Reviews influence booking decisions, and, needless to say, responding to reviews across the web should be an important part of your hotel’s marketing strategy.
Over the past several years, Google hotel reviews have grown in importance as well. In fact, Google reviews highly impact local search rankings for hotels. The more reviews for your business and the more qualitative your reviews are, the more visible your hotel is for potential guests.
According to Search Engine Land, local Google reviews are on the rise, with an astounding 278% exponential increase in reviews for US local based businesses (from 2015 to 2016). In this context, managing your hotel’s reviews on Google becomes an important part of successfully managing your reputation and making your hotel visible in search.
If you haven’t done it already, it’s time to set up your hotel on Google My Business and make sure you’re offering accurate, up-to-date information to travelers, and that you are actively engaging with guests on the Google platform.
What is Google My Business?
Google has grouped control for local businesses across Google services (including Search, Maps, etc.) under their Google My Business umbrella. Hoteliers can request access to this free tool and start optimizing their local listing for search engine success.
Google My Business also lets you post updates about your hotel to promote specials or announcements about new renovations. As we cited before, you can also respond to reviews to build loyalty with travelers previewing your site. And don't forget photos! This adds a visual element to showcase what makes your hotel stand-out.
How can Google My Business help my hotel?
Having your hotel set up on Google My Business gives control over the information travelers sees in their hotel search. Managing your business account translates into helping travelers easily find relevant information about your hotel.
With Google My Business, you will be able to:
- Provide accurate information about your hotel, including opening hours, location, visuals, and relevant news and offers about your hotel.
- Interact with guests and respond to your Google reviews
- Attract new clientele on your website with an improved listing (please consult a previous TrustYou best practice guide on how hotels can step up their Google listing for success)
- Have travelers easily call or send text messages to your hotel directly from search results
Furthermore, optimizing your presence on the search engine through Google My Business can directly translate into revenue. More views of your business profile can increase search traffic to your website and drive more direct bookings.
How do I start my Google My Business account?
According to Google’s support page, setting up your hotel on the platform should be pretty straightforward. One thing to note is that Google is asking to verify your listing after you create your account. You can do that via email, phone, or mail.
When it comes to increasing your reviews, consider TrustYou’s Guest Surveys solution to help boost review numbers. Hotels can ask their reviewers to share their survey review on Google and help impact hotel’s local rankings even more.
Asking for reviews has proven to be a winning strategy for hotels. According to TrustYou’s most recent research, 80% of travelers who received a request left a review and only 22% of travelers wrote a review without being asked.
Have questions about Google reviews? Contact us for more information.
