Strategies for reputation management:

Maintaining a blog.

A blog is an important way for businesses to speak to consumers in a very personal way, rather than allowing other sources to essentially translate for them. To attract and hold reader attention, a blog should be updated regularly–at least once a week if not more often.

Establishing directory listings.

Unless a user just happens to type a business’ exact web address into the search bar, they are unlikely to find it easily. That is unless it is listed in directories with optimized keywords.

Publishing positive reviews.

Consumers today are wary of doing business with just anyone, and often turn to independent, third-party reviews. They do this in order to find out if a business is truly trustworthy and reliable. Businesses should encourage consumers to write honest reviews about their positive experience. This does mean that some consumers may write about a less-than-positive experience. But, this can also work to the business’ advantage. First, such a review makes the business seem more real (only positive reviews can seem suspicious) and also it provides the business with an opportunity to openly show off their excellent customer service as they reach out to resolve the issues.

Participating in social networking.

Social network platforms like Facebook, Twitter, and MySpace allow businesses to connect with consumers in a very real and interactive way. This can help consumers to identify with the business and start up a relationship with that business.

Creating online publicity.

Articles, links, and banners are all ways for a business to better reach out to potential new customers. There are many ways to create positive publicity for your business naturally.

Monitoring references to the business.

What if a malicious individual posted something negative about a business to social media? Unless they specifically addressed their post to the business, how would the business even know about it? Unfortunately, even if the claims made in the post were clearly ludicrous and falsified, it could go viral and markedly impact the business’ reputation before they even know it’s happened. If one is monitoring the Internet for any references to their business (starting with something as simple as running Google searches on their business name every so often) they can become aware of these types of situations early on. They should address them rapidly before they spread out of control.

Improving Your Online Reputation

With the ease of accessing all manner of information through the Internet today, consumers have come to expect total transparency from businesses. No matter their size. They may not expect businesses to be absolutely perfect, but they certainly expect them to admit their mistakes and work to resolve them in good faith. With proper reputation management strategies, businesses can provide consumers with the honest, transparent communication. This is what they need and want in order to feel comfortable.

For more information about reputation management services, contact Web Content Development today.