Giving your honest and constructive opinions can go a long way in informing others to make the right choice for themselves.
Giving your honest and constructive opinions can go a long way in informing others to make the right choice for themselves.
There is no better time than this digital age of social media and user-generated content for any individual to readily express his or her views in a public space.
Before the rise of the internet, consumers mostly relied on “professional” reviews in the newspaper or their favourite magazine to tell them whether a book, movie or restaurant was worth their time and money. The closest thing people had to user reviews was word of mouth.
Today, virtually anybody can post a review on the internet – be it on social media, their personal blogs or user-generated review directories. There are even niche review websites such as Playing Online Slots, which cater specifically to the needs of gamblers.
This means it is no longer up to professional writers alone to mold the popularity and success of a brand. In the case of online gaming, you have the power to help decide the best online casino for all types of players.
Unfortunately, forsaking the sage saying “with great power comes great responsibility”, many netizens exercise their power to disseminate information without giving much thought to the potential consequences of their actions.
We have all heard of stories of people losing their jobs over something they said on the internet, or friendships meeting an end thanks to a careless remark made on Facebook.
Likewise, what you say about a product or service can make or break the business. This is why it is important to offer credible, accurate and truthful information when writing a review.
Summary
The purpose of an online casino review is to allow others a glimpse into the gaming site they are considering. There is more reason for a consumer to believe a fellow consumer’s experiences with a service or product compared to a professional reviewer who could have been paid or given freebies in exchange for a review.
If you really enjoy your gaming experience at an online casino, giving your honest thoughts on it will invite other players to the site, which directs more revenue to the brand, which means the casino can work harder to improve the site and make your experience even more delightful. It’s a win-win situation.
Without further ado, let’s dive into a few tips that will help you write a helpful review.
Before you can review a product, you obviously need to know it first – and spending 10 minutes at an online casino hardly counts as knowing it. That is like reviewing an eight-course meal at a French restaurant after you have only tried the appetiser.
If you have not committed enough time to explore the different pages on the gaming site, deposit some fund into your player account, try out a few casino games, claim a promotion or two, and speak to the customer support team, it is difficult to give an accurate depiction of what it is really like to invest one’s time and money in the specific online casino.
It’s okay – vital, in fact – to express your opinions, likes and dislikes regarding the online casino site you are reviewing, but don’t get too emotional about it.
To train yourself to be objective, you can practise being as detailed and specific in your review as possible. Don’t just say “I hate this casino”, but show others why you hate it by highlighting aspects of the casino that made your experience negative.
There’s a difference between explaining why you don’t like something and going on a 10-paragraph diatribe about how playing at the casino makes you want to burn your computer down.
The point of a review is to help other players, so don’t make it too personal. Baseless rants tear down not only the credibility of a business but yours too. On the flipside, you can help the online casino by offering suggestions of how they can improve.
A good review is all in the detail. That said, don’t write a 20,000-word article analysing every single page of the website. Nobody has the time to read a thesis.
If you have a complaint that you want to voice out, it may be helpful to first ask yourself, “Could I be at fault here?” As hard as it may be to admit, we sometimes find ourselves in a bad encounter with a product or service due to false expectations or lack of awareness.
For example, you might be disappointed to find that you are unable to claim your bonus cash because you inadvertently broke a term tied to the bonus.
Your disappointment is completely valid, but instead of calling the online casino a con artist, it would be fairer to all parties if you highlight the terms and conditions that users should be aware of.
It is also crucial to exaggerate neither the good nor bad. Whether it’s a positive or negative remark, it is important to stay true to your experience and features of the online casino.
Every product or service is multidimensional. Don’t just focus on the range of casino games available; tell others about the UX, promotions and customer support features too.
And if possible, highlight geography-specific aspects such as what online casino games and payment methods are available to players from different locations.
To increase readability, break your review into sections each focusing on an aspect of the online casino, such as promotions, so that readers can easily scan your article and find out about the aspect that is of biggest priority to them.
This sounds like a no-brainer, but then again, it’s something that many people fail to practise: proofread anything and everything before posting! Typos or missing words can sometimes change the entire meaning of your sentence.
You don’t need to write like Stephen King to qualify as a good reviewer, but the least you can do is to mind your spellings and grammar. After all, you don’t want to get a bad review for your review.
Whether you prefer to write user reviews for casino directories or on your own blog, have fun with it!
As long as you don’t neglect accuracy and integrity, you can infuse as much creativity, personality and humour as you want in your reviews to help fellow players make the right online casino choice.