Top 4 Review Sites for Social Travelers: Part 1
As travel applications integrate their way into social networks, destinations and attractions are able to reap the benefit of social sharing without spending a dime. Applications like Google+ Local, TripAdvisor, Foursquare and Yelp take advantage of location-based check-ins and reviews, influencing consumers to share their experiences everywhere they go. We live in a world of mobile sharing, and these top 4 travel applications reign in the kingdom of social travel through clever integration with Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest and Google+. The top 4 travel applications for the social traveler encourage experience sharing among millions of users nationwide. We put together this informative rundown of each application in a 4-part series, beginning with TripAdvisor.
What is TripAdvisor?
TripAdvisor is the world’s largest travel site. With more than 56 million unique monthly visitors, and over 75 million reviews and opinions, the website and its partners cater resources and reviews to millions of travelers, daily. Among the other 19 branded sites owned and operated by TripAdvisor, Inc. are Smartertravel.com, airfarewatchdog.com, sniqueaway.com and virtualtourist.com.
Property owners are encouraged to respond to customer reviews and upload photos of the property with the free business account (you can manage your business listing here.)Management responses are included under the consumer reviews, allowing resolutions to negative reviews if necessary. Once the property reaches 50 consumer reviews, the “Reviews at a glance” feature is activated, pulling the most common keywords from reviews and highlighting them next to the property.
Not only is TripAdvisor a resource for reviews, it contains popular travel guides which are localized in a quick search or summarized in an annual review, showcasing properties with the highest reviews. After reading the “Traveler’s Choice” for any category, you gain the ability to research your competition and see what areas your property can improve. Check out the “Traveler’s Choice” to see the wide variety of properties and reviews.
With the popular TripAdvisor Facebook Application, social sharing is integrated into every consumer account and enabled or disabled according to user preference. This feature allows recommendations from friends to show on the user’s homepage and throughout the search/planning process. More than 33 million Facebook users share travel experiences using the social application, making TripAdvisor the most widely used travel application on Facebook.
RezStream Quick Tips: TripAdvisor
- Manage your free TripAdvisor listing using a frequently checked email address to receive important notifications.
- Spice up your business listing with eye-catching photos and updated property details.
- Set up a "Review Us" page on your website to drive positive reviews and link it to your TripAdvisor listing.
Have you taken advantage of the free business account on TripAdvisor.com? How often do you respond to customer reviews?