Can Reviews Help Your Cafe/Restaurant
Whether it’s a review in a local newspaper, a mention on a food blog, or two friends having a chat about your food — reviews have always mattered for restaurants and cafes.
Receiving good reviews can help you attract more customers to your business each week and provide a significant boost to your brand. On the flip side, if you receive a few bad reviews, you may soon notice that the number of bookings or walk-in customers you receive decreases.
The challenge faced by cafes and restaurants is encouraging customers to leave positive reviews in the first place. This is made even more difficult by the fact that reviews usually take place online — on websites, blogs, forums, and third party review sites. It can be difficult for cafe or restaurant owners to successfully navigate this environment and encourage customers to leave online reviews.
In this post, I’ll identify the many ways that reviews can help restaurants and cafes. I’ll also explain how an online reputation management company makes obtaining online reviews for your cafe or restaurant simple.
How Do Reviews Help Cafes and Restaurants?
Reviews spread the word about your business
Having reviews published helps consumers become aware of your business and your brand. Consumers who read your reviews will quickly discover your business name, the products and services you offer, where you trade, and much more. Reviews are particularly beneficial for improving brand awareness and establishing your business in the local community.
Reviews establish trust
Consumers increasingly rely upon online reviews when assessing how trustworthy and reputable a business is. According to online marketing company BrightLocal, 60% of consumers will read online reviews of cafes and restaurants and 57% of customers will only use a business if it has 4 or more stars. Businesses needs positive reviews to build trust with these kinds of Internet-savvy consumers.
Reviews can showcase your products and services
Many review websites allow customers to upload images taken at the business. This usually includes pictures of the location and decor, along with the food and the drink that was served. This gives you a unique opportunity to showcase what your business offers.
Reviews improves your position in local search
Local searches are geographically constrained search queries that are performed in search engines like Google and Bing. A consumer automatically performs this kind of search whenever they use a search term like “Chinese restaurants in London” or “Chinese restaurants near me”.
The search engine will automatically return a list of local restaurants, cafes, or whatever business type mentioned in the query. The user is also presented with a map, which helps them learn where local businesses are located and how far those businesses are from their current location. Appearing prominently in local search is very important for cafes and restaurants, as it can attract large numbers of Internet-savvy customers looking for a local eatery.
The good news is, search engines use the number of online reviews your business has as a ranking factor for local search. In simple terms, the more highly-rated reviews your business has, the higher it will rank in local search.
Reviews also help your website perform well
In addition to boosting the performance of your business in local search, reviews can have an impact on the search engine optimisation of your website. That’s because search engines consider positive reviews to be a sign of trustworthiness and authority. The better your business website performs, the traffic it will generate — which leads to more customers walking through your front door.
Reviews provide a great opportunity to engage with customers
Businesses can reply to the reviews that are left on third party websites like Yelp, Google My Business, and Facebook. This allows you to interact with customers, thanking them for their patronage and providing additional customer service. This is particularly beneficial for cafes and restaurants as you can develop strong relationships with the customers who often frequent your establishment.
What Is The Best Way To Gather Online Reviews?
Reviews naturally accumulate as customers share their experiences online. However, you can greatly increase the number of reviews you receive by hiring a an online reputation management specialist like We Love These Guys. Our team uses innovative techniques to increase the likelihood that a customer will leave a review on your website or a third party review website. To learn more, contact We Love These Guys on 0207 018 1949 or via info@welovetheseguys.com.
