Hotel review sites - make sure you're listed!

It’s not uncommon for people to have a trusted source for all their information, for example, their friends or family. But, online, we can favour certain websites or media outlets - especially if we’ve had good experiences with them.

There are review sites for many types of businesses:              

• Restaurants
• Hotels
• Hostels
• Transport
• Experiences

They make it easy for travellers when they are in a new place to learn from genuine feedback about the go-to places, and the places that maybe you don’t want to go to.

When looking for the best hotel review sites, you want to make sure that wherever you list your hotel business, you are attracting the masses and those who are likely to leave a rave review. Luxury hotels and other businesses in the travel industry thrive on personal recommendations, so let's find out which ones you want to show up on.

So, what ones are out there?

You’ve probably heard of some of these major players, but other sites act as a great place to see reviews, too.

• Facebook  
• Google
• TripAdvisor
• Orbitz
• Booking.com
• Expedia
• Hotels.com
• Yelp

You don’t have to go to the specific traveller’s review sites, such as Booking.com or Tripadvisor for your hotel-focused reviews, either. But, they might make it a bit easier.

Some of the bigger sites such as Google and Facebook work well for promoting your hotel. Many people use these sites in their day-to-day life, so it makes sense that if your business is listed on there, and you're getting great reviews, people will listen and book with you.

Facebook

Facebook is a popular social media platform, but its business advantages make it quite the competitor for even the world's largest travel site. Many people scroll through Facebook reviews, so make sure yours are shining bright!

Setting up a business Facebook Page allows you to:

1. Interact with customers in a way that feels less formal via instant messaging
2. Use it as your website (and save money on creating your own website)
3. Be ever-present in your customer's minds as they scroll through the app by creating engaging posts and promotions
4. Ask customers to review you on one of the world's most used platforms - most people have a Facebook account so it's simple.

If you work in the hospitality industry, most travellers will be able to find you via Facebook and they can review you instantly. Not only that, they can even tag your business in some of their holiday pictures. This is effectively free marketing - let's just hope it's positive feedback and not a picture of an unmade bed and dirty bathrooms.

Google

It's important to list on multiple sites for reviews and make sure your reviews are showing up.

This is especially important to gauge audience insights from many data sources, reach out to actual guests wherever they may be looking, and see which hotel booking sites gain you the most positive reviews.

On Google, it's important to list here as many people use it as their primary search engine. If you list here and have many positive reviews, you'll show up on the first page via Google Maps. All you need to do is focus on getting more positive reviews and impressing your travellers.

Booking.com

This hotel review site is pretty savvy with its marketing, usually featuring famous faces such as Idris Elba. They know what sells, and they also know the power of their reviews influencing buying decisions.

With other hotel review sites, you can't actually book directly through them. So, although your business is listed there, you can just show the listing and gain reviews.

With Booking.com, you can garner verified reviews and streamline the entire process as your guests can book through the site.

Tripadvisor

Tripadvisor sees itself as the world's largest travel site and is extremely popular for booking a place to stay and leaving a review.

It prides itself on being a traveller's sidekick. The consumer reviews are genuine and closely monitored for any bogus reviews by its moderators. With a pragmatic approach, you can ensure you're getting lots of reviews on Tripadvisor.

Online travel agencies have become very popular and Tripadvisor acts like your own agency; it's a booking site and the Tripadvisor reviews can help you choose not only your vacation rentals or hotel, but you can also plan your entire itinerary!

Orbitz

Orbitz is all-in-one when it comes to your travel; you can book flights and hotels as well as check out the reviews on their platform.

It might not sound like a household name, but it's a reputable website to use for all your travel needs.

The main thing to note, though, is that whenever you use a third-party site to book your flights, they are slow at responding as it's not really their responsibility to organise your changes. This is why many people prefer using hotel review sites for accommodation only.

Expedia

Expedia refers to itself as a one-stop-travel-shop and it's great for hotel reviews.

It's known for secret deals and the best prices when booking your hotels. As you can also leave reviews via Expedia, it allows potential customers to check out your hotel with personal recommendations before booking through the site.

Hotels.com

Hotels.com not only shows expert reviews, but it also displays luxury hotels at the best price.

You can find the same hotel on other review sites but at extraordinarily higher prices so it's been known to be favoured amongst backpackers and those who don't want to spend too much as they travel the globe.

There are various sites for your hotel listing - it depends on what you want to focus on for your online reviews.

So, if you're looking to list on hotel sites, make sure you aim for the ones with the best online reviews platform. You want to make it easy for your guests to review you, so choosing one where they've booked through or one that's going to be used by them a lot (Google or Facebook) is a great idea.

It can be hard to keep track of all of your reviews and the websites you're listed on - but, this is why you need Cloutly. It's tech that streamlines your reviews and makes it easier to ask for them from any platform.

See how you can manage all of your reviews in one place today.