88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as a personal recommendation

If somebody were to refer 5 new clients to your pool building business, you would probably be thrilled. But if somebody wrote a review of your business, it could impact the decision-making process of potentially hundreds of new prospective customers.

According to a recent BrightLocal study (2014), nearly 88% of consumers trust online reviews as much as that personal recommendation from a friend. This is another huge game changer and why it is so important to proactively build, promote, and manage your online reputation.

Let’s dig deeper in referrals vs. reviews. We all LOVE referrals, right. It is the lifeblood of many small businesses. However, you want both referrals and reviews. Let’s compare the two;