Operating a blog or website can be fun – but it also takes work and dedication. Many worry solely about generating revenue and in the process, forget about the little details that it takes to convince readers to follow-through on your suggestions. When it comes to writing product reviews, this is one of the most common ways bloggers attempt to earn revenue. By sending readers of your reviews to sites like Amazon, you can earn commission based on each product they buy. The biggest challenge in getting people to purchase a product is writing a convincing product review that demonstrates value.

Demonstrate Value

If you think you can earn commissions just by pinging links, think again. Readers may be able to find your product review, but they ultimately will only take advice from it if the review demonstrates a sense of value: both about your website and the product. Questions such as, “Why should I purchase this product?” and “Who benefits from using this product?” – along with honest advantages and disadvantages about the product – both of which are crucial if you wish to earn the reader’s trust. Most people do not click on a product review with plans to purchase the product immediately, but a well-written product review may be just enough to convince them to follow-through.

Provide Feature Details

As a part of being an informative product reviewer, you will need to break down and list all of the major features offered in the product. In some cases, this may be easier (such as electronics) than others (a conventional toy). Sometimes, the product features may simply be the dimensions, weight or material from which the product has been crafted. Regardless, consumers want to know what they are buying beforehand so any specifics about the product in question should be included in your summary. Avoid using affiliate code or pinging backlinks in this section of the product review.

Insert Affiliate Links

If you are partnered with an affiliate program such as Amazon, you should have the ability to generate an affiliate code for use with any product. You will want to insert a link to the product in question at least once in each product review (we advise against inserting this link more than twice in any review). Depending on the terms set forth by the affiliate, a person who clicks-through and buys the product within a certain amount of time will result in your account being credited with commission. The most popular affiliate program, Amazon, gives you a 30-day window in which you will receive credit if a consumer buys the product through your link.

Convincing Introductions and Conclusions

Finally, you will want to make sure that the first and last pieces of content your readers see about the product are carefully, creatively and positively outlined. In the introduction, you will want to appeal to the sensibilities of the reader by outlining aspects of a product that they will most likely want – such as reliability, performance and quality. Throughout the content of the article, you should outline the key points that validate this product as fitting into that category. The conclusion is another opportunity for you to highlight these aspects of the product and once again, demonstrate real value to the reader.