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Review

A review (in online marketing also known as a customer rating) is a written or spoken account of a customer's experience with a product, service or brand. It usually consists of a text description and a numerical or graphical rating (1 to 5 stars, for instance). Reviews are a key element of social proof, helping potential buyers through the decision process and shaping a company's reputation in the digital space.

In a time of information overload, reviews are often more important than advertising itself. According to research, as many as 90% of customers read a review before visiting a business or buying from an e-shop. Reviews work as the digital version of word of mouth.

The main review platforms include:

  • Google Business Profile: key for local SEO and map searches.
  • Heureka and price comparison sites: a decisive factor in choosing an e-shop, based on verified purchases.
  • Facebook: building community trust.
  • Specialised portals: TripAdvisor (tourism) or Trustpilot (services and e-commerce).

From a business standpoint, what matters is not only the number and score of reviews but also the way the company responds to them, especially the negative ones.

What do you gain from a positive review?

  • Building trust (social proof): positive experiences from real people are the strongest buying argument for new customers.
  • Better SEO: Google treats fresh, authentic reviews as a quality signal, which helps a business move higher in search results (especially in local SEO).
  • Feedback for the business: reviews reveal weak points (slow delivery, a faulty product), which lets the company keep improving.
  • Higher conversion rate: products with ratings demonstrably sell better than those without.
  • A source of UGC (user generated content): you can use text from reviews in marketing as authentic customer quotes.

What does a negative review cause?

  • Risk of reputational damage: a negative review, especially one the company handles badly, can put off dozens of potential clients.
  • Fake reviews: there is a risk of unfair competition, where rivals blacken a company's name with untrue ratings.
  • Lack of control: a company cannot influence what a customer writes, which can mean subjective or unjustified complaints being published.
  • The need for reputation management: monitoring and replying to reviews across various platforms is time-consuming.

Practical example

Imagine two restaurants in a city centre.

  • Restaurant A: has a great website but only two Google Maps reviews from a year ago.
  • Restaurant B: has a slightly weaker website but 150 Google Maps reviews averaging 4.8 stars, and the owner replies personally to every one of them (including the less satisfied ones).

Most tourists will choose Restaurant B, because the large number of current reviews and the staff's active communication create a sense of certainty and quality. For business B those reviews are the cheapest and most effective advertising there is.