Just 44 Percent Of Local Businesses Have Actually Claimed Their Google My Business Listing

That's 56% of your competitors that aren't making the most of their listing.

While business listings on the major review platforms are totally free, a surprisingly low number of companies really use them.

Although we now understand why customer reviews are so powerful, the majority of businesses apparently don't.

Source: LsaInsider

Reviews Are The 3rd Most Influential Ranking Element For Google's Local 3 Pack

Review signals (amount, diversity, etc.) account for 15.44% of Google's algorithm for local ranking.

Only Google My Business signals, like distance and keywords account for 25.12%, and link signals at 16.53%, are more crucial than reviews as far as ranking aspects go for the local 3 pack.

Source: Moz

If It Has Less Than A 4 Star Ranking, More Than Half Of Customers Won't Utilize A Company

This stat is one of many that show the importance of online rankings. Now that news of consumer fulfillment travels this quick, keeping your consumers happy is more crucial than ever.

57 percent of customers have searched for business with more than 4 stars in 2018, which is up from 48% in 2017.

Furthermore, 11% looked only for businesses with a perfect five star rating.

Source: Brightlocal

54% Of Americans Pay The Most Attention To The Average Star Ranking Of A Local Business

The star score is the first thing customers see. Still, users take notice of other factors too, like the amount, recency, length, and sentiment of reviews. Each of these alone affects more than a third of US customers.

Source: Statista

Negative Reviews Can Improve Conversion By As Much As 85%

It sounds insane, but negative reviews can be a positive driver for users to spend more time on your website. According to online review data, people spend more than 5 times as long on a site when they read negative reviews.

When there are a mix of negatives and positives, more than two thirds of users trust reviews more. If there aren't any unfavorable ones, an overwhelming 95% suspect censorship or fabricated reviews.

Source: Reevoo

61% Of Local Businesses Have An Average Rating Of 4 To 5 Stars

Generally 2 out of 3 companies have great and outstanding scores. Only 5% of companies have a ranking listed below three stars.

Source: Brightlocal

USA Consumers Consider "Product Performance" To Be The Most Helpful Detail In Product Reviews

When people read reviews, they focus on various elements of the shopping experience. However according to online review stats, 60% of them are most interested in the item's performance.

Customer satisfaction, product quality and quality with time are the next couple of considerations for more than 50% of American customers.

Source: Statista

Customer Reviews On Items Are Relied On Almost 12 Times More Than The Makers' Descriptions

Word-of-mouth reviews are miles ahead of the makers' description. Individuals trust other peoples opinions before they ever trust what the manufacturer says. The reason, producers' descriptions are essentially advertisements.

Source: Martech Zone

Reviews Are The Most Crucial Part Of The Purchase Decision For Over 90% Of American Clients

24% of US shoppers consider reviews as 'exceptionally influential'.

To show the value of online reviews and rankings, did you know that 81 percent of consumers will pay more for an item with reviews and those exact same customers are likewise willing to accept slower shipping times for such items.

Source: Turntonetworks

63.6 Percent Of Consumers Check Out Google To Read Reviews Of A Business

Thinking about the last statistic, it comes as a surprise that Yelp (45%) and TripAdvisor (30%) come 2nd and 3rd, leaving Facebook (23%) at the bottom of the list.

When it comes to trust, these online review stats show the general appeal of a website can only go so far.

Source: Review Trackers

67% Of Consumers Admit Reviews Are A "Very Crucial" Factor When Picking A Solution Provider

Reviews have a massive impact on their decision when consumers have to pick a solution provider.

Source: DemandGenReport

Favorable Reviews Motivate 68 Percent Of Consumers To Choose A Local Business

Given that the huge majority of customers read reviews, you would want yours to be appealing to new customers? Keep them short, positive and sweet.

"Kind words can be short and easy to speak, but their echos are truly endless." -Mother Teresa

Source: Brightlocal

52% Of Customers Trust A Product More If It Has Unfavorable Reviews Also

We already discussed the positive and negative reviews and their effect on customers. Nevertheless, all products have their faults, it raises red flags that perhaps the reviews are phony if all of a products reviews are positive. Consumers expect to see some unfavorable reviews.

Source: Capterra