Tranter Banter

For several years now, review sites have been important to small business owners, especially those in hospitality fields such as restaurants, hotels, bars, caterers and the like.  Review sites are even catching on with big merchants and companies such as Bank of America or Verizon Wireless.    The reason they are so important is it is the chance for the public to put forth their experiences when visiting a location.  Review sites act as a voice to the public that we hope will invite others to our locations or our services.

With the popularity of mobile devices, it is now as important as ever to keep up with online reviews.  When folks are searching for a place to visit to eat or stay the night, they often refer to their mobile device and a review sites such as Yelp, TripAdvisor, UrbanSpoon and even Google.  When these mobile device users are searching, they are ready to buy.  If your business isn’t found on a review site, you could be missing the boat.  Another reason social media is so important.

On a daily basis we get travelers into our restaurant – sometimes as many as three or four parties a day. I always ask them how they found us since we are about 1.5 miles from the thruway.  The usual answer is that they found us on the internet.    This always shows me that what I’m doing is not only working, but that it’s working better than any other forms of advertising I could do for that target group.    When my new customers leave, I often ask them to please leave us an internet review.  I never tell them what to say or which sites to use.  I just leave it to the customer.

So how do online review sites work?  With most sites, a city can be pulled up showing the highlights of that city.  Searches can be narrowed down to restaurants or hotels for example.  The reader then can read any information available on the proposed location.  They can read reviews from others, look at pictures, scan menus, connect to websites and more.  This allows the user to make an informed choice of where they would like to spend their money. 

Most review sites allow a business to claim the page pertaining to their business.  This allows the business owner to create a profile, upload photographs, keep up and manage reviews.  (Please note I said “manage” reviews – not delete reviews. You can’t delete reviews you may not agree with or like.)  By “manage,” I mean reply to reviews.  It shows the public that you care enough to claim your business.

If you are a consumer and not utilizing the power of review sites, you could be missing out.  I’d much rather stay at a hotel where I know other people have been and know what they experienced than to just take my chances out there. 

Some review sites to consider are www.yelp.com or www.tripadvisor.com.  There are others available by searching the internet.