UPDATE:  Listen in as I talk to PR pros about this topic on Blog Talk Radio!

Let me first start with the caveat before I give my opinion, that when I refer to "separate review blog" in this post, I am talking about one that is created in addition to an established blog.  There are a lot of bloggers that choose to only do a review blog and I think that's awesome too.

I've seen a lot of bloggers with an established blog, an engaged audience, and a defined voice suddenly create a separate review blog.  In fact, I've even considered doing the same myself.  However, at the end of the day, I think it's a bad idea if you already have an established blog.

Why?

Let me list the reasons.

1. If you already have an engaged audience that relates to you, why not weave the reviews and recommendations into what is already an ongoing conversation?


2. Nevermind the cost associated with creating another blog.  I know some have created one based on stipulations to review a specific product, but after the hosting costs over time along with the time you invest as an individual, you might find that it'd be cost effective to just go out and buy the product yourself and review on your main blog.


3. The brands and PR firms want to be part of your conversation.  The best product reviews are those that are executed in the blogger's own voice.  If you create a separate review blog, clearly you're still writing it, but new readers won't get a taste of your voice in the context of your life.  They'll get it in the context of your opinions of other brands.


4. Long-term, weaving your reviews within your main blog is a good idea for search engine optimization (SEO) reasons.  If you've got an established blog, chances are you're working towards building your readership and in turn your Google page rank, Alexa rank, Technorati, etc will fall in line.  When you start a review blog, you're starting the whole process from scratch.  So really, less people have the opportunity to gain value from your blog as a result.


5. Monetization.  By having a separate review blog, you're diluting your traffic and if you're hoping to monetize through advertisements, you're doing your potential income an injustice.  Most ad networks pay on CPM, or payment per 1000 impressions.  If those impressions are split between your main blog and review blog...well...I'm sure you can do the math.

Again, if your main blog IS a review blog that is a whole different ballgame.  I'm talking about the downside of maintaining two separate blogs at the same time.

Still want to have a separate review blog?  Try to set up a url within your main blog for example:  http://yoursite.com/reviews.  In wordpress you can do this simply by setting up a parent category.  While having a separate review blog can glean short-term gains, in my opinion, the long-term consequences should be considered as well.

Related articles by Zemanta

• Check page rank of multiple website with bulk PageRank checker (shoutmeloud.com)


• ReviewMyWeb: Free SEO Competitiveness Tool (davefleet.com)


• Top Ten SEO Tactics for PR Professionals (socialmediatoday.com)


• 5 Tips for Getting a Blogger To Review Your Product | David Risley dot com (menson.wordpress.com)


• How You Might View Bloggers (chrisbrogan.com)


• 8 Ways to Use Blogging as a Social Marketing Tool by Dana Lynn Smith (bookmarketingbuzz.com)