When it comes to finding the best restaurants, customers often turn to online reviews for guidance. Certain review sites such as Google and Yelp tend to receive more traffic than other less popular restaurant review websites. It's important for restaurant owners to understand the importance of online reviews and how they can use them to their advantage. Google My Business is easily the most relevant review site with the most traffic you should worry about.
It's free to appear on Google My Business, so every restaurant should be sure to take advantage of this opportunity. This allows you to appear in Google Maps restaurant searches and makes it easier for customers to find you.
Yelp
is one of the best-known review sites online and dominates the search rankings. It's estimated that Yelp receives more than 178 million unique users per month, so there is enormous potential for customers to find your restaurant on this review website.Facebook is also an excellent website for a social media marketing strategy, as well as for social ads. Facebook advertising can help reach a huge target audience with the right practices.
Zagat
is one of the oldest and best-known restaurant rating and review websites. The Infatuation is owned by Zagat, so they show similar ratings and create restaurant guides. A study conducted by the Harvard Business School found that even a one-star increase in Yelp reviews could increase revenues by 5 to 9%, especially for independent restaurants, unlike chains.Zomato
, formerly known as Urbanspoon, is another highly regarded and frequently visited restaurant review site.Customers can also make reservations through Zomato once they've found a restaurant. While it's not used as much in the U. S. like Yelp, many tourists will turn to TripAdvisor to find a suitable restaurant.
In fact, TripAdvisor is being used more and more in this country thanks to a marketing boost and a better user experience. When a customer submits a review through TripAdvisor, the TripAdvisor tracking system automatically controls it before it is published on the website. As a guest, you can save up to 50% if you book your next visit to a restaurant in London through TripAdvisor. This is because TripAdvisor collaborates with restaurants around the world, increasing advertising and revenues for both parties.
Gayot
, named after a famous French food critic, is another restaurant review publication that has existed for 50 years. When you think of Facebook, you don't immediately think of its review system.And while it may not be the first stop for diners looking for a popular restaurant, Facebook can continue to play an important role in your restaurant's online reputation. This is especially true if you're embarking on a social media marketing strategy. Because it doesn't make sense to try to attract people to your social page if one of the things that awaits them is a 1-star rating in reviews. Restaurant owners will know OpenTable well, since it's not just a review site, but they can also book a table through the platform. It's absolutely crucial that restaurateurs encourage customers to review their restaurant and actively monitor (and respond to) what customers have to say. If you think you've received a false or unfair review, read our Yelp guide to learn how you can remove it. In this example, I Googled “the best Italian restaurant in London” and then Google shows me the restaurants with the best rankings.
This often means that your accounts on review websites aren't a fair reflection of what your restaurant is really like. Any type of business can appear on Google, but considering it as a restaurant review site, it's very important. While you can't monitor all restaurant review sites, it makes sense to focus on a few of the major sites such as Google My Business, Yelp, Facebook, Zagat, Zomato, TripAdvisor and Gayot. And even if you don't publish your restaurant on these review sites, the information will be there for customers anyway. This is a short list that outlines the most important elements of why online review sites are important to a restaurant's ongoing business.
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