Write a recommendation people actually believe
Five sentences for an honest product recommendation, how long a note should be, and how to say what you do not know. A structure you can reuse.
9 October 2026 · 6 min read
Plenty of recommendations read like ad copy because they describe the product and say nothing about the person recommending it. "Amazing lamp, love it, link below" could have been written by someone who never switched it on.
A recommendation people believe is a short, specific paragraph a stranger could check. Below: five sentences, a length to aim for, how to admit what you do not know, and where the disclosure goes. Every example is invented, so copy the shape and swap in your own facts.
What a recommendation is for
It lets a stranger borrow your experience so they do not have to buy blind. They are not asking whether the product is good. They are asking whether you have used it, and whether you would tell them if it let you down.
So the useful parts can be checked: how long you have had it, what went wrong, who it suited. "Incredible quality" cannot be checked. "The zip has survived a year in a backpack" can.
On a MyBase page this has a natural home. Every product on your page can carry a note in your own words. The box is labelled "Why you swear by it", it is optional, and it works on Vault picks too.
The five sentences
Write five short sentences in this order, one each.
- Why you chose it. The real reason, including the problem you were trying to fix.
- What it is. What it does, in the words you would use to a friend. The name, photo and price are already on the card, so do not just repeat them.
- Who it is for. The person who will be glad they bought it.
- Who it is not for. The sentence many recommendations leave out.
- What you noticed over time. Something you could only know by living with it.
Put together, they read like this. The note and the product are invented, so read it for the shape:
"I chose it because my desk was dark after five and I kept squinting at the screen. It is a gooseneck desk lamp with a warm and a cool setting. It suits anyone who works late at a small desk. If you want something to pack in a bag, skip it: the base is heavy. Four months in, the arm has not drooped, and the touch dial is the one part that feels cheap."
Sentence four does the most work. A reader who sees you name the person who should not buy it is more likely to believe the other four, because you have shown you can say no. If you cannot name anyone it is wrong for, it may read as selling rather than recommending. Sentence five is the other test: you cannot write it on day one.
How long it should be
Five short sentences, about the size of the example above, and never past 600 characters, which is the most a MyBase note holds. Treat 600 as a ceiling, not a target.
Your note shows up in two places. On a shelf card it sits under the price in small type and is cut after three lines, which on a phone can be little more than the first sentence. The whole note opens on the product page, under "Why they picked it". So write the first sentence to work on its own, and open with your reason, since the card already shows the name. Sentences four and five are for the visitor who opens the product.
Anything longer than a short paragraph is a review, and a review belongs wherever you already publish long things. Let the note be the short version.
When you paste a product link, MyBase fills in whatever the shop publishes, such as the name, brand and image, and you can always type the rest. It never touches your note, so the shop's words and yours stay apart.
How to say what you do not know
Say where your knowledge stops, and a reader has more reason to trust what is inside the line. Three sentences you can lift:
- About time: "I have used it for three weeks, so I cannot tell you how it ages."
- About scope: "I only tried the large size."
- About comparison: "I have not tried the alternatives, so I cannot say it beats them."
Do not borrow the maker's claims to fill a gap. If you have not tested the battery, repeating the number from the box makes it sound as if you did.
For a product you have not used at all, skip the confident note. A MyBase page can show a Wishlist shelf, described as "Products they're considering next", which is the honest place for something you have your eye on. Tap the heart on a Vault or Discover product to put it there. For a product from anywhere else, add it once you have used it, or start its note with "Not tested yet."
Words that give you away
Readers have seen "game changer", "obsessed" and "you need this" in ads before. The words carry no information and could describe any product. Swap each for a detail you could be held to:
| Instead of | Write something checkable |
|---|---|
| "Game changer" | "I stopped carrying a second charger." |
| "Obsessed with this" | "I have reached for it every morning for two months." |
| "Perfect for everyone" | "Good if you cook most nights. Skip it if you do not." |
One more tell: a note that could be pasted into the shop's own listing is the shop's sentence, not yours.
Where the disclosure sits
Where a visitor sees it before they tap, in plain words. Not in a footer and not behind a "more" link. If a link can earn you a commission, say so in the same breath: "Affiliate link: I earn a commission if you buy through it."
On MyBase, a shelf card cuts the note after three lines, so a closing sentence is not seen until the visitor opens the product page. Two ways to put the disclosure where it is seen first. Open the note with the words: "Affiliate link. I chose it because my desk was dark after five and I kept squinting at the screen." Or write it in a section note, which sits with the shelf's heading and is shown in full. MyBase also shows a general notice lower on your page, under your shelves. It covers affiliate links only and does not replace your own sentence. Our disclosure audit covers all of it, including gifted and sponsored products.
Be exact about what earns. A product you add yourself, with your own affiliate link, can earn you a commission. A pick from the Vault, our curated catalog, links to the shop's own page with no affiliate link of yours, so on its own it earns you nothing. A gifted product or a sponsorship still needs saying either way. The rules differ by country, so check yours. This is general information, not legal advice. Our post on how to make money recommending products covers how the links pay.
When to update or retire a recommendation
A note you wrote in spring can be wrong by autumn. When what you noticed changes, edit the note and say what changed rather than quietly rewriting it: "Update after six months: the strap has started to fray." When you would not recommend the product today, remove it. You can edit or remove any product you added yourself, and an empty slot beats a pick you no longer believe in.
Start with one
Pick the product people ask you about most and write its five sentences.
When you are ready for a page of your own, claim your handle. To see what a page can hold, look at the features page. For the page around the notes, read our guide to a link in bio that converts.
FAQ
How long should a product recommendation be?
Five short sentences, about the size of the example above. A MyBase note holds up to 600 characters, but a shelf card shows only the first three lines, so make the first sentence count and let the rest be there for anyone who opens the product. If you have more to say, put it in a post or a video and let the note be the short version.
Where does the affiliate disclosure go?
Where a visitor sees it before they tap. A MyBase shelf card shows only the first lines of a note, so open the note with the disclosure or put it in a section note. The general notice lower on the page does not replace your own sentence. This is general information, not legal advice.
Is it okay to recommend something I have only used for a week?
Yes, if you say so. "I have used it for a week" is a complete and honest first line. What costs trust is implying a year of use you lack.
Will writing notes get me more clicks?
We do not know, because we have no data on it and will not guess at a number. The case for notes is trust: they show a visitor that a real person used the thing. Write them for that reason and judge the rest by your own results.