Are you a new book blogger? Look no further – I have the go-to guide for you! Writing a book review in a blog post format isn’t that much different from writing your standard Goodreads review or book report, but there are a few additional steps you need to take to make sure your review is truly complete. Check out the process I use for creating book review blog content.

(This is a prompt I gleaned from “101 Blog Post Ideas” by Jo Linsdell.)

Create a SEO friendly title.

First things first, your blog posts needs a title. Keep it short, sweet, and to the point, and follow the same format for all book reviews on your blog. You want this to be a title that will pop up on Google when someone is looking for reviews of this book. My go-to format is [Title] by [Author] Review, but depending on what your style is, there might be more information you want to include, such as illustrator for picture books or narrator for audiobooks.

Write an intro.

Your intro can be anywhere from a few sentences to a few paragraphs, but shouldn’t be the full review. Some folks tag this onto the review itself, but I provide it in the first part of my post. This is your space to introduce the book and perhaps include how it was brought to your intention. For best SEO practices, it’s great to include the name of the book itself and the author here.

Add a disclaimer.

If you’re going to include affiliate links in your post, a disclaimer is a must. A typical disclaimer will read along the lines of: “Note: This post contains affiliate links. When you click on and/or purchase from some links, [information on where the money goes].”

Include the summary and any other information your readers may find relevant.

Head to Amazon, Goodreads, or the collateral provided to you by the publisher, blog tour company, author, etc. to include a summary for your readers. This is a must in any book review. After all, if your readers were accessing your review on Goodreads or Amazon, the summary would be right there. It needs to be right there on your blog, too. Some bloggers also include information such as page count, genre, intended audience by age, publisher, content warnings, etc.

Write an honest review.

Now it’s time to write your honest review. Honesty can be brutal for some, and gentle for others, but you should always speak your truth. You can retell the summary in your own words, but make sure to elaborate and add your own thoughts, opinions, and feelings about the book. If you received an ARC, you can also thank whoever provided you with it. Try to keep it spoiler free, or at least put spoilers under a tag.

Include a rating.

A rating is a must for anyone who might come across your blog and skim it for some brief insight. Most choose a five star system, but if you have your own rating system, that’s okay too. If you want to include half stars, it’s your right.

Include any collateral provided by a blog tour company, the author, etc.

If you are working with a blog tour company or were sent the ARC from the author, they may have sent you HTML or graphics to include in the post. Make sure you include whatever is required or whatever fits with your blog’s theme.

Sprinkle your affiliate links throughout.

If you have an affiliate link for this title, pop it in where the title is mentioned. I prefer to link in obvious “Buy it here” headings, though you might want to include it directly in the text. If this is part of a series, you may want to link to previous books in the series or the series as a whole – or to the author’s Amazon page.

Link back to any relevant social media posts or profiles.

If provided with it or if you choose to, link back to any of the author’s social media or website links. I also suggest embedding any bookstagram photos you’ve taken of this book, your Goodreads review, etc. One thing to note: if your Goodreads review is word-for-word the same as your blog review, don’t post it first! It will harm your blog’s SEO score since it seems like plagiarism or a repeat of the same exact text. (Of course, sharing the summary can do this too… But understandably the Amazon link will pop up before your blog post anyway.)

Link back to any relevant blog posts.

Link back to any other book reviews you might bring up in this post, such as other books by the author or previous books in a series. I don’t always do this, but it’s a great practice. You might also want to link back to any other relevant posts about how you write reviews or rate books.

Add anything else that is on brand for you or will draw people to your site.

You might have a schtick or gimmick that makes your blog yours. For me, I include book club questions. For popular books with television adaptations, I might include a blurb on that as well. If you have something unique that will draw people to your website who might be Googling “It Ends With Us book club questions” or “Bridgerton book vs. show” then capitalize on it and include it in your posts.

Add graphics.

Graphics not only look pretty but make your blog more Pinterest friendly. Add some graphics to your post. You can include photos you’ve taken, images you’ve created on Canva, etc.

Consider adding a call to action.

You might want to add a question or a draw for people to comment on your post. You can ask, “Did you read x? What were your thoughts?” or, “I didn’t enjoy this romance novel. Can you suggest a better one?”

Add keywords and a meta description.

Use a service such as Yoast to include another keyword and meta description. Be sure to include that keyword or phrase in your meta description. The meta description is the blurb that will show up on Google. Sometimes I find Google just shows part of my post anyway, but this can be helpful.

Post.

It’s time to show your book review baby to the world! Either press “Publish” or schedule your post ahead of time.

Promote on social media.

Unless you already have a following, the views and comments won’t roll in on their own. Promote your post on social media. Perhaps you have your blog set up to automatically publish, or maybe you do it manually. Sometimes I include a hashtag in the title to make things simpler for me when my post auto-publishes.

Share with anyone you want or need to.

You might send to friends, but you definitely want to link back to a blog tour company or contributor if you collaborated on this post. For glowing reviews, perhaps you may want to tag the author, but it’s okay if you don’t. Be aware that many authors search their name and could find your post anyway.

Keep up with replies.

Finally, the replies! Replies help with your SEO. Make sure to answer replies, even if it’s with a simple, “Thanks for visiting my site!”