- Why are Restaurant Online Reviews Important?
- Top Restaurant Review Sites and Apps
- Best Tips on Managing Your Online Reviews
- Strategies for Success with Orders.co’s Guest Feedback Monitoring
In the challenging restaurant business, earning trust and keeping customers loyal is crucial.
BrightLocal.com found that 72% of people trust local businesses more when they have positive reviews.
For restaurant owners and managers, having an excellent online reputation isn’t just nice—it’s essential.
That’s where restaurant review websites come in.
They’re helpful tools that show what customers think, take control of guest feedback monitoring, point out areas for improvement, and shape how people see your restaurant.
So, for restaurant business owners who want to stay on top, knowing about and using the best restaurant review websites is a must.
Let’s check out some of the top ones!
Why are Restaurant Online Reviews Important?
Before we delve into the reasons, let’s consider a significant statistic: a whopping 80% of customers are likely to utilize a rating filter when searching for a restaurant.
Now, why does this matter?
Customer Decision Making
Online reviews act as virtual word-of-mouth recommendations. Potential customers often turn to the best restaurant review websites to gauge the quality of a restaurant before deciding to dine there.
Positive reviews can sway undecided customers to choose your establishment over competitors.
Trust and Credibility
Positive reviews contribute to building credibility and trust for your restaurant.
When customers see that others have had enjoyable experiences at your establishment, they are likelier to trust your business and feel confident in their decision to dine with you.
Visibility and Ranking
Many of the best restaurant review websites factor in ratings and reviews when determining search rankings.
Higher-rated restaurants often appear at the top of search results, increasing visibility and attracting more potential customers.
Feedback and Improvement
Online reviews provide valuable feedback directly from customers.
Whether positive or negative, this feedback offers insights into what customers like and dislike about your restaurant.
It is a very useful insight for identifying areas for improvement and refining your offerings to better meet customer expectations.
Competitive Advantage
Maintaining a positive online reputation can give your restaurant a competitive edge in today’s digital age, where consumers rely heavily on online information.
Positive reviews differentiate your restaurant from competitors and influence potential customers to choose your establishment over others.
Top Restaurant Review Sites and Apps
A half-star rating improvement on the popular site Yelp makes it 30 to 49% more likely that a restaurant business will sell out seats during peak hours.
This underscores the immense impact of online reviews on restaurant success and the importance of effectively leveraging review platforms.
Now, let’s explore the features, benefits, and optimization strategies for different restaurant review sites and apps:
Orders.co
Although Orders.co isn’t a traditional restaurant review site, it offers a powerful guest feedback monitoring tool for restaurants. It allows collecting customer reviews directly after each order.
This gives restaurants a chance to understand their customers’ experiences and take action to improve.
Features
- Receive On-the-Spot Website Reviews: Restaurants get notified immediately after placing an order when customers leave reviews on their website, thus facilitating instant feedback and engagement.
- Emailed-Product Review after Order Completion: Customers receive automated emails after order completion, prompting them to leave product reviews and enhancing post-purchase engagement.
- Experience Review Pushed to Mainstream Platforms: This technology enables businesses to push positive experience reviews to mainstream review platforms, increasing their visibility and credibility.
Benefits
- Get instant alerts for customer reviews, enabling prompt response and resolution of any concerns.
- Real reviews and feedback boost brand credibility, increasing conversions and fostering trust with potential customers.
- Incorporating authentic testimonials into marketing efforts can deeply resonate with potential customers, enhancing brand loyalty.
Optimization
- Guest Feedback Monitoring offers a comprehensive approach to collecting and managing customer feedback post-transaction.
- Captures detailed product reviews, providing insights into specific products or services and guiding product improvement efforts.
- Optimizes the entire review process, from collection to analysis, enabling businesses to gather actionable insights and make data-driven decisions.
Google My Business
- Features: Google My Business allows restaurant owners to create detailed business profiles, including contact information, location, hours of operation, photos, and even menus. Customers can also leave reviews and ratings directly on your Google listing.
- Benefits: Google My Business integrates seamlessly with Google Search and Google Maps, making it easy for potential customers to discover your restaurant business when searching online. Positive reviews and high ratings can highly improve your restaurant’s visibility in search results.
Yelp
- Features: Yelp is a popular review platform where users can search for restaurant businesses based on location, cuisine, and other factors. Users can read and write reviews, view photos, and even make reservations directly through the platform.
