This guide walks you through creating your first editorial review from start to finish. By the end, you’ll have a published review with star ratings, pros and cons, a verdict, and structured data that search engines can read.
Create a New Review #
- In your WordPress admin, go to Reviews → Add New
[SCREENSHOT: The Reviews submenu with Add New highlighted]
You’ll see the WordPress editor with several custom meta boxes below the content area. These are where you’ll enter all the structured review data — ratings, pros/cons, product details, and more.
[SCREENSHOT: Full view of a new review editor showing the Gutenberg content area and meta boxes below]
Write Your Review Content #
The main content area at the top is where you write the body of your review. Use H2 headings for major sections — these automatically generate the Table of Contents sidebar on your published review.
Good sections to include:
- Overview and first impressions
- Detailed feature analysis
- Real-world performance
- How it compares to alternatives
- Who should (and shouldn’t) buy this
Write in your own voice from personal experience. The plugin handles all the structured formatting — you just focus on the content.
Fill In the Review Fields #
Work through each meta box below the content editor:
Review Type #
Select the review type that matches your product category. The default “General Review” type works for any product. Pro users can create custom review types with specific rating categories.
[SCREENSHOT: Review Type selector dropdown in the editor]
Review Ratings #
Rate the product across each category on a 0–5 scale (half-star increments). The overall score is calculated automatically as an average of all category ratings.
Be honest with your ratings — a 3.0 is perfectly acceptable for an average product. Inflated ratings erode reader trust.
[SCREENSHOT: Review Ratings meta box showing category sliders or inputs with star display]
Quick Verdict #
Write 1–2 sentences that summarize your conclusion. This appears prominently at the top of your review. Think of it as the answer to “should I buy this?” — direct and definitive.
[SCREENSHOT: Quick Verdict text field with example text]
Pros & Cons #
Enter your pros and cons, one per line. Be specific — “Great battery life that lasted 2 full days of heavy use” is better than just “Good battery.”
[SCREENSHOT: Pros and Cons meta boxes with example entries]
Final Verdict #
This is your detailed conclusion — a rich text editor where you can write multiple paragraphs with formatting. Cover who the product is for, who should skip it, and what alternatives to consider. Aim for 200+ words.
[SCREENSHOT: Final Verdict WYSIWYG editor with formatted text]
Product Details #
Fill in the product information:
- Product Name — The full product name as you want it displayed
- Product URL — Link to the product page or your affiliate link
- Price — Current price (e.g., “$799” or “$59/year”)
[SCREENSHOT: Product details fields filled in with example data]
CTA Button #
The call-to-action button appears in the review hero section and verdict area. Customize the button text (e.g., “Buy on Amazon →” or “Check Current Price →”). The button links to your Product URL.
[SCREENSHOT: CTA button text field]
FAQ Section #
Add frequently asked questions about the product. Each Q&A pair generates FAQPage schema, which can appear as rich results in Google and is frequently cited by AI tools.
Write each answer as a complete, standalone response — someone reading just that one answer should get a useful, specific reply.
[SCREENSHOT: FAQ meta box with a couple of Q&A pairs entered]
Video Embed #
If you have a video review, paste the YouTube or Vimeo URL. The video will be embedded in your review and generates VideoObject schema.
[SCREENSHOT: Video URL field with a YouTube URL entered]
Sponsored Toggle #
If the product was provided for review or the post contains affiliate links that require disclosure, check the “This is sponsored content” box. This displays your configured disclosure text at the top of the review.
[SCREENSHOT: Sponsored content checkbox]
Set the Featured Image #
Click Set featured image in the right sidebar to add a product image. This image appears in the review hero section and is used for Open Graph and social sharing.
[SCREENSHOT: Featured image panel in the editor sidebar]
Preview and Publish #
Click Preview to see how your review will look to visitors. You’ll see the full structured layout:
- Hero section with product name, image, quick verdict, and CTA button
- Star ratings bar with category breakdowns
- Pros and cons in two columns
- Your review content with a sticky Table of Contents sidebar
- Final verdict
- FAQ section (expandable)
- Author bio
[SCREENSHOT: Published review showing the full front-end layout — hero, ratings, pros/cons, content with TOC, verdict, FAQ]
When everything looks right, click Publish.
What Happens Behind the Scenes #
Once published, Creator Suite automatically generates:
- JSON-LD structured data — Product, Review, AggregateRating, FAQPage, and BreadcrumbList schema
- SEO meta tags — Title, description, and canonical URL (Pro adds Open Graph and Twitter Cards)
- Breadcrumb navigation — Links back to your reviews archive and review type
You can verify the structured data by viewing your page source and searching for application/ld+json, or use Google’s Rich Results Test to check.
Next Steps #
- Create a comparison — See Your First Comparison to compare two products side by side
- Customize appearance — Go to Creator Suite → Settings → Appearance to adjust colors and fonts
- Import content faster — See Importing Content with JSON to learn how to paste structured JSON directly into the editor
