Consumer reviews specialist Reevoo says its newly unveiled travel review service will bring significant SEO benefits to the sector.
The service, which was launched earlier this week with Octopus Travel as the first travel partner, only delivers authenticated reviews from customers who have stayed in a hotel or visited a destination.
Reevoo founder and chief executive Richard Anson says not only will the service help combat current concerns over fake and fraudulent reviews but also reap both SEO and SEM benefits for travel companies.
Anson says one retail customer experienced a 34% increase in organic traffic to its website and he anticipates 'similar if not greater' gains for Octopus.
He also says there are advantages in terms of increased click-through-rates as companies integrate review and rating content within their PPC campaigns.
The deal with Octopus will see Reevoo contacting customers who have stayed in hotels and asking them to submit a review.
Reevoo received a thumbs up from Government in September with the launch a consumer protection manifesto guaranteeing the authenticity of its reviews.
Users of the Octopus site will be able to gain more information from previous guests via an 'Ask a guest' button as well as rate their experience with Octopus and see how others rate the online player.
Additional social functionality enables Octopus to respond to consumers in real time about any issues raised.
Octopus also provides reviews from Tripadvisor on its site and Anson says Reevoo content will sit alongside this providing consumers with the best of both worlds.