28 Surprising Stats That Prove The Power Of Online Reviews [2022]

We’ve all heard how important online reviews on Yelp, Google, and other platforms are to the success of any business. Still, countless brands aren’t taking the action necessary to build a great review and reputation management strategy designed to grow revenue, enhance the customer experience, and increase loyalty.

Yes, these strategies do take work. However, they pay off more than you can imagine. Not only will a great review management process positively impact your bottom line. As more brands invest heavily into their own review management strategies, starting or up-leveling now will keep you well ahead of the competition. After all, who wants to be left behind?

Still not fully convinced? Don’t take our word for it. Read these data-backed online review statistics that support the growing need for every brand to implement strong review management now!

Stats On How Reviews Impact Consumers

Consumers are reading online reviews to make decisions about your brand. Today, consumers write reviews to engage with brands and to share their experiences with other people looking to make a decision. Brands that engage with reviewers not only show current customers they care but they encourage new customers to choose their brand over the competition.

• 94% of people say a review caused them to avoid a brand
• 85% of consumers think local reviews older than 3 months aren’t relevant
• A 0.1-star increase in a brand’s average rating can increase the conversion rate by 25%

• 58% of people would pay more to choose a brand with positive reviews
• Brands that reply to at least 25% of reviews average 35% more revenue
• 53% of customers expect their reviews to be responded to within an hour
• 68% of people trust a brand more when it has a mix of good and bad reviews
• Consumers find that businesses that respond to reviews are 1.7x more trustworthy than those that don’t

• People read around 10 online reviews before making a decision about a local business
• Around 89% of consumers between 35 and 54 trust reviews as much as personal recommendations
• More than two-thirds of marketers say their brand competes mostly on customer experience
• Brands with over 200 online reviews generate around twice as much revenue as brands with fewer
• 53% of people expect a response to a negative review in less than a week

Stats About Online Reviews Sites

For brands to engage with reviewers, they have to claim, manage, optimize their local business listings. Listing and review sites like Google, Yelp, Facebook, and TripAdvisor earn millions of reviews each year. Here’s why your brand needs to keep their listings accurate on review sites.

• Consumers reading reviews on mobile are 127% more likely to buy than those on desktop
• Studies show that consumers are more likely to purchase from brands with 4.0 – 4.7 star ratings

• Businesses that claim listings on at least 4 review sites earn 58% more revenue
• Not claiming a listing on a review site leads to 24% less revenue than average

Stats About Yelp Reviews and Ratings

Yelp is an essential review platform across industries from restaurants and retail to banks and healthcare services, you can’t ignore the power that Yelp reviews can have on your business and bottom line. Still not convinced it’s worth the effort? Maybe these stats will make you rethink that sentiment.

• By the end of 2021, Yelp had over 244 million reviews on their platform
• 31 million unique users visit Yelp via their mobile apps
• 75% of Yelp reviews mentioning good or great customer service had a 5-star review
• 76% of Yelp reviews mentioning bad or awful customer service had a 1-star review
• Only 23% of the reviews on Yelp are 2-stars or less
• 52% of the people who leave reviews on Yelp earn an income of $100k a year or more
• At 38%, most brands on Yelp have a rating between 4.0 and 4.9 stars

Stats About Google Reviews and Ratings

Here’s a bonus fact: As of April 2022, over 92% of all online searches worldwide are on Google! Needless to say, if your brand doesn’t prioritize optimizing your Google Business Profile and Google review strategy, you’re almost certainly losing sales to willing customers. Here are more facts to show why Google is truly the cream of the online search crop.

• 72% of people use Google to find a business
• Review signals make up 16% of how Google ranks a business
• 74% of businesses on Google Business Profile have at least one review
• Google processes over 3.5 billion search queries every day!

It’s time for your brand to take your review management strategy to the next level, and with Chatmeter’s all-in-one reputation management software, it’s easier than you think! Book a demo today and see how it all works.