How to Research a Product Review Article

The purpose of a product review article is to provide a consumer with an unbiased review of a particular product. That means the article must contain valuable information that helps an individual make an informed decision regarding the purchase of that product. It is very important that they know both the pros and the cons so that they know what they are spending their money on. If the product review article does not contain correct and valuable information, then that individual is not going to be too thrilled about the person whose article convinced them to buy the product in the first place. That is why it is important to know how to do the proper research when writing an article that reviews a product.

Doing the research

The first thing you want to do when writing a product review article is to visit the manufacturer’s website. See what their claims are and what types of tests were conducted on the product during the “testing phase.” You also want to test out the product yourself. This may involve going to a store and purchasing it if it is inexpensive. Then again, you can sometimes acquire the product from the company if you have the time to wait on them to ship it. By letting them know you’re writing a review and who you’re writing it for, they will sometimes gladly send you a sample.

You also want to make sure you have plenty of time to spend with the product before writing your review and do comparisons where necessary. By comparing to other products, you are conducting one of the most effective forms of research. Make sure you record everything that you experience so that you can include those details in your product review. You also want to make sure that you use both of the products in similar conditions. If you simply drop one to test durability but you throw the other one across the room, it isn’t fair to say that the one you threw was weaker than the one you dropped. Make sure everything is equal.

And finally, utilize the internet to see what others say about it. By doing this, you are still remaining unbiased. You are just covering all of your angles. Just because you have not experienced a particular problem with the product doesn’t mean that the rest of the world hasn’t. You may see that someone has noticed something that you did not. If you include this in your review, you are simply confirming what other consumers have found and you know that it is fair to mention that particular advantage or disadvantage in your review.

Now start writing

After you have tested the products yourself and done the necessary research online, it is time to write away. Make sure you use everything in your notes that is viable and that you keep in mind that a product review isn’t a lengthy way of saying you liked or hate something. It has to be perfectly balanced to be effective.

Writing for the Internet

Writing for the internet can be quite tricky because there is a lot to say, but the average attention span of a browser is not really that long. That is because there is a lot of territory to cover on the net, so spending too much time on one page is out of the question.

However, there are ways in which you, the writer, can structure an article to keep the individual on the page. Sure, you have to make it interesting so that they’ll read the whole thing, but you also have to make the reading not so punishing. Even if it is interesting, they will leave if they feel like they’re having their brain fed through a meat grinder.

The content

The article should only be somewhere between 300 and 800 words. People begin losing interest somewhere around 350 words because that is really all the time they have to spend on one single page. If several thousand words need to be written, then it is best to divide that content up into separate articles. It is also idea to ensure that the sentences and the words are short. The content should be easy to read.

Paragraphs should be relatively short as well. A paragraph that is hundreds of words long can result in the reader losing their place within the text and can literally give them a headache. Dividing up in paragraphs of a decent size means that the reader is more likely to keep their place in the text and will more than likely be able to comprehend what is in the text.

The structure

The structure of the content is quite simple. First, you want to start off by making the main points at the very beginning of the text. Usually, this can be done in the first sentence. The remaining text then expands upon those points. Again, you don’t want your text to be incredibly long or have painful-to-read paragraphs. You want to use the following techniques to make your article functional:

• Shorten up any long sentences.
• Use bullet points instead of long sentences.
• Rewrite any passive sentences.
• Use shorter words.
• Use headings to separate ideas and organize the text.

At the end, you want to have a strong conclusion that summarizes what you said in as few words as possible. Basically, you’re going to be taking 300 or more words of text and summarizing them in less than 100. It isn’t impossible. It just involves a little bit of thought.

The First Step in Writing

Unless you are Ernest Hemingway, who used to write standing up, then the first technique you need to know as a budding writer is to apply the seat of your pants to a chair and to produce words. They can be written in a pencil or pen, banged out on a typewriter or typed on a keyboard. Some of you will have the luxury of a Dictaphone, or a devoted secretary or possibly even a computerised voice recognition system, which will do your typing for you.

To badly paraphrase Chairman Mao – the path to that over-the-top million dollar book contract, or selling that article for £20, starts with a word, a sentence, a paragraph, a chapter until one day you suddenly realise you have a completed manuscript in your hands.

You the thoughtful writer, you the journalist, you the biographer, you the shameless, erotic story teller are all in the process of producing words. These are your units of production, that are hand crafted, carefully sifted and selected by you, to produce your literary masterpiece, your hard hitting article, your historical portrait or your arousing bonk-buster for the poolside.

It is time to start avoiding the distractions. Is it really necessary to sharpen pencils, when in fact you use a computer? What has caused your sudden interest in 24/7 rolling news? Does your desk really need tidying now? Why have you started cleaning the kitchen today, when it has been happy to be untidy for weeks? Do you really need to adjust the colours on your website or check your emails tonight?

The distractions are there because of the hidden fear of all writers. Can this fantastic story, this brilliant article, this instructive textbook be as good on paper as it is imagined in the mind. If you don’t start it will remains that perfect, unblemished creation unsullied by the reality of this less than perfect world. You are not committed until that first word is on the screen or paper.

So put the pencils away, switch off the box, close the desk drawer, leave the dirty dishes to soak and definitely close your internet connections. Apply your butt to your chair and write, or type, or dictate. Today you will start being a writer and the most important thing a writer does is write.