In today's digital world, online review systems play a key role in consumer purchasing decisions. 90% of consumers who participated in a study by Invesp CRO, stated that they read reviews before making purchasing decisions. Over the last few years, TripAdvisor has become the household name for tourism and hospitality reviews. As such, we want to share some easy ways for you to get the best TripAdvisor ranking possible. We will start by describing how their ranking system actually works:
TripAdvisor Ratings vs Rankings
After customers rate you on a scale of 1-5 stars, the average rating is calculated to provide your overall TripAdvisor Rating. This rating is then held up against similar businesses in your area to create your TripAdvisor Ranking, also known as the Popularity Index.
Contrary to many beliefs, your ranking is not solely based on of 5-star ratings. In fact, there are 3 factors taken into account when determining your position in the Popularity Index:
- Response rate & communication with customers after a review has been written
- Age of reviews & consistency of published reviewsn
- Quantity & quality of reviews
Did you know that Agenda automatically sends customers a TripAdvisor review link after they have participated in a tour or offering? Talk about convenient!
1. Update your profile regularly
This includes contact information, hours of operation, days of operation, location details, driving instructions, etc. Nothing is worse for a customer than arriving on a closed day even though your profile stated you were open. It is best to avoid getting a bad review over a controllable cause. Some common sources of bad reviews of this type include:
- Not being able to find parking
- Having difficulty finding the meeting location or office
- Miscommunication of operational dates & times
2. Write a strong but realistic business description
Don’t create false expectations or pretenses. Under-promise & over-deliver. Try your best to display recent profile photos & be honest when attributing categories like “family friendly”, “budget travelling” or “fine dining”. Though there is a temptation to tag yourself in as many applicable categories as possible, avoid spreading yourself too thin and choose 3 sections in which you fit in best.
3. Add a TripAdvisor link or icon to your email signature
Make it easier for customers to find & engage with your TripAdvisor page. 9/10 people are more likely to be loyal to a company that offers complete transparency. Doing this will also make your signature stand out and make it easier for customers to leave you a review.
4. Follow up with past customers.
Regularly thank customers for their business and ask them to leave a positive review on your profile page. Personalizing an email with a client's name & the name of the tour they purchased from you is a great way to increase conversion on reviews. Furthermore, following up can increase the LTV of a single customer. Did you know that on average, 40% of an ecommerce website's revenue is generated by only 8% of its customers?
5. Use TripAdvisor Management Center & Review Express to your advantage
TripAdvisor has made it easier to manage reviews using their TripAdvisor Managament Center. Their new Review Express tool can also help you create, customize and send email templates to guests for effortless conversion.
6. Use Agenda to automate reviews
If you use Agenda to manage your tour or activity business, you can take advantage of its automated TripAdvisor Review Feature. Users have the ability to schedule & designate send times for when a guest should be sent an email containing an ask for a review. After enabling this feature, the following message will be sent automatically:
Hi [Customer Name],
We hope you had an with us on (Date). We would love it if you could take a minute to leave us a review on TripAdvisor. You can click the button below to visit our business page.
If you had anything other than a 5-star experience, we want to hear from you. Please send us your feedback at (Email Address).
Sincerely,
[Company Name]
Would automating TripAdvisor reviews benefit your business?
