I don't have room for the product name in the soundbite, so I always write it a few times in my actual review though.  I always find my reviews on google so I think it works that way too.

I rarely use the name in my title. Now and then I will mention the brand or something but often the whole name won't fit. Plus, I know that my content has the name several times and google bots find that.

I don't really notice a difference between reviews with titles in the name and those that don't have them but it can't HURT to have at least part of the product name in the title if you can fit it in.

Thanks! I was not aware of the reason to add the product name to the sound bite.

Good to know! I didn't realize this.

I don't think I've ever used a product name in my sound bite and a lot of my things come up when I Google for them.  Very often, our reviews end up as being part of other sites, especially Newstin, and that pumps up the "hits".  I thought the product name referred to what we put into the product name slot, the one that comes after the brand name.  I do make it a point to mention it several times in the review itself and to "bold" those mentions.

I can't always fit the product name in the review title, so I make it a point to mention the full name (including brand) a few times throughout the review with the hope that the search engines will find it.

Yeah, that's an even better idea! more than one mention and bolding... sometimes i only mention the full product name only once. good to have tips from the pros!

Pitcherday, Another tip is to use parts of the product name throughout.  So if you are reviewing Garnier Sleek and Shine Shampoo - don't just say "The shampoo is ..." instead say "Garnier's shampoo is...."  The point is, you don't always have to use the full product name over and over.  In fact, using the full name over and over can be redundant (in my opinion) and bore me.  Instead I will use the full name once or twice, then use PARTS of it throughout the review.

As you get more into reviewing, you'll find you can easily write a "professional" review.  Notice how the pros (who review in magazines and such) do this.  They don't say "this is a great product" they say "Microsoft produced a great product".  Just throwing more keywords in there will get you higher up on google.

Sometimes I do put the name in the soundbite, sometimes I don't.  I always try to mention the product name instead of using "it" and I will bold the name throughout the body of my review. 

When I was new to Viewpoints, someone mentioned using the name of the product in the soundbite. I always feel guilty when I don't. :(

I can never fit the product name in the sound bite but I do add it in the body of my description as many times as possible.

Definitely using the full name at least once in the review and then parts throughout as vivasuzi suggested above is a way to get your review found. Many people tend to never mention the actual name of the product and that makes it hard to index with search engines. Bolding helps but not TOO much.

When you start to say "This product" or "This toy" or whatever, think about alternatives that you can use that are part of the name and it's always good to mention the brand like..."I have never been a fan of Avon but I decided to make an order on whim." There, you got the name Avon in there. Using names of other products from the same brand is good too. "I didn't have good luck with Avon's Glimmersticks but I decided to give their new Mineral Lipstick a try." There, you got TWO of Avon's products in there so your review may come up in a search for the other product and end up being read!

I am glad I started this thread! I am not (nor will I ever be) a "professional" reviewer, but it's nice to have all of these tips to make reviews more helpful! I actually didn't Google to see if my reviews came up... I actually didn't know they did, and was pleasantly surprised at what they looked like in the results. I kind of wish I had my real name as a screen name now. Do you think it lends more credibility to a review to have an actual name on there? You know, even if it's like a pen name? Like saying "pitcherday gives Kountry Pets 5 stars..." It might seem like someone is purposely trying to be anonymous... do you think that even if you're name is not known, it's more helpful to have a real sounding screen name? This is going off topic, but I am wondering about it.

I actually didn't think that even if my reviews were showing up in Google, they were getting on the first page! i know that sounds stupid, because how did you think people were getting here? I am going to post this, even though it seems ridiculous to think that writing things on the WORLD WIDE WEB with product names in them wasn't getting traffic from outside the VP community. You know... how like on the message boards, there usually aren't people writing just one post and going away most of the time.

Since we don't get paid, and people who knock around here enough get to know each other it seems funny that other people are looking in on the community. Silly, right?

Most often I start my sound-bite with the name of the product followed by a colon (:).  Then I add a short sound-bite.  Ordinarily I don't have a problem with length.  In thebody of the review I will always use the name of the product and bold it at least once.

Pitcherday I see nothing wrong with not having your 'real name'.  The internet is meant to be somewhat anonymous.  People don't want their info out there for everyone to see.  I believe the majority of the world understands how review sites work and they know it's just your screen name.  

It sounds like you haven't been part of the review world for long, so maybe that's why you aren't used to it.  Some of us have been doing this stuff for 10+ years so we all know that hits from google make up the majority of our hits.  I don't think most people realize this is a community though.  When they find our reviews through google it probably just looks to them like a review of the product - then they leave to go back to their search results.  It's hard to get people to dive in further if they only came across us for a review of something specific.

Patty - great suggestion about putting OTHER product names in there where it is relevant.  

Rudi seems to have figured out the soundbite issue but I can never seem to have enough space there.  Maybe I write too much :)

I have only been doing this since June 2009, and people have commented me about how to make things better in certain categories, but not in general.

I don't know if I'll be doing it in 10 years. I like the challenge of racking up the points, so if mentioning the product name strategically in a review gets me more points, then that is what i will do.

Could that have been the reason for the V.I.P System??? lol  it works  XD

Of course that is why the VIP system was unveiled. We all love to strive for something. I do. If there is a badge or title to be had, I want it and I will work for it! Not everyone feels that way but enough of us do to write more. I have written more reviews since the VIP program started.

I understand how you feel like no one outside this little community is reading. I sometimes forget that everything I write on the web is out there. If you look at the numbers of views that topics here on the boards get, you will see a much higher number than actual posts. That would be people who lurk or who found the posts through a search. I often find boards and discussions through a simple search. Sometimes I explore further, sometimes not.

As far as user name, I don't know that having a real name matters that much. Once you establish yourself, it's probably a good idea to use the same name for reviews everywhere or for anything writing related so your credibility builds. I used my real name because I used it at another site 10 years ago and I have a lot of reviews there so I wanted people to know I am the same person here and there. I use my real name for things I want people to see and understand I am the same person. For other sillier things, I use other names although I usually give my real name as well.

I think a person could actually find me everywhere I am by searching around a bit. You can't hide on the net! lol.

You're a darn good reviewer for only doing it for a few months. Just think of how great you'll be in a year or two!

I don't know if I'll be doing it in 10 years.

That's what I said 10 years ago haha.

I really hate the idea of putting the name of the item being reviewed into the "sound bite", given that space is limited. Doing so implicitly penalizes the "sound bites" of items with longer names!

I think a good way to handle this is to have the site always explicitly precede a "sound bite" with the item to which it refers (in a way which would cause it to be included in search summaries), like the way Viewpoints lists a user's tags after the user's name, or like the way Facebook precedes a user's status update with the user's name.

For example:

Brawndo, the Thirst Mutilator: "It has electrolytes!"

versus:

"It has electrolytes!"

I agree with Awareness.  And in fact, Viewpoints has started doing this.  If you look at your reviews, it will now say the name of the product before your review starts.  They said this should help search engines.

I for one rarely put the product name in the sound bite.  Heck I can rarely fit what I want to say in the sound bite so the product name doesn't have much of a chance to make it into one of mine!

I just recently saw that they are putting the product name in bold before the review body. That's great. I hated putting product names in sound bites too.

I figured it was enough to have the product name throughout the review.  And of course, at the top where the product name is meant to go.