Sometimes when you search for something on Google sometimes you see review stars next to a search result. Like this:

Does it work to attract more clicks?

If it does, by how much?

CXL together with Belron International performed a study to answer these questions.

The test

Here is what was compared:

For more (eyetracking heatmap data, attention focus etc., click the link at the bottom for full results.)

Results summary

This study showed that review stars in search engine results significantly improve click-through rates, by as much as 35%.

Researchers conducted a custom research study to identify differences in click-through rate among variations of organic search results pages for two markets, one in Belron®’s most Western market, and another in a large European market.

The results showed that review stars of Google search results pages (SERP) for both markets resulted in a significantly higher click-through rate.

Review stars in the search engine results page helped traffic uplift by 35% in the Western market and in the large European market, the same test yielded a 13% traffic uplift.

Some statistics of note:

• Users for the Western market took less time considering whether or not to click an organic search engine result with review stars included.
• The Organic Area of Interest (or “AOI”) treatment 1 with review stars had a higher percentage of users clicking and number of clicks metrics.
• There was significantly higher click-through rate for organic 1 SERP result with review stars, based on surveys for both the Western and European brands.

Conclusion

Again, the old truth worked: social proof works. It’s just a matter of how to show it in a proper and believable way.

The review stars for both companies resulted in a significantly higher click-through rate for organic SERP pages. The implications of the findings are that in the future, SEO is where the group sees a high area of focus for review star usage, as this seems to yield higher results.

Do Review Stars on Google Help Click-Through Rate?

PS. It’s a 5-star article! ★★★★★