Online reviews are everywhere: social media, Google, Yelp and other industry-specific review sites. While consumers become more reliant on other people’s opinions and experiences, many businesses struggle to keep their review ratings up to at least four stars.
Why do some brands succeed in online review management and others don’t? The answer might be in studying online reputation statistics, particularly research and data about how online review management creates a negative or positive impact on a business.
In this article, we look at reputation management statistics – specifically the latest online review statistics 2021 has added to the mix – to help us understand more about how to get good reviews. We’ll also take a look at the role of review management companies and how they can make online review management more effective for businesses.
Four Key Findings About Online Reviews Statistics 2021
1. The percentage of consumers who read online reviews for local businesses went up from 81 percent in 2019 to 87 percent in 2020 (BrightLocal).
More consumers are using the internet to learn about businesses and other people’s experiences with them. This makes review generation and review management crucial for brands and businesses to increase customer trust and boost leads or revenue.
2. Negative reviews cause 94 percent of consumers to avoid a business (reviewtrackers).
Even one negative review can cost your business a customer. Imagine if you have 10 or more. Business owners often are left clueless on how to respond to negative reviews, but it is imperative that they develop an online reputation management strategy for generating more positive reviews than negative ones and avoid needlessly losing leads and prospects.
Using qualified review management companies to help you respond to negative reviews effectively can be a game changer that can earn back customer trust and turn negative reviews to positive ones.
3. Around 86 percent of consumers would only consider reviews that were written in the last three months. (BrightLocal)
Updated and new reviews are important to most consumers, as evidenced by the numbers in the BrightLocal Local Consumer Review Survey. This is another reason why you need to get online reviews for your business every single day: A steady stream of online business reviews assures your audience that the information on the reviews are current and reliable.
4. Seventy-nine percent of consumers trust online reviews as much as recommendations from family and friends (BrightLocal)
People like reading reviews because they believe that other people’s experiences are authentic and trustworthy. Unlike decades before, people don’t trust traditional advertising that much, as confirmed by a study which states that 3 out of 4 consumers avoid advertising.
Where People Are Writing Online Business Reviews
There are many websites that feature customer reviews, from Facebook to industry-specific sites like TripAdvisor for hotels and Healthgrades for health care providers. Depending on your industry, you need to monitor where your customers are publishing their reviews so you can take immediate action. A great place to start is Google reviews, as it is the go-to search engine for most internet users.
Here are some online review statistics 2021 has to offer on the leading review platforms that most consumers use.
The top three online review sites are (reviewtrackers):
1. Google
Online reputation statistics state that Google accounts for 64 percent of the world’s reviews. This is why your business should register for a Google My Business (GMB) account and ensure that you monitor and respond to your Google My Business reviews consistently. Getting Google My Business reviews also increases your visibility in location-based searches, and you could even show up in the coveted Google Local Pack.
When your business gets good Google reviews, it’s more likely to appear in the Google Local Pack – a section on top of the search results, right under Google Maps, showing users the top three businesses that matched a location-specific search term.
Google reviews can be used for any business, making it a must if you want to be found online. Ranking your business on Google Local Pack also improves your local SEO, which can boost your website’s traffic and lead to more sales, store visits or any call-to-action you have on your landing page.
2. Facebook
Facebook Business reviews makes up 19 percent of global reviews. Most businesses create a Facebook page where customers can leave reviews and indicate a star rating that is prominently displayed on the page and on search engine results pages (SERPs).
With the majority of social media users on Facebook, getting Facebook Business reviews should be part of your review monitoring process. Just like Google reviews, Facebook Business reviews can accommodate any business from any industry, so there’s no reason that it shouldn’t be within your review management scope.
3. TripAdvisor
TripAdvisor is the go-to review platform for the hospitality industry, making up 8.4 percent of the world’s reviews. As this platform is for hotels and restaurants, you don’t need to focus on this if you’re in a different niche. Instead, pick a platform relevant to your industry and include it in your review monitoring process.
If you have a brick-and-mortar store, you can focus on getting more Yelp reviews, which is the fourth-most-popular review site next to TripAdvisor.
