Affiliate product reviews are the true money makers of an affiliate website.
One, high converting, high ranking product review can make all the monetization difference.
We covered the topic of creating reviews for products you don’t own. This went into the research aspect, but this format is limiting because you can’t share every enticing detail. Yes, you can monetize through this format, but it doesn’t hold up against those providing in-depth reviews via ownership.
This article covers how to write product reviews for affiliate cash.
You’ll learn:
- What products are worth reviewing based on website data
- How to identify the pain points to resonate with its audience
- Ways to improve the review format using formatting and media
- Examples and tools bound to improve affiliate review conversion rates
Sound good? Let’s begin.
Who Should Write Affiliate Product Reviews?
Everyone.
That is, everyone with a website wanting to monetize their efforts.
Pretty much half of affiliate marketing relies on two items:
- Landing/sales pages
- Affiliated reviews
Your review introduces, convinces, and converts the user. The affiliated reviews point people to the sales page. The sales page finishes the sales funnel. You earn a commission.
Affiliate product reviews are ideal for:
- Blogs featuring round-ups, tutorials, and guides
- Comparison shopping or coupon websites
- Niche affiliate websites and eCommerce stores
Really, any webmaster already mentioning products and services.
A site owner joining affiliate programs get access to earning commissions with every reference.
Amazon Associates is especially good for this.
A full-fledged product review is the next logical step if it’s frequently mentioned on the site.
How to Find Great Products to Review for Affiliate Websites
I want you to keep this in mind throughout the post:
84% of people trust online reviews as much as their friends
Let that sink in.
This should give you an immediate idea: Use existing, well-reviewed products for your reviews.
This takes the guesswork out of sourcing a product.
You know users already buy the product, love it, and often share it with others. Plus, new visitors to a sales page touting hundreds of great reviews 63% more inclined to purchase said item. It’s a win/win.
Follow along.
Go to Amazon and find your niche’s category
Sort listings by average customer reviews
Read and “get” the reviews
Extract the following while researching products:
- Brand – A well-known or hot brand people recognize
- Price – A tiered pricing so you’ll earn well with the common 5 – 10% commission
- Features – A collection of you’ll use for bullet points and outlining the reviews
- Related – A selection of products you could use as comparisons or promote as alternatives
We’re looking for the true reason why people buy.
People buy because they want to:
- Have fun
- Save time
- Feel better
- Improve health
- Accomplish goals
Does this product serve one of these? If so, you’re onto something.
Note the idea and repeat this process a dozen times until you’ve found the perfect product. Then, provide an intimate, detailed review by buying and using it.
Don’t want to use Amazon or other eCommerce platforms?
Repeat the process but within affiliate programs.
Try this:
- Ask for a sample or if a brand would provide a free product to review
- Talk with an affiliate manager seeing if they’d provide a free account (service)
It doesn’t hurt to ask.
Your goal as stated is getting your hands on whatever you plan to review.
How to Extract Bullet Points to Create an Emotional Engagement
Shopify has a great article on identifying paint points.
It’s also covered in StartupYard’s post.
Read those if you want something in-dept – keep moving for the essentials…
Essentially (READ THIS):
- Look how features and benefits solve a basic problem
- Identify how the product design satisfies a need
- Understand why the product was created and for whom
Each of these should jump out once you begin looking for them.
For example:
- We don’t just buy laptops for work… we buy them to connect with people
- We don’t just buy lawnmowers to cut grass… we buy to save time
- Etc, etc, etc
This gets down to the raw emotions:
- Saving time = more time with friends and family
- Connecting with people = building relationships
- Looking good = building self-confidence
If you can pluck those elements, then your affiliate product review will hit users hard.
The review basically speaks to them. They imagine themselves owning the product to the point they can’t help themselves but to take out their card and buy it.
Affiliate Product Review Formats and Ways to Increase Conversion Rates
I hope you read the prior sections because they will help you create better affiliate product reviews.
If you didn’t… that’s okay because I’ve got a review format for you.
Here are the main sections of a product review:
- Headline
- Introduction
- Promise
- Overview
- Feature
- Story
- Sell
- Testimonials
- Sell
Confusing?
Let me explain the main parts:
- Headline: Keep it simple like “My [Product] Product Review” or use a great headline formula. This should include your main and secondary keywords in improving its SERP potential.
- Introduction: This introduces the product leading with a strong proposition often prodding the pain points. Or, makes a strong claim to hook the user’s attention. This is a great time to also explain why people should trust your reviews.
- Promise: Come out strong with a promise what the user will get if they buy the product. Don’t lie – use your experience with the product to tell them the true value of the item.
- Overview: This section is where you share the features, benefits, pros/cons, and various supporting media and discussion points. Think of this as the review’s body.
- Feature: Reiterate one of the main features of the product and how it’s beneficial. Touch on those bullet/pain points and how it solves problems or entertains. Keep this very specific and targeted to your ideal customer/lead.
- Story: Let user’s journey along and imagine what it’s like owning the product by sharing a personal story. This could include your impressions, how it’s improved your life, or what it’s done for reaching goals, building relationships, and those core
- Feature/Story (Repeat): This goes back and forth a few times if it has multiple features.
- Sell: The moment you push the sale – a hard sell – telling where people can buy it.
- Testimonials: Use this to let others share their thoughts about the product or service. This adds trust and transparency to the review. And, can capture a few extra bullet points and keywords you didn’t realize to use.
- Sell: Hit them again with a hard sell before they’re done with the page.
The best way to help you understand these – I think – is through review examples.
This is from Wirecutter:
Wirecutter touches on small but important points like who’s it great for. And, how it’s heavy (a subtle nod at a pain point being an inconvenience).
This is from PCMag:
See how they use a sense of fear? It’s subtle but the nod at making sure your kids are in touch with caregivers plants a seed that if they didn’t have the product they could be in danger.
This is from Reviews:
They use a few interesting bullet points. We wanted to include this mainly because of how clean the product box looks. Real easy to see the features.
—
Look around on your favorite review websites and blogs.
Look for those pain points and its formatting.
How they use media to draw attention.
And, how they frequently find ways to link to the product.
Find a product review site you’ve used as a basis for your affiliate reviews. You can copy part of their formatting and structure – shaping it so it’s unique to your site.
Product Review Tools and Resources
I want you leaving this article with everything you need to start creating affiliate product reviews.
I’m assuming you have a WordPress website (if not, use this guide to make one).
WordPress Review Themes:
- Admania – And ad and affiliate optimized WordPress theme
- CouponXL – A coupon-focused WP theme
- Divi – A visual theme builder flexible to create just about any site type
- Compare – This theme is even mentioned by Amazon Associates
- REHub – This, too, is specifically mentioned by Amazon
WordPress Review Plugins:
- WP Product Review – An all-in-one for creating great looking product reviews
- WP Customer Reviews – Perfect for including user reviews of the products
- Reviewer – Comprehensive (stand-alone) review plugin with rich features
- Smart Review – Inexpensive review plugin with custom review style formats
Or:
Dig into the code of your competitors to see what they’re using.
You could also use sites like BuiltWith.com, WhatCMS.org, and Wappalyzer.com to figure out what tech they’re using. Then, hunt the theme and plugins down to use with your reviews and affiliate site.
Final Words and Wrapping Up
I hope this inspires to create affiliate product reviews.
They really are the best way to monetize a site.
It’ll take an investment.
A lot of time, too.
These are the defining features on your affiliate site. Keep creating them and you’ll keep earning. Make sure to promote them heavily and build backlinks to help them rank, too.
Good luck!
