Some might argue that online reviews are the make or break of a business in this modern era. Due to the Internet being available to anybody who can maintain a connection, anyone can say anything about anything or anyone while maintaining a level of anonymity meaning they are more likely to share their views or possibly even exaggerate. Nowadays, when considering purchasing a product, looking up a college, subscribing to a service etc, it is most likely that people will flock to the Internet to do this research and will heavily base their decisions on the reviews that are there and what they contain. This can be both good and bad depending on the business, product or service. For example, if there are mostly positive reviews a consumer is more likely to make a purchase as opposed to something with mostly negative or mixed reviews. Below is a list of statistics that are up to date for online reviews in 2019

Online Reviews Statistics:

• Almost 9 in 10 potential customers read reviews for local businesses when considering making a purchase.
• Some potential customers will even read an average of 10 online reviews before they can trust in a local business and if these are mostly negative there is little chance of them making a purchase.
• After reading reviews, almost half of potential customers who read an average of 10 online reviews will visit an organisation’s website if the reviews are positive.
• Approximately 6 out of 10 potential customers resort to Google My Business, which is a review site like Yelp, to find reviews on a local business.
• On average, a local business will have roughly 40 or so Google reviews, if these are mostly negative then the business may find it difficult to recover.
• Some potential customers who want to be extra sure before making a purchase will want to see an average of 40 reviews, as stated above, before they trust the star rating given to the business or its products/services.
• 49 percent of potential customers like to see a vast quantity of online reviews from a business. This is up from 46 percent in 2017 and 35 percent in 2016 which shows that the reliance on online reviews is increasing drastically.
• Local businesses that show up at the top of local searches have 47 or more Google reviews on average.
• 57 percent of potential customers expect a local business to have more than 11 online reviews and some prospective customers will only consider a business.
• The average star rating for most local businesses is approximately 4.42 stars on Google My Business.
• Only 5 percent of local businesses have a star rating that is lower than 3 stars on Google My Business.
• 40 percent of potential customers will only look at online reviews that have been written within the past 2 weeks. This is up from 18 percent in 2018 showing a drastic increase that will most likely keep growing.
• Only 13% of potential customers will actually contact a local business after reading positive reviews.
• Roughly half of all 18-34 year olds will always read online reviews before considering a local business whereas only 5% of 18-34 year olds never read online reviews.
• 91 percent of 18-34 year olds trust online reviews as much or more than recommendations from family or friends.
• 75 percent of 35-54 year olds red reviews on their mobile devices.
• 61 percent of potential customers over 55 like to see 4 or more stars before considering a local business.
• 78 percent of potential customers over 55 use PCs or Macs to read online reviews about a local business.
• 40 percent of potential customers will not consider purchasing from a local business with more than a few negative online reviews.
• 89 percent potential prospective customers will read the business owner’s response to any online reviews to gauge them.
• 82 percent of potential customers visit review sites because they intend to purchase something from the business they are looking up and 89 percent make a purchase within a week.
• Roughly 7 in 10 potential customers will consider a business with positive online reviews.
• More than half of all potential customers expect a business to respond to any negative online reviews within at least 7 days. However, approximately 63 percent of potential customers report that a business has not responded to their review even after a reasonable amount of time has passed.
• Approximately 83 million reviews have been left on Yelp since the site went live.
• 50 percent of local businesses have discovered wrong or slanderous information left about them which could mislead others and cause a decline in sales for the business.
• If a business includes photos as well as reviews they are likely to see an increase in views of approximately 200 percent more than businesses without photos. Also, potential customers will spend 2.5 times more time on a page with photos than one without.
• 85 percent of potential customers will leave a website if it is poorly designed or doesn’t look professional enough.
• 68 percent of potential customers have reported that they would be willing to pay up to 15 percent more for the same product/service from a different business if they have been assured a better experience.
• On Yelp, each 1* increase for the overall star rating of a business will mean a 5 to 9% increase in revenue.