How to Improve Your Popularity Ranking on TripAdvisor

by Ryan Embree | May 14, 2018

Each year, review websites have more and more influence on how people make booking decisions. According to Travel Weekly, guests are also finding online reviews to be more credible than before. Online reviews have a definite impact on how travelers see hotels online and where they decide to stay.

On TripAdvisor, the competition can be tough. One study showed that hotels ranked #1 get 56% more direct bookings than hotels ranked #40 in the same city. Learn how to improve your popularity ranking on TripAdvisor:

Receive more high-quality, recent reviews
Improve on what you have – don’t start over
Listen and respond to online reviews

Improve TripAdvisor Ranking with More Reviews

In 2018, TripAdvisor rolled out a new algorithm that changed the ranking of many hotels. There are three main factors to the TripAdvisor ranking system: quality, quantity, and recency. While we can’t know the exact TripAdvisor ranking formula, we can break down these major components.

Unlike other review websites, TripAdvisor uses a 5-bubble rating scale instead of 5 stars.

Quality refers to the overall “bubble” describing the TripAdvisor rating; a hotel with mostly 5-bubble ratings will rank higher than one with mostly 4-bubble ratings. Quantity is the number of reviews you’ve received. According to TripAdvisor, they need enough reviews “to provide statistical significance” to allow comparison to other businesses. Generally, statistical significance can be found when you have at least 30 data points. The more reviews you receive, the better.

Recency means that more recent reviews are given more weight than older reviews on TripAdvisor. While older reviews still contribute to a hotel’s TripAdvisor rating, they have much less importance than newer reviews. That said, the 2018 update included a new aspect that influences TripAdvisor popularity ranking: consistency of reviews over time. Because of this, we recommend that hoteliers resist the urge to start with a clean slate and instead proactively manage their reputation going forward.

Man and woman sitting on hotel bed

Think Twice Before Starting Over

When a hotel is sold, changes flags, or undergoes extensive renovations, it is possible to start over on TripAdvisor. With an application process, the account will be wiped clean of reviews, ready for the hotel to start over. However, with the added TripAdvisor factor of performance over time, starting clean may not be the best course of action. Here’s an example:

A hotel with a bad past may be ranked at #68 of 80 hotels in a given city. By wiping their account, they now are ranked #80 of 80 hotels and have to work their way up. The hotel will have an even harder time climbing the rankings since their performance over time will be nonexistent. In addition, travelers looking for somewhere to stay will distrust the hotel since it doesn’t have reviews. It would be better for the hotel to work to gain spots from where they are.

The best way to improve your ranking is by improving reviews. And the best way to do that is by making actionable improvements at your property. Once you’ve taken steps to address concerns at the property, you can inform future guests of the changes by responding to reviews and updating property information on the hotel TripAdvisor listing. Because more current reviews are weighted higher, the positive changes you make at your hotel should help improve your ranking.

Man on mobile phone

Use Review Responses to Increase TripAdvisor Ranking

While manager responses aren’t factored into TripAdvisor rankings, review responses are an excellent tool to put prospective guests at ease by showing you care. One Phocuswright study found that 85% of users think that a manager’s review response improves their impression of a hotel. If your hotel has undergone renovations or you’ve made updates to your staff training, review responses are a great way to expand on what you’ve done. For example:

Imagine that you’re a traveler reading reviews. A year ago, someone left a negative review stating that the carpet was old. A week ago, a guest complimented the cleanliness of the room. In the response, you could say “Thanks for the kind comments. We recently replaced all the carpets in the hotel, and we’re glad you enjoyed your room!”

You’re not only continuing the high level of guest service to your last guest by responding to their review but also showing future travelers that you’re addressing issues at the property. They will take the year-old review much less critically and balance it with the new information. This will also increase trust since you’re showing that you listen to guest concerns and take action.

Woman on tablet

Optimize Your TripAdvisor Profile to Increase Ranking

There are steps you can take to help improve the ranking of your TripAdvisor profile. First, to increase the number of reviews you’re receiving, implement a post-stay email encouraging guests to leave reviews. Asking guests for feedback will both help your ranking and enable you to make improvements at the property level.

