by Bob Larson
More people are turning to online reviews for local businesses and products. They are actually trusting online reviews more than ever despite all the media coverage questioning their legitimacy per a recent survey. BrightLocal recently published the results of its 4th annual local consumer review survey, finding that for better or worse, online reviews are only gaining momentum with consumers.
Most (57%) of consumers have searched online for a local business over six times in the past year, while 39% have searched online for local businesses at least one time per month, and 15% searching almost every day.
The survey found that more people are searching for more types of businesses and products this year than in previous years. Restaurants and cafes are still the biggest business category on businesses, but product reviews are very popular too.
Since Amazon.com is the world’s largest online retailer, it asks for product or retailer reviews from its customers. I for one use Amazon.com regularly and give reviews on most everything that I purchase there. I believe it helps others in making a decision providing a satisfactory explanation of your rating is given. I’ve written over 70 reviews on past products and businesses via Amazon, which makes me a trusted source.
There are also fake reviews (by competitors and bogus reviewers) giving a low rating to businesses and products that may not deserve it. Yelp, a major review website, and many other retailers have been constantly battling fake reviews with some success. Many users will use a local business or purchase a product if it has a four or five star rating if the comments are satisfactory. Users should always look at all the reviews on a particular business or product to determine if the ratings are acceptable or not.
~ Bob Larson is a technologist and Marketing Director for 50 Plus. Contact Bob at Marketing@50plusmediasolutions.com