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online reputation

What Is Online Reputation Management and How Can It Help

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Every business that exists today has an online reputation. The internet is a primary source of information for countless individuals across the country and across the globe. When information is lacking, they will find a way to fill it in themselves. This means that a business that fails to provide their own information will discover that information about them is abundant on the internet because others have been providing it on their behalf. Unfortunately, this can have devastating effects on a business unless they know what to do about it.

Understanding Online Reputation Management

If you do not invest any time or effort into online reputation management and you Google your business, you may discover that some search results are unflattering at best and dishonest at worst. You obviously know the truth about your business. However, consumers who are running searches on the internet don’t necessarily know the difference between fact and fiction. More importantly, they aren’t often willing to stick around to find out what’s true and what’s not. Instead, they will simply move on to what they feel are “safer” choices. This is why online reputation management is so critical. It allows a business to take control of how they are presented online so that users find the right information.

Adverse Effects on Business Online Reputation

Some of the things that can adversely affect a business’ online reputation is a lack of online presence and activity, poor customer service, and negative reviews. While a business might focus their attention first on creating and delivering products to their customers, neglecting to manage their online reputation causes problems. Between failing to establish a strong, positive online presence with plenty of favorable reviews and failing to address customer service complaints and negative reviews, the business can be seen as one that doesn’t care about their customers and is therefore dangerous to become involved with. What may be worse is that information that is published online can remain there indefinitely. It will continue to destroy a business’ reputation long after its first appearance.

With online reputation management, a business can promote themselves the way they want consumers to see them. They can harness the wonderful power of positive reviews. They can demonstrate their wonderful customer skills and they can quickly and professionally handle negative reviews as they arise. This can help them to rise in search engine rankings so that they are more visible to consumers. It helps to demonstrate to consumers that you prioritize customer service efforts. It can also ensure that negative reviews do not tarnish or destroy their reputation.

In Summary

Online reputation management is a wonderful way for a business to spread their true story. With web content, blog posts, social media updates, YouTube videos, and more, a business can ensure that true information about their origins are highly visible to consumers. Online reputation management can also monitor and address those things that seek to harm the business’ reputation. They can then eliminate or at least minimize the damages. Professional reputation management services can not only dramatically improve a business’ appearance online but also attract positive consumer attention and create the conversions that lead to sales and expansion.

Reputation Advice: Should Businesses Be Reviewing Customers?

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Have you ever heard the phrase, “the customer is always right”? While the satisfaction of your patrons is essential to the success of any company, you now have the opportunity to read and write reviews on your own customers. This new trend helps businesses fight back against the defamatory remarks from customers and spammers, alike. To enhance your business’s reputation, just make sure you are using this new tool properly.

How Review Websites Have Changed The Business World

In 2004, Yelp became a tool for consumers to pass business reviews. It was created with the intention of helping potential customers choose which was the best company, or companies, to patronize based on other people’s experiences. Since this time, Yelp (and countless other review sites) have become an invaluable resource for consumers and business owners alike. However, it has also, unfortunately, started to serve as a forum for legitimate businesses to lose significant credibility.

Today, anyone can review your business online with relative anonymity, regardless of whether they have personal experience with your company or not. This gives spammers, disgruntled customers, and attention seekers the ability to destroy a company’s reputation without any grounds, all while hiding behind a computer screen. As a result, countless companies have had to spend significant sums cleaning up their online reputation after such an attack.

The Pros and Cons of Reviewing Customers

In an effort to fight back against internet trolls and anonymous or illegitimate posters, businesses have created a means of reviewing customers. The benefits of this arrangement are fourfold and include the ability to:

  • Check a client’s reputation before signing a contract with them;
  •  Negate a negative review of your business;
  • Warn other businesses about unreliable customers; and
  • Garner honest customer reviews (customers are more likely to leave legitimate feedback if they know they can be reviewed, too).

Things to Avoid

While “reverse review” websites have provided opportunity to fight back, be sure to avoid the following when writing customer reviews:

  • No use of it as a retaliation for a negative review;
  • Do not defame clients, use unprofessional language, or attack customers personally;
  • Do not continue to review customers if it is deterring others from patronizing your business.

The Golden Rule

Since the introduction of online review sites, anonymous customers have defamed businesses across the nation. This understandably can be discouraging for new business owners who may have done nothing wrong to begin with, not to mention the financial investment required to repair the damage done to their reputation. Now, companies have the ability to read and write reviews on customers. Essentially, it is a good policy to follow the golden rule, and review others as you yourself would like to be reviewed. 

