Reviews on your website: asking for them, moderating them and publishing them honestly
By GuestChat Team ·
People who land on your website from a search engine don't know you. Before paying without the safety net of a booking site, they look for proof that others have stayed and left happy. Reviews on your website are that proof, as long as they're real.
Quotes and reviews: two different things
In My website you'll see two things that look alike but aren't the same:
- Quotes (written by you): a section on the home page (in the Sections step) with lines from guests that you copy in, like quotations.
- Reviews (in the Reviews step): the ones for each property. They appear on its page, with their average star rating on its card, and only the ones you approve.
You can use both, one, or neither. Reviews are turned on or off with Show reviews on the website.
Letting visitors write
In the Reviews step, turn on Let visitors leave a review. A form appears on each property's page, with 1 to 5 stars and a text box.
The most important rule: none get published on their own. Everything goes to the dashboard first, to Reviews received, and you decide which ones go live. A public form that publishes straight away ends up full of spam, and you'd find out from a guest.
Each review has a status: Waiting, Published or Hidden. And its buttons: Publish, Hide and Delete. Delete removes it forever; if you just want to take it off the website, use Hide.
Adding the ones you get some other way
Many guests thank you by email or by message. With Add a review yourself you add them: which property it's for, who wrote it, the review and when they stayed. These are published right away, because you added them yourself.
The honesty rule
The dashboard itself says it about quotes: you copy them in yourself, and none are made up here. And it's the rule we recommend for everything:
- Copy real reviews, in the guest's own words.
- Ask permission if you're going to use their name; a first name and the month are enough.
- Don't publish only the five-star ones: a four-star one with a fair comment is more believable than ten perfect ones.
- Never write made-up reviews. Besides being dishonest, an observant visitor will notice.
How to get more real reviews
- Mention the website in your goodbye message to guests who booked direct.
- Ask returning guests by name: they're the ones most eager to help you.
- Reply personally when someone leaves you one: next time, they come back.
Moderating without censoring
Moderating isn't hiding what you don't like. Hide spam, insults and anything that has nothing to do with the stay. A fair criticism is better published. And if they had a point, fix what they mentioned: that's the best reply.
Quick list
- Visitor form turned on.
- Check Reviews received once a week.
- Three or four real quotes copied from guests who wrote to you.
- Show reviews on the website turned on.