Amazon Affiliate Product Reviews vs Buyer Guides: Which to Write First
Every affiliate site is some mix of two page types: the buyer guide ("best bike lights for commuting") and the single product review ("Garmin Varia RTL515 review"). New site owners usually ask which one to write, and the answer is both, in an order. They do different jobs, they rank for different searches, and one of them has to exist before the other has anywhere to link.
This post sets out what each page does, how each one earns, what the search volumes and competition typically look like, why guides go first on a new site, when reviews pull ahead, and the links that join them. It sits above the buyer guides post, which covers how to write one.
The short answer
Write the guides first. They catch searchers before they've chosen, rank for many versions of the keyword, and link ten products at once.
Then write reviews of the products the guides picked, starting with the top pick and runner-up, because those are the ones people search by name after reading the guide. A guide brings the traffic; a review converts the reader who wanted one more look.
What each page does
| Buyer guide | Single review | |
|---|---|---|
| Searcher's state | Decided to buy, hasn't chosen | Chosen, wants confirmation |
| Keyword | best [product] for [situation] | [brand model] review, is [model] worth it |
| Products linked | 5 to 10 | 1 (plus an alternative) |
| Ranks for | The main phrase plus dozens of variants | The model name plus a few variants |
| Volume | Moderate, spread across variants | Tied to the product's popularity |
| Competition | Big sites on head terms; open on modifiers | Often lower; big sites skip mid-range products |
| Conversion | Good | Higher per visitor |
| Shelf life | Years, with refreshes | Until the product is discontinued |
| Length | 2,000 to 3,500 words | 1,000 to 1,800 words |
How each one earns
A guide earns from breadth. It ranks for "best bike lights for commuting", "commuter bike lights", "bike lights for city riding" and twenty phrasings in between, and whichever of its ten products the reader clicks carries the tag. Its conversion rate is good rather than great, because some readers are still browsing.
A review earns from depth. It ranks for one product's name, which means the reader has already decided and is checking for a reason not to. Conversion per visitor is the highest on the site. Volume is whatever the product's popularity gives it: a review of a top-selling model does well, a review of the ninth pick in your guide gets almost nothing.
Why guides go first
- They don't depend on a product being famous. A guide's keyword exists whether or not any one product is searched by name.
- They rank for more. One guide, dozens of phrasings. One review, one name.
- They tell you which reviews to write. Until you've picked the products, you don't know which ones deserve a review.
- They're where reviews link from. A review published before its guide is an orphan; the internal linking post covers why that costs rankings.
- They survive product churn. When a product is discontinued, the guide swaps it out; the review is dead.
When reviews pull ahead
Three situations. First, a category dominated by a few named products, where "[model] review" searches outnumber "best [category]" searches; phones and games consoles are the obvious cases, and some hobby gear.
Second, a site with a real hands-on author, whose reviews carry photos and experience a guide can't, and rank on that. Third, a mature site where every guide exists and the remaining open keywords are product names.
In all three the guides still exist; they're just not the page that earns most. A new site in a normal category isn't in any of them yet.
The order on a new site
- Hub page for the category, short.
- Guides for the easiest keywords first, two a week.
- Reviews of each guide's top pick and runner-up, the week after the guide.
- Reviews of any product in two or more guides, since it's evidently a product people meet repeatedly.
- Comparisons between picks, once reviews exist to link to; the comparison posts guide covers the shape.
Four or five reviews per guide is the usual settling point. Reviewing all ten products in every guide produces a lot of pages for products nobody searches by name.
Linking them
The guide links to the review from inside the product's section, on the sentence that explains its trade-off ("the full review goes into the battery claim"). The review links back to every guide it's a pick in, from its first paragraph ("our top pick for commuters in the bike lights guide").
The "Check price" button on both goes to Amazon with the tag. Guide to review keeps the undecided reader on the site; review to guide gives the decided reader who changed their mind somewhere to go.
Doing it with AffSERP
AffSERP's X Best Review tool writes the guides, which is the half that comes first: a ranked list from live product data with the top pick and runner-up named, your Associates ID on every link, and the comparison table built.
The ranked list is also the review plan, since the top two picks of each guide are the reviews to write next. Keyword Grouping separates the "[model] review" keywords from the guide keywords in a list, so the reviews can be scheduled as their own batch once the guides are live.
FAQ
Should a new affiliate site write reviews or buyer guides first?
Buyer guides. A 'best X for Y' guide catches the searcher before they've chosen, ranks for many long-tail versions of the keyword, and links ten products instead of one. Reviews come second, for the products the guides picked, where they catch the final 'is this one good' search.
Which earns more, a review or a buyer guide?
Per page, a guide, because it ranks for more searches and offers more products. Per visitor, a review, because the reader has already chosen and converts at a higher rate. A site needs both; the guide brings the traffic, the review closes the ones who wanted one more look.
How many reviews should a site have per guide?
Reviews of the top pick and the runner-up at minimum, and of any product that appears in more than one guide. A ten-product guide doesn't need ten reviews; four or five, for the products people actually search by name, is the usual ratio.
Can one page be both a review and a guide?
Not well. A guide that spends 1,500 words on the top pick reads like a review with a list bolted on, and a review that compares eight alternatives is a guide. Google tends to settle on one intent per page. Write the guide, write the review, link them, and let each do its job.
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