How to Write a Good Amazon Review

Amazon is fast becoming one of the most widely used shopping platforms in the world. You can buy almost anything on there, and have it delivered straight to your door. Forgotten a birthday? Order it online- have it delivered tomorrow. Need some ice-cream to go with dinner tonight? Do a top up grocery shop online- order now and it could be delivered this evening. In such a fast paced world, we want things to make life easier and online shopping can definitely be one of them.

With online shopping, however, there are risks as well as rewards. This goes for any website, of course, but with Amazon there are multiple sellers from all over the world looking to sell you their products. Cheap imitations can be an intriguing alternative to the brand name item at less than half the price. Reviews are the only way the buyer can distinguish between a good product and a not so good product.

As a regular Amazon shopper, I do feel obliged to leave as many good, helpful reviews as possible in order to allow others to make a fair, educated decision on purchasing the same products. I also like to voice my opinion in the hopes that someone who has the authority to make changes does so, if required. The reason that you personally choose to review products is your own, but there are many shoppers who will be glad that you did when they are making their decisions on what to purchase.

So how do you write a worthwhile product review?

One of the simplest things to do to ensure a decent review is to get the basics right. Spelling and Grammar are important to ensure that readers actually read your review rather than skip over it.

A review of a product doesn't necessarily need to be long and you don't have to explain every single thing about it- a lot of this information can be found on the product description page. However, adding detail to the description can be useful. Use your own judgement on how long your review should be- I typically do longer reviews for more expensive purchases, and shorter ones for more impulse buys.

Usually, I like to stick with a bit of a structure to keep me focused. Everyone has their own preference, but this is mine:

Title- A brief summary of your thoughts on the product

Intro- Include any product description that maybe isn't included in the seller's information- this can be helpful for people who are looking for more information on the product. Things like dimensions, battery life, type of battery needed are all useful pieces of information that will make your review stand out above the rest. Some products are pretty self explanatory though- ie toiletries and food.

Testing- How have you used the product and how did it work?

Negatives- What could be better, if anything? (there doesn't always have to be negatives in a review)

Positives- What did you like about the product? (I can usually find a positive in even the worst product, but sometimes this isn't possible. If you absolutely must leave a completely negative review, try to be as constructive as possible with your feedback in the hope that it can be improved)

Recommendation- This is the big one- would you recommend this, or even would you buy it again? I try to consider all points, as well as the price when making this decision.

This is personal preference. A review with a photo shows that you have thought about the review beforehand, and it also makes for better reviews, in my opinion. You can also take a video to show a product in action.

Personally, I like to take a photo of the product with a standard phone camera- no filters or anything like that. I want the product to be seen in a non promotional way so that it can be compared with the description and the product photos. I also like to show the size of the product in comparison with something else, particularly in the case of arts and crafts materials.

There are some items that really don't need a photo- ie cans of juice, a bottle of cleaning fluid etc. That is unless you have found that they are substandard in some way.

Generally, you shouldn’t comment on postage times or packaging, as Amazon have a separate function to feed back on this.

Similarly, you should try to avoid calling out anyone else’s opinions as being wrong. Everyone is entitled to their own opinions, and yours may be different to others’. Just remember, it is the readers prerogative to balance up the opinions and choose which reviews to trust.

Please feel free to leave any comments or questions below.