Ever wondered what a customer is thinking when reading online reviews? Believe it or not, consumers are savvy and have developed an eye for picking apart reviews to know what’s genuine, helpful, and worth trusting.
Over 93% of consumers read online reviews before purchasing a specific product. If your reviews are not in order, you could lose potential customers. Many businesses even buy Google 5 star reviews to gain that trust and achieve credibility.
Now, let’s dive into the eight factors consumers consider when they read reviews—and how you can leverage them to gain their trust.
Top 8 Things Users Look In Google Reviews
The following factors and insights can determine your business’s reputation. Truly understanding these factors is the first step to mastering your online presence.
- Authenticity and Anonymity of the Reviewer
Consumers first notice how authentic the reviewer sounds. Your reviewers must sound like a real person. Consumers are often skeptical of overly generic reviews or accounts that don’t seem credible.
They’ll check if the reviewer’s name looks genuine, whether they’ve left reviews elsewhere, and whether they provide specific details that make the review more believable.
Anonymity can sometimes work against credibility. While some platforms allow anonymous reviews, customers trust reviews from verified or named accounts more. The more personal the review feels the more weight it carries.
Businesses that build authentic customer relationships and encourage genuine feedback gain more trust in the long run.
2. Star Rating Distribution
Everyone loves that perfect 5-star review, but consumers are looking at far more than just the distribution of star ratings. Most intelligent customers aren’t just scanning the top 5-star reviews. They’re checking out the full range of ratings.
Businesses with only 5-star reviews can sometimes be suspect. Consumers trust a balanced mix of high, medium, and low-star ratings because it feels more authentic.
It appears more credible if a company has mostly 4—and 5-star ratings with a few 1—or 2-star ratings. This shows that no business is perfect, and that is what contributes to the authenticity of reviews.
3. Consistency of Reviews Across Platforms
Many online users think of a business only after evaluating the reviews on multiple platforms, including Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, or Facebook. They check multiple review sites and cross-check to determine what information is accurate to confirm a business’s credibility.
The red flag is the inconsistency of reviews across different platforms. For example, if Google reviews are positive but Yelp reviews disagree, consumers are likely to question which platform is more accurate. Such inconsistency will raise red flags, and people will likely avoid other options.
4. Date Of Reviews
Old reviews only take you so far. That five-year-old glowing review does not have the same impact as a similar one from last week. Consumers want to know what the business is like now: has quality been maintained? Has customer service improved or worsened?
Nearly 49% of consumers argue that they wanted the review posted within the last 30 days. Consistent reviews guarantee your potential customers have a snapshot of your performance today.
5. Specific Details Of Reviews
the vague, one-liner review—”Great product!”—is unlikely to be effective for many customers. Consumers seek detailed information and specific things they liked or did not like in your product. To help inform or clarify what’s terrific or terrible about a specific product or service, reviews should be specific.
For example, shipping time, how well the product actually performed, and details of experience with customer service are provided.
Such reviews with personal experience descriptions and real-time usage cases also give future buyers an idea of how the same product or service can meet their needs.
6. Photos and Videos Of Products & Services
Sometimes, words are not enough. Increasingly, consumers turn to reviews with photos and videos. Indeed, visual proof gives it that extra layer of credibility. Consumers do not just want to read a description; they want to see how it works.
Whether it is a picture of food in a restaurant or a video review of a new gadget, such images would make the review way more believable and interesting.
Indeed, reviews with user-generated photos and videos have been shown to be more persuasive because it is undeniable proof of quality and authenticity.
7. Businesses Response To Reviews
Most businesses fail to take into account the way business responds to reviews. Potential consumers don’t want to just hear from customers, they want to know how businesses respond.
The right, thoughtful reply to a bad review will actually get a business a lot more credibility than ignoring the negative reviews. When businesses reply with sympathy and professionalism, it reflects that they care about their customers and will fix things.
Even positive reviews deserve a “thank you” or acknowledgement. Every response builds a positive image and reputation for your brand.
8. Review Sentiment Of Your Customer
Consumers also take in the general sentiment of reviews. Are they mostly positive, or complaints surfacing again and again? A little mix of both would be expected, but if it is mainly negative, then the message is clear.
Even so, most consumers expect any review to be something other than five-star. It will give a business credibility if well-applied when it contains some poor reviews.
On the other hand, unresolved issues can discourage customers from your business. So, the balance and the overall sentiment will tell the consumer whether they can trust your business or not.
Conclusion: Leverage Reviews to Build Trust and Credibility
These eight factors will help you better understand how consumers evaluate your business online. Online reviews are not about a perfect rating; they’re about establishing trust and authenticity and being descriptive and responsive.
Create an online presence that speaks to the heart of your potential customers through active engagement. Whether you show empathy with your answers to reviews or encourage happy customers to share their good experiences, it is about creating trust.
Today, reviews have become the most decisive power in building credibility. To get their trust even faster, you can buy Trustpilot reviews to boost your online reputation while consistently delivering marvelous customer experiences.
So don’t wait any longer—start building your review strategy today to control your business reputation!
