Why TripAdvisor is important for small businesses

Once upon a time, businesses talked and customers listened. With enough advertising clout, business owners could shape public perceptions of their brands and paint themselves in a positive light without too much trouble.

With the advent of the internet, however, all that changed. Today, members of the public have the power to make or break businesses by posting detailed, glowing, and scathing reviews of them on the web for all to see.

TripAdvisor has helped consumers all over the world make better, more informed decisions when it comes to choosing hotels, restaurants, and cafes. Before reaching for their credit cards, users will scroll through dozens of reviews so that they know what to expect.

How reviews influence guests and customers

Consumers are far savvier than they used to be. They want to be confident that their time and money will be well spent with you. Which is precisely why they turn to TripAdvisor.

It should come as no surprise, then, that the larger the number of positive reviews your business has — and where your business appears in the site’s rankings — will have an enormous effect on the number of bookings you take.

But how influential could a bunch of amateur reviews really be? Insights published by TripAdvisor shed light on just that.

• 79% of TripAdvisor users read an average of 6-12 reviews before choosing a hotel.
• 58% will read at least 6-12 reviews before choosing a restaurant.
• 80% of users will reference reviews before choosing an attraction to visit.

It’s not just the number of reviews a business has that TripAdvisor users are concerned with, however. How business owners respond to these reviews (which we’ll discuss in more detail later on) is also a motivating factor for many.

• 85% of users said that a 'thoughtful response' to a negative review improved their perception of a hotel.
• 65% of those surveyed agree that they are more likely to choose a hotel whose management respond to reviews over one that does not.
• 80% of TripAdvisor users feel that hotels that respond to reviews care more about their guests.

It’s clear that both the number of guest reviews and how their owners respond to them can impact users’ decisions and influence bookings. But what would happen if you were to steer clear of the site entirely and let nature take its course, as it were?

The risks of ignoring TripAdvisor

Imagine if, before you headed into a big job interview, a random selection of people you’d met over the years were invited to share their opinions of you with the interviewer.

The things they say about you might be positive, negative, or somewhere in between, but you’ll have no way of knowing. If someone outright slanders you, you’ll have no opportunity to refute it or attempt to clear your name.

This is a purely hypothetical situation, of course, and no employer in their right mind would do such a thing. But if you aren’t keeping close tabs on what people are saying about your business on TripAdvisor, then you’re effectively giving the general public free rein to determine your business’ reputation.

Remember: TripAdvisor isn’t a marketing tool for your business: it’s a tool for individuals to use to plan where they’ll stay, what they’ll do, and where they’ll eat.

Therefore, opting out of TripAdvisor doesn’t make it go away. TripAdvisor won’t remove your listing just because you don’t want your business on their site.