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Online Business Reviews: How Many Do You Really Need?
You probably know that online business reviews are important in attracting customers and gaining their trust. But do you have an idea of the number of reviews your business needs to generate customer trust?
In this article, we’ll discuss how many online business reviews you need on each platform.
If you have an e-commerce site and you want your Google seller rating to show up in Adwords campaigns, you’ll need at least 150 unique reviews with an average of a 3.5-star rating. Having more reviews than your competitors is also helpful.
Another thing to note is that Google tends to add reviews from other websites from your local search listing to Facebook reviews and ratings. So you’ll need to monitor your reviews across all platforms to increase your ‘trustworthiness’ in Google SERP.
Yelp
Yelp is not specific on the number of reviews. Of course, it ranks highly in Google so your Yelp star rating is crucial.
Yelp reviews also appear in Bing’s local search results. Bing is the second largest search engine, after Google.
Again, it’s a numbers game: the more reviews and positive ratings, the better.
There is no specific number or rating needed for Facebook. But everyone who visits your Facebook page can check your reviews (If the review section of your page is enabled). Your Facebook reviews also appear in your local SEO, so you need to make sure you are consistently getting new and quality Facebook reviews.
The Number of Online Business Reviews Needed to Generate Trust
Spiegel Research Centre cited that 73% of users trust a local business after reading positive reviews. In a study published by Bright Local, consumers read an average of 7 reviews before trusting a business.
This indicates that most people will trust your business after reading at least 7 reviews on it. Therefore, it is good to have at least this number of reviews on your website and for Google, Yelp, Facebook, and other platforms that you use.
However, most people are inclined to form an opinion after reading just one review. That one review is not likely to develop customer trust on its own. But people will judge your business based on that review.
Knowing this, if possible, it’s a good idea to place your best reviews at the top of your page, with your very best review being at the very top. People may not have the time or the patience to read all of your reviews and so they may stop reading at the first few reviews.
Based on the information above, your first benchmark should be to produce 7-10 online business reviews on the most popular review sites.
The Number of Online Business Reviews Needed to Drive Traffic and Conversions
In another research study conducted by Spiegel Research Centre, it was found that almost 95% of shoppers read online reviews before making a purchase.
Also, 92% of B2B consumers are more inclined to buy after reading a trusted review.
Circling back to the 10 reviews mentioned above, a small number of reviews is enough to drive traffic to your site. Once your site has reached at least 8 reviews, you will start to see growth in organic search traffic.
And it’s not only quantity that matters but also quality. Every review matters because each one contributes to your quality rating.
Conversion rates rise as you receive more reviews.
How to Get More Online Business Reviews
Here are some easy ways to encourage business reviews:
- Enable ‘Review’ settings on each platform.
- Provide incentives to encourage customers to give feedback.
- You can also enable star ratings on your business pages.
Boost conversions and trust through online business reviews. Make sure you know what criteria each platform needs and you’ll be well on your way to success.
Want to know more about boosting online business reviews and how to win online? Contact us today!