Google - it's SO unfair (for larger businesses)!

Don't believe it? try this simple test:

Choose the best business based on the following information*:

Business number 1:

•  Has seven reviews averaging 4.4 (out of 5)

Business number 2:

• has 28 reviews averaging 3.6

The best business? Everyone we showed these statistics to agreed: Business number 1. But they were wrong, everyone was wrong. Why?

Because they were missing a crucial piece of information: the size of the business. 

Business 1 is a small family business. They asked half-a-dozen friends to write reviews. 

Business 2 is a large multi-branch operation. They have simply ignored reviews until now.

Lessons for businesses

You will need a proper review management strategy to look like this

On Google, size counts against you: the larger your business the more likely it is to get negative reviews, not because it will be a lesser business, but because statistically more people are likely to write reviews, and, of those people, more are likely (unprompted) to be writing a review because they have a negative experience to air.

The larger the business, the more important it is to have an effective review management strategy in place. It's important for small businesses too (because reviews are a great tool to help them battle larger competitors) but at least the pure numbers are in their favour.

*Important: 'Choosing a business based on their Google reviews' - many millions of people do this every day