Monitoring social media and review platforms can be a tedious task. Hiring a review management company or using a review monitoring service can be a huge time-saver for you and your staff. With a few clicks, a reputation management software allows you to see all reviews and mentions of your brand in one central dashboard.
Review Management and Revenue
So far, we’ve learned from online reviews statistics 2021 edition that reviews increase customer trust and help acquire more leads. In this section, we take a closer look at online reputation management statistics that indicate the impact of online reviews on conversion rates and revenue.
Putting up visible reviews on a web page can increase conversion by 270 percent (Spiegel Research Center).
Displaying positive reviews about a product or service can significantly increase your conversion rate. Shoppers are more inclined to buy when they see happy customers who have bought and used the product. Using a review widget from a review management company like Rize Reviews to prominently display your best reviews on your site is an effective and affordable way to instantly boost leads and sales.
Consumers are four times more likely to make a purchase if a product has at least five reviews (Spiegel Research Center).
This data is encouraging for new businesses who are just getting started. You don’t have to have a hundred reviews to make people buy your product. However, it is important that you get online reviews for your business consistently and at a steady pace. A reputation management company can guide you on how to get good reviews and boost your revenue in the process.
A one-star increase in Yelp reviews rating can result in a 5 to 9 percent increase in revenue (Harvard Business Review)
This concept may not only apply to Yelp reviews, but all online business reviews. It makes sense that increasing your review rating from 3 to 4 stars will have a positive impact on sales and revenue. On average, Google My Business reviews have 4.42 star ratings (BrightLocal), so the important metric is not to hit five stars, but rather to get a higher star rating that reflects truthful and accurate information.
How To Get Good Reviews for Your Business
You might already have a plan to get online reviews for your business, but reading these online review statistics on how consumers write reviews may add insight to your existing strategy. From review generation to review response, these online reputation statistics give you clues on how to get good reviews for your business.
In 2020, 73 percent of consumers have been asked to write a review (BrightLocal).
This figure increased from 2019’s 67 percent, indicating that business owners are taking proactive steps to get customer feedback. Businesses are now making review generation a part of their after-sales marketing process and getting great results. If you haven’t already done so, make it a standard practice to ask your customers to leave reviews on multiple platforms to generate more positive reviews and enjoy the benefits.
Out of the 73 percent who were asked for reviews, 72 percent granted the request and actually wrote reviews (BrightLocal).
This goes to prove that simply encouraging customers to leave a review can make all the difference. The most popular method of asking for customer reviews is via email (45 percent of customers remember this method), at point of sale (34 percent), on a receipt (30 percent) and on social media (26 percent).
When health care providers respond to negative feedback, the rate of patient satisfaction doubles (PatientPop).
It’s a natural reaction for business owners to avoid or ignore negative feedback. This statistic from a health care perspective proves that customers deem a response to their review extremely important and crucial to their customer experience. Crafting a professionally written response to a negative review opens up an opportunity for you to completely change your customer’s experience and win them over from disappointment to delight.
Hotels that respond to TripAdvisor reviews get 12 percent more reviews and an average star rating increase of 0.12 (Harvard Business Review).
According to the study, simply having a manager respond to the review might have alleviated any negative feelings the customer had when writing the review. When management shows care and concern, it resonates with the review author and assures them that the hotel will strive to provide a better experience in the future.
Using Online Review Statistics for Improved Reputation Management
While every business is unique, the well-researched data is indicative of what makes up a highly effective review management strategy that works. When you’re trying to compete with others for better online reviews, any amount of progress or improvement in online review ratings is crucial.
These updated online reviews statistics 2021 provide us with proof that consumers are relying on online reviews before trusting or using a business. It is evident that all business owners need to get more reviews and increase positive reviews to win over more customers and establish a trustworthy brand.
For the best results, you can invest in the services of one of the best review management companies in the business, Rize Reviews.
Rize is a reputation and review management company that helps businesses and brands with reputation management, review monitoring and review generation. Our personalized and hands-on service is the best in the industry, and you can trust that you’ll be working with expert reputation management professionals.
Contact us to get a free demo and improve your review management plan today!
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