TripAdvisor has the potential to dramatically increase customers to your local business if you know how to use the website right. Here are some tried and proven tips on how to use TripAdvisor to boost your local SEO, increase sales and generate positive word of mouth about your business.

List Your Business

Your business may already be listed if a customer provided a review about your business to TripAdvisor. If this is the case, you simply need to claim your business and fill in your information. If your business is not listed, you will need to submit it.

TripAdvisor is ideal for hotels and restaurants but also accepts other types of businesses. These include:

  • Vacation rentals of any kind (i.e. room, home, car, bikes, boats, etc.)
  • Entertainment venues for kids (i.e. play places, party rentals, etc.)
  • Bars
  • Sight-seeing venues
  • Farms with family-friendly activities
  • Tours
  • Stores that tourists are likely to want to visit (i.e. stores offering ethnic food, souvenirs, unusual products, etc.)

Provide as Much Information as Possible

Make it easy for potential customers to not only find you but want to visit you by providing as much information as possible. Such information includes:

  • Business hours
  • Phone number and address
  • Information about special deals and discounts
  • Extra amenities you offer

TripAdvisor also allows you to put up a photo and doing so is always a good idea. Take a high quality image that is easy to see and likely to attract potential customers and upload it to the website.

Choose Keywords with Care

Keywords should play an important role in anything you publish online and a TripAdvisor listing is no exception. Use your chosen keywords in your business listing so that TripAdvisor and Google alike will identify your business with these keywords.

Advertise your TripAdvisor Listing on Your Website

Put up a banner on your website so that people who visit you online can easily find your TripAdvisor listing. Doing so helps people see that you are a professional that is serious about your company and its goods and services. A TripAdvisor link on your website also makes it easy for people to leave reviews on TripAdvisor.

What is more, A TripAdvisor link to your page also boost your website's SEO. Google expects you to have high quality links to other websites on your page and TripAdvisor is one of the best pages you could link to if you cater to the needs of tourists.

Encourage People to Leave Reviews

Encourage people who have visited you to leave reviews on TripAdvisor. Reviews play a large role in how well your company's TripAdvisor page will perform. They also boost your local SEO as reviewers are likely to inadvertently use keywords that you want a good Google rank for.

At the same time, remember you should never pressure people into leaving reviews on your site. Additionally, you should never attempt to buy reviews in order to boost your rank. TripAdvisor has made it clear to businesses that are learning how to use TripAdvisor for the first time that reviews undergo dozens of check and fake reviews will significantly decrease your popularity on the website.

Consider Using the Paid Tools

Most of TripAdvisor's tools are free; however, there are some great extra perks for those who are willing to pay a bit extra. Businesses that offer accommodations can pay extra for business advantage tools and an instant booking button. The latter is particularly useful as it encourages people to book your hotel or accommodation rental right away instead of doing further research. Restaurants can pay for TripAdvisor Premium services or purchase ads on the site. While using these tools won't necessarily boost your SEO they will certainly increase your return on investment.

Keep Tabs on your Listing

Keep tabs on your TripAdvisor listing to make sure that it continues to be easily accessible not just from a computer but also a mobile device. You will also want to respond to any negative reviews you may receive. A clear, polite response can help people overlook the negative remarks and realize that you are worth doing business with.

Other Tips on How to Use TripAdvisor

  • Measure your stats regularly to see if there is room for improvement
  • Immediately update your information if it changes
  • List new business attractions in a timely manner
  • Ask for customer feedback
  • Compare your listing to your competitors' to see how you can reach new audiences

If you need some professional help in how to use TripAdvisor, promoting your new TripAdvisor page and/or your business in general, consider dropping us a line at your convenience. Brandgy specializes in local SEO as well as other forms of internet marketing and can provide the practical assistance you need to promote your business in the local area.