Next, instead of starting a new TripAdvisor profile, optimize the one you have. Most importantly, upload high-quality photos taken to keep them up-to-date. One of the biggest reasons that hotels receive bad reviews is because what the guest received wasn’t in line with what they expected. Accurate photos will help show off the assets of your hotel and prevent guests from being surprised by what they receive. Aside from your photos, also check the accuracy of the listing information including hotel address, phone number, and website address.

Finally, give more attention to the reviews you receive. Think of your online reviews as a free focus group that tells you exactly what changes guests would like to see put into place at your property. Thank reviewers for the time they put into sharing their thoughts with you and take their suggestions to heart.

If you want to learn how to improve your popularity ranking on TripAdvisor by earning more reviews, request more information about Reputation Management from Travel Media Group.

Sources:
Travel Weekly Consumer Trends
MGHWorld
TripAdvisor Popularity RankingPhocusWright & TripAdvisor

11 Comments

Chris G on January 10, 2019 at 5:54 pm

Thank you for sharing this article.
I notice that most of the high ranking strategies surrounds reviews.

What are the other effective strategies a new listing can use to improve their rankings on TripAdvisor?
Can I use my calendar updates, completion of my account and through frequent logs?

Thank you for your advice.
- Anne Sandoval on January 11, 2019 at 8:38 am
  
  Hi Chris, Thanks for your feedback. The reason the high ranking strategies focus primarily on reviews is that TripAdvisor’s known ranking factors are based on reviews.
  
  However, there are many things you can do on your new TripAdvisor business listing to help encourage more bookings. First, we recommend completing your profile description, adding professional photos of your property, and providing amenity/property details. Another important way to optimize your TripAdvisor listing is to respond to reviews. Travelers perceive property management more positively when they offer professional, unique responses to guest reviews. Over time, if you earn a Certificate of Excellence, that can also encourage travelers to book with you.
  
  Hope this helps!
  Anne
Mark on February 3, 2019 at 4:30 pm

Having reviewed 5* hotels I have noted that some b&bs appear within this category.
Surely this is misleading?
How is this calculated?
Many thanks
- Anne Sandoval on February 4, 2019 at 9:45 am
  
  Hi Mark,
  
  We’ve noticed the same thing. In fact, TripAdvisor began integrating B&Bs, rental accommodations and other lodging options into its search results earlier in 2018. These alternative lodging options are likely ranked using the same algorithm TripAdvisor uses to rank hotels. Based on our experience, when you search on TripAdvisor, it currently sorts your results by “best value,” mixing the various lodging types together. If you change the results to sort by “traveler ranked” it will show the ranked hotels first, then the ranked B&Bs. Of course, by paying for sponsored placement, a B&B, hotel or rental property can appear higher in the results.
Maria Cristina Pereira on July 28, 2019 at 9:20 pm

I have two restaurants in Lisbon. Recently one of it had been denounced by a competitor to TA, based on an hypothetical optimisation that they state we do. In fact we noticed that a user had made a good review on our restaurant and a bad on the competitor. We think that this couldn’t be a reason to put us down more then 300 places in the ranking within 4 days! There is nothing in TA guidelines that reffers to this situation as going against those rules. On the contrary, TA guidelines sais that users ar free to state their opinion, no matter what.. We think we must have the right to defend ourselves and TA should had listened us before simply ruined our business.
How can we reverse this situation and how can we be heard?
We already made too emails do the contents survey but they dont give an answer.
Do you have any idea? Should we ask our lawyer to contact TA?
We are losing money every day and we are facing one of two hypothesis: either we just close and open with a new identity and start over again ( we open 10 years ago and have a good reputation outside TA, so is very hard for us facing the lost of our consolidated reputation..we have 6 Exce5 Prizes..), or we may keep on, trying to get up ( how???).
We will be pleased and thank you in advance if you can give us some ideas about this matter

Thank you very much for your concern and time,
Cristina Pereira
MADRAGOA CAFE
cristina.pereira0310@gmail.com
- Anne Sandoval on July 29, 2019 at 10:14 am
  
  Hi Cristina,
  
  Here’s a response from our Reputation Product Manager. We hope this advice helps:
  
  So, the restaurant still has its certificate of excellence, and it does not appear to have been flagged with the Tripadvisor warning (below). Without claiming the account as an agency, it is difficult for me to truly understand what is going on, but they mentioned that they dropped over 300 spots, it looks like they are currently 204, so it may have been a change to TA’s restaurant algorithm which is in the process of self-correcting. As you typically don’t see a drop that significant without a user warning posted or at the very least an email stating what is happening and TA’s concerns.
  
