How to Write a 5-Star Review That Is Really Helpful (and Looks Real)
Online reviews are a huge part of how we spend money these days, and nothing gets people to click on the “Order Now” button like a five-star review. Unfortunately, good reviews are so easy to buy and counterfeit that they often drown out real ones, even if they are equally positive.
If you’re trying to write a helpful, compelling review, the best thing you can do is stand out from the crowd. Your first goal should be to write something that people can read, so the Golden Rule of Reviews – get down to business – still applies. In addition, these four criteria will provide the purpose of your review.
How specific should a 5-star review be?
A lot of contextless 4- and 5-star reviews don’t look promising; it looks like a scam. If you leave a great review, anyone who reads it will want to know why, so tell them.
What made the food and service at the new restaurant so great in particular? If you were pleasantly surprised by how quickly an online order arrived, how long did it take to ship it? Why does this particular item work so well for you? Will it work the same for everyone, or will it depend on individual factors such as shoe size, skin, hair type, or body shape? Don’t write the entire novel, but be sure to include such details.
Write like a regular person, not a copywriter
I’m a copywriter, so I’m allowed to say this: So many online reviews are actually ad copy with a Groucho Marx raincoat and glasses. It’s not even subtle. This wouldn’t be a problem if the vast majority of these reviews also didn’t have a line about getting the product for free in exchange for honest, unbiased review. Wink .
It’s okay to get free content in exchange for a review, but it doesn’t matter if you paid for the product in question or not, as long as your review is just a few paragraphs of fictional marketing buzzwords. Readers can find out about this on the company’s website. It is much better to keep your language natural and specific and keep the general overview short; fake reviews never do all three.
Add the right context to your review
For highly personal items such as clothes, shoes, and cosmetics, “good” is relative. If you can do it at all, include some relevant, non-personally identifiable information about yourself to explain why you like something so much. Shoes are a perfect example: 5-star review that says size 9 1/2 is perfect; the one that also mentions that the reviewer usually wears a size 10 womens Nike sneaker is gold . This gives the reader some basis for comparison, making it easier for the reader to choose.
However, not all comparisons are helpful. Complimenting one while making fun of the other is always bad. You’re not looking at that other bar in town, so why mention it at all – let alone chat shit urgently. It makes you look petty and mean, but more importantly, useless.
Never call employees by their first names.
At some point, people decided that the best way to reward a service worker for a job well done was to argue with the boss, but in a positive way. While it might work in some scenarios, the online public review is definitely not one of them. If you absolutely need to compliment a specific person, contact the company directly or save it for an online customer satisfaction survey. The right people will still hear about your wonderful interaction with Tina, but the rest of the Internet won’t.