The Hospitality Industry Guide To Managing Online Customer Reviews

Since opening in 2012, Ballston's A-Town Bar & Grill has been the area's go-to spot for happy hour, game watches, and scandalously fun Sunday Funday brunch bashes. Their reputation for throwing over-the-top parties (for the most part) isn't exaggerated, leaving them open to mixed reviews – some of which are blunt, rude and downright negative. One could never mistake management, specifically owner Scott Parker, for not caring or taking action. This is evident throughout his determined dedication to managing the venue's Yelp Business Page and responding to virtually every customer along the way. While there are several things that make A-Town Bar & Grill (as well as his many other venues and concepts) successful, in terms of brand strategy, this is undoubtedly one of the most effective pieces of the marketing puzzle.

I admit, Yelp has gotten a really bad reputation over the years which is largely attributed to the high volume of fake reviews and substandard oversight of webmasters to curtail that behavior. No matter how annoying the review platform may be, there is no denying that its results still reign supreme throughout the search engines and therefore requires significant attention – especially for restaurant, bar and hospitality marketing.

For those of you scratching your heads and wondering "Where the hell do I begin?" – fear not! The District Maven marketing team is here to save the day with the ultimate guide to tackling online customer ratings for hospitality owners. With Scott Parker's Yelp activity serving as a supporting example, here are some SEO tips and tricks that will help your brand dominate the digital review game in no time!

Pro Tip Example: Scott Parker, A-Town Bar & Grill and The Bitch That Is Yelp

When it comes to optimizing for the search engines, every business will utilize slightly different methods depending on their unique needs. But for the restaurant and hospitality owner, it seems like every technique must be taken into account while implementing SEO strategy, and with good reason. When people search the Internet they are looking to do something -- roughly 80% of these individuals are doing research, whereas the remaining 20% are looking to make a purchase decision (almost always after doing research of some kind).

While you can find an endless amount of information listed throughout Google's search engine results pages, in the hospitality industry, only three things really matter: your website, social media profiles and online brand reputation. The last on that list may be the most important factor, as it is the customer review sites like Google Reviews, Yelp and TripAdvisor that will make the biggest impact on the purchase decision-making process.

Of course, it goes without saying that maintaining updated business listing citations on major review sites is important to local digital marketing. However, it is the diligent and thoughtful management of customer reviews that truly matters – with human visitors and search engines alike. Yes, I get that keeping up with what seems like an endless stream of negative comments is daunting, let alone responding to any of them, but it is absolutely required for any hospitality professional, restaurant or bar owner.

the basics

First and foremost, utilizing SEO benefits from customer review sites begins with having exactly the same name, address, phone number and website (NAPW) listed on all business citation sites (or, as many as possible). Not only can inconsistent information create distrust with a human visitor doing research for a future purchase decision, but the search engines use sites like Yelp and TripAdvisor to verify basic information about a business, including the address, website and phone number associated with it. If the NAPW citations are not consistent across the board, one runs the risk of this critical information not being properly indexed by the search engines or potentially returning incorrect information.

Over the years, recommendation engines have grown to include business listings featuring much more than just the NAPW. It is far more common to find the most prominent hospitality business profiles with far more content than ever before. Although options are typically limited for free profile listings, extra features can include video, photos, social media links, customer reviews and more. Because all of this information is not only visible to the human searcher browsing the site itself, it further associates the aforementioned content with your brand throughout the search engines as well. Whenever possible, it's always the best rule of thumb to add as much detail as possible into these listings for maximum exposure.

It isn't uncommon for a hospitality business owner to complain to me that there are WAY too many online customer review sites to keep up with. While it is understandable that businesses want to have a presence on as many outlets as possible, quality over quantity always wins out in this case.

Instead of spinning wheels posting content to a million different platforms, single out a few that are key to your core business. (For restaurants, think Yelp. For caterers and event planners, look to Wedding Wire or The Knot.) Not only is this where the biggest sample of potential clients are waiting for you, but it is also better to focus on building a robust presence on a few key sites rather than a mediocre showing on many.

where scott parker does it best

At the end of the day, no amount of good marketing can sell a terrible product. No amount of positive reviews on any site could or should ever outweigh the importance of providing inherently good products and services backed by a superior level of customer service. Period. The fact that Scott (not his intern or assistant) personally takes the time to answer nearly every one of A-Town's Yelp reviews over nearly the last five years is damn impressive. This in itself is a much-needed example of self-accountability. In addition to being an entrepreneurial time management phenomenon, it also shows that he truly cares about his customers, what they think and how he can continually improve the business. This relentless dedication is noticeable, and at the very least, admirable even from the worst reviewer. (And as you may have guessed, it is also good for search engine indexing as well.)

Don't get it twisted for a minute -- Scotty P doesn't stop at responding to only positive reviews, and A-Town's overall digital marketing benefits from it. As you can see from the, ahem, colorful reviews featured below, Parker goes above and beyond to individually answer each and every review -- that includes the horrendously negative ones, too. This strategy works because it shows your involvement in the customer experience and increases the posts' presence across that respective review platform, all while giving you another opportunity to change the opinion of a customer.

A personal note: On more than one occasion, I've seen Scott win over a Yelp reviewer who initially posted a terrible review enough to get them to come back in and post another on the same thread, changing their original opinion. Hand to God (or, whatever you think of for spiritual inspiration), I swear it to be true.

It is true in life as it is in business, shit does happen. Especially at a bar or restaurant, it isn't uncommon for a customer to have a negative experience due to circumstances totally outside of the owner’s control. In these cases, it is still always wise to respond to the negative review honestly and with the utmost transparency, as Scott does below. Because hell, what else can you do?