Product Review Blog Post Checklist

Follow this checklist when you are creating product review blog posts:

• pick the keyword
• start a new post in WordPress
• add the placeholder title
  • use just the keyword itself
• research the product
  • use an incognito browser, set the language to English and the region to US
  • take notes as you go
  • see existing Youtube videos on the product
  • check the reviews on all of the store listings for the products (Amazon in particular)
    • check all of the reviews, but pay the most attention to the negative reviews
  • briefly check competing blog posts on the product
  • check forum entries on the product
  • check the content on social media for the product
• research the competition
  • use an incognito browser, set the language to English and the region to US
  • take notes, you may use some of the points as headers or inspiration for content
  • check all of the competing blog posts on the product found on the first page of Google
  • take note of their headers and their header structure
    • you may end up reusing some of these, but always try to improve upon them
  • take note of the total word counts of the competing blog posts, find the maximum, and use that as a goal post for your own article and try to have at least 20% more words
    • use the Word Counter Plus browser extension
  • see which merchants does the competition recommend
  • see to what type of content are they linking out to
• perform additional Google research
  • use an incognito browser, set the language to English and the region to US
  • take notes, you may use some of the points as headers or inspiration for content
  • enter the keyword into the Google search bar and see what options does the autocomplete feature suggest
  • Google the keyword and see if there are any relevant ideas in the “People also ask” section
    • if a question seems relevant, expand it and contract it, and see the new questions that will show up below
  • Google the keyword and see if there are any relevant ideas in the “Related searches” section
  • enter the keyword into the Google Keyword Planner tool and see if you can find any related keywords that might be relevant
  • enter the keyword into the Answer The Public tool and see if you can find any related keywords that might be relevant
• empathize with your readers
  • if necessary, take a few minutes to think about the product
  • think about the people that will likely use the product, what sort of problems might they have that are related to the product
  • try to remember what was it like to not have any experience on this topic, what questions did you have back then?
• create the header structure in WordPress
  • in general, try to follow the following general header structure, but add other headers and modify it if it makes more sense (also, change things up occassionaly so that you don’t use the exact same structure every time):
    • Should you buy the [product name]? (H2)
    • Shopping/Ordering (H2)
      • Price and price matching (H3)
      • Discounts, coupons, and deals (H3)
      • Brand (H3)
      • Shipping (H3)
      • Customer support (H3)
      • Warranty (H3)
      • Return and refund policy (H3)
    • Basics (H2)
      • Unboxing (H3)
      • Assembly (H3)
      • User manual (H3)
    • Build quality (H2)
      • Engineering and design (H3)
      • Quality control and testing (H3)
      • Colors and look (H3)
      • Lifespan and durability (H3)
      • Materials (H3)
      • Known issues and problems (H3)
    • User experience (H2)
      • Everyday use (H3)
      • Other H3 headers that make sense for the niche
    • Performance (H2)
      • Per-specification H3 headers that make sense for the product
    • Features (H2)
      • Per-feature H3 headers that make sense for the product
    • Maintenance (H2)
      • Repairs and spare parts (H3)
      • Cleaning (H3)
    • How the product compares against other popular products in the niche (H2)
      • Per-competing-product H3, like “Our product vs other product”
    • Reviews (H2)
      • Ratings (H3)
      • What owners are saying (H3)
    • [Product name] vs other products
      • Several H3 headers that compare the product with a different competing product
    • (optional) Who should buy the [product name] (H2)
    • Who should buy the [product name] (H2)
    • Verdict/Conclusion/Summary (H2)
    • Specifications (H2)
  • think of a logical, natural progression of the material, how it should flow in the reader’s mind when they read it
  • make use of some of the ideas, questions, and keywords we found in the previous phases, some of them might be headers themselves, othes may need a little tweaking (but don’t force headers if they are not relevant)
• write the content
  • use the Grammarly browser extension at all times
  • you can leave the first few paragraphs for last, as they can be difficult to write first
  • start filling in the headers, simply fill in each header and subheader with content that explains, expands, informs, or educates on them
  • use short, clear sentences (if a sentence is too long, try to divide it into two)
  • use short paragraphs (sometimes a paragraph can be just one sentence)
  • use the “talk to your friend” writing technique
