Restaurant operators need to treat reviews as decision-support assets in order to reduce friction and build guest trust, according to ReputationRiser’s Restaurant Website Review Visibility Analysis. A review of 51 restaurant websites found that more than 80 percent fail to display third-party customer reviews on their own site. The data is part of the company’s larger Customer Review Trust Study, an analysis of 1,000 U.S. small business websites that found 72 percent fail to display customer reviews prominently on their sites. “Restaurants are missing the opportunity to reinforce trust at the exact moment a guest is deciding whether to book, order, call, or keep browsing,” explained Tim Sumer, founder of ReputationRiser. While most restaurants already have reviews on Google, Yelp, TripAdvisor, OpenTable, delivery apps, or other third-party platforms, if those reviews are not visible on the restaurant’s own website, the operator is relying on guests to leave the site and find that proof somewhere else and this causes unnecessary friction, he added. “A restaurant website already has key decision points: the menu, reservation button, online ordering link, catering inquiry form, private dining page, or location page. Reviews can help support those decisions directly. When they are absent, the website has to work harder to build confidence.” Social Proof Management Among the key findings: • 19.6 percent of restaurant websites reviewed displayed testimonials or reviews anywhere on the site • 15.7 percent displayed reviews on the homepage • 13.7 percent displayed reviews near forms, booking buttons, or other conversion points That…
