Update: Reader Nick pointed out that the FTC requires a disclaimer these days that you have an affiliate relationship with all the businesses you’re reviewing.
What is a review site?
Why do bloggers love these?
It is a blog or website in which you write about your favourite products, like coffee machines, Mac laptops, or even cat toys. Wikipedia has a slightly greater definition.
Among my best blogs is in fact a review website. If you’ve ever considered writing about your favourite stuff, now may be the perfect time to get started.
You’ll learn right here how to set up a profitable review website. Everyone’s trying to earn money online these days, and this is just 1 means to do it. (You can visit Only Reviews website to get smart idea about review site)
It’s all about writing profitable posts that make through affiliate links.
NEED YOUR HELP: If you do start a review website, please comment and let me know. Hearing about your successes and errors will really help everybody in the Dear Blogger community, and keep in mind, each comment link is a helpful back-link too.
Looking back: Review sites 10 years ago
I won’t deny, this whole business was easier to begin 10 decades ago.
The basic procedure is still the same. Create a website which offers professional testimonials a user wants before buying a product. Position that site in between buyer and seller and send buyers away into the seller’s website via affiliate links. When the user/buyer clicks and buys, you make a little (or large) commission.
But like most things, it’s gotten somewhat tougher over the years.
Why inspection websites have been 10 years back:
- Google was kinder to the small website with limited content.
- Less review websites existed general.
- Larger sites were less notable. Let’s say you would like to start a used vehicle review site. These days, you are going to have to fight with carfax.com, cars.com, autos.msn.com, along with other big sites to get traffic.
That said, the doors are still wide open. Based on sheer probability and math there’ll always be openings in every market to enter. They may be tiny, so it’s your job to decide on an open market.
And please do not review used cars
Alright let us start!
Step 1: Begin by Taking a Look at your passions
You are going to be writing a good deal on just 1 subject with this new review site of yours, so you ought to enjoy it.
You have got to trust your own knowledge in the subject. Or, at least have an unlimited curiosity to learn more about the subject. You need not know what , but possess a strong foundation on the subject.
When choosing your subject, use this quick exercise:
- If you’re not working or at college, what are 3 topics you always consider?
- Write down them. Ask yourself this: Which of your subjects are universal? Which do others consider also?
- Eliminate one thing that is not universal.
- Now a last question…Which matters are profitable? Are there any buys surrounding it? Most importantly, are such purchases being created online?
- Select the subject that’s both universal and generates online revenue.
Your passions are amazing and define you, but that doesn’t mean they are all good for the central topic of a review blog.
In my case, I love skateboarding. I love skate-films, magazines, all the tricks, and can name all the hottest experts. But skateboarding isn’t a lucrative business. It hasn’t been for ages.
In addition, I love laptops. I am a crazy-huge mac enthusiast. This could be a much superior industry to aim for a review website…
Step 2: Find your niche
You likely were already thinking about this”market” thing. All a market is, is a small pocket on the web with many others who do what you do. Niches are helpful because they slice up a huge online world into smaller, bite-size chunks.
They also have described readers, perspectives, and product interests. That’s why marketers love these. And let us be fair, if you’re setting up a review website you too will become a marketer. It is important to know your niche.
Then, examine who is ranking in the Google top 10. Are they blogs? Major sites? Does this seem like there is an open opening not enough content policy?
Ranking in at #1 and #2 are major businesses. The likely have huge staffs that compose hundreds of articles a day. That is NOT you or I. But now look at #3. That is a review site for sure.
Test it out. I simply found it now through this Google search. It looks legit right?
Go do a few preliminary Google searches within your specialty, and allow me to know what you find.
Step 3: Research your market
This part is not as fun as the rest but it is going to make for a more successful review blog.
Eventually you are going to have to understand things such as forums people frequent, whether marketing is worth your time, and how to build the right kind of backlinks, but for now let’s concentrate on key words.
There are paid tools on the market like Market Samurai. I introduced my email club to this free stone in among first follow ups.
This thing is lovely for discovering the search quantity and competitiveness about a specific phrase.
How to Utilize Adwords Keyword Tool:
- Enter a 2-4 word term
- Skip Website and Category
- Fill in the captcha
- View the direct hit (that is the very first word in blue under Keyword) your initial search may be the best phrase, though often it isn’t.
- Form by Global Suicide Squad
- Sort by Contest
- Locate the best combination of low competition and high gms
The valuable keyword phrases you find will be helpful to add post caps, permalinks, in your articles, an from the tags. Write some of them down and let me know in case you can not tell whether a phrase is good or not.
We’ll talk next about domains and keywords.
Step 4: Pick a domain
Unlike study, this part is enjoyable.
You are able to brand a domain creatively. It may be generic. You can even spend a large amount and find a premium domain name. Here is some tips before you go open your wallet though.
Top 4 most Frequent types of domains for inspection websites:
- 2-letter or 3-letter mixes (all are taken today )
You may pick any available domain names name you want! Make it crazy, make it different. Please, do not make it something super literal like “bestusedcarreviewblog.com”.
While this kind of domain may help you get exact match keyword points, it will be hard to brand and may be frowned upon for the spammy feel it has to it.
