Writing Honest Reviews and Conversions

[kaus]

I was reading a really good article last week about affiliates and things that we can do, honest reviews being one of them.

The majority of reviews I have found online hype the rooms up to no extent. I would also say half of them are exaggerated with little attention paid to detail. When I write reviews I try to pay attention to these details, even the items that a reader could really care less about but make a point to include it. Now I try to make them as honest as possible while making the room seem intersting and the reader hopefully wanting to play. I think you need to be somewhat biased if you are going to comment on how a room performs, but how honest is to honest?

When it comes down to saying "So and so;s support team is very poor. Emails take longer than 3 days to be responded to....."

Or ' So and so software has frequent timeouts, "

When really you know damn well that the support issues are inexcusable, and being booted off a site and blocked out due to tech issues at least one game each time you play.

The two examples above are from some of the more well known rooms and are still relevant issues(one of them so bad that I closed my account because of it and havent looked back). So to be honest you need to include these, how do you do it without making them sound worthless and making the reader run.

Looking on the opposite side of it telling the reader exactly how it is will give you a level of trust in return for the honesty. You would hope they would come back for this.

The reason I am asking all this is I am considering trying out a different approach of being totally honest without rewording it so it doesnt sound so bad. Possibly adding an area where the rooms could use improvement as I see it.

Suggestions or comments?

[LadyHoldem]

I write A LOT of reviews. . . the majority of people I write them for want them upbeat, they want you to list the good stuff about the room.. the highlights, etc .. mention the bad stuff, but don't dwell. . .

However, I can think of ALOT of sites that provide top notch HONEST reviews, many of them use a point system .. with PokerListings kind of leading the way via example, gosh, most sites want pages and pages, and they want them honest, with the good and the bad .. listed up top in bullets.

There's definitely a movement toward honesty in poker room reviews, I think users expect it, however, many of the 'upbeat' review users do list 'internet's top 10' or something of that nature, so they would look a lil funny if they said .. this poker room is crap.

[kaus]

Originally Posted by LadyHoldem

However, I can think of ALOT sites that provide top notch HONEST reviews, many of them use a point system .. with PokerListings kind of leading the way via example, gosh, most sites want pages and pages, and they want them honest, with the good and the bad .. listed up top in bullets

See and that is part of what I am talking about the point systems are not accurate at all in most cases. Its also been posted before that PL ratings are slightly different than what most do.

I don't think I have ever read someone write that a certain room is not in your best interest if you are looking for this as they don't have it (active large staked tables) or if the rooms lack in speed, down time etc...

I have even had AM's ask me to change something because it should be done differently.Hype it up add all the promo words and they are happy. Shouldn't they be honest and come with both the good and bad.

[LadyHoldem]

But not accurate in who's opinion? Your's or theirs? .. When I write reviews for customers, they choose their own points..

I'm not saying that they're never skewed per who pays better.. but .. idk i think PKR is one of the best looking poker software options there is, most people i talk to disagree with me.

[kaus]

I understand that and you write what they want, but as far as an affiliate displaying information that is different.

For example PL has Titan as the number 1 room that they feel. Would this be because it really is the top room of choice among players? Or because it is the top room of choice as far as the pocketbook goes.

As a player and an avid one at one point almost daily at Titan, they definatly have some things to work on if they are going to be number 1.

Now move onto why they are rated as #1 software/graphics is given a 9. Thier is no way that the graphics unless they have changed recently nor the software that constantly boots people can be rated as a 9. This is what I mean.

Back to my original question do you think having a completely honest review can still convert

[LadyHoldem]

Nope, I don't think it's to much honesty.. personally.. from a profit standpoint.. say you come right on out there and say.. Titan is great.. and they suck.

If you can't deal with this issue, the part of the software that sux.. .. well then we have 30 other poker rooms for you to choose from..

I wouldn't call it the top ten poker rooms online..

