Most of us have been in a situation where we want to buy something like a digital camera or a video game console, but would like to read information from someone who’s experienced the product before making our decision. Reading other people’s recommendations helps us make more informed decisions, especially for complex and expensive items, or for new releases in the media world.
Over time, people who write helpful product recommendations develop a reputation for themselves as knowledgeable experts in their fields. Buyers keep turning to them for information that can help them make purchase decisions.
The advantages of this model to the eBay Community are all too obvious. Buyers, facing an often bewildering array of product choices for items ranging from personal music players to designer shoes, are always looking for any information that can help them narrow their choices. And sellers are naturally interested in attracting more buyers by enhancing their credibility as experts about items they’re selling.
Add the eBay Community’s traditional penchant for sharing helpful information with each other, and it’s not difficult to see why eBay launched the Reviews & Guides feature to facilitate the sharing of expertise on the site.
Since its launch in the fall of 2005, Reviews & Guides has been helping buyers get more information from other members to make better informed purchase decisions, as well as turning sellers into “knowledgeable leaders,” a term that Ryan Spoon, Associate Manager, Internet Marketing, is fond of using.
“Reviews & Guides are a great opportunity for sellers to showcase their knowledge and expertise across a wide variety of product areas,” Spoon told The Chatter. “When you’re a knowledgeable leader in your area, buyers come to trust your opinions and recommendations. If you’re offering items in those areas for sale, your reputation can actually boost your sales.”
Reviews & Guides - Write and share, read and learn
Reviews are a great way for members to share their expertise and comments about products like Books, Cell Phones, Digital Cameras, Golf Clubs, DVD's, CD's, and Video Games. With each review, you submit a product rating and write your opinion. Readers can then vote on your review based on its helpfulness.
Each review has a “Was this review helpful?” button that helps readers rate the review. The most popular reviews are given "Top Review" status.
 Ryan Spoon
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While reviews rate a specific product, guides enable eBay members to go beyond the world of products to share their expertise. You can write a guide on a wide variety of topics to share your excitement about what interests you. Whether it’s a guide on Planning the Perfect Wedding or The Essential Science Fiction Movies, it’s a great opportunity to express your creativity. You can also use pictures, formatting and eBay links on your guides.
Like Reviews, readers can also vote on guides that they enjoyed or found helpful. The most popular guides may be featured on the Reviews & Guides home page.
Reviews & Guides
also drive traffic
In addition to providing helpful information on products, Reviews & Guides have also proven to be a great success at increasing both traffic and buying activity for sellers. Potential buyers are using Reviews & Guides as a research tool during their buying experience. Buyers are discovering Reviews & Guides not only on eBay, but also through Internet search engines, blogs, and through other off-eBay links.
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Reviews & Guides can drive traffic to your listings |
When buyers search for items on eBay, they see related buying guides and a link to the Reviews & Guides home page displayed on the left-hand navigation bar – a convenient source of useful information that can influence their purchase decision. Similarly, buyers are also able to find Reviews & Guides through search engines like Google, Yahoo or MSN – increasing the chances of delivering more traffic and buyers to the site.
Writing a good review or guide
As with all writing, crafting a good review or guide involves careful thought and a love for your topic. Here are some tips:
- Originality counts. Having your own engaging style gives your reviews and guides a personality of their own, and indicates your passion for the subject you’re writing about.
- Be descriptive. If you're writing a review, explain the reasons behind the rating you gave the product. For reviews, clearly indicate the things you like and dislike about the product, and why.
- Thoroughness is important. Writing your review in one or two lines is usually not effective. A detailed and well-researched review goes a long way to establish the writer’s credibility.
- Including links to your other pages helps. Readers will get a more rounded picture about the writer and their interests if they see links to their About Me page, their eBay Store, and their items for sale. And, of course, it also helps to point potential buyers to your listings.
- Formatting gives it a professional look. Pay attention to your choice of font sizes, your line and paragraph breaks, and, of course, punctuation and spelling. These details help make your writing more readable and enjoyable.
- Pictures enrich the writing. The old adage about pictures being worth a thousand words holds true for Reviews & Guides also. Including a picture or two to reinforce your written recommendations helps readers get a clear idea of your opinions.
Recently added to Reviews & Guides
Several new additions to Reviews & Guides have recently been released. Spoon outlines a few of these. “We’re giving each reviewer their own profile page that shows all the reviews and guides they’ve written. And now we also have Reviewer Rankings – honoring the top reviewers with distinct Reviews & Guides logos next to their User IDs. Rankings are determined by the number of votes received by each member's reviews and guides.”
Useful links about Reviews & Guides
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