If You’ve Got a few moments, listen to Google’s Matt Cutts explain the difference between keyword-rich domains and brandable domain names:
So clearly, more than just your domain name will affect how your review site ranks in Google. Pick a domain,’ll be comfortable with long-term.
And, if you’re able to include a few key words in that domain name, that never hurts. Personally, I prefer option b) because it is the most memorable. When a domain actually stands out it’s easier to brand, and also good branding will keep folks coming back in precisely the same manner great SEO will.
The easiest route is going to be to acquire your domain from GoDaddy, then reset the nameservers in order that they point towards HostGator, the hosting option most bloggers favor.
Your money has to come from someplace.
Good thing is, There Are Lots of networks set up for merchandise reviewers:
Top 5 product review networks to combine:
1) Amazon Associates: What the big boys use
4) Google Affiliates: Pays promptly into your Adsense account.
5) Rakuten Linkshare: They also signify products from Walmart, Barnes and Nobles, and AT&T to name a few.
To be quite clear, if you are beginning a review site that you want to register up to those networks as a writer. If accepted, you’ll put links and banner advertisements on your new site. Following that, you will earn when someone clicks and either signs-up or makes a purchase on the other end.
And also, affiliate programs are not the only means to earn from review blogs. They are just the most proven, long-term paying method. Check out Text-Link-Ads for fast website monetization.
Lets see just how we could make our first $1000 per month from a review site. It’s all about conversion rates.
Alright, say you opt to review laptops.
In month 1, you get 200 visitors, only 5 of that actually click a link. Pretty bad huh? That is CV 2.5percent But it’s month 1 and that’s fine.
Of those 5 people that click, 1 of them buys a laptop for $899.99. Via your connection, you make a commission of 25%. That commission from your pocket comes out to $225.
You work hard another month and boost traffic to 400 visitors.
By these very same stats, you will get $500 that month.
With this $500 you can currently to 1 of 2 items (or both!) . It’s possible to use dual traffic, or to double conversion prices. You are going to receive more traffic by reaching more backlinks, social media mentions, and better Google search ranking. You’ll receive more conversions by enhancing on-page design.
To truly optimize on page desidesign, may want to view my keys to website development.
Great huh? Obviously numbers might vary, you might earn less if you are reviewing coffee machines rather than laptops, and conversion rates might be significantly less than, 2.5 percent. The choice is really up to you.
Step 6: Build the site or blog
Three highly lucrative review sites:
1) This Website reviews blog-hosting
2) This site testimonials Kindles
3) This site reviews photography equipment
4) This site reviews financial advice
They are all doing good in their own way, likely making thousands of dollars each month through affiliate commissions.
They are also all definitely on self-hosted WordPress.
Self-hosted WordPress is wide and far the favored method for building a respected review site, blog, or entire neighborhood even. It’s the proven alternative, and you might just have to trust me about this.
If you want to begin shop on Blogger, Tumblr, or WordPress.com, you need to know you could face problems in a couple of weeks of start up. These platforms are wonderful areas to start a site, but not necessarily a blog with long-term earning ambitions. Why? Because free-blogging platforms restrict content it is possible to post, look less specialist to the average useruser typically rank worse in Search.
To begin on a self hosted blog, check out my fast 10 step guide to WordPress blog installation.
…So, you’ve got the blog setup, and you have that awful default WordPress theme on it. You should next look at obtaining a premium theme from Theme-Junkie. These guys offer cheap cheap, looking topics like the next guy does, but they have one attribute that stands out: a world class effortless to use forum.
I got to the Theme-Junkie forum each morning as I reply your blogging questiquestionsost a few questions of my own. By lunchtime I’ll normally have a direct response in the Theme-Junkie admin.
I strongly recommend Theme-Junkie over a lot of competitors and will have a full guide to them on the blog soon!
Step 7: Write three articles to start
I’m not going to explain to you just how to do this, but make sure that you get at least three posts on laptops, coffee machines, used cars, Kindles, or anything you picked on your website before beginning marketing.
How you write will be up for you, however there are plenty of guides on content production round this site too
I may suggest joining the email center to learn more on writing awesome content.
Step 8: Establish your review blog
Ultimately launching can be rather fun. You have chosen your market, gotten the ideal keywords and phrases, gotten an awesomely distinctive domain, and have built up a gorgeous WordPress blog. Then you start, and…
It’s okay, this is natural. Here Is What you can do to enhance your initial traffic and pageviews:
- Find other bloggers in your niche who will mention you
- Use your immediate network at school or in work
- Get on social websites immediately! Twitter, Facebook, and Google+ are compulsory
- Start commenting. Great remarks offer send you traffic and earn you new buddies
- Provide favors to other bloggers.
- Guest post, guest post, guest article!
I genuinely hope you do have immediate success, but it may take a couple months to get those affiliate links clicking and working in your favor.
For more tips on blog growth (and a few nifty tips for creating those links of yours more clickable), take a look at this post of mine on Daily Blog Tips.
Conclusion
As I just mentioned, after a couple of months your inspection blog should be firing on all cylinders. Those first few months will be hard, yet rewarding when the commissions begin coming in.
If I can provide on last piece of information of advice, be creative. Be unique.
The uniqueness, together with expert knowledge, is what’s going to keep lasting traffic returning to you and hopefully purchasing from you also!