When I'm looking for a new local business to try, the first thing I do is ask my friends and family for their opinions. If they don't have any good suggestions, the next place I turn is (of course) the internet.
For example, I won't even buy a sweater that doesn't have good online reviews–with womens' sizing constantly changing, I need to know I can trust a purchase that could change my whole look!
And most consumers are the same way…
The beauty of online reviews is that they foster a community of people helping one another pick the right brands. Online reviews are there for you to "phone a friend" even if there's no one in sight as you online shop or book an appointment.
Online reviews are at the heart of any small business digital strategy.
Why are online reviews important?
First, let's talk about why online reviews matter for your business. Check out these online review statistics that drive home just how important your business's online reputation can be:
- 93% of people read online reviews before making a purchase.
- 84% of people weigh online reviews the same as they would a word-of-mouth recommendation from friends or family.
- People are willing to pay 22% more for a product or service if the company has a good online reputation.
Now that you know how your online reputation can impact your business's bottom line, let's review some general online review statistics:
- 50% of business owners have seen incorrect information on their online review listings. Plus, 73% of consumers won't trust a local business unless their online listing information is correct. (Don't let your business fall victim to this statistic by using the LocaliQ Free Business Listings Grader to ensure your listings aren't lacking key components!)
- On average, a business needs to have about 40 reviews before they achieve an average star rating.
- However, a few reviews are still better than none as the likelihood of a product getting purchased increases by up to 270% if it gets at least five online reviews.
- Authenticity matters as 62% of consumers say they won't buy from brands that pay for, fake, or otherwise censor reviews.
- Nearly 50% of all internet users claim to post online reviews at least once per month.
- 85% of people think that if an online review is older than three months then it's no longer relevant.
- 45% of review requests were sent through text messages in 2020.
- Emails requesting reviews had an average open rate of 69% in 2020.
- 31% of people claimed to have read more reviews during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The LocaliQ Free Business Listings Grader can help you get more online reviews fast.
Positive online review statistics
Attempting to build a good online reputation means dealing with both good and bad reviews. To start, let's focus on the positive. When it comes to online reviews, it's not all bad. Positive reviews can flow in just as much as neutral or negative ones, and here are a few stats that show how great positive reviews can be:
- Customers are likely to spend 31% more on a business with "excellent" reviews.
- 72% of people say that positive reviews make them trust a local business more.
- 92% of consumers will use a local business if it has at least a 4-star rating.
- 72% of consumers will convert to customers only after reading a positive review.
Yelp online review statistics
82% of users visit review sites when they intend to buy a product or service. When it comes to small business review sites, Yelp is a household name. It's no secret that
After you claim your business on Yelp, make sure you pay attention to your reviews there! Here are some Yelp stats that show why it's so important:
- Yelp has more than 244 million cumulative reviews.
- 77% of Yelp reviews are three stars or higher.
- 48% of Yelp reviews give the full five stars.
- 79% of Yelp searches are done on a mobile device.
- 65% of Yelp reviews are conducted on a mobile device.
- The top three industries to receive reviews on Yelp are shopping, restaurants, and home or local services.
- A one-star increase on Yelp can increase a business's revenue by up to 9%.
- Almost 100% of Yelp's visitors have made a purchase from a business listed on the site.
- Out of five major review sites, 45% of consumers choose Yelp to check before visiting a business.
- 4 out of 5 Yelp customers make a purchase decision within minutes of viewing a business's profile.
Google Business Profile online review statistics
Along with Yelp, a Google Business Profile makes it easy for small businesses to get discovered. On top of this, providing reviews is one of the many benefits of Google Business Profiles. In order to create your Google Business Profile, you'll first want to get familiar with these online review statistics:
- About 64% of people are most likely to check Google Business Profiles for online reviews first before visiting a business.
- If you have over four negative reviews in your Google Business Profile, you can lose up to 70% of your potential customers.
- 56% of actions on Google Business listings are website visits.
- 16% of businesses receive more than 100 calls each month from Google Business Profiles.
- Customers care most about ratings when viewing a Google Business listing.
- Google Business listings with photos are 2x as likely to be viewed as reputable and pull in 35% more clicks.
- When it comes to local search ranking factors, online reviews weigh in about 10% of how high up Google will display your business.
- Google accounts for 58% of all reviews worldwide.
