The value of Guest Reviews

Hotel internet marketing

The value of Guest Reviews

Before the advent of social media it did not really matter a great deal what people said about your Hotel. If a guest was not too happy they may have told a few people but the damage was limited, but that has all changed now.

Independent guest reviews are now more important than ever. It is also much easier to present guest review information than ever before. Hotels that don't parade their reviews at every opportunity are missing a trick. Great testimonials from raving guests are no longer just nice to have. Today, they're a requirement to build your credibility with potential guests.

If you deliver a service to the public, you will get complaints – a guest may have had a bad journey, they may not be feeling 100% and even though you do your very best they may still not be 100% happy.

Until the advent of social media it wasn't a big issue but now it is. Recently. guest comments good and bad have become very public and with regard to negative reviews -damaging – if not handled correctly.

The 'Word' now gets out and 'spreads like wildfire'. You need to be aware of what is being said about your establishment and you must set up your 'early warning' system using Google alerts, Twitter and social mention. If you are on Trip Advisor [you should be] make sure you set up to receive an email each time a review is posted.

Responding to good reviews is as important as handling negative comments. Responding to a good review shows that you take an interest and care about what is being said about your hotel.

No matter how fantastic your service is you will get negative reviews on Google Places, Trip Advisor and other review sites. You will get comments on your Facebook fan page and have negative 'tweets' posted on Twitter.

Don't ignore them or bury your head in the sand. Accept them and work with the issues raised whether they are justified or not. Engage with your reviewers, enter into dialogue with them and address their concerns.

Guest reviews are great marketing tools for your hotel. Your guests have huge credibility compared to you, the hotel owner. A few glowing words from a guest who has experienced your hospitality can say much more than you can.

But having gathered the guest reviews what do you do with them? In the words of the late and great Sir Henry Cooper you ‘splash ’em all over’………..your website, not just on one page. On your Facebook page, on Linkedin and to tweet about them.

A few cardinal rules – try and use photos of your guest leaving a review and you MUST include their name and location and date of stay.

Photo and written testimonials are great but video comments are a 1000 times more credible. Post the videos on Youtube, on your website and Local places listings.

Video testimonials need to be clear but not Hollywood standard.

As a member of webmarketing4hoteliers we will show you have to take great videos with a hand held flip camera. We will also show you how to create and customise your Youtube channel and upload video to your website and local places listings.

Gift certificates……… an alternative idea

If you sell gift certificates on your website – GREAT! but how about 'giving' them away?

Why not send your best customers a 3 for 2 nights gift certificate valid for a limited period i.e. the next month…………. it could bring you extra business off-season. Also tell them if they can't use the certificate themselves they could pass it to a friend.

Doing this will allow a 'new' guest to enjoy your hospitality.

The Importance of “Content”

If you want to keep your hotel website ‘alive’ and in the eyes of the search robots you have to keep working at it by adding new, fresh and relevant content. Today a ‘brochure’ hotel website won’t make your business money. Google recently updated their search algorithm which will give website’s that update their content a leg up the search engine ‘ladder’ and send ‘dormant’ websites tumbling down the rankings.

Website content is most important as it builds the first impression when someone lands on your Hotel home page. The quality and relevance of your content is key to attracting your guests and eventually, convincing them that your Hotel is the venue for them. Here are a few tips in having informative and effective web content.

Potential guests landing on your site do not like to read. Keep your sentences straight to the point. Readers want to be told why your hotel is the best there is and what’s so different about it. Limit your paragraphs from two to three and keep your sentences clear and short, like you’re talking to a child. Use enticing vocabulary and use ‘you’ and ‘your’ in your descriptions. For example when writing about a meal time say, “you can come down from your room anytime between 7.30 and 10.00 to enjoy your freshly cooked Scottish breakfast”. The potential guest has seen images of your rooms, now use language to put them in the room and coming down to breakfast. Add a little art into it as you entice them up just by reading it.

Add keywords in the text and tags. This is the secret recipe to effective web content. These keywords will help you gain traffic as more visitors will be directed on your page. Think of what people usually search for on the internet regarding hotels and incorporate these words into the website content. The more effective the keywords are, the more the hotel website becomes visible in the Internet. Embolden keywords to make them stand out to the search bots. Use text hyperlinks to pages within your website. If you are writing about ‘places you can visit during your stay’ – hyperlink this phrase to your ‘what to do page’.

Creativity is the Key. Your goal here is to let the readers feel a sample of the hotel’s features by just scanning through the hotel website. Photos, videos and superb graphics and animation help build a wonderful hotel website and attract guests. The more ideas you have to make them stay longer on your page, the better.

Gift certificates……… an alternative idea

The Importance of “Content”

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