    • use a writing tone that’s professional, semi-official, but still friendly and warm
    • explain, inform, give your opinion and friendly recommendations
    • don’t judge, and don’t go out of your way to offend
    • don’t lie
    • use your personal perspective, but also refer to other sources and explanations when it makes sense
    • be specific and determined
    • avoid fluff, slang, cursing, and filler words
    • avoid sarcasm and humor
    • avoid overcomplicated words for the sake of just using them, although don’t fear them if they fit the context and they are the best choice
    • add relevant links as you go, both to other content on the blog and to external sources (you will do this again later, but this way you make sure you don’t forget any important links)
  • cut out words and phrases that are not necessary
  • if the header is a question, answer it immediatelly in a clear, concise, self-contained manner
  • if you get stuck, take another look at the product or go back to the research phase
  • when writing the paragraphs that suggest who should buy and who shouldn’t buy the product, be very specific and list several different use cases and types of people
  • write the first few paragraphs after you’re done with the rest of the article
    • for the first paragraph, you can use the problem + connect + keyword formula (state the problem, connect with your reader, optionally use the keyword)
    • write the second paragraph so that it can win the Google featured snippet
      • summarize the entire product in a short, dry, almost boring way
      • use a lot of data, numbers, percentages, etc
      • try to not exceed 70-80 words
      • have the entire paragraph in bold
      • the entire paragraph should be very concise and not refer to any outside context (for example, don’t say “the product”, but use the product’s name instead)
  • use lists and tables as much as possible, and turn some of the other content into these formats when it makes sense
    • add the product specifications table at the end of the article
  • never copy content from elsewhere (we check the content for plagiarism, and if you do that you will get caught immediatelly and you will be permanently banned from the team)
• place the “Table of contents” widget before the first H2 header
• select all of the categories and subcategories that are relevant to the product
• link out to some relevant high-authority external sources (although not too many, we want to keep the reader’s focus on the product and not distract them too much)
• link out to other content from the blog if it makes sense
  • in the section on who shouldn’t buy the product, link out to other articles that have options that are better fitted for the types of people that shouldn’t buy the product, especially list articles
  • in the comparison subheaders, link out to product reviews of the competing products
• create graphs, charts, inforgraphics, and illustrations for the article if feasible
• add images
  • images should have a maximum width of 700-800 pixels
  • all of the images should be saved in the .jpg format
  • take pictures of the product yourself if possible, this is the best way
  • reuse some of the pictures on the manufacturer’s product listing
  • take screenshots of Youtube videos showing the product in different settings, as well as showing details and specific parts of the product, and add them under the relevant headers
    • avoid using Youtube videos of competing blogs, and use videos of the channels of the manufacturers and brands selling the product as much as possible
    • make sure no people are visible in the images, no logos, etc
  • check social media for images of the product, and if you reuse some of them, make sure to crop them a little and resize them to be no wider than 700-800 pixels
  • set the featured image to be the best image of the entire product
• optionally, highlight some of the most important selling points, benefits, and features of the product in bold
• correct the spelling, proofread the article, and edit it
  • read and check the article carefully (remember, if your content has too many mistakes for several times in a row, you might get rejected from the program, so make sure you are submitting your best work)
  • simplify the language you use if possible
  • if a sentence is too long, try to divide it into two
  • if a paragraph is too long, try to divide it into two
• briefly go through the entire article one last time, no need to focus on details this time, just make sure that the entire article makes sense as a whole
• craft the final title
  • the first part of the title remains the same, which is the main keyword
  • add the second part of the title, which can be either the most important point of the product, its strongest side, its biggest benefit, etc
• set the permalink, it should be the same as the main keyword but with hyphens instead of empty spaces
• hit the Publish button
• add internal links to the newly published article from other articles on the blog, from parts where the product is mentioned
• share the article on social media, use the Blog2Social plugin in WordPress

Also, make sure you are familiar with the product review blog post writing guide beforehand.