Moz Q&A is closed.
After more than 13 years, and tens of thousands of questions, Moz Q&A closed on 12th December 2024. Whilst we’re not completely removing the content - many posts will still be possible to view - we have locked both new posts and new replies. More details here.
What is the most appropriate way to invite writers and blogger to visit my hotel, in exchange for a review?
-
My client's own several hotels in Los Angeles. I thought it would be a good idea to ask writers and bloggers to visit the hotel, free of charge, in exchange for a review or write up.
Of course, we want to be above board and up front with everything, including encouraging any review to be the truth and forthright, however I just not sure how best to ask them. Sometimes I ramble on and have trouble getting to the point and I know its really important here.
Does anyone have any advice here?
Many thanks!
-
Thanks for the reference. I understand.
My client's expect and deserve unbiased and true reviews.
My intention was to offer some sort of incentive for them to visit in the first place. We are quite confident that they'll be impressed with our level of service and the amenities we provide.
In that spirit, do you or anyone else have any ideas on a best practice to invite a critic to visit the hotels?
-
Ha, okay... you got me there. I just figured the "official" google stance would be important to state. If someone really wanted to they could nicely ask for reviews and just happen to also slide a few something or other the way of the reviewer. Though i personally would not endorse that. But yes, he could invite reviewers, give them an "industry rate" on rooms, happen to state that reviews of both a positive or negative stance are greatly appreciated as it allows the hotel to work on improving weakness and help evaluate what the current strengths are, etc. etc. Its all in how you word it and present it.
-
While Mike is correct... c'mon. How would they ever know? This is a gray area that no algorithm in the world will ever identify.
In the state of Washington it is against the law for bars to give out free drinks no matter what. I was in a band for 10 years and we played at dozens of bars/venues big and small in the area. Guess what? Each and every one of them gave us free drink tickets. This is a law that is punishable by jail time. Much more serious implications than what Google is threatening you with.
What's my point? I don't know. Bending the rules can work sometimes I s'pose.
If I were writing these letters I would be polite, cordial, concise, and honest. Simple as that. Mention how it will be beneficial for both parties for a reason beyond a free night. Maybe don't offer a free night but a free dinner and breakfast instead.. More of a promo-package exclusively for reviewers if you're worried about Google's Guidelines.
--my thoughts
-
As per the Google Places reviews guidelines (link
Conflict of interest: Reviews are only valuable when they are honest and unbiased. For instance, as a business owner or employee you should not review your own business or current place of work. Don’t offer money or product to others to write reviews for your business or write negative reviews about a competitor. We also discourage specialized review stations or kiosks set up at your place of business for the sole purpose of soliciting reviews. As a reviewer, you should not accept money or product from a business to write a review about them. Additionally, don’t feel compelled to review a certain way just because an employee of that business asked you to do so. Finally, don’t post reviews on behalf of others or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with the place you are reviewing.
So I'd suggest not offering free visits in exchange for trying to get reviews (positive or negative).
Browse Questions
Explore more categories
-
Moz Tools
Chat with the community about the Moz tools.
-
SEO Tactics
Discuss the SEO process with fellow marketers
-
Community
Discuss industry events, jobs, and news!
-
Digital Marketing
Chat about tactics outside of SEO
-
Research & Trends
Dive into research and trends in the search industry.
-
Support
Connect on product support and feature requests.
Related Questions
-
Can we use Youtube Videos of google webmaster on blog post?
Is it okay to embed YouTube videos of channel which we don't own? For example, I have written a blog on enabling event search in Google Analytics and Google Webmasters YouTube channel has a video based on those steps. I am looking to add that video in my blog.
Branding | | Ravi_Rana0 -
Changed the trailing slashes - how it effect SEO?
Hi, I'm doing a project called https://www.machinerygate.com/ Due to trailing slashes issues, our developer requests to remove the trailing slashes from the URLs. However, the homepage with and without trailing slashes the same effect right. How about the inner pages affect SEO. Because we just started to do SEO and not even one single link of Inner pages done with the process. However, for example, the URL for https://www.machinerygate.com/machinery/cranes/ is before with trailing slashes and it is on google indexed with trailing slashes. Due to some bug, google inspection tool has been not functioning nowadays and I'm finding hard to index the new URL without trailing slashes https://www.machinerygate.com/machinery/cranes to index on Google. If this gets indexed, how the URL with trailing slashes will be, does it automatically redirect to URL without trailing slashes or not? Please share your thought about this concern.
Branding | | Navya1241 -
Why not just use an alias if the only change is a different domain Name?
We are rebranding our store with a new name. We have purchased a NewDomainName. Can I just make the "Old Domain Name" an alias for the "NewDomainName"? The site will not change in any other way than having a new logo. This is an e-commerce site with over 100 categories of artisan made products. So once we move the site, the old domain will be empty. Thank you Stephen
Branding | | stephenfishman1 -
Should our rebranded company update our existing Instagram profile or delete it and start from scratch?
Our company just did a complete rebrand with a new name and logo. Instagram allows us to change our name, username, logo, and information, unlike Facebook, but there isn't a lot of online content about whether or not that's the best route. Any thoughts?
Branding | | RyanHeffernon0 -
Do you have to pay Yext at this point?
Over the past several months it seems more and more local listing sites are now using Yext for their listing information. Some of these include Local.com, American Towns, Hot Frog, etc. I'm not even seeing a way to claim listings anymore with these sites without going through Yext. If Yext has the wrong information, is there any way to correct these listings without paying Yext? I used to be able to claim listings with the actual listing sites. It was more labor intensive, but I didn't have to pay Yext $500/year. I could pay an assistant a lot less and they could do it. It seems that option is going away. Do any of you know of another way of correcting listings without using Yext (or at least without paying Yext)? If not, do you know if Yext has an enterprise solution for SEOs so we don't have to pay the $500 for every client? Thanks. Kurt Steinbrueck
Branding | | Kurt_Steinbrueck1 -
1 Website, 2 Business Names, 2 Locations
I took on a dentist office as an SEO client. They have 1 website, 2 business names and 2 locations. Each location has it's own business name. They are both within the same city as well. I'm not exactly sure where to start with them since they have 2 different business names. If it were 1 name with multiple locations I would just create a Contact Us page for each one, but is that the best thing to do when the location names are different? Should I create a different website for each location or is that smart because then they are competing against each other? Any help from the community on the direction I should take would be appreciated. Thanks in advance!
Branding | | SilhouetteBS0 -
Negative Youtube Review - Reputation Management
One of our clients had a negative youtube review which is really hurting their reputation. The problem was solved and not even at fault of our client. The uploader of the video was contacted, but has forgotten the username/password on the account. If you search for the brand name of the company, this video shows up 2nd on organic google results which is pretty embarrassing. What strategies would you all use to minimize the effects of this video? Would you buy an adword for the company name to push the video down?
Branding | | jastos0 -
How to get Google to link external review sites in Google Places
Hi, I have several company profiles in Google Places and Google Sites, I also have the same profiles for those companies in review sites like Yelp! and so on. I have seen that other sites have links on the bottom where Google points to those external review sites, but that doesn't happen for me yet, is there a way to tell Google that I have profiles on other review sites so they can link them or is it Google whenever they find them that will link them? Here's an example: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=14126341780178539960&hl=en At the bottom you'll see that it says: Reviews from around the web Now this is one of mine: http://maps.google.com/maps/place?cid=12168877126282825032&hl=en Now how do I get that line at the bottom provided that I know there are reviews out there in other sites? Is there something I can do? Or is it all about Google doing it whenever they see fit? Thank you!
Branding | | tass0