  We are more than happy to claim the page as an agency, and take a look to see if we can determine anything else, but it also may be best to contact TA directly, and just ask them to explain the significant drop. If there are reviews/practices in question, then the owners should have the ability to fix those.
Sean on August 28, 2019 at 3:47 pm

Hello, Not sure if this is true, but lately when I look at all the hotels review ratings, they all appear to be in incremental of “0.5”. For example, I would see overall reviews of 3.5, 4.0, and 4.5. I recalled in the past I could see ratings of 3.8, 4.4 etc.

I don’t understand why TripAdvisor went extra mile and effort to obscure the ratings. I can only guess some “paid” money must be involved here.

I looked at Florida hotels, and Cancun hotels, and so far they all appeared in increment of 0.5.

Thanks
- Anne Sandoval on September 19, 2019 at 8:34 am
  
  Hi Sean,
  
  That’s such an astute observation. It’s possible TripAdvisor is trying to make the user interface simple for a traveler to understand by rounding the scores to whole- or half-points. In some ways, it evens the playing field a little for hotels that are closely ranked and offer similar value. However, that must be frustrating for hoteliers to feed their ratings are obscured. TripAdvisor does offer additional analytics for businesses that pay, so you may be right about that.
  
  If you’re concerned about the details of your hotel scores, you may be interested in our reputation tracking program in TMG OneView® which provides detailed scores for public review websites and OTAs. If you’re interested, you can reach out to us at info@travelmediagroup.com.
  
  Thanks for taking the time to read our article and comment!
  Anne
Inno on September 10, 2019 at 3:29 am

Hi Amber

Thumbs up for the fantastic guide

I was thinking about if it is ok to answer good reviews?.

The concept here is, don’t you think by answering every review the readers will start to feel you’re thanking the people who reviewed you because the review they’ve given you came just as a favour but not something you earned by giving a fantastic service?

On my case, I never answer reviews unless they’re negative. I rank #5 among 1000+ service providers on my industry.

I always want to improve, your feedback on this will be much appreciated
- Anne Sandoval on September 19, 2019 at 8:28 am
  
  Hi Inno,
  
  Thanks for your feedback! When businesses post generic or copy-and-pasted responses to positive reviews, then I agree that readers may think you’re just checking a box off of your to-do list. However, if you post a response that addresses specific topics they brought up in their feedback and sincerely thank them for their review, it’s worth your while.
  
  At TMG, we believe in answering every review that includes written feedback from your customers. Think about it this way: say you do an expedition with 10 travelers. As they depart, 9 of those travelers thank you and tell you what a great time they had, how informative the guide was, or about the amazing pictures they took on safari. To those customers, you say nothing. Finally, 1 customer complains that the trip wasn’t what they expected and gives you negative feedback. You address the customers concerns, apologize that their experience wasn’t what they expected, and ensure them that you’ll address the situation for future expeditions. The majority of your group had an amazing time and made a point to tell you about it. Why wouldn’t you thank them for their feedback? In real life, you certainly would. That’s one reason why we recommend writing detailed responses to positive reviews.
  
  The other reason we respond to positive reviews has to do with prospective customers who are reading your reviews while making a purchasing decision. Most travelers ready 8-10 reviews. It sounds like yours are mostly positive, so that’s great. By posting responses to positive feedback, you’re giving prospective travelers more positive content about your business to read, helping it outweigh any negative reviews they come across. The way you respond to your guests also demonstrates the level of customer service and hospitality you would display to them when they interact with you in-person.
  
  I hope this helps! Thank you so much for taking the time to visit our website and comment.
  
  Anne
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