Today’s diners can quickly become critics on restaurant review sites.
To protect your brand reputation and stay competitive, your company must have the ability to monitor what diners are saying about your restaurant locations as well as engage with customers who share their experiences online.
Moreover, as the restaurant and foodservice industry gears up for the road to post-pandemic economic recovery, restaurateurs’ participation in digital platforms is more necessary than ever. This underlines the important role restaurant review sites play in shaping the customer journey.
Restaurant Industry Statistics You Should Know
Whether you like it or not, you must acknowledge the impact of online reviews on your business and play an active role in managing these reviews.
Here are some online reviews statistics to show how business review sites like Google, Facebook, Yelp, and Tripadvisor shape the restaurant industry.
- 90% of diners research a restaurant online (more than any other type of business) before deciding where to eat. (OpenTable)
- According to findings from our survey on restaurant star ratings, 33% of restaurant-goers would not eat at a restaurant with an average 3-star review on sites like Yelp, Google, and Facebook.
- In an OpenTable survey, no restaurants responded that they never read reviews, and only one respondent said they read reviews just a few times a year.
Best Practices: How to Win Customers Over on Restaurant Review Sites
As you claim your listing on the restaurant review sites that matter to your business, make sure you follow these simple tips and tricks to protect your brand reputation and deliver better customer experiences.
Submit Complete and Correct Business Information
Local listing management is the process of updating and correcting your company’s location data across multiple directories, social media and business review sites, and other customer-facing platforms.
When setting up your listings, be sure to add as much information as possible, including your business location name, category, phone number, address, cuisine type, hours of operation, etc.
It’s extremely important that your listing contains information that is complete, correct, and up-to-date. Each site will have options for editing your listing in case you made operational changes or moved to a new address.
This process might take some time when you do it manually. If you’re managing a multi-location restaurant brand or a franchise, investing in a local listing management solution can automate the process for you.
Manage Restaurant Reviews
Once your listings are updated, you need to actively monitor and manage all the restaurant reviews posted by your diners.
By having an effective online review management strategy in place, as well as customer experience analytics technology, you can easily find out what diners love about your business and what they think you can do to improve the experience.
Your company should also learn how to respond to negative reviews professionally, promptly, and politely. (Resist the urge to wage a war against overly critical Yelpers.)
According to customer reviews research by restaurant software company Toast, the top challenge for 33% of restaurants is how to attract and retain customers.
But there’s a gap between customer expectations and reality: only 23% of restaurants reach out to the reviewer when dealing with in-person feedback or negative reviews.
Taking the time to respond demonstrates that your company takes unsolicited feedback seriously and that your organization cares about what customers have to say.
List of Restaurant Review Sites You Should Track
If you’re just getting started on your restaurant’s online reputation, let us help. We made a list of the restaurant review sites you should know about, along with information on how to claim your business profile or listing on each of the sites.
- Yelp
- OpenTable
- Tripadvisor
- Grubhub and Eat24
- Seamless
- Zomato
- Zagat
- AllergyEats
- TheFork
Managing multiple business locations? A local listing management solution ensures consistent listings for your brand and provides the ability to generate reviews across all the directories and review sites that matter.
1. Yelp
Founded in October 2004 in San Francisco, California, Yelp is the go-to site for diners looking to discover great places to eat.
The site has a wide range of business categories, but food, restaurants, nightlife, and bars are the sectors where Yelp has made its name.
A well-managed Yelp business listing also brings in more revenue. According to the Yelp fact sheet, businesses with new listings see an average of $8,000 in annual revenue from their Yelp page alone.
How to Claim Your Restaurant on Yelp:
To claim your Yelp for Business page, visit https://biz.yelp.com/. For more information, visit the ReviewTrackers guide on using your Yelp business listing.
2. OpenTable
A subsidiary of Priceline.com, OpenTable is one of the leading online restaurant reservations platforms today.
But it’s not just for hungry diners looking to book a table. It’s also for those who haven’t yet decided where to eat, so they turn to restaurant reviews to guide their decision.
Every month, 21 million OpenTable diners write more than 850,000 reviews, and its network connects diners with more than 40,000 restaurants worldwide.
How to Claim Your Restaurant on OpenTable:
You can join OpenTable by visiting https://restaurant.opentable.com/get-started. If your restaurant locations are already on the OpenTable network, you can manage customer feedback directly using ReviewTrackers technology. (Read our blog post on the ReviewTrackers-OpenTable partnership.)
3. Google
Google is the world’s biggest search engine. It’s also one of the most popular restaurant review websites, thanks to the rapid growth of online reviews published on its platform. According to online reviews statistics, 63% of consumers will check Google for reviews before visiting a business.
With services like Google Maps, Google Search, and Google My Business, Google connects millions of hungry diners with restaurants and local businesses every month. It also publishes Google restaurant reviews and ratings on its own platform.