Doing this will, in the end, help your own, and other businesses know who they are dealing with. It may perhaps even saving them time, effort and money by having the information they wouldn’t otherwise have in regards to a great customer or a particular picky one.

Online reputation works both ways. Having your own reputation is vital, though reputing customers can also be a necessary step on the path to success. Helping other businesses can be an act of good fortune and therefore, have you reap what you sow later on down the line.

For more information on online reputation management, please contact us at Web Content Development, today.

5 Things you Can Do to Improve Your Online Reputation

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When you have a meeting coming up with a prospective client or a vendor, what do you do to prepare? If you’re like most people, you spend some time searching the web to find out what you can about the other person. As a matter of fact, that client or vendor is probably doing the same exact thing. That’s where your online reputation makes all the difference. 

The proliferation of information online has made it possible to very often discover a great amount of detail about another person’s life before you even meet them in person, and this of course goes both ways. How often has it occurred to you that upon your first meeting with a colleague, client or vendor, you are most likely meeting someone who already knows something about you?

In this light, it is clear that you cannot afford to leave unflattering or discreditable information about you lying around out there. Who knows what another person might see that could turn his or her opinion of you sour without you even knowing about it?

Why Improving Your Online Reputation Matters

Your online reputation has a direct consequence on your current and future relationships with others in business and your personal life. A good online reputation will influence many things around you  including trust and credibility among peers, associates or clients.

If you happen to have a good name, and able to deliver on promises, your reputation will continue to soar high and create more opportunities for you. For instance, excellent service delivery will prompt the customer to refer you to others through word of mouth. This improves your reputation both offline and online if they talk about you using social media channels. On the converse, substandard services could hurt your reputation. It is crucial to always respond positively even to disgruntled customers and critics in your online sphere.

No one can put a price on a trusted and credible brand. A big fortune lies in a good online reputation. Over time, the positive reputation will become a powerful magnet to draw new customers.

Your online profile can be a blessing or a curse depending on how well you manage your social profiles and online presence. To ensure you always get the very best out of every situation, you can actively monitor your online interactions. Make your online descriptions juicy and your responses friendly.

Fortunately, there are things that you can do to manage your online reputation and, although you will never have full control of the information about you, it is possible to improve your reputation:

Find Out What’s Being Written About You Online

The first step you should take is to get an idea of what another person might see when looking for information about you. Do this by trying a few different searches on the web, including your name, your name and city, your name and job title, your name and company, etc.

Be sure to check the first two or three pages of search results, since you don’t want to overlook items that might show up for someone who is really looking for details about you. You can use this action to make a list of any websites or profiles that should be your primary target in a reputation improvement project.

Set Up Google Alerts for Your Name or Company Name

A free tool known as Google Alerts will send you notifications when your name is featured in new places on the internet, and this can be helpful for you to stay on the ball in managing your reputation. When you get such an alert, you most likely will be finding out about the citation before your colleagues do, allowing you to take remedial action where necessary.

Get Your Name Out There

It can be a problem if your social network profiles are sitting exposed to the general public, but on the other side of the coin you can cause yourself problems by not having the right accounts set up. Some people even have a tendency to be suspicious about someone who they cannot find online.

If you plan on networking, make sure that you have accounts on Facebook, LinkedIn and any other social networks or websites which may be relevant to your industry. Having a nice photo and a well-written intro can help you earn another person’s trust before you have even met them.

Engage

You may think of yourself as being someone who just doesn’t do social media, but the time has passed when you could afford this attitude. Because so many people turn to the internet to get details about others they plan to have business with, it is in your best interests to engage on social media.

Don’t just regurgitate another cat video on YouTube; take the time to make sure that your posts are thoughtful and aimed at helping to increase awareness of the message you want others to have about you. When someone finds you on e.g. LinkedIn and sees that you have many contacts and have regularly been sharing posts, this recognition will help them to make a connection with you.

Get busy, get your name out there, and get in touch with the right people you need to help you move upward!

Fix Your Online Reputation by Fixing Problems in Your Business

At times it can seem to appear difficult to know what to do to improve your online reputation. However, there are a number of things that can be done that will do this and help your business overall. First and foremost, work to fix any problems with your business itself.

If you have negative online reviews on your customer service, beef it up. If there is another problem that keeps coming up, work out how to fix it. Also, take a look at your brand and what you can do to improve it. This could be as simple as getting more involved in the community, volunteer work, networking or helping others/righting past wrongs.

Your online reputation often says more about your business than anything else. Working to improve it will guarantee a brighter future for both you and your potential clients.