affiliate link

Tips for Writing Effective and Useful Product Reviews

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TIPS

More and more people are reading reviews before they buy online and offline. As an affiliate marketer, you have a unique position when it comes to providing people with the information that they seek. Here are some tips for writing effective and useful product reviews.

What are Product Reviews? 1-product-review

Product reviews are blurbs written about an item, right? Wrong. Those looking to read about the newest coffeemaker or the latest high
definition television are not asking for two paragraphs and a handful of stars. They want to know details.

A winning product review contains many elements:

  • Knowledge of the product being reviewed
  • Pros and cons of the product
  • Perspective (speak as a new user and also as someone who has used that type of product before)
  • Images that show the product
  • Accurate research on the product
  • Examples of product features

From a consumer’s perspective, anything less than that is simply fluff. If you aren’t giving detailed information about the product in question, then the content you provide is not useful. Visitors will begin to bypass your site in favor of one can offer an in-depth review.

What’s the Purpose of your Review? 2-purpose

The answer to this question will help when crafting the review. Sure, as an affiliate, you want to make money with your content.
Hopefully the reader will click on your affiliate link. Actually, this motivation will be secondary if you hope to gain a following from your reviews.

Some reviews are so full of affiliate links that people think they are sales messages. They learn more about how much they need to purchase the item instead of any real information about the product itself. Readers become suspicious of your motives and can learn not to trust your reviews as unbiased portrayals of a product.

Add your affiliate link to the review but do so at the end. Allow the person to read all the information about the product, forming their own opinion as they do so, and then wrap it all up by clicking your link.

Remember, the elements of a winning review are also some of the most common reasons people read reviews in the first place.

Become Acquainted with the Product 3-buy-it

Buy the product before you review it. As an affiliate, you might be eligible for a discount on the product, so ask if that’s possible. Either way, become familiar with items you are writing about.

Be honest. Readers can see through a smokescreen. Think of it this way: If you are the only person not writing something negative
about the product, consumers will think you have something to hide especially if you are also an affiliate of the company.

Leave the decision whether to buy up to the reader. Yes, you can make a few sales with biased reviews but where will that put your reputation? Create quality review content and people will continue to read what you have to say and click on your links. Try to deceive them and go for the quick sale and risk losing your audience.

Craft your Content 4-craft-it

How you deliver your review is just as important as what you actually say. Introduce the product through its features. List them in bullet form for easier reading. Make your content as visually appealing as it is informative.

Who will buy the product? Let your audience know who can benefit most from purchasing the item or others like it. Speaking of benefits, list the biggest value that customers can receive from owning the item. Don’t forget to list other advantages as well.

Answer the silent questions that everyone wants to ask: How much does it cost? Is there a warranty? Where can the product be purchased?

List the pros and cons of the product. Everyone knows that there is a downside to any product. Display both sides honestly. For some, what is listed as a con is negligible in light of the other benefits of the product.

Add your experiences. This isn’t a separate section. Sprinkle them throughout. For instance, as you describe the main benefit of the
5-list product, remark about how that benefit has enhanced your life. Readers will realize that you also use the product, or have used it, so they can trust your opinion of it. It also shows that you have the necessary expertise to write the review in the first place.

Keep the language simple. Say what you have to say in plain terms so that everyone can understand it. The same goes for your affiliate link. Instead of a big button, link the affiliate URL to the product name with a strong call to action.

What do you look for in a product review? Those are the same things that your readers are searching for. Providing that information in an effective way produces a useful product review that will breed trust and bring clicks.

How to Analyze the Best Affiliate Opportunities

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Affiliate marketing is a great online business. It has been for years. An enterprising individual who wants to create an extra stream of
1-analyzeincome can make serious money as an affiliate marketer. The trick: knowing what opportunities will net the best returns.

So, how do you choose the best affiliate marketing programs to get involved with? There are several factors to consider when making your choice. We are going to look at the ones that matter most and analyze them.

What Product Interests You?

The fact is simple. If you can’t get behind a product, then your efforts to promote it will be lackluster at best. Choose a product that interests you. Convincing others to try it won’t be as hard when you can personally see reasons why it can benefit for someone else.

Does the product mesh with your niche market? If you have already created an online presence, then it is less work to promote affiliate products similar to what you are already talking about or selling to your existing audience.

Is There Demand for the Product?

You might like nutrient spikes for your vegetable garden but are others clamoring for them too? Perform a keyword search to evaluate:

  • What words are getting the most traffic
  • Is the competition high or still low enough to bring a profit?

In a competitive niche with low search volume but high competition, the market is likely saturated with other marketers and your ability to gain leads will be harder. Instead, try for a niche or sub-niche that has a high search volume but not as much competition. To determine this, use a keyword search tool like the one offered by Google AdWords. It can help you determine the search volume for each word you enter plus an estimate of the competition level.

What does the Sponsor Website Look Like?

Visit the website sponsoring the affiliate program. This is important because if visitors are not impressed with the site that you are linking them to, your number of clicks will wane as will the number of conversions resulting from those clicks.

2-website

Here are a few questions to ask yourself:

  • Is the site user-friendly?
  • Are their images of the products available for viewing?
  • Does it provide rich content?
  • What are past and current visitors saying about the website?

Reputation is all you have in business. Online, when your reputation takes a hit, the bad news can spread like wildfire. Preserve your reputation by choosing reputable sellers to partner with for affiliate promotions.

What is the Conversion Rate for the Product?

Conversion rates refer to the number of people who actually buy the product after clicking on your affiliate link. You want the rate to be as high as possible and it is a percentage out of 100. For example, if a seller has 3 people out of every 100 clicks who buys a product, then the conversion rate is 3 percent. This is not bad but if you want to turn a profit, there is more to consider than this.

 3-conversion

What is the Average Order Volume?

Also consider the average order volume (AOV). The AOV is the average amount of the purchase made by the consumer. Average orders that are below $100, for example, won’t pay you much depending on your affiliate commission. High average order volume with lower conversion rates can still become a profitable investment for you.

4-order-volume

What is the Commission?

Now we are getting to the nitty-gritty. How much will you get paid for your advertising efforts? This, combined with the conversion rate and the average order volume, determine how much money you can make with each sale.

 5-commission

Let’s say that a seller offers you a 10 percent commission. If the average order is $80, you will make $8 per person who purchases the product. With a 3 percent conversion rate, that equals $24.

This can change of course. Larger order averages can balance out with lower conversion rate percentages. Do the math to come up with realistic numbers in order to compare programs before you invest your time and money.

What Tools are Available?

Every affiliate program needs to have an Affiliate’s Toolbox. These are the goodies that the seller provides to help you promote their 6-toolsproduct. It may be code for banner ads, text ads, your links, coupon codes and the like. Evaluate the tools to see if they will meet your needs for advertising. The lack of tools means that the seller is giving you no help at all.

Another tool that many overlook is the support. Is the affiliate program manager dedicated to helping you do your best work for them? If you have questions are they available with a ready answer? Lack of tools and support is a no-no.

Is there Competition for this Niche?

There will always be competition. The question is how strong that competition is and can you still earn decent money? You already have some sense of it from your keyword research in the beginning of this process.

Take a look at who else is promoting similar products. Evaluate them on the same basis as you have this affiliate program.

7-competition

There are many affiliate programs out there to choose from. Avoid making a hasty decision without checking the facts and asking yourself a few questions like the ones posed above.