If they just suck.. and some do.. say they suck, we really hope they're working on it, but in the meantime, here's their info, though we recommend.. this other place that does not suck .

Once you have a chunk of content, you don't really want them all to sound the same anyway.. 100 reviews declaring 100 sites as #1 isn't the best idea..

The best example i can give right now, off the top of my head is actually to do with sportsbooks..

Pinnacle, great book, known for being CHEAP.. no phone customer service, no live chat .. 2007.. email only man .. but cheap ole misers (no offense to the misers out their ) like them.. they keep the money where it counts to tightwads errr ummm.. ppl that run tight ships..

Then you have other sportsbooks, that send out shiney books, and neat treats, hire huge customer service teams, send you cards on your b-day .. and so on.. watches... you get the idea..

They don't have the best lines.. BUT.. they know how to spoil those of us .. 'high maintenance' (my guy is going to love seeing that term there ) .. folks that are in for that sorta thing ..

The point I'm trying to make is.. if we like the dirty dozens enuff, we're probably willing to deal with crappy software, if it's all about the software, we'll live without the dirty dozens

[LadyHoldem]

Gosh.. I use entirely to many emoticons!

[DealerDan]

A lot of it can be to do with your target market too. For example, if you're aiming towards new players to online poker, you can afford to be a bit more "exaggerative" when writing reviews about the poker rooms you want the most players at, as chances are they have very little, if any online poker knowledge.

But if it's players who have played online - even a little bit, you have to be more honest in my opinion. You should also make your reviews as factual as possible, and anything that may be deemed controversial, back it up with facts. Like lets use Full Tilt Poker as an example - I've played there a lot. I've never had a problem with support, whether it be the affiliate department, general support, tech support, or cashier support. However I read a lot of poker forums, and I see Full Tilt getting quite a lot of bad feedback. So how do I handle this? If I write "Full Tilt are the best support on the internet! Never a bad experience!" and one of my readers, and potential customers, has read any other forums or even experienced this first-hand, he might think "Hey - thats BS, I've read they have bad support! I can't trust anything this site says" and boom, closes it. So in situations like that you have to be careful, say that you haven't had any problems at all, but others have.

I fully believe honest reviews are the best way to go. Of course, that's not saying that you don't embellish, exaggerate or even stay away from particular details to users. For example I might want to advertise a $1000 signup bonus that a casino is doing, and not mention that the requirements for it are horrible. Of course, again, it all depends on my target market. If my target market was casino bonus whores, then of course I would have to mention the requirements.

[LadyHoldem]

Very well said

[TheDonk]

In sales, they teach you to 'sell the sizzle, not the steak'. In anything that anyone ever sells there has to be some sizzle. Online however, people are very savvy and the sizzle that works for one guy patronizes another. To me, that last sentence is what I try to think about in anything I write whether it be a review or anything else. If everything you say is rah, rah, rah, anyone with half a brain will think everything is BS. On the other hand, bad news travels 10 x's faster than good news and that's because bad news is what people remember. What is accomplished by trashing a room for one issue, if for all intents and purposes it's a good room? That's not to say that you turn a blind eye to problems, but it's also important not to take something too far whereas the reader ends up walking away with the wrong overall impression.

For myself, it's my nature to be as honest as I can. I get to sleep better at night, and the idea of course is to generate a following of loyal readers who know they can trust me. With that said, I also don't 'trash' any of the sites I carry. I may say this or that needs to improve, or that kind of thing - but it's pointless to try to market a room you're trashing. "Here you go Mr. Customer, it tastes like shit but eat it anyway." Of course he isn't going to eat it, so why try to sell him something that tastes like shit to begin with? If the room is bad enough that I feel I need to trash it, I don't market it. In fact, on one of my sites I actually explain that I don't offer any poker rooms that don't meet a particular criteria.

Isn't that the important thing anyway? If you're offering a room that is that bad....why are you offering it? Drop those losers and find a better replacement. Just my opinion.

TheDonk