How to achieve the top ranking for your visitor attraction on TripAdvisor

The approach individuals take to organize their upcoming outings with loved ones has evolved.

In the past, visitor attractions relied heavily on brand recognition. The ones with the strongest visibility in print media, radio broadcasts, and outdoor advertising held a distinct advantage. They stayed top-of-mind, which played a crucial role when individuals organized their recreational outings. However, the Internet has completely transformed this dynamic.

When seeking suggestions from friends on Facebook or taking cues from influencers on Instagram, people now prioritize others’ viewpoints above all else when organizing an outing.

TripAdvisor serves as the leading platform for gathering traveler feedback and functions as a key search tool for planning excursions, making it essential for your venue. Similar to mainstream search engines such as Google, a crucial component of your online marketing approach involves improving your position in the rankings to reach a wider audience.

The three key factors that influence ranking

Fortunately, TripAdvisor is more transparent than Google’s often enigmatic search algorithms when it comes to factors affecting your ranking in their search results. Essentially, it hinges on three main components:

Rating — the score your visitors assign to your attraction on a scale of one to five
The frequency of reviews and the timing of the most recent one
Total — the overall count of reviews you’ve gathered

What actions should you take instead?

Optimize your listing for the best results

Before anything else, ensure your TripAdvisor page is perfectly optimized if you plan to attract more visitors. If you haven’t done so yet, claiming your listing is essential to achieve this.

Correct and up-to-date contact details
An engaging and persuasive portrayal
High-resolution visuals
Current operating hours

These steps may seem basic, yet it’s surprising how frequently they’re overlooked, even by major attractions. Dedicate just an hour or two to refining your profile, and you’ll begin distinguishing yourself from competitors right away.

Request feedback

As simple as it sounds, the most effective way to encourage guests to post a TripAdvisor review is by directly requesting them to do so.

Asking properly will not only boost the frequency and overall quantity of reviews but also ensure that your ratings improve significantly!

Using technology allows you to automatically focus on satisfied visitors when requesting reviews—a method known as contextual targeting. This same approach can also gather important feedback from dissatisfied customers, enabling you to address concerns before they escalate and appear on TripAdvisor.

Contextual targeting can also be applied offline. For instance, a hotel might instruct employees to inquire about guests’ satisfaction during checkout and, if positive, encourage them to post a review on TripAdvisor. Certain establishments even distribute business cards featuring TripAdvisor details to prompt patrons to visit the site and share their feedback.

Gain knowledge and act upon it

Nothing boosts your TripAdvisor ratings more than making real-world improvements to your attraction.

To accomplish this, begin by establishing a system to gather negative feedback and organize it into relevant categories. Possible categories might include cleanliness, staff, ride availability, weather, and so on.

All you require to begin is a basic spreadsheet, which will soon help you recognize recurring patterns and obvious opportunities for enhancement.

You may believe certain factors are beyond your influence, like the weather, but consider alternative approaches. If unfavorable weather frequently leads to visitor dissatisfaction, creating indoor attractions could be a solution. While this won’t resolve the issue immediately, you might temporarily implement a rainy day guarantee for guests.

Your task is to identify resolutions for every type of problem. Consider the following instances:

Issue:Incorrect wait time estimates
Solution:Automated tracking of wait times

Issue:Customer assistance
Solution:Enhanced employee development programs

Issue:Poor hygiene
Solution:Greater allocation of resources toward sanitation and hygiene measures

Issue:High-priced cuisine
Solution:Enhanced nutritional standards in meals

One thing is certain—addressing your major complaints will require collaboration with other teams throughout the company.

Addressing your primary complaint categories with meaningful improvements will significantly boost visitor satisfaction, though some might argue that gathering this data from TripAdvisor occurs after the fact. It’s equally important to consider how you can identify these issues as they arise and intervene to enhance a guest’s experience before they feel compelled to voice their complaints.

Respond

Surprisingly, fewer than 4% of companies reply to unfavorable reviews on TripAdvisor, highlighting a significant missed opportunity to actively address customer satisfaction.

TripAdvisor’s internal studies reveal that 85% of users feel a considerate reply to a negative review enhances their perception, while 65% state it increases their likelihood of booking compared to receiving no response at all.

Beyond that, adopting a practice of replying to all reviews encourages the routine of thoroughly examining each one. A key pitfall to steer clear of is using generic replies. These are easily detected by readers and may appear insincere. Conversely, crafting a personalized response that addresses particular aspects of the review demonstrates attentiveness and genuine concern.

As a final point, reviews can be taken down if they breach TripAdvisor’s content policies. This option is helpful when dealing with offensive material, though it should be employed judiciously and not as a way to simply “cover up” underlying issues.

Behavioral research has demonstrated that reviews with high ratings yet minor flaws are more influential than those that are entirely flawless.

Share the vision clearly and effectively

An ancient saying states:“raising a child requires the support and effort of an entire community”, and this holds true in this situation. Your chances of enhancing your TripAdvisor ranking increase significantly when the entire team supports your strategies.

Effectively share your goal of reaching the top spot on TripAdvisor by defining clear objectives tied to the three ranking factors—rating, frequency, and volume. Every team member plays a role, and collaboration across all departments is essential to promptly address any concerns highlighted in customer feedback.

Summary

Achieving the top spot on TripAdvisor for your visitor attraction won’t happen instantly—it demands a strategic approach and collaboration from your team. However, by reading this, you’ve already taken the first step toward success!