Looking ahead to 2023, my company is shifting its focus from Google to J Turner's ORA score when calculating a community's online reputation success. Many unknowns exist regarding how a community's ORA score is determined, and J Turner works hard to keep its algorithm under lock and key. Keeping the ORA secret sauce under wraps has allowed J Turner to become one of the most respected online reputation management for #multifamily. Every community has a unique breakdown for calculating its ORA score. Although I have some answers, I want to share what I know about ORA and how you can relate a community's ORA score to its online reputation.

ORA is calculated based on search impressions, overall star rating, and volume of reviews while comparing the trailing six months of data to the current month. Each of these impacts your score and whether a community increases or decreases month after month. For a community to be considered Elite 1%, they must earn an overall score of 4.6-4.7 across all 14 qualifying sites. Unlike many of us who only scroll the first page of Google, J Turner reviews the first three pages of Google to review all relevant, qualifying data.

But that's not all.

Each site is weighed differently when calculating your ORA score depending on the number of reviews already available on each platform. That's why there isn't a simple answer to how ORA scores are calculated because all communities are different. But, no matter your score, ORA likes to see a .3 alignment within each site and at least 4 of those "speaking the same language."

More volume = more influence

ORA measures snapshot to snapshot and begins "scrubbing" the internet to gather your new score from the 5th of the month until the month's end. Therefore, your score is not an exact month beginning-to-end calculation. The best way to achieve a higher score month after month is to review your ORA Goal Tab, which provides realistic goals and identifies target review sites for each community.

Although complicated to understand and calculate, J Turner's ORA score is all about what prospects see. It takes 14 qualifying sites and weighs their score based on the volume of reviews within site. When researching new dinner spots, I look for the highest rating and best reviews, so why shouldn't your prospective residents?