“When people talk, listen completely. Most people never listen.”
Was said by Ernest Hemingway and its as true today as it was back then. There is a tremendous value to listen and participate in to your customer conversations. With PinMeTos new feature “Listen and Respond” you will get closer than ever to your local audience.
While online reviews are heavily used by consumers to make purchase decisions, they have also become a crucial local ranking factor.
A recent study from explored Google reviews from over 93,000 businesses over 26 industries. The data included the number of reviews, average star ratings, as well as how both components factor into local rankings on Google. It also looked at what star ratings were the most common in Google’s local ranking positions.
The research showed Google reviews from over 93,000 businesses in about 30 different industries. Including the number of reviews, average star rating, and also how both components factor with local rankings on Google. Another aspect was what star ratings were the most common in Google´s local ranking positions.
A handful of key findings:
• Almost 75 % of local businesses have at least one Google review.
• A local business has an average of 53 Google reviews.
• Local businesses have 4.4 stars, on average.
Even if the average number of 39 reviews for local businesses, that number differ excessively from industry to industry. Highest average number of reviews is found in restaurants, and cafes, bars and pubs, and of course hotels and B&Bs.
With this said and with the numbers in hand, it's fairly easy to see that businesses with more customer recurrence are more likely to receive more reviews and other businesses. Hospitality industries or businesses that in the old days would have a guestbook, is by default more likely to get reviews, good or bad.
The study also reveals that the most average star ratings on Google are high. More than half of the local business (61%) receives a rating of 4 and 5 stars, and only 5 % have a rating of below 3 stars.
As far as the effect of normal appraisals on local position, higher evaluations improve rankings. For example, organizations with a normal of 4.47 stars involved the best 3 positions, while those with a 4.46 rating held the 4-6 positions and 4.45 balanced the staying top 10.
Nonetheless, 20% of organizations inside the best 3 Google Local spots had zero reviews. It's subsequently vital to recollect that different factors past reviews (links, on-page signals) help decide rankings. If you want to know more, feel free to contact us and we will answer any of your questions at hello@pinmeto.com
