The 40 Online Reviews Statistics You Need in 2020

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 reviews 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 – updated for April 2020.

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:

1. Why they need to invest in online reputation management
2. How many reviews they need, and the star ratings they need
3. 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.

Why Businesses Need Online Reviews

• 82% of consumers read reviews for local businesses. [Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]

• According to experts, review signals make up 15% of Google local pack ranking factors. [Source: Moz, Local Search Ranking Factors Survey]

• The most valuable local marketing services: 1) GMB optimization, 2) On-site optimization, 3) Reputation management, 4) Citation management, 5) Website design. [Source: BrightLocal, Local Search Industry Survey]

How Online Reviews Impact Trust

• A positive reputation online helps customers trust businesses, converts searchers into leads, and boosts local search rankings. [Source: BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]

• Including reviews on your website makes searchers see the business as more trustworthy. [Source: BrightLocal, How Online Reviews Impact Landing Page Conversion]

• 48% of consumers only pay attention to reviews written within the past 2 weeks. [Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]

• Review ratings are the biggest driver of clicks in local SERPs. [Source: BrightLocal, Local Services Ads Click Study]

What’s Holding Businesses Back From Managing Their Reputation

• The average local marketer spends 17% of their time on online reputation management. [Source: BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]

• 50% of local marketers can’t put more effort into their online reputation due to a lack of time. [Source: BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]

• 76% of local marketers plan to spend more time on online reputation management in the next 12 months. [Source: BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]

Why Businesses Need More Reviews

• Consumers read an average of 10 online reviews before feeling able to trust a local business. [Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]

• The purchase likelihood for a product with five reviews is 270% greater than a product with 0 reviews. [Source: 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. [Source: BrightLocal, Google Reviews Study]

• The average local business has 39 reviews on Google My Business. [Source: 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. [Source: BrightLocal, Google Reviews Study]

• The average consumer spends 13 minutes and 45 seconds reading reviews before making a decision. [Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]

What Star Rating Businesses Should Aim For

• Just 53% of people would consider using a business with fewer than 4 stars. [Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]

• Having a 5-star rating earns a business 39% more clicks from Google local results than having a 1-star rating. [Source: 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. [Source: BrightLocal, Impact of Reviews and Ratings on Click-Through Rates]

• Improving your review star rating by 1.5 could equal 13,000 more leads. [Source: 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. [Source: BrightLocal, Google Reviews Study]

• Only 5% of businesses have a Google average star rating below 3 stars, while 61% have 4-5 stars. [Source: BrightLocal, Google Reviews Study]

• Every 1-star increase in a Yelp rating leads to a 5-9% increase in revenue. [Source: Harvard Business School, Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com]

Which Review Sites Matter Most

• Local marketers’ favorite review sites: 1) Google, 2) Facebook, 3) Yelp, 4) TripAdvisor, 5) Yellow Pages. [Source: BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]

• Businesses using TripAdvisor receive the highest number of new reviews. [Source: BrightLocal, Comparison of Local Review Sites]

• Google is the fastest-growing reviews platform. [Source: BrightLocal, Comparison of Local Review Sites]

• Between 2015-2016, Google reviews grew by 278%. [Source: BrightLocal, Comparison of Local Review Sites]

Why You Should Ask For Reviews

• 76% of consumers that are asked to leave a review go on to write one. [Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]

• Consumers that write reviews for local businesses wrote an average of 9 in 2019. 18-34-year-olds write twice as many reviews as people aged 55+. [Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]

• The most common ways local businesses ask for reviews: 1) In person, 2) Via email, 3) Over the phone, 4) On receipts, 5) Via SMS. [Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]

Why Businesses Must Respond to Reviews

• 45% of consumers say they’re more likely to visit a business that responds to their negative reviews. [Source: ReviewTrackers, Online Reviews Survey]

• 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week. [Source: ReviewTrackers, Online Reviews Survey]

• Among consumers that read reviews, 97% read businesses’ responses to reviews. [Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey]

• When healthcare practices address a patient’s negative feedback, patient satisfaction doubles. [Source: PatientPop, The Patient Perspective 2019: Online Reputation Survey]

• 50% of consumers that leave restaurant reviews expect responses from the business at least ‘sometimes’. [Source: GatherUp, Online Reviews Study: Restaurants and Reviews]

• When hotels start responding to reviews on TripAdvisor, they receive 12% more reviews, and ratings increase by 0.12 stars on average. [Source: Harvard Business Review, Study: Replying to Customer Reviews Results in Better Ratings]

How Fake Reviews Are Threatening Local Businesses

• 58% of businesses have received fake reviews. [Source: BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]

• The most difficult reputation management task is identifying and removing fake reviews. [Source: BrightLocal, Online Reputation Management Survey]

• Fake reviews caused the average American consumer to waste an average of $125 in 2019 while shopping. [Source: Trustpilot, The critical role of reviews in Internet trust]

We hope our list of online reviews statistics is useful in setting your online reputation management strategy. If you have any questions about managing your online reviews, or wanted to share any useful research, please let us know in the comments!

The post The 40 Online Reviews Statistics You Need in 2020 appeared first on BrightLocal.