What’s an “authority site?” Usually one that has been around a good while, continually refreshed with fresh content, feedback and reputable backlinks. For a great example, check out Darren Rowse’s Problogger site. Notice the extraordinary number of comments to his posts and guest posts, as well as the powerful amount of content. These are both hallmarks of Authority sites.
The “been around a good while” is simply something you need to build for – but you can get going right away with continually refreshed (“new”) content and a solid reputation.The best way to do this is to concentrate on only one niche, if you haven’t got your list yet, and start going out of your way to help them solve all their problems. It’s especially important to start this way if blogging (and review blogging) is new to you – a common mistake would-be review bloggers make is to set up and try to serve too many new blogs at once.
You’ve heard it all before: “Write as you would to a friend”, et cetera. Be honest in your reviews. Review only products that are of high perceived value to them. Never “fake” or force anything. And follow a blogging plan and review structure.
This doesn’t mean you’ll be imprisoned by plans and structure. It just means that having an overview and helping readers know what to expect from your reviews works better than haphazardly zipping off posts on everything that comes along. But the main thing to do? Make yourself an authority for one niche – and serve it well.
Review Blogging with Multiple MediaDon’t think you need to confine yourself to written posts only: Certain subjects just naturally lend themselves better to video blogging – even if you’re strictly doing reviews. Others do better with the written word. It’s up to you to use your best judgment in deciding which subject needs a certain media. But even if yours is more of a “written word” site, always remember that the occasional use of a video review can liven up your content – and seeing you/hearing your voice, as you look your viewer in the eye and chat directly, face to face, is a wonderful way to make a much deeper and more personal connection.
Once people feel personally connected to you, they are more inclined to trust you. Trust is the single most vital attribute you can foster, when prompting others to come to you to find out the truth about a new product. If video is too stressful, providing the occasional auditory review in a downloadable .MP3 file is a very similar way to make a much more immediate connection and build trust.
Blog Post Checklist
Intriguing headline that makes the reader curious.
Use only one long-tailed keyword phrase per blog post. Don’t “keyword stuff”. If it feels natural to do so, put your keyword for that post in the headline
Introduction
If it feels natural to do so, repeat your keyword phrase within the first paragraph. Let the reader know which product you are going to review
Image
Use only photos that are:
A. Original, and owned by you
B. Have a public domain or Creative Commons license C. Royalty Free
And check the licensing terms – even within Creative Commons licenses, terms can differ greatly. That being said, screenshots of your product in action and promotional graphics provided by your product seller work the best, for our purposes of Review Blogging
Pros and ConsA. How it Works (if applicable) B. Proof
Conclusion Call to Action
Include your Keyword! Don’t forget this point!
Let’s go over these one by one, in a little more depth… Your Post Headline
This is one of the most important aspects of creating strong review posts. Think back to all the most intriguing posts you’ve read. Why did they catch your attention?
Ask a Question – In many cases, you’ll find they asked a question. Instead of just “Jean Solar Powered Fountains” as your post heading, change it to something along the lines of “How Long Do Jean Solar Powered Fountains Really Last?”
Number it – People like things they can quantify. “3 Things No One Ever Mentions About Jean Solar Powered Fountains” is far more likely to intrigue curiosity, too.Diss it – What are people really looking for, when they search for reviews on the net? They’re looking to see if anyone has gotten scammed by the product creators. So play along with it – honestly, of course. If there’s one feature you didn’t like or that didn’t work for you, don’t be afraid to let people know about it: Doing that will set you far apart from other reviewers who only gush. Human nature being what it is, “The Single Biggest Drawback of using Jean Solar Powered Fountains” will catch people’s attention quicker than “The Single Biggest Advantage…”
Be Controversial – don’t do this just for the sake of doing it or being obnoxious, but if there’s something relevant to your product review that goes against popular practices, don’t be afraid to hint at that in your headline (but make sure you follow through). For example, “The One Time You Shouldn’t Use Jean Solar Powered Fountains”.
Your IntroductionA good introduction should have a strong “hook” to make the reader want to keep reading. You want a show stopper of a sentence – but don’t forget, show stoppers aren’t always the most sensational sentence. They are, however, sometimes the most unexpected.
Relate the introduction to your reader. One way is to use “you” words. “Where were you, when internet marketing began online?” But however you start your post, quickly introduce your product – “Search tools have come a long way since the 1990’s, and Handy Dandy Niche Tool is about as far from its roots as you could get.”
Most of all, however, your introduction needs to quickly summarize for the reader which product you’re going to review, what it does, and who makes it.Do this – and then make doubly sure you cover each one of these promises.
Putting Images in your Posts
The latest data suggests strongly that images enhance a blog’s readability and attractiveness – but there are some small but important “do’s” and “don’ts” you’ll want to keep in mind.
Don’t make the image huge, and do make it relevant.In a product review, usually your image would be a screen shot or a graphic provided by the product merchant: However, if you can come up with another relevant image – especially one that’s unexpected or unusual (but still really appropriate even to the dimmest of readers) – go for it.
