Once again, a new Study shows that reviews and ratings are the “most important” influence on purchase decisions, more important than all other factors, including pricing/discounts, business location and even personal recommendations of a friend or colleague.
Since reviews are very important, Google has made reviews a local ranking factor: “Google review count and score are factored into local search ranking: more reviews and positive ratings will probably improve a business’s local ranking.” This is SO IMPORTANT as the survey also showed that 71% of consumer read reviews before every or almost every purchase.
