Local business reviews are increasingly important for local industries, especially for local restaurants, stores, and home improvement services (like HVAC). 92% of consumers read reviews for local businesses, and 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations.
Based on numerous recent studies conducted by companies like Bright Local, Spiegel and PEC, we’ve put together the most comprehensive and up-to-date post on local business reviews statistics, breaking down the key findings in an easily digestible manner.
We’ve also designed an infographic highlighting the most impactful stats and facts. Feel free to share it or post it on your site if you find it useful!
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<a href="https://www.pickhvac.com/local-review-statistics/"><img src="https://i.imgur.com/h12iWsC.jpg" alt="Local Business Reviews Statistics Infographic by PickHVAC.com" /></a><br></br>Infographic by: <a href="https://www.pickhvac.com">PickHVAC.com</a>14 Impactful Local Business Reviews Statistics from the Infographic
- 92% of consumers read reviews for local businesses
- 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as personal recommendations
- Consumers read an average of 10 online reviews before feeling able to trust a local business.
- The average consumer spends 13m45s reading reviews before making a decision
- 74% of local businesses have at least one review on Google.
- The average local business has 39 reviews with an average 4.4 stars on Google My Business.
- Every 1-star increase in a Yelp rating leads to a 5-9% increase in revenue.
- 57% of consumers only use businesses with 4 or more review stars.
- 94% say an online review has convinced them to avoid a business.
- 35% say one bad negative review is enough to make them decide not to buy.
- Businesses without 5 stars risk losing 12% of their customers
- 89% of consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews.
- 71% of consumers say they’re more likely to use a business that has responded to their existing reviews.
- 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week.
The Rest of the Talking Points from the Infographic
Top 5 Local Reviews Platform
- Yelp
- TripAdvisor
- Yellow Pages
Top 7 Ways to Ask for a Review
- In person during the sale
- In an email
- Over the phone/In an SMS message
- In exchange for discount/a gift
- On a receipt
- On a business card
- Through social media
What do Customers Pay Attention to When Judging a Review?
- Recency 58%
- Overall star rating 57%
- Quantity of reviews 50%
- Legitimacy 49%
- Business response to reviews 39%
- Length and detail 37%
Consumers’ Next Steps After Reading Positive Reviews
- Visit the business’s website 32%
- Search for more reviews 28%
- Visit the business 16%
- Continue searching for other businesses 12%
- Contact the business 11%
How to Deal with Negative Reviews?
- Respond promptly
- Encourage customer reviews
- Take the issue offline
- Be real and admit your mistakes
- Request that defamatory reviews be removed
- Share reviews with your employees
More on Local Business Reviews
- 48% of consumers only pay attention to reviews written within the past 2 weeks
- 41% of consumers read reviews using mobile app vs. 32% in 2018
- 33% of consumers look at local businesses online every day
- Improving your review star rating by 1.5 could equal 13,000 more leads.
- 82% of consumers read a fake review – vs 74% in 2018.
- The purchase likelihood for a product with five reviews is 270% greater than a product with 0 reviews.
- Google is the fastest-growing reviews platform.
- 63.6 percent of consumers say they are likely to check online reviews on Google before visiting a business
- The average local business has 39 reviews with an average 4.4 stars on Google My Business.
- 89% of consumers read businesses’ responses to reviews.
- 71% of consumers say they’re more likely to use a business that has responded to their existing reviews.
- 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week.
- 82% of consumers read a fake review – vs 74% in 2018.
- 53% of customers expect businesses to respond to negative reviews within a week.
- 94% say an online review has convinced them to avoid a business.
- 35% say one bad negative review is enough to make them decide not to buy.
- Businesses without 5 stars risk losing 12% of their customers
Data Sources:
- Bright Local (bit.ly/bright-local-facts)
- PEC (bit.ly/practical-ecommerce)
- SEngineLand (bit.ly/sengine-land)
- Spiegel (bit.ly/spiegel-facts)
- Fan and Fuel (bit.ly/fan-and-fuel)
- Qualtrics (bit.ly/qualtrics-facts)
