Crowd-sourced review sites can be a great way to increase the footfall in your business, with rankings really helping give people an indication of what your restaurant, cafe, coffee shop or bar is like before they even visit.

But there are some serious issues with the crowd-sourced review site, the biggest of them all being TripAdvisor.

Whilst a good idea in principal, we can’t help but see the problem with TripAdvisor.

Firstly, let us say that TripAdvisor was more than likely set-up with the best intentions. Helping both businesses, travelers and customers to find and showcase the best places to eat, drink and stay in the world.

Powered by customers for customers, we applaud that. Allowing those who eat, drink and visit to give their opinions of a place is a great way to draw attention to an establishment.

And herein lies the problem.

The customer is always right – mostly

If you list your business on TripAdvisor, you are given access to your specific page. Provided tools to add descriptions, images and analyse how you stack up against your competition.

You also have the ability to respond to reviews and queries on your specific page.

One issue that nearly every business or TripAdvisor user will encounter are disgruntled guests.

The phrase often quoted states that “the customer is always right”, the problem is that in what is the ‘Wild West’ of the internet, the customer is also unaccountable for their actions.

Still a relatively new platform compared to more traditional media, the internet gives anyone a voice to speak freely about any subject. This does not stop with hotel, bar and restaurant reviews.

“No melon is ever ripe enough for the people on TripAdvisor,” according to travel industry analyst Jared Blank, who spoke to the Guardian on the subject in 2011.

“I’m always shocked by the comments: from the quality of the fruit, to the mobile-phone reception on an island in the middle of nowhere, to whether the person on the front desk was smiling sufficiently upon their arrival.

“It blows my mind.”

Fake reviews

But despite these picky punters there is a growing problem within the industry and TripAdvisor on the whole, the rise of the ‘fake review’ has led to an entire underground industry cropping up to ‘enhance’ business ratings on the website – which has an estimated 350 million visitors per month.

The site does have strict guidelines and is said to crack down on fake or ‘dodgy’ reviews, but we’ve seen reviews that make us skeptical of the influence of the site administrators.

There have been reports of rival businesses trying to taint the public view of an establishment by posting negative reviews on a page. This is deplorable behaviour, and it only ends up hurting those who get involved in it.

Even if the reviews are not fake, there are people who ‘game’ the system. Think about it, you could offer your customers a discount if they leave you a favourable review. But who does that help in the long term? Nobody.

Inherently it’s biggest strength, whilst also being the platforms biggest weakness, TripAdvisor is a democracy.

Every single vote or rating counts equally. This is the biggest driving force behind fake or dishonest reviews, there are people who look to complain for almost any single reason seemingly without reason.

This drives quantity, not quality.

How to benefit from the service

Don’t have an incomplete profile

Make sure all of your business information is up to date and all contact information is present and correct.

By doing so you are giving your potential and previous customers a greater opportunity to connect with you both as a person and as a business. Adding your website address for further information beyond your basic listing is also a good idea.

Add good, high quality photos. Customers are likely to add their own photos, but before they do so, then it’s better to have added your own.

Try and include some people (with their permission) to the image database, this is proof that you have customers!

Don’t ignore reviews – positive or negative

It’s not a good idea to stick your head in the sand when people are posting reviews about your business.

If you get a negative review, then address it quickly, understand that sometimes the resolution is simply an apology or even another chance for the guest to ‘try again’.

The same goes for positive reviews, engage with your customers, this shows that you are willing to listen to everything. Plus when people see your business listed, they know exactly what to expect in terms of your hospitality before they even visit.

But contradictory to that first part, you don’t need to read every single review – especially if you get a high volume –

Don’t believe every single review

This unfortunately works both ways, as a consumer and a business owner, we think you should ignore any and all reviews from reviewers that don’t have at least 20 reviews.

We would say ignore all reviews from people who live in the area they are reviewing, but this is actually a good way to engage with regulars, positive or negative.

Ignore all reviews from accounts without a customised profile picture.

Don’t just use TripAdvisor

There are numerous review platforms out there that provide a similar experience for both users and business owners. Some people will exclusively use the biggest on the market, with others relying on Google Reviews, Yelp, UrbanSpoon and more.

Keep an eye on all platforms, you’ll catch any stray bits that way.

Don’t stop delivering good service

It might be stressful to think about what people are saying about your business online, but if you continue offering a great service, then you’ll leave only good reasons for people to share their experiences online.

Read other reviews at similar or rival places to get an indication of where your competition is at, use that as fuel to drive your own business aspirations and successes. Learn from someone else’s failures if you can!