If you can’t create visual interest with an image, then do it instead with white space. Break up your text with subheads and bullets. Make it visually easy to scan for information – internet users are turned off by dense chunks of text.
But the most important image to use on your review blog?Yours.
Seriously, people will come to identify you with the good information they’re reading.
Get a gravatar, if you haven’t got one already (those images of people you see in blog comments, linked to one of their email addresses).
And make sure your name is on the post, if you’ve got yourself logged in as “admin”. You can do this either by including a by line, or a resource box for yourself at the beginning or end of the post. (It does improve “branding” of your persona as an authority figure. Otherwise, people often forget who is writing what they’re reading!
Pros and ConsOf course you want to include the pros – but don’t be afraid to tackle the “cons” too. To find out what sort of problems people are worried about, with similar products, try to figure out extra terms they might be searching with in Google, and work from that.
A word of warning, however… It’s true people will input the word “scam” beside any product they’re not sure about, when searching in Google.But if a product isn’t actually scamming someone, resist the temptation to make that word part of your post, just for SEO purposes. If you ignore this suggestion and go for the easy catch, and your reader clicks on your link, and sees instead of an honest scam report, glowing praises of your product, with the careless disclaimer, “Jean solar powered fountains are no scam”, you will rapidly and completely lose all credibility in her eyes.
Some other words that people use in searches that you may be able to substitute for “scam”…• Review
• Flaw
• Drawback
• Problem
• Not worth it
• Rip-Off
Use Wordtracker’s free keyword tool and try out your own potential search terms, relating them closely to how you, yourself, feel about your niche tool product. Feel that it’s got a flaw? Look to see if there are any searches in the free keyword tool for “niche tool flaw”. Feel that it’s more of a glitch? Try searching with “niche tool glitch”. The best way to figure out what your niche customer would search for is to literally put yourself in his place!
A final word about reporting flaws in a product – always remember flaws can actually be seen as an advantage, to some people.Example: “It’s true that the Handy Dandy Niche Tool is ridiculously easy to use – but this is offset by the fact that it’s not highly customizable for those who need a more indepth statistical analysis. It is definitely the “for dummies” version of a niche finding tool – only simpler!”
Now, if your entire target market is composed of complete newbies, this “flaw” is likely to appeal to them greatly! You weren’t being dishonest – but you were positioning your flaw to actually become a benefit.
Of course, if your review blog was called “Advanced Marketing Techniques”, this wouldn’t work at all – its simplistic, foolproof operating mode really would be a disadvantage – but if you’re running a blog called “Marketing for Newbies”, you’re home free.
How it WorksMost products benefit from a brief description of how it works.
This doesn’t mean you have to spill all its creator’s secrets. It does mean you should focus in on one aspect you’re particularly pleased about, or hit what you consider are a number of high points. (“The first benefit that sets Handy Dandy Niche Tool apart from its competitors is…”)
What you are doing is drawing a vivid mental sketch for your reader of the reasons this tool will work for him or her. You really don’t need to provide a step-by-step manual, and take all the mystery out of it.
ProofAnything you can do to provide proof of the benefits you’re revealing will go a long way to solidify the impact of your review on your reader. Be very careful, however, about income claims – the new FTC rules are very specific. If you mention how much money you made using a system, not only have you got to be able to prove it with actual documentation, you also need to provide an overview of what the average user can expect – and that representation has to be provable too.
But there are other ways to provide “proof” too. You can do things like:• Quote the number of sales since its release
• Show screen shots of some wonderful benefit (e.g., a great keyword phrase turning up in your Handy Dandy Niche Tool)
• Quote the complete lack of refunds (providing your figure is accurate)
This is just a short paragraph wrapping up the other end of your “parcel”, and mirroring or echoing your opening statement: For example, tying back to our fictional opening statement: “Where were you when internet marketing started online?”, we might conclude with something like: “You may not have been even aware of the internet when marketing online started, but sales aids with advantages of Handy Dandy Niche Tool can certainly help you get ahead of the pack now.”
Your Call to ActionBut you’re not quite done yet. Now comes the most important part of your post – your “Call to Action”.
As marketers, we’re all familiar with this principle – yet it’s surprising how many people actually fail to include it!
What is a call to action? In the particular case of review blogs, its simply making sure your reader knows how to instantly access the product, if he wants to purchase it – in other words, you provide a link. And don’t forget to tell him, even though it may feel like stating the obvious, to go visit it.
If you’ve written a “non-review” post – something just to provide your readers with really valuable information about their niche – you can finish with a different type of call to action: One which positively invites comments.
This concluding statement can be as simple as:• “Comments, anyone?”
• “Like what you’ve just read? For more reviews as they happen, subscribe to my RSS feed below.”
• “For more information on [your review’s topic], check out
No matter what you’re posting about – even if it isn’t a review – always include that call to action. (If nothing else, it’s 50% more likely to generate comments – and comments are good!)