Consumer behavior towards restaurants has evolved through time. In this day and age, it seems like it’s a must to read reviews on a restaurant first before actually trying. As a result, restaurant review sites have begun popping up from left and right.
Restaurant review sites could serve as a double edged sword for restaurants. Firstly, the more positive reviews on your restaurant means customers would want to try your store. On the other hand, a bevy of negative reviews could prevent customers from trying your store. Restaurant owners have to make sure their operations are running smoothly to prevent negative reviews.
In this article, we will be discussing the top restaurant review sites to be present on and why customers love visiting them.
Reasons Why Customers Visit Restaurant Review Sites
Exactly why do customers read restaurant reviews for? First, to decide whether to visit your restaurant. Secondly, to set expectations if and when they visit your restaurant. Lastly, to get in-depth information on your restaurant.
Continue on below to read up on the most common reasons why customers go to restaurant review sites.
Food Information
Consumers go to restaurants to try the food. In the same manner, consumers go to restaurant review sites to check how the food is.
Customers would like to know which ones are the best sellers. In addition, they would also like to see how the pricing is. In some cases, product pricing is a decision point for customers whether they’ll go or not.
Some restaurants might also carry secret menus. Restaurants use this as a strategy so they’ll have a more engaged online presence. For example, In & Out has a secret menu wherein you can order a 4×4 – a quadruple cheeseburger. The product is not on their menu and there’s no way of knowing while you dine in. In short, the only way you’ll know about it is if you read restaurant review sites.
Customer Service Information
Food is not the only reason why customers read reviews. They also want to read up on how the restaurant treats its customers. A restaurant who values customer service and satisfaction will certainly get more new and returning customers.
Design and Ambience
Believe it or not, the aesthetics of a restaurant can be a factor for customers when they’re deciding to visit. For example, café’s in Japan exude a quiet and relaxing aura because of their homey interiors. Customers visit this certain café for a few hours of their time to absorb this peaceful aura and to simply have a nice cup of coffee.
List of the Best Restaurant Review Sites Your Restaurants Need to be On
Now that we’ve discussed the why, let us now discuss which restaurant reviews sites you need to be present on.
Facebook is one of the largest social networks in the world with billions of users. It is imperative that your restaurant has an online presence on Facebook.
Facebook has a unique restaurant review tab as it allows the business to reply to reviews made by users. General tips for your restaurants is that if someone leaves a positive review, give them a simple thank you message. On the other hand, if a negative review comes to light, explain your side but maintain that you will strive to work even harder.
The number one website for all traffic and engagement. It has even turned into a verb for some people. Have you heard people using the term, “Google it”?
Restaurants can be listed at the Google My Business page. Once listed, there’s a chance of it appearing in search engines. Owners can also maximize reach potential by using Google Ads to promote their restaurant.
TripAdvisor
The world’s largest travel website. And part of traveling to different countries are the restaurants. What’s awesome about TripAdvisor is that it uses its platform to collect restaurant reviews from travelers around the world.
Make sure that you take ownership of your restaurant in TripAdvisor. Doing so will allow you to respond to reviews, add relevant information, photos, and more.
Zomato
A platform to discover the best food & drink in whatever city you’re in. Zomato curates content for top restaurants, bars, cafés, and more.
Registering your restaurant to Zomato is a simple task. Just follow the registration link and fill up all the details. Customers use Zomato to write reviews of their experiences. With Zomato being primarily a restaurant platform, it is important that your restaurant gets a whole lot of love on the reviews there.
Yelp
Another great place to connect customers with great local businesses. It provides a one-stop shop for information, photos, and reviews for consumers. For restaurants, it can function as a social network. It lets you post, interact with users, and use ads to promote your business.
OpenTable
This platform is meant for reserving a seat for yourselves at a restaurant you fancy. Make sure your restaurant is listed on the platform to take advantage of this feature. Similar to the other platforms mentioned above, OpenTable also has a review section where consumers can read up on their favorite restaurants.
Bonus: Instagram
While not necessarily a restaurant review site, being listed on Instagram is definitely a must for restaurants. Instagram is a social network that focuses on images and videos. Users around the world get watery mouths whenever they look at food pictures. Therefore, being on Instagram will definitely help attract these users.
There are some Instagram accounts dedicated to restaurant reviews. Some examples of restaurant reviewers on Instagram include:
Bonus # 2: Other Food Delivery Platforms
There are other platforms that are similar to Zomato. For example, there’s Grabfood, GoJek, UberEats, DoorDash, and more. List with these platforms despite them being not solely a restaurant review site.
If you’re familiar with these platforms, you’ll see that there’s a rating for each restaurant listed. Despite not having an essay on a review, these ratings can serve as a guide for consumers whenever they want to try your restaurant.
Why Restaurants Need to List in Restaurant Review Sites
The competition in the food and beverage industry is very fierce. New restaurants pop up as quickly as the Flash. To be successful, every little opportunity needs to be taken advantage of.
Restaurants who are listed in restaurant review sites can provide more reach and information to its users. In addition, restaurants have another avenue to market themselves. A person who wasn’t familiar with your restaurant can be a customer once they’ve read your restaurant reviews.
The sheer number of users restaurant review sites have is another reason why your restaurant should list in them. Imagine converting just a fraction of them. Let’s look at Facebook as an example. If your local city has 5 million Facebook users and you convert as low as 1% of them. That is still 500,000 new potential customers.
A restaurant cannot control what’s being reviewed about them. The best thing you can do is to accept what was written and take it as constructive criticism.
Final Thoughts
It is important that you list down all the restaurant review sites that you’re part of. Monitor the activity on these sites and check for new reviews. Whenever there’s a new review, make sure you take time to engage with the user. Remember, customers love it when they feel like they’re being heard.
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