. Place this information at the top, under the featured image, and before the main body of the review. Make it visual rather than just text. Use numbers, lists, icons, ratings, and a button.

Ask for Comments

Ask the audience to comment on the product. They can ask questions or share their experiences, and even help others by answering questions or adding information. This makes the review more popular and provides an incentive to return to the review for further discussion, which builds social proof.

Product Photography

Create images specifically for the review and avoid using stock photos from the product’s website. Creating your images makes the review more believable and shows that you’ve used the product yourself. Use lots of images of the product in use. Place an image every 3 or 4 paragraphs. This gives the review lots of visuals and doesn’t get in the way of the text.

Provide a Way to Share

Include sharing links so your audience can share your product review with their friends. Also, post the review to social media platforms where readers can share. Seeing the social media posting reminds readers of the review and reminds them to share.

Creating the Title

The title should stand out and spark interest. A good title should identify that it’s a review, the product being reviewed, and a catchy line that describes your review. Popular titles include phrases such as “why it’s the best”, “buy this instead”, “is it worth buying in 202x” or similar phrases. Ask yourself if the title is something you’d click on or if is it something you’d avoid.

Also, the title in the URL doesn’t have to be an exact match of the title that appears on the post itself. You can add more information to the title in the URL or on the post if you want.

Ending Thoughts

That’s our look at how to write a product review. This review process works for any product or service. Writing a product review is simple. Spend time with the product and write from experience. Organize the information well and present it in a format that’s easy to follow.

Don’t focus on selling the product. Instead, focus on helping readers decide if a product is right for them. Provide real value that readers can rely on. Your readers will appreciate the help and repay you by using your links. Write like a real person talking to real people with their best interests in mind.

We want to hear from you. Do you have any tips to add on how to write a product review? Let us know in the comments.

Frequently Asked Questions