How to write reviews that help your favourite restaurants

You’ve got a new favourite restaurant, pub, bar, or venue, and after the tough year the hospitality industry has had, you want to go out of your way to support them in any way you can. Leaving a stellar online review is one of the best — and quickest! — ways to do just that.

Any kind-hearted five-star feedback is fantastic, but there are a few ways to make your reviews even better if you want to go the extra mile.

We’ve written up a few tips to help you post reviews which reach the right people, appease the search engine gods, and shout about the best things in the best way.

Keep it short and sweet

Traditional reviews in newspapers, magazines, blogs, etc. might have you thinking you need to write a 500-word tome about the restaurant. The opposite’s true! A few short lines summarizing your thoughts is perfect. Try to keep it tweet-sized — 280 characters — if possible. Easier for you to write, and quicker for others to read.

In general, start with Google Maps

If you’re only posting your review to one platform, make it Google Maps. Those reviews appear in Google search results, so they’ll be seen by the most people. Helping push a restaurant to the top of the list and keeping their rating in the five-star zone is invaluable!

In tourist hotspots, TripAdvisor is gold

It might seem like Google have completely taken over, but hundreds of millions of people still use TripAdvisor on a monthly basis — particularly in central cities and major high streets that attract a lot of tourists.

If you’re visiting from outta town and you’ve got a spare minute, copying your reviews over to TripAdvisor is a massive help to restaurants.

Don’t forget to rate deliveries

“The photos look good, but it’s only got a 4.4 rating.” This all-too-common notion has even been exacerbated by some delivery apps, with a filter button that siphons out every restaurant that doesn’t have a 4.5+ rating!

When Uber Eats, Deliveroo, etc. drop you a notifcation 20 minutes after your delivery arrives, flick it open, drop some stars (if you liked it!), and keep binging Netflix.

Give it your best shot

Sharing snaps of the food, drinks, interior, exterior, etc. with your review makes it way more appealing to other potential visitors. Photos send click-through rates through the roof and also incentivize Google to rank places higher (they want their apps to look picturesque, after all).

Plus, when you upload photos, it gives restaurant some fresh visuals to share to their social media. Drop the pics on Instagram, Twitter, and Facebook, so the marketing managers can properly tag and credit you.

Mention things restaurants want to be known for

When you tap onto ratings on Google Maps for restaurants with a few-hundred reviews or more, you’ll see a list of words labelled ‘people often mention’. Dropping a few of those words into your review, and maybe a mention of something the venue is shouting about on their social feeds, is the cherry on top.

It could be something as simple as saying ‘cocktails’ instead of ‘drinks’ when reviewing a bar that specializes in cocktails, so they appear higher for people searching ‘cocktail bars’.

The non-food stuff

A delicious dish is only half the equation. Include a nod to the ambiance, aesthetic, or ‘vibe’ of the place — it helps hospitality businesses stand out in a bustling industry. Another big thing is accessibility: if a restaurant caters to wheelchair users, people with different dietary needs, etc. highlight that.

Your personal recommendation

If you had a fave dish, name-drop it — that’s how menu items get elevated to legendary status! Your review has the power to land a restaurant that elusive ‘world-famous’ prefix.

The ultimate multi-venue storytelling review

You’ve made an evening of it — gone to the park for a relaxing stroll, the cinema to catch a movie, and to a restaurant or bar to eat and drink the night away. This is your chance to make the most powerful move of all: recommending an entire itinerary in your review, and copying it to each spot’s Google Maps listing.

You’re inspiring a whole night out, and shouting about each venue to every other venue’s audience. Plus, you’ll get way more thumbs up — ‘Local Guide’ badge incoming!

Mentioning restaurants in hotel reviews

This is another ‘if you’re visiting from outta town’ opportunity. While you’re waiting two hours for your delayed flight home, fire up the review section for the hotel app you used to book your accommodation. Drop the names of any local restaurants that became instant faves during your stay.

This is especially great for Airbnbs, where reviews can feel comparatively personal and often mention independent businesses over touristic spots.

Backlinks, backlinks, backlinks

If you ARE writing a lengthier blog-style review, linking back to the restaurant’s website is a seemingly obvious thing that helps them out a lot. Not just because of traffic, either! In terms of SEO (search engine optimization), a link back to a site — a backlink — is a vote of confidence in Google’s eyes.

The more links leading to a site, the likelier it is to rank higher!