How to Claim Your Restaurant on Google:
To create or edit your restaurant listing on Google, just visit the Google My Business page at www.google.com/business. You may also read this handy Google My Business guide to learn how to manage your restaurant brand on Google.
4. Facebook
The world’s leading social network is also home to hundreds of thousands of restaurant reviews. In the last couple of years, Facebook has polished and enhanced its review features, making it easy for users to rate their favorite restaurants or find new ones to visit.
Restaurant social media statistics show that Facebook is also popular among customers when it comes to choosing a place to eat, with 72% using the platform to make dining decisions.
How to Claim Your Restaurant on Facebook:
Check out our Facebook Reviews guide for information on how to manage customer feedback on your Facebook Page or learn how to add a menu to your Facebook Page. You can also read our more comprehensive guide to using Facebook Business Manager.
5. Tripadvisor
Tripadvisor, the world’s biggest travel site, has made an indelible mark on the hotel and hospitality industry. But it’s also making an impact on restaurants.
About 490 million monthly unique visitors go to Tripadvisor every month. The site features 730 million user-generated reviews and recommendations of places all over the world. Tripadvisor also features multiple-category restaurant rankings as well as an online reservations platform.
How to Claim Your Restaurant on Tripadvisor:
To get started on claiming your restaurant’s Tripadvisor listing, go to http://www.tripadvisor.com/Owners. You can also check out this guide on using Tripadvisor for business.
6. Grubhub and Eat24
Chicago-based Grubhub is an online food ordering and delivery marketplace that connects diners with local takeout restaurants. Eat24, formerly owned by Yelp, was a leading food delivery and pickup service with a network of over 30,000 restaurants in over 1,500 cities.
A few years ago, Grubhub bought Eat24 from Yelp. Most of the listings that were part of Eat24, along with these listings’ restaurant reviews and ratings, are now on Grubhub.
How to Claim Your Restaurant on Grubhub and Eat24:
You can join Grubhub by visiting https://get.grubhub.com/.
7. Seamless
Seamless is an online food ordering service that allows users to order food for delivery and takeout from restaurants through their website or suite of mobile apps. The company is also owned by Grubhub, which features over 115,000 businesses across 2,200 cities in the U.S. and London.
If Seamless users have opinions about any restaurants listed on the site, they can leave restaurant reviews and ratings. Selected reviews will be posted to the site.
How to Claim Your Restaurant on Seamless:
You can join Seamless by visiting https://get.grubhub.com/.
8. Zomato (previously Urbanspoon)
New Delhi-based restaurant portal Zomato, which acquired Urbanspoon, offers online restaurant reviews from professional food critics, bloggers, and diners. The site reportedly features over one million restaurants spread across 24 countries.
Zomato also offers the ability to filter searches according to neighborhood, cuisine type, special features (BYOB, gluten-free menu, etc.), price, and nearby locations.
How to Claim Your Restaurant on Zomato:
If you don’t yet have a business listing on Zomato, visit http://www.zomato.com/business#add. If you already have a listing and would like to claim it as your own, visit: http://www.zomato.com/business#ads. You can learn more about optimizing your listing by reading our Zomato Restaurant Registration guide.
9. Zagat
One of the first-ever companies to collect restaurant reviews and ratings, Zagat – founded in 1979 – is among the top restaurant review sites today.
The website curates the best restaurants and nightlife spots in 18 major cities worldwide. It was acquired by Google in September 2011, whereupon Zagat’s data became tightly integrated into the search engine giant’s services.
The site is best known for its 30-point rating scale. This scale covers various aspects of the dining experience, including food, décor, service, and cost.
Zagat also has a dedicated mobile app (for Apple iOS and Android) that’s integrated with Google services like Google Maps and Google Street View.
How to Claim Your Restaurant on Zagat:
To take control of your restaurant on Zagat and manage your ratings and reviews, you have to claim your listing via Google My Business.
10. AllergyEats
AllergyEats is the leading guide to allergy-friendly restaurants in the US. The site features user-submitted ratings to help diners identify restaurants that accommodate their allergies (as well as restaurants that don’t).
How to Claim Your Restaurant on AllergyEats:
To claim your business listing, simply visit https://www.allergyeats.com/contact-us/add-a-restaurant/ and fill out the form.
After your submission, the AllergyEats team will get in touch with you as soon as the restaurant is ready to be rated.
For more information, read our blog post about ReviewTrackers’ partnership with AllergyEats.
11. TheFork
TheFork, which is owned by Tripadvisor, is a restaurant discovery and booking platform popularly used in Australia and Europe. The site lists over 30,000 restaurants, with over 5 million online reviews in its database.
How to Claim Your Restaurant on TheFork:
To add your restaurant on TheFork, visit https://www.theforkmanager.com/registration.
Expand Your Digital Footprint with Restaurant Review Sites
The Internet is the number one resource for diners looking for information about restaurants. By getting listed on the restaurant review sites listed above, you can expand your business’s digital footprint and position your restaurant locations to drive traffic, reservations, orders, and deliveries.
