If you aren’t keeping an eye on online peer review sites you might be finished before you started.

Was here with a few friends last week…..what a disaster. Very poor short ribs, server not knowing the food, wrong dish sent out, wrong bill presented, and just a weird vibe in the restaurant. Directionless, mismanaged, and overpriced. . .

Have you heard the term Web 2.0 before? It’s a term to describe a new generation of web sites that are not just static but invite participation and interaction from users. The first sites that come to mind are Facebook or Twitter. You like something, you tell your friends and create a dialogue. There are many other options for expressing an opinion and if you aren’t on top of them a few negative comments and reviews could be sending customers away before they even leave their homes.

Now I’m not trying to be alarmist here but the basis for most of these sites is to create a space where an honest opinion can be expressed. This is great for the customer but potentially bad for you. Why? Most of the comments you will be helpless to control. Also the anonymity of the sites also allows for people to self-promote their restaurants with fake positive reviews. Now hopefully if a restaurant review site has enough traffic and user input, the true popular opinion will win out. So what are some of these review sites that you should follow?

Restaurant Review Sites:
DineHere.ca – Great search functions. Focused only on the lower mainland.

UrbanSpoon.com – Polling & written reviews. Includes professional reviews.

LivingSocial.com – Simple rating system. Restaurants not sole focus of site.

Yelp.ca – Lots of reviews from USA. Review highlights and nice graph section.

Now before you head off to see how your restaurant is being treated – remember to check that your information is listed correctly on these sites. If it’s not – make sure you make it a priority to have that corrected. You don’t want someone to dine somewhere else because your phone number is listed wrong.

Positive Reviews:
Someone gives you a great review! Hopefully that will be the one that everyone reads and it brings people in for the same experience. Depending on your view of the credibility of the site – you might want to encourage people to view the site. You could even send happy customers there to add to your reputation. But be wary of the winds of change – any site the uses a rating system may leave you victim to fluctuations. One week you are up – the next. . .

Negative Reviews:
So you got a bad review. There is always going to be someone who didn’t get what they expect. Mistakes are made and you move on. No one should be using one negative review to discredit a restaurant right off the bat. I can speak from personal experience that I have tried going to restaurants with multiple negative reviews only to come away amazed and impressed.

Users should be taking these sites for what they are – anonymous people giving opinions – and not the be all and end all. You should view negative reviews as places you can improve and positive ones as a pat on the back.

- Ben / S&P Media