How do you make more use of reviews in the hotel industry?

Social proof is useful evidence

If the industry wants to talk about the importance - and the opportunities! - of online reviews, then a good conversation with online reputation manager Marco Kole is a real must. Together with Robert Spakman, he is the initiator of the independent review platform MeetingReview. When asked what Marco thinks of reviews, his answer is crystal clear: "It's just great content!"

"If you look at content being posted on socials, a lot of it is sending à la: 'We from WC-eend recommend WC-eend'," says Robert. "That's why we stress to start using your great reviews as content: beautiful and unique texts that are direct social proof. After all, communicating what others think of you is much stronger than writing what you think of yourself."

"Almost nine out of 10 reviews are written by people who care about informing others. We have been following BrightLocal's research for eight years and this picture does not change. These people read reviews themselves and then find it a reciprocity to start writing reviews. Most reviewers use a review to give a personal advice. An advice on why you should or should not stay or eat somewhere. If they are less satisfied then you rarely see a rating lower than a six."

"The reviews that get the most media attention are the fake reviews, reviews used as leverage and unsubstantiated negative reviews. But readers are not stupid and will pierce through these. In addition, it is smart to ask your satisfied guests for a review yourself. Ask for help because your ranking on Google will improve if you regularly score good reviews. This will save you quite a few euros on your advertising costs on Google. Finally, with nine times a 9, you polish off that one 4 to an average of 8.5. So if 8 is the norm, you are well above that."

"Put energy into asking enthusiastic guests if they would also like to share those reviews online. Make it easy for people by offering a QR code, for example. Or, for example through a Happy Terminal where satisfied guests click directly on a happy face. If you are not happy then find someone from the venue and they can make you happy again." 

"As mentioned earlier, you also collect reviews for online search engines. Google is the most important of these. About 15% of your ranking is determined by reviews. Google considers responding to reviews important because it shows that there is a relationship between customer and supplier. Because of that relationship, the review is weighted much more heavily than without it. So Google weighs customer engagement. The higher, the better this is for your SEO (search engine optimisation)."

"But responding to reviews, also has a positive impact on your bookings. For example, TripAdvisor has studied that almost 7 in 10 customers say they choose the hotel where the management responds to reviews. So that can make THE difference when a guest still has to choose between two hotels," says Kole.

Conclusion: reviews, besides the value of great feedback, are also important for your own SEO. And, it's just wonderful content for your socials!"