Whether you are a professional author or a freelance business content writer, there is nothing that can make your day better than getting a positive review. It’s even better if you get a good review. Are you curious about what makes a review — positive or negative — good?  Below, I’ve put together the details that make a good review from my experience of getting over 3,300 order reviews.

The top 4 things for a heartfelt review

I’ve given a lot of thought to the most important details in an honest, good review, and this is what I tend to value the most:

1. Honest feedback on the deliverable: Whether that feedback is detailed or just a line stating that it met expectations, this matters to readers. Am I actually delivering what they ask for? Am I delivering early or late? Am I following the spelling or phrasing that they requested? This shows that I can follow basic instructions, and I can also deliver what I say I can!
   
2. A few lines about the experience working with you: This can be any part of the experience. Maybe it was working out order details or a negotiation about a fair price or delivery. Others will comment on whether or not I was good at communicating and/or attentive to the order page, their questions, and requests. This matters because a freelancer has to wear all the hats and know how to keep a client happy!
   
3. Whether they make a recommendation: Sometimes a reviewer will state that they would recommend my services to client A versus client B. Or that my tone is really helpful for business A and business B. This can help me see how I can move around in the market.
   
4. A mention of returning in the future: Whether or not a client actually does return, stating that they will is a great boost to readers and also helps me see that they are happy enough to trust my services again.  

Good reviews are worth their weight in gold

My honest thought after getting good, heartfelt reviews and reviews from customers is that a carefully written, detailed review is worth so much more than most people think. It helps you, the professional writer, see how your customer sees the entire experience (as I talked about last time), and it also shows that the review is authentic (which I also talked about last time).  

While we can’t expect every customer to leave a detailed review that touches on all of these details, even the shortest reviews can help show that you are the real deal. I would have to say that one of my favourite details to see in a review (and part of what creates customer connections) is something that speaks to the connection I have with the client. It could be a funny quip, or just something they noticed about the order process that has something to do with me, specifically.

What do you think, readers? Do you agree with the top 4 things I mentioned for a good review? What do you look for when shopping or looking at your own reviews?