How to Rate Books on WordPress: Best Practices for New Users

The world of e-books is constantly changing, and so is WordPress. Now, more than ever, people are looking for ways to manage their favourite books on the web. If you’re looking to launch a book review website or blog, you may be wondering where to start. We’ve put together some advice on how to approach book reviews on your website, as well as some best practices for new users who want to get the most from their experience.

The Essential Things To Include

When reviewing books, certain elements are essentially necessary. Apart from the obvious requirement for a platform and a publication date, you’ll want to include the following in each review:

• A brief description of the book
• User ratings
• A link to purchase the book
• An excerpt of good content

When creating content for your website, you’ll want to make sure that these items appear somewhere in the text. The best way to ensure that your reviewers understand what is required of them is by including them in your content wherever possible. Since reviews are largely used as a marketing tool to draw in potential readers, having clear and concise rules regarding book reviews will help ensure good quality content.

The Perfect Platform For Book Reviews

If you’re planning on launching a website to review books, you may be wondering which platform to use. With so many options available, from blogs to community platforms to online magazines, there’s no one-size-fits-all approach when it comes to choosing a platform. Each of these options has a strong community of users who are passionate about the content that they post. At the end of the day, you’ll need to choose a platform that’s going to be the best fit for your goals and the kind of content that you plan on publishing.

To learn more, check out these blogs:

• The Medium Blog
• Penny Kindle Blog
• BuzzFeed Books
• The New Books Review
• A Novel Approach
• The Medium Marketing Blog

Each of these platforms offers a variety of features that you might find useful in your content-driven business, from the ability to embed interactive charts and maps to analyze data to advanced SEO features. All of these elements help make content on these blogs more engaging and convenient for readers.

How To Write A Good Review

Before you start writing your review, you’ll need to answer a few questions. Does the book live up to your expectations? Is it worth reading? Should you leave the house to get it? These sorts of questions will help you determine the value of the book to your personal life and to the general public. When answering these questions, be sure to put yourself in the shoes of a potential reader. What would you need to know to decide to purchase this book?

Once you’ve determined that the book is worth reading, it’s time to move into the details. Start by briefly describing the plot. What is the setting of the story? Who is the main character? Are you in the mood for a serious plot or a comic book?

After you’ve established the plot, you can move into more specific details about the content. What were your initial reactions to the characters? How well do they reflect the typical reader? Were there any significant twists or surprises in the narrative?

Now that you have a good grasp on what the book is about, it’s time to move into the meat of your review. Start by analyzing the writing style and content of the book. Is it easy to understand? Does it flow smoothly or are there any sections that drag?

As a general rule, short and sweet reviews are the best. Larger reviews may end up being more helpful to readers who are considering a purchase, but they can also be overkill for a book that is already on the shelves. Having too much information can hurt rather than help, especially if the information does not provide any significant value.

More Than Meets The Eye

As a reviewer, you may be tempted to nitpick at every single flaw that you encounter in a book. While it is essential to point out the good elements of a product or service, you should still maintain a sense of professionalism while reviewing.

When offering advice to authors, I always advise them to go back to the beginning and start over. Since your reviewers have little to no familiarity with your work, they’ll require a better education on your behalf. It’s a common pitfall for new authors to think that they can polish a draft and submit it, only to have it rejected by an editor or agent. Rejections happen for a reason, and it is usually due to significant flaws in the content that were not addressed adequately in the first place. When you’re writing a draft, you need to go back and fix all of the problems that you can find. When you’re editing, you should only be looking for grammatical errors and logical inconsistencies. Never, ever, write something that could potentially cause legal problems. You cannot afford to be negligent in your work, regardless of the outcome. The law is a pain in the butt that you do not want to experience, especially after all of the hard work that you’ve put in. When you’re ready to publish, thoroughly check your content for any glaring errors that you may have missed. This is also a good time to ask someone who’s familiar with English grammar and writing to help you out.

Book Review Marketing

Once you’ve published a book and gained some decent web traffic, it’s time to start promoting it. You’ve taken the initial step to gain credibility as an expert in your industry; all that’s left is to convert that traffic into paying customers.

Now, you may wonder how you can promote a book that you’ve never charged for or asked for money from in the first place. The answer is simple – you can’t. At least not yet. When you’re starting out, building up a following on social media is key. You can use free platforms like Twitter and Facebook to do this. The best blogs for reviewing books also often have large followings, due to their unique position in the industry. Building a platform that specializes in your niche can also help you gain credibility with potential customers. Having a community that already values your opinion and follows your lead can help drive sales.

The Role Of Search Engine Optimization (SEO)

Every business owner or marketer knows that Google is the search engine of choice. For years, savvy marketers have optimized their websites for search engines like Google, stuffing keywords and phrases throughout the text and including multiple variations of the same keyword or phrase (known as keywords) in different locations on the page. SEO can be a useful tool to get your book reviewed, especially if you are looking to gain some visibility on the web for a traditionally print publication. However, you should only use SEO where needed and never, ever manipulate the results of your search queries on purpose.

To learn more, check out these SEO blogs:

• The Digital Marketing Blog
• Search Engine Journal
• Search Engine Strategies
• Search Engine Optimization Guide
• The Algorithmic Blog
• What Is SEO?
• The Next Web
• BizEaze
• Worth Reading

Takeaway

Writing a good review is not as difficult as you may think it is. If you keep the above tips in mind, you’ll be well on your way to creating a review that’s worthy of being published.