As marketers, we understand how crucial a positive online reputation is, but, we know it can be a little more difficult to sell the need to your clients.
That’s why we’ve created this ultimate list of online review statistics to help you demonstrate to clients and prospects why they need to put their reputation first – complete with free-to-use images to add to your own sales collateral.
Stats are pulled from our own extensive research, as well as trusted external sources to provide all the facts you need to prove to clients:
- Why they need to invest in online reputation management
- How many reviews they need, and the star ratings they need
- The benefits to be gained from monitoring, growing, and responding to reviews
And, if you wanted a helping hand to build a 5-star reputation, our Reputation Manager can save you time and effort by managing all of your clients’ online reviews. Find out how it works now.
Statistics: How Reviews Impact Rankings
86% of consumers read reviews for local businesses (including 95% of people aged 18-34). [Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]
Review ratings are the biggest driver of clicks in local SERPs. [Source: BrightLocal, Local Services Ads Click Study]
A positive reputation online helps customers trust businesses, converts searchers into leads, and boosts local search rankings. [BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]
According to experts, review signals make up 15% of Google local pack ranking factors. [Source: Moz, Local Search Ranking Factors Survey]
Statistics: How Online Reviews Impact Trust
91% of 18-34-year-olds trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations. [BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]
Including reviews on your website makes searchers see the business as more trustworthy. [BrightLocal, How Online Reviews Impact Landing Page Conversion]
40% of consumers only take into account reviews written within the past 2 weeks. [BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]
Statistics: How Much Time Online Reputation Management Takes
The average local marketer spends 17% of their time on online reputation management. [BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]
50% of local marketers can’t put more effort into their online reputation due to a lack of time. [BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]
76% of local marketers plan to spend more time on online reputation management in the next 12 months. [BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]
Statistics: Why Businesses Need More Reviews
Consumers read an average of 10 online reviews before feeling able to trust a local business. [BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]
The purchase likelihood for a product with five reviews is 270% greater than a product with 0 reviews. [Spiegel Research Center, How Online Reviews Influence Sales]
74% of local businesses have at least one review on Google. Hotels, restaurants, and bars have the most. [BrightLocal, Google Reviews Study]
The average local business has 39 reviews on Google My Business. [BrightLocal, Google Reviews Study]
Businesses ranking in Google’s local positions 1-3 have an average of 47 reviews, while businesses in positions 7-10 have 38 reviews. [BrightLocal, Google Reviews Study]
Statistics: What Average Star Rating Businesses Should Aim For
57% of consumers only use businesses with 4 or more review stars. [BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]
Having a 5-star rating earns a business 39% more clicks from Google Local than having a 1-star rating. [BrightLocal, Impact of Reviews and Ratings on Click-Through Rates]
Going from a 3-star rating to a 5-star rating gets a business 25% more clicks from Google Local Pack. [BrightLocal, Impact of Reviews and Ratings on Click-Through Rates]
Improving your review star rating by 1.5 could equal 13,000 more leads. [Location3, Positive Google Reviews Improve Paid Search Conversion Rates]
The average Google Reviews star rating is 4.42 stars. Senior living services, car dealerships, and hotels have the lowest ratings. [BrightLocal, Google Reviews Study]
Only 5% of businesses have a Google average star rating below 3 stars, while 61% have 4-5 stars. [BrightLocal, Google Reviews Study]
Every 1-star increase in a Yelp rating leads to a 5-9% increase in revenue. [Harvard Business School, Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com]
Statistics: Which Review Sites Matter Most
Local marketers’ favorite review sites: 1) Google, 2) Facebook, 3) Yelp, 4) TripAdvisor, 5) Yellow Pages. [BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]
Businesses using TripAdvisor receive the highest number of new reviews. [BrightLocal, Comparison of Local Review Sites]
Google is the fastest-growing reviews platform. [BrightLocal, Comparison of Local Review Sites]
Between 2015-2016, Google reviews grew by 278%. [BrightLocal, Comparison of Local Review Sites]
Statistics: How to Get More Reviews
70% of consumers that are asked to leave a review go on to write one. [BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]
44% of women have never been asked to leave an online review for a business, compared to just 25% of men. [BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]
Statistics: Why Businesses Must Respond to Reviews
89% of consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews. [BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]
45% of consumers say they’re more likely to visit a business that responds to their negative reviews. [ReviewTrackers, Online Reviews Survey]
53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week. [ReviewTrackers, Online Reviews Survey]
When hotels start responding to reviews on TripAdvisor, they receive 12% more reviews, and ratings increase by 0.12 stars on average. [Harvard Business Review, Study: Replying to Customer Reviews Results in Better Ratings]
When healthcare practices address a patient’s negative feedback, patient satisfaction doubles. [PatientPop, The Patient Perspective 2019: Online Reputation Survey]
50% of consumers that leave restaurant reviews expect responses from the business at least ‘sometimes’. [GatherUp, Online Reviews Study: Restaurants and Reviews]
Statistics: Why Fake Reviews Must Be Managed
The most difficult reputation management task is identifying and removing fake reviews. [BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]
58% of businesses have received fake reviews. [BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]
The post 35 Online Review Statistics You Need in 2019 appeared first on BrightLocal.
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