Book Reviews Bring in Traffic
Writing book reviews is a great way to put useful, traffic sucking content on your website. If your ideal clients reads books, then they'll be looking for something to read, and typing in popular book titles and the word review.
It's well known that people like people with whom they have things in common with. When you add a book review to your content marketing, you're not only making it easy for people to find you, but also to connect with you.
The important thing to remember about writing book reviews is that there is some common courtesy that you should be aware of that will make your book review a lot better, as well as create a bond of trust between you and your readers. Trust between you and your readers is of vital importance if you want to build a bigger audience. This is what we'll cover in this post.
Where to Find Books to Review
ReadItForMe is a great place to find trending business books, gain a summary and determine whether you want to review this book for your audience.
You can also check Amazon and see what's trending there, and then there's the lists... Like the Times Bestseller list and New York Times Bestseller list.
You can also ask on social media and see what your audience is currently reading. This means you can find similar books, or a fresh take on what they're currently reading.
What to Include in Your Book Reviews:
Book Information
When writing a book review, it's not just about the book's content. Always include all the book information that you can including the copyright information, the ISBN numbers, the title, and the author's name. Also include the cost of the book, and if there's a Kindle version.
Book Summary
Make sure you include a summary of the book's content before you share your thoughts about the book. Do not give away any endings that would ruin the book for anyone. Spoilers upset people. If you have to spoil things, at least warn the reader so they can close the page. Some book reviews also have the phrase "contains spoilers" in the headline. This repels the people who don't want to know, and attracts in readers who want know what happens!
Your thoughts
Give your honest thoughts about the book. Some ideas to include why you choose this book, what about the cover or back caught your eye, and whether the book is useful or not. Always list some good things first, then some criticism, then the good again. Now, if you really hated the book, you'll have to say so, but try to give ideas about what could have made the book better. Always remember the what, when, where, why and how when you are writing your thoughts.
Full Disclosure - How Did You Get The Book?
It is very important, and in fact the law, that you disclose how you got the book. If you bought the book yourself, say so. If it was given to you for the purpose of review, say so. If you got it from the library that's okay too. Always disclose how you obtained the book especially if it was given to you free specifically for the purpose of review.
Where to buy The Book
Include where people can buy the book. This is a great place for your affiliate link to purchase the book. If your audience prefer to listen, direct them to where they can buy the audio version of the book.
Pros & Cons of This Method
Pros:
Cons:
Conclusion:
If you stick to this format when you create book reviews you'll find that people will trust you and will purchase the books that you recommend. It also makes it faster writing reviews if you have a outline like this to work from.
Book reviews are a powerful way not only to gain website traffic, but to connect with your audience in a meaningful way.