How can my online reputation help drive bookings?

Your online reputation is essential to drive bookings. Before making their decision, guests will read reviews to understand the current experience at your establishment. Especially now, when traveling during a pandemic, guests will be extra vigilant for negative reviews regarding topics like cleanliness and safety.

How Can I Manage My Online Reputation?

Online reputation management is a full circle: if you read your online reviews, identify your strengths and areas of improvement, and make operational and service decisions based on that, then your guest satisfaction will naturally follow. Consequently, you will also receive better online reviews.

These operational changes start in-house and do not necessarily require high investments. Staff training is, for example, is an easy win that can make a big impact.

However, as a hotelier, you cannot be in control of what your guests are saying about your brand online. By responding to online reviews you can be part of the conversation between your guests and future guests on those public review sites. A review response offers you a great opportunity to highlight your strengths or recent improvements you have implemented in your establishment.

How Does My Online Reputation Drive Bookings?

By improving according to your guests’ needs and expectations, your scores will get higher which will generate trust for future bookers, which in turn will generate more bookings.

Responding to reviews is also a great way to generate trust with your future guests. Use these responses to show off your brand as a guest-centric brand, which takes guest feedback seriously and is continuously trying to improve.

A good online reputation can drive bookings. But it all starts with creating good guest experiences, that guests will want to rave about. As guest expectations change over time, you will need to continuously work on it. But as long as you read, listen and react to guest feedback, your bookings will follow.