In this blog, we will explain how many 5 star reviews your business needs to cancel a 1 star Google review and how this can affect your overall score. The steps you should take to clean up your reputation so you can turn your review rating around.
How Does Google Calculate Review Ratings?
The overall rating for your business on Google is based on a simple algorithm that calculates the average of all your star ratings, here’s two examples.
Example 1: A Business With A Few Reviews
- 5 reviews at 5 stars = 25 stars = 5.0 rating ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
- 5 reviews at 5 stars and 1 review at 1 star = 26 stars → 26 ÷ 6 = 4.33 rating ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
As you can see, a single 1 star review significantly lowers your average, in this case, from a perfect 5.0 to a 4.33. So, how many 5 star reviews does it take if you have hundreds of reviews? Let’s explore that.
Example 2: A Business With Hundreds Of Reviews
Now, let’s say your business has 150+ reviews and your average rating is 4.9 and you have 4 reviews at 1 star, that won’t have much of an effect. In fact, the impact would be minimal.
- 150 reviews at 5 stars = 750 stars = 5.0 rating ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
- 150 reviews at 5 stars and 4 reviews at 1 star = 754 stars → 754 ÷ 154 = 4.89 rating ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️ ⭐️
To get back to a 5.0 rating, you need collect more 5 star reviews to pull that average up. To be honest, there’s no one size fits all, on average it takes around 5–20 positive reviews to even out the effect of a 1 star review, especially if your count is low, as each new review has a significant impact.
Factors You Need To Focus On:
- Total Review Count: The more reviews you accumulate, the less a single review affects your average score.
- Current Rating: A higher average rating means you can take a hit from a negative review.
- Desired Rating: Knowing the rating you want to return to will help you estimate how many reviews you need.
What Matters More Number Of Reviews Or The Overall Rating?
If you guessed both, you’re right! However, in this case, the importance of your rating slightly edges out the number of reviews. That said, you need to focus on both aspects to ensure the stability of your Google business profile. Many consumers will look at both the number of reviews and your overall rating before deciding whether to purchase a product or service. The stronger your reputation, the more likely you are to attract new customers, as a solid rating indicates that you’re a trusted business.
Our Conclusion
If your business only has a handful of reviews, a negative one could have a much bigger impact on your overall rating, than if you had a larger number of reviews. The more reviews you collect, the more balanced your rating becomes, making it less vulnerable to the occasional bad review. Its important to keep a steady flow of reviews so you can keep your rating as close to 5 stars as possible.