Why Your Business Needs To Get Online Reviews
Online Reviews are not just for Restaurants & why your business Needs to get Reviews
Reviews For Hugos Manly in Google Search

8 spots for Hugos Manly on Front Page of Google. Do you see how Reviews show up in a Google Search?
Online Reviews are so important to business with a website.
A lot of businesses are blasé when it comes to the value of reviews believing they only for Restaurants & Cafes. Online Reviews will benefit any business
Although many business owners take it for granted, reviews are so vital for your business. So important, that around 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as they trust personal recommendations from their friends
These Numbers Make A Compelling Case For Business To Get Online Reviews
- For consumers, online reviews and customer testimonials are incredibly influential. 90% of consumers say that reviews influence their purchasing decisions…
- Harvard Business School found that a one-star increase in your Yelp rating can lead to a 9% increase in revenue… – http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Pages/item.aspx?num=41233
- A report in the Economic Journal found that an increase of half a star on Yelp meant a restaurant was much more likely to be full at peak times… – https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2012/sep/02/ratings-boost-restaurants
- In a BrightLocal survey, 60% reported reading a review for a restaurant before they went… https://www.brightlocal.com/learn/local-consumer-review-survey/
- A half-star improvement on Yelp’s 5-star rating makes it 30 to 49% more likely that a restaurant will sell out seats during peak hours. – http://newscenter.berkeley.edu/2012/09/04/yelp-reviews-boost-restaurant-business/
- 68% of restaurant owners in the US actively monitor and manage reviews on multiple review sites, and 57% of consumers say they will avoid a business that has negative reviews and ratings…
- According to eMarketer, 88% of Internet users read online reviews to determine the quality of a local business…
- According to Nielsen, 68% of consumers trust online opinions regarding products and services…
- Over 50% of consumers often or always check out online reviews, while only 34% seek out information on discounts and pricing… – https://www.reviewtrackers.com/online-reviews-survey/
- 69.9% of consumers read reviews at the beginning of, and during, the research phase. By comparison, only 4.1% read reviews at the stage where they’ve already made an initial choice and are looking to double-check it. – https://www.reviewtrackers.com/online-reviews-survey/
- 92% of buyers regularly or occasionally rely on reviews when making a local buying decision… – https://ducttapemarketing.com/local-business-reviews/
Online Reviews are not just for Restaurants & why your business Needs to get Reviews
It’s easy to fall into the trap; this only works for consumers looking to find a restaurant to eat at. The last time I looked Consumers are people & people buy things.
A couple of years ago a client asked me for help in purchasing a CRM Solution. He gave me a list of featured which needed to work with the marketing we were doing for his company. As these were Big Ticket Machinery, selling for over a $100 K, so they were not a 5 minute sale.
He wanted a CRM Solution so Sales People could follow up & help nurture the Sales Leads we generated for them.
So how did Reviews helped me to Shortlist the Right CRM Solution for my Client?
Rather than search for CRM Solutions & I did search for CRM Reviews.
Did I recommend a CRM Solution just because of a review?
Of Course not but I was able to compile a handy list from actual users. What they like & weren’t so happy with.
Fortunately, there’re plenty of Sites offering Reviews of CRM Solutions Like Capterra.

Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com Michael Luca Harvard Business School
Do online consumer reviews affect restaurant demand? I investigate this question using a novel dataset combining reviews from the website Yelp.com and restaurant data from the Washington State Department of Revenue. Because Yelp prominently displays a restaurant’s rounded average rating, I can identify the causal impact of Yelp ratings on demand with a regression discontinuity framework that exploits Yelp’s rounding thresholds. I present three findings about the impact of consumer reviews on the restaurant industry: (1) a one-star increase in Yelp rating leads to a 5-9
Reviews, Reputation, and Revenue: The Case of Yelp.com Michael Luca Harvard Business School
http://www.hbs.edu/faculty/Publication%20Files/12-016_a7e4a5a2-03f9-490d-b093-8f951238dba2.pdf
Michael Lura found a one-star increase in Yelp rating leads to a 5-9% increase in revenue

Photo by Perry Grone on Unsplash
People Like to Give Online Reviews To Share Their Experiences & Their Opinions
Most people ask their friends & colleagues when they’re making important decisions. 88% Of us Trust Online Reviews As Much As Personal Recommendations
Reviews build trust, so it helps to make your offer more believable…
Financial Services and Insurance Are Turning To Online Reviews To Show They Are Trusted

69.9% of consumers read reviews in the beginning of, and during, the research phase
By comparison, only 4.1% read reviews at the stage where they’ve already made an initial choice and are looking to double-check it. – https://www.reviewtrackers.com/online-reviews-survey/
Let’s take a look when we do A Search in Google for Small Business Loans

If we look down this page, we’ll find
Lets Click over to Prospa’a Website

As you can see on Prospa Website they are using TrustPilot to Verify their online Reviews. And their last review was added 2 hours ago.
So lets quickly check out their TrustPilot Page

Looking at Prospa Page on TrustPilot, if you went & read all their reviews, I think you would convinced fairly quickly , they are doing a good job for their customer.
Why They Use TrustPilot
- Gain the Google seller rating ★★★★★ which increase’s CTR by 10% and helps reduce CPC by 5-14.5%…
- Increase SERPS through Trustpilot’s high domain authority to create confidence in search and organic CTR…
- Gain rich snippet stars ★★★★★ in organic search to drive CTR to 5 key landing pages…
- Collecting product reviews for onsite conversions and to increase SEO…
- By having Trustpilot branding and positive reviews it has proven this increases conversion on average by 13%…
- Collecting feedback will help improve the service you provide by rescuing unhappy customers…
- Use Trustpilot branding and review content in email marketing to drive CTR and conversion…
Online Reviews Will Boost Your Search Rankings
Getting your first Review seems the hardest thing to get. But once you start getting these reviews, it gets easier to get more reviews.
It’s expected to compare & look at reviews to gain insights on how you delivered on your promise.
Getting Reviews will create user-generated content (UGC) UGC, which people become passionate to showoff
Online reviews give honest feedback from people using these products or services.
Getting your Gold Stars to show up in Google Search SERPs (search engine results page) will certainly help you stand out from your competition.
For consumers, online reviews and customer testimonials are incredibly influential. 90% of consumers say that reviews influence their purchasing decisions.
The take away for any businesses is – Make your business as visible and available as possible, so people want to write reviews.
If you need help with Your Implementation of Online Reviews Or Digital Marketing, Then Talk to Rowan
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