Reputation Score Best Practices

How to improve each component of your Reputation Score.


1. Star Average

What’s the first thing you see when you search for a local business online? Star average! This metric measures overall star rating, with weights assigned to the popularity of the review site and the position of the review. Surveys are not included.

  • Google and Facebook have the highest weights across most markets and industries.
  • Deliver a great experience! People who write reviews are generally very dissatisfied or very satisfied. If the service is average, people are unlikely to write reviews.
  • You must earn a positive review.

2. Review Volume

The next thing you might look for after searching for a business is the number of reviews that went into that star average. You’ll trust a star average with 1,000 reviews over 5 reviews. This metric measures the total number of reviews across important online review sites. A location needs to have a minimum quantity of reviews on each relevant review site to score highly on volume.

  • Actively request reviews from customers using tools like the Reputation mobile app.
  • Explain that you are striving to deliver the best service and that you feel proud and motivated when you hear positive feedback from customers.

3. Review Spread

Google and Facebook are most important, but you must also have review presence on a variety of sites. Businesses with reviews across a variety of popular review sites score more favorably than those with reviews concentrated on just one or two sites.

  • Our request templates take into account review spread, which is why we recommend using Reputation.com inserted links as opposed to manual to ensure you’re asking across the sites that have the most impact on your score.

4. Review Recency

Next, look to see the date of the reviews. If no reviews were left in the last few months, you might wonder if the business is no longer open or relevant (best practice is to have reviews newer than 3 months).

  • Request reviews regularly. Using an integration, you can even automate review requests after each customer transaction.
  • Reviews posted most recently are weighted more heavily in calculating Star Average.

5. Search Impression

When you search for a local business (name and zip or city/state), what are the first few search results? If your location’s web page is near the top of the search results (top 10 blue links on page 1) and the GMB Knowledge Panel appears, you’ll get a high score here. Additionally, when you search for the category/near me, if your location shows up in the top 10 search results or Local Pack, the score increases.

  • Using a widget to generate your own star rating on your website can lift your page higher in search results.
  • Ensure that your GMB profile is complete and that your business category is correct in your location profile.
  • If you need assistance updating your website, consider exploring our SEO optimized Pages and Locator solutions.

6. Review Response

Consumers need to see responses that are courteous and that offer direct methods of contacting them. Even a negative review is often looked at more favorably if the business responded.

  • Strive to respond to all reviews, but keep in mind that best practice is to respond to 100% of negative reviews and at least 20% of positive reviews.
  • Increasing your response rate is something you can do immediately to improve your online reputation. (Let us help you with managed responses!?
  • If you’re managing responses on your own, use the macros as a starting point so you can respond quickly while still adding variety.

7. Listing Accuracy

Does the location information of the business match what actually shows up on Google? What about other sites (e.g., Facebook, YP, etc.)?

  • The accuracy of this information is especially important when consumers are performing “near me” searches. Correcting business listing information is an easy, immediate action you can take to improve reputation.
  • If you’re not currently auditing your business listings through the platform, ask your CSM how. Your accuracy thermometer will not be as precise if you don’t have connections/source of truth loaded in the platform.

8. Social Engagement

Does the business have a social presence and are the posts getting engagement? Businesses that are active on social media tend to convert more researchers into customers.

  • Regularly post content on social channels, and respond to comments within 24-48 hours. This metric currently measures engagement on Facebook based on views, fans, likes, and engaged users.

    Only locations with a connected Facebook account will be counted in this metric. If you have no data in this thermometer, it will not impact the overall score.

9. Review Length

Which review has more impact to you: “It was great.” -OR- “Tim was amazing and explained all of my financing options. He made me feel like family!”

  • Although a reviewer’s length is not something you can necessarily control, it influences a potential consumer’s perception of your business and their likelihood of trusting the review. Try asking customers to leave two or more sentences if requesting face-to-face.
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