New SeniorAdvisor.com Tools Help Seniors And Their Loved Ones Make Better-Informed Senior Care Decisions

AUSTIN, Texas, May 21, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- SeniorAdvisor.com, the premier ratings and reviews site for the senior living industry, marked its one year anniversary with the announcement that its site is helping consumers make better-informed senior care decisions.  Initially launched by A Place for Mom (APFM), the nation's largest senior living referral service, SeniorAdvisor.com has more than doubled the number of reviews on its site in one year and is seeing a 300 percent increase in traffic over the last six months, which speaks to the need for this resource in the senior living space.

"The growth of technology and access to the Internet via different channels means that today's consumers have even greater access to information when evaluating senior living options," said Eric Seifert, President, SeniorAdvisor.com. "SeniorAdvisor.com was launched to make it easier for consumers to access first-hand reviews of senior housing properties from the people who have visited or lived in the community. If user-provided information is widely available to consumers choosing hotels, restaurants, and products, we should be able to learn directly from others about the care, conditions and quality of senior living communities where our family members could spend years living."

In April 2014, APFM began to incorporate SeniorAdvisor.com ratings and reviews into APFM referral emails sent by Senior Living Advisors to families. The email lists senior living communities that match the family's stated requirements and preferences as discussed with their Advisor. Over a period of six months, the companies found that consumers who received community reviews were 74 percent more likely to schedule a tour of four- and five-star locations, than those who were not able to review community feedback at all. Additionally, consumers were over 100 percent more likely to move in to communities with five-star ratings.

The findings indicate the high level of trust consumers place on unbiased third-party information such as online reviews. With over 98 percent of the reviews on SeniorAdvisor.com being verified by SeniorAdvisor staff as the genuine, first-hand experiences of residents, family members and visitors, consumers feel confident that they can rely on the information provided in these reviews. As consumers become increasingly aware of this valuable resource, SeniorAdvisor.com expects the correlation between positive ratings and higher tour and move rates to continue to grow.

"This process can never be easy, but the right support and resources can make it better," said Steve Overton of Thousand Oaks, California, who worked with A Place for Mom to find the best community for his mother. "Balancing budget, location and my mother's preferences for senior living, while thinking about her long-term needs, proved to be extremely challenging. Our ability to cross-reference A Place for Mom's referrals with SeniorAdvisor.com's reviews helped us trim significant time from our search and focus our energy on the communities that were most likely to be a fit."

Utilizing Online Reviews
SeniorAdvisor.com encourages families beginning their search for senior care to look at ratings and reviews for the local care communities in their area. For tips on using online reviews to find senior care, please visit the SeniorAdvisor.com blog at: https://www.senioradvisor.com/blog/2014/04/how-to-use-online-reviews-to-find-senior-care/.

To help senior care providers build their reviews, SeniorAdvisor.com is now offering a free Review Jumpstart Kit, which includes advice on how to gather and utilize online reviews and provides access to new tools such as pre-paid postcards that allow visitors and customers to submit reviews by mail. For more information on the study discussed in this press release, please visit the SeniorAdvisor.com blog.

About SeniorAdvisor.com
SeniorAdvisor.com is the premier consumer ratings and reviews site for senior living communities nationwide. The innovative website provides easy access to the information families need when making a senior living decision, and features trusted reviews and advice from local residents and their loved ones. For more information, please visit www.SeniorAdvisor.com.

SOURCE A Place for Mom