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.
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 review 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.
Why Businesses Need Online Reviews
- 98% of people at least ‘occasionally’ read online reviews for local businesses (Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey)
- According to local search experts, review signals make up 17% of Google Local Pack ranking factors (Source: Whitespark, Local Search Ranking Factors Survey)
- 28% of online consumers check business reviews more today than they did before the COVID-19 pandemic. (Source: Software Advice, How Effective Are Companies at Responding to Online Reviews?)
- 82% of consumers will research products online before going in-store to make a purchase. (Source: Bazaarvoice, Why Ratings and Reviews Are Important for Your Business)
How Online Reviews Impact Trust
- 53% of brands and retailers report that online reviews have a positive impact on in-store sales. (Source: Bazaarvoice, Why Ratings and Reviews Are Important for Your Business)
- 94% of online consumers say a negative online review has convinced them to avoid a business. (Source: ReviewTrackers, Online Reviews Statistics and Trends: A 2022 Report by ReviewTrackers)
- 22% of consumers only pay attention to reviews written within the past two weeks, and 26% only read those from the past month. (Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey)
- 62% of consumers say they would stop buying from companies that censor their reviews. (Source: HubSpot, The Critical Role of Reviews in Internet Trust)
- 53% of consumers state that they want to read a mix of positive and negative reviews when making an online purchase. (Source: Trustpilot, 4 Things Every Business Owner Should Know about the State of Reviews)
- A single positive review can increase conversions by 10%, while 100 reviews can lead to a 37% increase. (Source: Bazaarvoice, How to increase review volume)
- 84% of consumers have stopped trusting advertisements, meaning alternative forms of evaluating businesses are all the more important. (Source: Trustpilot, 4 Reasons Why Every Business Needs an Online Reputation Strategy)
- 86% of consumers agree that reading reviews on Tripadvisor makes them feel more confident when making a travel booking. (Source: Tripadvisor, Online Reviews Remain a Trusted Source of Information When Booking Trips, Reveals New Research)
- 83% of consumers agree or somewhat agree that reviews must be recent and relevant in order to care about them. (Source: Podium, 2021 State of Reviews)
Why Businesses Need More Reviews
- Just 3% of consumers would consider using a business with an average star rating of two or fewer stars. (Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey)
- 49% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations from friends and family, and 28% trust online reviews as much as professionally-written articles by topic experts. (Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey)
- 1 in 5 consumers aged 18-24 have less trust in brands today than they did a year ago. (Source: HubSpot, The Critical Role of Reviews in Internet Trust)
- 49% of consumers say that positive consumer reviews feature in their top three purchase influences. (Source: HubSpot, The Critical Role of Reviews in Internet Trust)
- 55% of consumers would prefer to buy a product with a large number of reviews and an average rating instead of a product with a small number of reviews and an excellent rating. (Source: HubSpot, The Critical Role of Reviews in Internet Trust)
- 93% of consumers will read online reviews before making a purchase (Source: Dixa, Reconnecting the Customer Experience)
- On average, consumers expect a business to have 112 reviews before they’ll decide to buy from them. (Source: Salsify, 2019 Consumer Research Report)
- 52% of consumers say they would not book a hotel that doesn’t have reviews. (Source: Reputation Defender, TripAdvisor, Online Reviews Remain a Trusted Source of Information When Booking Trips, Reveals New Research
- 78% of people focus on the most recent reviews when researching travel online. (Source: Tripadvisor, Online Reviews Remain a Trusted Source of Information When Booking Trips, Reveals New Research)
What Star Rating Businesses Should Aim For
- 40% of consumers expect a business to have at least four stars before they consider making a purchase. (Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey)
- 70% of people use rating filters when searching for businesses, with the most common filter being used to only show companies with 4-star ratings and above. (Source: ReviewTrackers, Is A 4.5-Star Rating Better Than 5 Stars?)
- A 0.1% increase in star ratings increases conversions by 25% (Source: Uberall, STUDY: For Brick-And-Mortar Businesses, a Small Increase in Online Star Ratings Boosts Conversion by 25%)
Which Review Sites Matter Most
- 88% of all online reviews come from four review platforms, meaning businesses not focusing on these sites are holding themselves back. (Source: ReviewTrackers, Online Reviews Statistics and Trends: A 2022 Report by ReviewTrackers)
- 63.6% of consumers say they are likely to check reviews on Google before visiting a business location, making it the number one platform for reviews (Source: ReviewTrackers, Google Reviews: The Complete Guide for Businesses)
- Yelp reaches over 142 million consumers monthly and features more than 192 million reviews — businesses can enjoy a 5-9% revenue boost from a one-star increase in their Yelp rating. (Source: Harvard Magazine, HBS Study Finds Positive Yelp Reviews Boost Business)
Why You Should Ask For Reviews
- 87% of people have or are willing to write a review of a business – only 13% say they never would. (Source: Sitejabber, Why Are Reviews Important? Online Reviews Statistics to Know)
- The most common ways local businesses ask for reviews: 1) In an email, 2) On receipts, 3) In person, 4) Via SMS, 5) Via social media. (Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey)
- According to customer reviews research, as much as 70% of reviews come from post-transactional review request emails. (Source: Review Trackers, Asking for Reviews from Customers: The Ultimate Guide)
- 55% of consumers will leave online reviews to help other consumers, 34% do so to help businesses, and 42% do so to get a business’s attention. (Source: Sitejabber, Why Are Reviews Important? Online Reviews Statistics to Know)
Why Businesses Must Respond to Reviews
- 48% of consumers say that brands responding to reviews improves their odds of making a purchase. (Source: Bazaarvoice, Why Ratings and Reviews Are Important for Your Business)
- 80% of people expect reviews to be responded to within 2 weeks. (Source: Sitejabber, Why Are Reviews Important? Online Reviews Statistics to Know)
- 64% of consumers would prefer to buy from a company that is responsive to reviews over one that appears perfect. (Source: HubSpot, The Critical Role of Reviews in Internet Trust)
- A personalized review response can bring back 51% of customers who’ve had a negative experience. (Source: Sitejabber, Why Are Reviews Important? Online Reviews Statistics to Know)
How Fake Reviews Are Threatening Local Businesses
- Google has the highest percentage of potentially fake reviews (10.7%), followed by Yelp (7.1%), Tripadvisor (5.2%) and Facebook (4.9%). (Source: Uberall, The State of Online Review Fraud)
- 66% of consumers say that fake reviews are a “growing problem” or a “major problem.” (Source: Uberall, The State of Online Review Fraud)
- 62% of consumers have a zero-tolerance attitude towards fake reviews, so this is naturally a risky tactic for businesses to engage in. (Source: HubSpot, The Critical Role of Reviews in Internet Trust)
- 62% believe they’ve seen a fake review for a local business in the past year. (Source: BrightLocal, Local Consumer Review Survey)
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!
Jenny looks after the BrightLocal community, through managing our social media channels, connecting with our community, and producing our online webinars.
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