Related: Read our complete guide on Google Business Profile posts to improve your Google listing today!
Facebook online review statistics
You may already be successful at having your business show up in the Facebook News Feed. However, getting Facebook recommendations for your business also takes some finesse. Here are a few reasons why:
- 1 in 3 people on Facebook worldwide use the platform to look for recommendations and reviews.
- Facebook accounts for 50% of total social referrals.
- Facebook online reviews influence 52% of both online and offline purchases.
- 49% of U.S. internet users said they have visited Facebook to check online reviews for local businesses.
- Nearly 50% of B2B decision-makers use Facebook for research when selecting a vendor.
- Next to Google and Yelp, Facebook is the third most popular review site.
Reputation management statistics
Reputation management is the process of monitoring reviews and mentions of your business across the web and responding to them. The online review statistics we reviewed above prove how important it is for your business to maintain its reputation management processes.
Pretty much all businesses get reviews, and unfortunately, getting a mix of both positive and negative ones might be inevitable. However, bad reviews can actually be good for business. In fact, 82% of people look for bad reviews specifically so that they may get a better look at the full picture of what to expect from your product or service.
How you handle those customer complaints, though, is what matters—making your reputation management all that much more important. Here are a few more reputation management statistics that explain why all your online reviews are vital to your business:
- 97% of the people reading reviews will also read your review responses.
- Nearly 40% of people say they're simply looking for an apology from a business after leaving a bad review.
- People spend nearly 50% more money with businesses that respond to their online reviews.
- Customers are 21% more likely to leave a review after a negative experience than after a positive one.
- It takes about 40 positive experiences to undo the impact of just one negative review.
- 86% of people will hesitate to purchase from a business that has negative online reviews.
- Consumers can spend up to 5x longer on a site once they've interacted with bad reviews.
- Allowing consumers to dig into your bad reviews can lead to an 85% increase in conversion rate.
- 96% of unhappy customers won't bother to leave a bad review.
- 67% of customers who leave bad reviews will return if their review gets a speedy response.
- More than half of customers expect businesses to respond to their negative reviews within a week.
- 63% of people say that a business has never responded to their review.
- 94% of consumers say that a bad review has convinced them to avoid a business.
Online review statistics by industry
If you're looking for online review statistics specific to your niche market, look no further!
Whether your small boutique, a startup e-commerce shop, or a small business retailer, these online review stats are for you:
- 40% of shoppers will make a purchasing decision after just reading one to three reviews.
- When reviews are displayed for higher-priced products, their conversion rate increased by 380%. In contrast, reviews shown for lower-priced products increased by 190%.
- Reviews bring in an average 18% sales uplift.
- 90% of shoppers read at least one online review before visiting a business.
An example of online reviews on a product page
Online review statistics for service-based businesses
When it comes to running a service-based business, online reviews are your bread and butter. Check out these numbers to see if they resonate with your own experiences:
- 82% of consumers consult online reviews for local small businesses.
- Reviews are 2x more likely to be an important factor in choosing a local small business over loyalty, and 7x more important than traditional marketing.
- 87% of people say that quality of service is the most important detail when looking at online reviews for service-based business
- 78% also say cost is equally as important.
Personal services
- 36% of people seek online reviews when selecting a salon, whereas 25% of people also look at reviews from fellow professionals in the field.
- 91% of event planners measure the success of their events based on attendee satisfaction reviews.
- High prices and an inability to perform are the two top reasons behind bad online reviews for auto repair shops.
- 80% of automotive retailer reviews are done on Google.
- When researching online reviews, 46% of car shoppers use multiple devices.
- 70% of diners are willing to write a review if asked by a restaurant server or manager.
- 59% of people read online reviews when choosing a restaurant.
- Nearly 60% of people use online reviews when choosing a lawyer, and only 19% of millennials would even consider a lawyer without any online reviews.
- 90% of people said they would still hire a lawyer that had mostly positive reviews even if they had a negative review.
- Business travelers read an average of five reviews, whereas leisure travelers usually read a minimum of six or seven online reviews.
- Travelers also focus on the most recent online reviews, with 78% of them focusing on the newest review listed.
- 96% of customers value online reviews when selecting a residential home services provider.
- For renters, 51% of potential residents expect management to respond to all online reviews.
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