Google Reviews - are they valuable!?! Why?!

January 19, 2023

by an intermediary in Minneapolis, MN, USA

Hi everyone!

Question for those who understand the value & importance of Google Reviews.

I traditionally focus my efforts in the marine and Powersports industries. These businesses traditionally have limited to no Google reviews & they are often pretty negative. Frankly, it's just not a focus for them.

However, I am assisting a dealer who's gone all-in on accumulating these reviews.

To-date they have a 4.9 star rating and OVER 650 REVIEWS!

I am actively searching for a buyer & I'm trying to illustrate just how rare/difficult this is and how it'll benefit the acquirer moving forward.

Any insights you can share would be incredible!

Reply by a professional
from University of Rhode Island in Portland, OR, USA

Hi - As someone with over 25 years in the online industry, I feel I can help with this answer. Google reviews are big. They are not #1, but they are way up there on the overall list. Why? Because Google says they are. Basically, when it comes to the web/marketing therein, Google makes the rules (and moves the goalposts whenever they so choose). Google puts a goodly amount of algorithmic weight on their reviews in terms of SEO. (I know this as a professional in the industry and Google employees have said it as well.) The output stat to quote to potential buyers: Being in the middle of page 2 on Google gets about 0.6% of all the clicks for any search term. Moving to the middle of page 1 on Google gets about 6% of all the clicks for any search term... a 10-fold increase! Typically, a 10-fold increase is pretty decent for the sales pipeline. :^) This is part of why SEO is a huge deal and reviews are big part of SEO. I hope this helps! Thanks - Jon (Questions welcomed at redacted

Reply by a searcher
from Bentley University in Boston, MA, USA

I don't see why Google reviews can't be used as a substitute for a metric like NPS...

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