Harnessing the Influence of Online Restaurant Reviews

3 Min Read By Tim Hilton

We no longer depend solely on word of mouth for restaurant suggestions. The majority of customers now rely on online review sites when making a decision on where to eat. More than 67 percent of customers take online reviews into consideration when making a purchasing decision, according to a recent study.

Online reviews are also a great place to look for ways to improve your restaurant’s products and services. It’s important to acknowledge that while you can learn from good reviews, bad ones--though undesirable--provide a great opportunity to take a closer look at parts of your restaurant through someone else’s perspective.

Good ReviewsIf you’re not already encouraging customers to review your restaurant online now is a great time to start. Claiming your Google My Business (formerly Google+ Local), Yelp and TripAdvisor pages will help you stay on top of review management and allow you to respond to customer feedback.

Customers know the importance of online reviews just as much…