According to a recent study, better reviews are enough to generate 13,000 more local business leads.

A leading digital marketing agency has recently released a report of a new study that more stars on the reviews directly convert into higher paid-search conversion rates. However, this finding sounds logically correct; the report of this study covers the data of SEM campaign of 16 months.

The figures of this study come from the campaign conducted with local stores for national brands. The meaning of “conversions” in the context of this study is the action performed by the consumer after visiting a website page and brand websites. Conversions may include email inquiries, requests for quotes, form filling, and so on.

The agency found that the better overall ratings were directly linked with improved business performance. When stars increased, so did the conversion rates:

• A business in the lowest group that had 3.31star ratings, translating into a conversion rate of 10.42 percent.
• A business in the best-rated segment group that had 4.96-star ratings, translating into a conversion rate of 12.83 percent.

From this, the agency concluded that if the lower-rated businesses could convert at levels comparable to best-performance businesses, this would mean 13,000 additional leads, if more stars added to the business.

Somewhat less instinctive is the finding that the response rate on the business reviews also boosts paid-search conversion rates. It means those business entities that responded more promptly to their reviews also experienced higher conversion rates.

• Business entities having the highest response rate of 8.13 percent experienced a conversion rate of 13.86 percent.
• The business having the lowest response rate of 5.73 percent experienced a conversion rate of 10.42 percent.

The study report concludes that “responding amicably to the customers’ reviews has a positive impact on the conversion rate for paid search advertising.” So, it can be inferred that reviews are crucial for businesses for multiple reasons. It is true that customers’ reviews influence the local rankings, but, they deeply impact the consumer buying behavior.