Three- and four-star online reviews generate beauty salons the most money

The online review star rating sweet spot for beauty business revenue is between three and four stars, according to research from small business software company Womply. Online reviews are now considered more important for beauty salons than traditional word-of-mouth recommendations, with your star rating having a big impact on profits.

The new study, which looked at the impact online reviews had on revenue at more than 20,000 local health and beauty businesses, discovered that those rated with five stars actually earned less in revenue than those with a three- or four-star rating, which took 22% more in annual revenue than the average.

The research also discovered that the more recent the reviews of your salon the better, with beauty businesses that had more than four “fresh” online reviews (posted within the last 90 days) earning 30% more revenue than average, while those with 12 or more recent reviews in that time period earned 35% more, the report found.

When it comes to having a top-notch online reputation, your response rate to reviews also matters. More than three quarters (77%) of health and beauty businesses don’t respond to them, which is a problem since those that replied to 25% of customer reviews earned 20% more yearly revenue than those who didn’t. The owners who didn’t reply to any took 5% less annually, the report found.

Meanwhile, an above average number of reviews on Google gave beauty businesses the largest positive impact on revenue of all review sites.

The search engine also came out top as the most important free listing site for health and beauty businesses, with more customers now using Google Maps to find nearby beauty salons and spas in their local area.