- Benefits: Yelp has a large user base and is trusted by many consumers for restaurant recommendations. Positive reviews on Yelp can significantly impact your restaurant’s reputation and attract new customers.
OpenTable
- Features: OpenTable allows users to make restaurant reservations, read reviews, and view restaurant ratings. It also offers features like table management and guest management for restaurant owners.
- Benefits: For restaurant owners, OpenTable provides a platform to attract diners, manage reservations efficiently, and collect valuable feedback.
TripAdvisor
- Features: TripAdvisor features reviews and ratings for restaurants, hotels, and attractions worldwide. It offers a platform for travelers to discover and share their experiences.
- Benefits: TripAdvisor provides visibility to restaurants among travelers and allows them to showcase their offerings to a global audience.
Grubhub, DoorDash, Uber Eats, Postmates, and Seamless (Delivery Apps)
- Features: These platforms offer online food delivery and pickup services from local restaurants, allowing users to browse menus, place orders, and track deliveries.
- Benefits: For restaurant owners, these delivery apps provide additional revenue streams, increased visibility, and access to a large customer base.
Foursquare
- Features: Foursquare is a location-based platform that provides recommendations for restaurants, bars, and other businesses based on user preferences and location.
- Benefits: Foursquare helps restaurants reach a targeted audience of local users who are actively seeking recommendations for dining options in their area.
- Features: Facebook allows businesses to create pages to share updates, photos, and events with followers. Customers can leave reviews and recommendations on a business’s Facebook page.
- Benefits: Having a presence on Facebook allows restaurants to engage with customers, build a community, and showcase their offerings to a wide audience.
Best Tips on Managing Your Online Reviews
Here are some key strategies to effectively handle both positive and negative reviews while leveraging specialized teams for swift management and automation:
Claim Your Business Listings
Ensure that your business is listed accurately on popular review platforms such as Google My Business, Yelp, TripAdvisor, and Facebook. Claiming your listings allows you to control the information displayed about your business and respond to reviews promptly.
Optimize Your Review Platform Pages
Enhance the visual appeal and credibility of your review platform pages by regularly updating them with the latest high-quality photos of your establishment, menu items, and offerings.
Ensure that all information, including business hours, contact details, and menu options, is kept up-to-date and consistent across all review platforms to provide customers with accurate and reliable information. This not only improves the overall presentation of your business but also instills confidence in potential customers and encourages them to engage with your brand.
Monitor Reviews Regularly
Set up alerts or notifications to monitor new reviews across various platforms. Regularly monitoring reviews allows you to stay informed about customer feedback and respond promptly to both positive and negative reviews.
Responding to Positive Reviews
- Acknowledge and express gratitude: Respond promptly to positive reviews, thanking customers for their kind words and patronage.
- Personalize responses: Tailor your responses to each reviewer, mentioning specific aspects of their experience that they appreciated.
- Encourage loyalty: Take the opportunity to invite satisfied customers to visit again or try out new offerings, fostering a sense of loyalty and engagement.
- Highlight positive reviews on your website and social media channels to showcase the positive experiences of satisfied customers. This can help build trust with potential customers and enhance your online reputation.
Responding to Negative Reviews
- Stay calm and professional: Approach negative reviews with professionalism and empathy, avoiding defensive or confrontational language.
- Apologize and address concerns: Acknowledge any issues raised by the reviewer, apologize for any inconvenience caused, and offer solutions or assurances for improvement.
- Take the conversation offline: Whenever possible, invite dissatisfied customers to contact you directly to discuss their concerns further, demonstrating a commitment to resolving issues privately and effectively.
Implement Feedback from Reviews
Use feedback from reviews to identify areas for improvement and make necessary changes to enhance the customer experience. Continuously strive to address customer concerns and exceed expectations based on their feedback.
Strategies for Success with Orders.co’s Guest Feedback Monitoring
Managing online reviews effectively is crucial for restaurants’ success and reputation.
By implementing best practices for responding to positive and negative reviews, restaurants can foster customer engagement, loyalty, and satisfaction.
One notable platform in this regard is Orders.co, which offers comprehensive guest feedback monitoring capabilities.
With Orders.co, restaurants can receive on-the-spot notifications of customer reviews, enabling immediate response and resolution of any issues.
This guest feedback monitoring system improves brand credibility and amplifies customer trust, driving more conversions and building long-term loyalty.
Schedule a FREE Demo today and discover how Orders.co can help you improve customer satisfaction, build brand credibility, and drive restaurant business growth through effective review management.
