How to Manage your Online Reputation
You may think that online reputation management isn’t something you ought concern yourself with. I would implore you to reconsider!
According to eMarketer 83% of consumers declare that online reviews influence their opinions about a particular company, and 8 of 10 of these individuals added that a unfavorable entry on the internet has caused them to change their mind. One negative review, whether true or untrue, can frustrate all your best efforts if you don’t have an online reputation strategy prepared. Keeping that in mind, we would like to offer five strategies your business can use to monitor and strengthen your online reputation management.
- Monitoring your brand names – Listening what’s being said about you and your company is critical. There are plenty of excellent free tools to help in this regard. Check out Google Alerts, Hootsuite, and Social Mention among others.
- Claim all of your social properties – Unclaimed social media sites can be utilized by your rivals for nefarious exploits. Make sure you claim all social sites that relate to your brand.
- Dominate page one of Google for your brand name – One great way to ensure what people see and read about you when they Google you would be to own all the virtual real estate! If all they find every time they Google you is wonderful stuff about you and your brand, you’ll not really be harmed by the random attack.
- Go after customer reviews – Customer reviews aren’t just going to appear on your site: you have to request them. Don’t be shy about seeking reviews. Quite often, your clients are going to be flattered you asked. And if you offer incentives, let them know that you’re not attempting to bribe them or manipulate their review!
- Engage with your people – Interacting with those writing comments, Facebook posts and tweets is a great strategy to head off any damage from the get-go. Don’t participate in mud-slinging however, regardless of how justified you’re feeling! Thank them for their contribution to the discussion, and politely disagree, standing up for yourself. (If they’re not right, of course!)
Online reputation management is much more valuable than in the past, in this day of instant communication. Don’t neglect yours!