Asking for Reviews for Local Businesses in 2023: The Owner's Guide
For businesses selling to a local market, reviews are crucial for driving customers to your door and helping you appear higher in search results.
According to BrightLocal's annual survey:
- 98% of consumers used the internet to find information about local businesses in 2022, up from 90% in 2019
- Google is the most trusted review platform across all industries. In 2022, 87% of people used Google to research local businesses (up from 81% in 2021).
- 98% of people read online reviews for local businesses
- 76% of consumers “regularly” read online reviews when browsing for local businesses, compared to 77% in 2021
- 46% of consumers feel that online business reviews are as trustworthy as personal recommendations from friends or family (down from 49% in 2021).
At the same time, a WhiteSpark survey acknowledged the importance of certain review factors as important local SEO ranking signals, particularly for appearing in results based on your Google Business Profile.