The TripAdvisor toolkit for small businesses

With nearly 500 million unique monthly visitors, TripAdvisor has changed the way we dine, drink, travel and play forever.

Rather than simply relying on sheer luck or the experiences of our friends, family, or coworkers, the world’s biggest travel review site has provided us with thousands upon thousands of reviews, rankings, lists, and user-submitted photos on which to base our leisure-related decisions.

But what does all of this mean for the humble business owner? Are hoteliers, restaurateurs, and cafe owners destined to be forever at the mercy of users’ reviews?

Well, yes and no.

It’s true that TripAdvisor has given members of the public an enormous amount of authority online. But it’s also true that TripAdvisor can be an incredibly powerful tool in business owners’ hands. You just need to know how to use it.

That’s why we created this: the TripAdvisor Toolkit for Small Businesses.

Over the course of five chapters, we’ll be exploring every aspect of TripAdvisor, walking you through the process of getting your business established on the site, sharing tips on how to climb the ranks and much more.

Ready to get serious about TripAdvisor? Let’s go!

An introduction to TripAdvisor

TripAdvisor is an online travel and food review site that receives almost half a billion unique visitors every month.

You’ve probably used it to help you decide which hotel to book or cafe to visit.

You might have left one or more of TripAdvisor’s one billion reviews.

And seeing as you’re reading this guide, you might well have a business listing on TripAdvisor — or be in the process of creating one.

TripAdvisor first launched in 2000, and was intended to be a home for travel reviews from guidebooks or newspapers. But the site also had the option for visitors to leave their own reviews — and it was this feature that really proved popular. In the years since, the scope of the site has expanded to cover restaurants, cafes, flights, and holiday rentals.

Today, TripAdvisor’s influence on the travel and hospitality industries is huge.

Visibility on TripAdvisor is just as important as visibility on Google and other search engines.

Other review sites

TripAdvisor might be the most important review site for hotels, restaurants, and cafes, but it’s certainly not the only place you’ll see online reviews.

• Facebook is probably the second-most important review platform for smaller hospitality and travel businesses. A user review might be seen by a large proportion of their network, so a single endorsement could reach hundreds of potential customers.
• Google reviews are also key — they’re one of the first things a potential customer will see when searching for more information about your business or service.
• Online Travel Agent (OTA) websites and apps like Airbnb, Booking.com and Expedia are important for hotels and resorts, and often host their own user reviews. Usually these are verified, so that readers can be certain they’ve been written by actual guests.

These review platforms vary significantly, both in terms of the type of reviews you can expect to see, and the amount of control you have over them.

This guide will focus exclusively on how to climb the ranks at TripAdvisor.