We read 20 barbershops, 20 hair salons and 20 nail salons among the businesses someone searching in Milwaukee, WI is shown. The three trades do not look alike. Nail salons carry the heaviest review load, a median of 278 Google reviews per listing, against 156.5 for the barbershops and 69 for the hair salons. They also hold the lowest median rating of the three, 4.55, where barbershops sit at 4.9 and hair salons at 4.85. A trade can be the most reviewed and the lowest rated at the same time, and here it is.
In each of the three trades, the most-reviewed listings sit a long way above the trade's median. Among the nail salons we read, the top three hold 1379, 557 and 537 reviews, against a median of 278. Among the hair salons, the top three hold 557, 537 and 458, against a median of 69. Among the barbershops, 547, 458 and 368, against a median of 156.5. The listing at the top of a trade and the listing in the middle of it are carrying very different amounts of history.
Replying is a per-business habit, not a trade habit. Dapper & Co. Barbershop and ManCave Milwaukee are the two barbershops answering the most of their recent reviews, at 9 of 10 and 6 of 10, and both carry the same review count, 168. Two listings of identical size, two different practices. The strongest repliers we found answer nearly everything in front of them: Bella Nail Spa on Jefferson replied to 10 of its 10 most recent reviews and is also the most-reviewed nail listing we read, at 1379. Neroli Salon & Spa - Downtown answered 10 of 10 while carrying 557.
The habit thins out quickly behind them. Among the hair salons, the three businesses answering the most of their recent reviews answered 10, 6 and 2 of 10 — the third name on that list already replies to 2 of its last 10. Across the 56 businesses we measured among the listings a searcher in Milwaukee is shown, a typical one answered 66% of its recent reviews.
What to do about it
If you cut hair or do nails, the first number to look at is your own reply rate on your most recent reviews, because that is the part of the listing you control outright. The top replier in each of these three trades answered 9 or 10 of its 10 most recent, and one of them, Bella Nail Spa on Jefferson, does it while carrying 1379 reviews — so volume is not the reason it cannot be done. A typical business we measured among the listings a searcher in Milwaukee is shown answered 66% of its recent reviews, so answering all of them puts you above that mark and answering none puts you visibly under it.
Start with the last 10 reviews on your listing and reply to every one, including the plain 4-star ones nobody flagged. Then hold the habit as new reviews arrive. Nail salons sit at a 4.55 median rating on the largest median review count in this group, and an unanswered review there is a paragraph a searcher reads with nothing beside it.
Barbershops
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Dapper & Co. Barbershop | 9 of 10 | 168 | 4.9 |
| 2 | ManCave Milwaukee | 6 of 10 | 168 | 4.9 |
Hair salons
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Neroli Salon & Spa - Downtown | 10 of 10 | 557 | 4.4 |
| 2 | Drybar - Milwaukee | 6 of 10 | 394 | 4.3 |
| 3 | East Town Salon & Medspa | 2 of 10 | 537 | 3.9 |
Nail salons
| # | Business | Answered | Reviews | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Bella Nail Spa on Jefferson | 10 of 10 | 1379 | 4.5 |
| 2 | Neroli Salon & Spa - Downtown | 10 of 10 | 557 | 4.4 |
| 3 | East Town Salon & Medspa | 2 of 10 | 537 | 3.9 |