Want to Ruin Your Business? Disregard Customer Reviews

by | Jun 30, 2020 | Business Strategy, Reputation Management

Why Getting Positive Reviews Is Critical
Results from a survey conducted by BrightLocal illuminate the importance of customer reviews for businesses:

  • 82% of consumers read online reviews for local businesses, with 52% of 18-54-year-olds saying they “always” read reviews.
  • The average consumer reads 10 reviews before they feel comfortable trusting a business.
  • Only 53% of people would consider using a business with less than four stars.
  • The average consumer spends 13 minutes and 45 seconds reading reviews prior to making a decision.
  • Among consumers that read reviews, 97% read businesses’ responses to reviews.
  • 90% of consumers used the internet to find a local business in the last year, with 33% looking every day.

While these statistics speak for themselves, there are other compelling reasons why you should always invest in cultivating positive customer reviews.

Customers Base Buying Decisions on Reviews

Peer-to-peer recommendations are among the most influential. People trust feedback more when it comes from their peers. After all, their peers have nothing to gain by making a recommendation, whereas they perceive businesses as being self-promotional 100% of the time.

Reviews are peer-to-peer recommendations customers can get even if they do not personally know anyone who has used your services. For this reason, they rely heavily on reviews when making purchasing decisions. Too many negative reviews can drive customers away.

More Positive Reviews Equal a Better Search Engine Ranking

Search engine algorithms analyze the number of reviews your business receives. Much like customers, search engines consider companies with a high number of reviews as being legitimate. The more reviews your brand has, the better your search engine ranking.

In addition, customer feedback on social media and feedback on consumer review websites generate more traffic to your website. This surge in traffic also improves your website’s ranking in search engine results.

Reviews Give You Unfiltered Insight

People feel emboldened by the relative anonymity that their computer or mobile device offers them when talking about the experience they had with a company’s products or services. As a result, they are brutally honest while leaving online reviews, whereas they may shy away from in-person confrontation.

By receiving honest, no-holds-barred feedback, you get unfiltered insight that can help you improve your products, services or the way your front-line employees interact with customers. If you take the feedback seriously and work to make these improvements, you set your business up for long-term success.